Gotcha Day

Sept. 9, 2014
Today is the long awaited day.  I'm so excited I can't hardly sit still to write this.  Ruth and Linda picked us up at the airport yesterday at around 4:30pm.  It was so good to finally meet the ladies that have been so instrumental in uniting us with Arouna.  They both have such a love for the Burkinabe people and the orphans here.  It was wonderful to hear them share their hearts and their stories of how they came to be in Burkina.
After they picked us up with all of our luggage, we made a trip to the bank to get money from the ATM with our debit card.  Then we went to the Bingo supermarket to buy groceries for while we stay at the guesthouse in Ouagadougou.  Our plan is to eat breakfast and lunches in the guesthouse and dinners at restaurants or on the street.  After groceries, we went to the American club for dinner.  This place was built for American embassy workers years ago when the embassy was across the street.  Since then the embassy has moved but at the club, there is a small restaurant, pool, exercise gym, and rooms for other things.  Anyone can come to the restaurant and eat.  And then people can buy memberships for the pool and other facilities on a yearly basis.  After eating, we came back to the guesthouse around 8pm, tried to get on the internet (with no luck) and then went to bed.
Burkina is much like we remember Mali, with mopeds everywhere, people everywhere, mass confusion driving at intersections especially.  Africa also has a certain smell to it.  It's not bad at all, just a distinct smell.  It feels good to be back.
Well, they should be here any minute to pick us up to make the 2 hour drive to Yako.  I'm so grateful to be here and feel so privileged to be able to have this experience and love this little boy.  I pray that he loves us as much as we already love him!
GOTCHA
We arrived at the orphanage around 11:30-12:00 in the morning.  We moved our stuff into the guesthouse while the orphanage director, Amy, went to get Arouna.  AND OH MY!  I was in tears when I saw him for the first time.  Robert held him first.  He was taller than I expected, but was so skinny.  People had prayed that when we got him he would feel the love we had for him.  When Robert handed him to me, he put his head on my shoulder and started patting me.  It was amazing.  He smiled and was so happy just to be held.  He's the most precious little guy.  We stood outside taking pictures and video while Robert and I held him and loved on him.  He is adorable.  His legs, arms and bum are so skinny, though he eats quite a bit.  
From that moment on, he was with us and was ours.  He can sit up well, hold his head up well though he throws it back a lot on purpose, go from laying down to sitting up faster than I can (which isn't saying too much these days).  He can see, but we still are having a hard time telling how much.  And we believe he is hearing very loud noises because he has startled at a few things.  He also seems to have a mental delay.  It was this we were most worried about...afraid that he wouldn't ever really connect with us.  But even if that's the case, I wouldn't change a thing.  I'm totally in love with this little guy that God has given us.  And I can't wait to see what God has in store for his life.