Meeting Camila Isabel

We arrived in Bogota on Saturday night.  I was worried with the amount of stuff we brought but truth be told I am glad we did.  Everything here baby related is expensive.  It is important to bring at least the things that you will need the first few days, that way you will not have to waste precious time when you first meet your baby.
We spent Sunday with Cesar's family.  Everyone is very excited and they cannot wait to meet Camila.  I was trying to remain calm but I was very anxious, excited, scared and happy.  All of those feelings sometimes got the best of me and I would start crying!
On Monday morning Lucy (our Gladney contact here in Colombia) picked us up around 11:00 am .  We drove to Villavicencio (about 21/2 hrs from Bogota).  It was a beautiful drive.  The scenery here is so beautiful! 
We arrived at the Hotel del Llano which is a very nice hotel.  We picked it because it has a nice pool and a playground. We then had lunch with Lucy.  Around 5:00 pm we went out to check out were we could find the grocery store, shopping mall, restaurants, etc..  We needed to familiarize ourselves with the city since we will be here 1-2 weeks.  
Later on that night we met Lucy so we could go over everything that would happen in the "encuentro".  She told us to write down all the questions we wanted to ask about Camila and we went over the paperwork needed.
I was so tired that I had no trouble sleeping.  Cesar woke up at 3 am and could not go back to sleep.    I cannot explain to you all that I felt this morning when I woke up.  We were just a couple of hours away from meeting our precious Camila Isabel.  It is hard to explain having so many feelings, thinking what if she does not love me back as I love her, what if I cannot give her what she needs, what if I do not know what to do, what if, what if!! I tried to remain calm but it was hard!!  I prayed that I would not cry too much.  I did not want to scare her but it is inevitable!!!
We went to the notary to sign a document we needed to present at the encuentro so we left the hotel around 8 am.   We arrived at the ICBF at 8:45 and we met with the ICBF staff.  We needed to have an interview with them first.  The ICBF staff was very nice, they made us feel welcome.  The interview lasted probably about 1 1/2 hr, they asked tons of questions but it went fast.   All of a sudden we heard a child crying we knew Camila had arrived.....
She came into the room with the social worker and she was crying histerically.  She was mad because she had been woken up early to go to the hair salon.  Her pony tail and braids I think were too tight and she was not liking it.  We tried everything and she would not stop crying.  The ICBF staff asked the social worker to leave because Camila wanted to be only with her.  Once she left she would only be with me but the whole time crying.  She would not allow Cesar to come close to her or hold her, she wanted her "tia"(that is what she called the foster mom).  It broke my heart to see how she was suffering and there was nothing I could do.  Just hold her and give her reassurace that everyting would be ok.  I have to say I handled the encuentro pretty well.  I was so worried about her feelings that I forgot about mine.  It was perfect!

Words cannot express how happy we are but it has definitely been a very hard day!  I walked around the ICBF bldg to try to calm her down but she would not stop crying.  We left to go the hotel around 12:30, in the car she fell asleep but as soon as we got to the hotel she woke up and started crying again for her "tia".  I put her to bed and cuddled with her until she finally fell asleep.  She slept for about 2 hrs and when she woke up the crying started again.  We decided to go down to the playground and we could start to see she wanted to smile but her sadness was more powerful.  We stayed there for about an hour, she calmed down a little but she would remember something and she would cry again.  It is amazing to see how she did not want to let go of the things she brought with her.  She wanted to hold them all at the same time (Pipe her pig, muuu the cow, her dress, her shoes, the album and her tete which is her bottle).  They were like her security blanket, the only thing familiar to her.  So I held her with all of those things. 
We decided to go up to bathe her since we were all sweaty.  It is very hot here and she was used to taking 4 showers a day so we thought that would calm her down.  Well as soon as we got in the shower she started screaming... we did a quick shower and when we came out something beautiful happen... she SMILED!  Then she allowed Cesar to get close to her and when he went out of her sight she would call PAPA out loud. It was a priceless moment.  She then started laughing, giggling, dancing, singing, she even ate!  We played for a while and we sang songs.  Cesar was able to hold her and play with her.. she was defintely coming around.
she asked for her album(the one we sent to her in the care package) and she would call out the people in the album.  It was a beautiful moment.  She was calling out for us as mama and papa. 
Since she cried so much she was very sleepy and tired.  She started crying again and remembered her tia a couple of times.  She cried some more and she fell asleep around 7 pm.  I think she will be up pretty early tomorrow....
Camila is such a beautiful baby!  This was the best gift God could give us.  I thank the foster mom because she did an excellent job taking care of her.  She is healthy and JUST ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! 
 I pray that tomorrow will be better for all three of us.  I know whe has to grieve but it breaks my heart to see her crying.
That's all for now!  As you know we cannot post pics yet but we will do it as soon as we can.