Day 5 Adoption Day - She is OURS

You will find as you look back upon your life  that the moments when you have really lived,

 are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love.  
                                                                                           -  Henry Drummond

Sarah slept great last night. (I on the other hand was awake at 3 am. I ended up getting up and using the laptop to go through photos and start future posts for our blogs. So much for no jet lag!) Sarah fell asleep in 5 minutes, slept soundly all night between us in our bed, and woke up happy. She was calm, quiet, and ready to go. She was thrilled to put on a pretty dress and have her hair done. 

At breakfast, she LOVED all the food. She ate eggs, watermelon, cantaloupe, rice congee, and a bit of a steamed bun. She drank a big glass of milk. She loves the front pocket in her bibs (purpose of that "pocket" is to catch crumbs, etc. but she puts her little Minnie Mouse in it!). Here are some photos from before breakfast.
                                       


                                       

                            

Breakfast time

After breakfast, we had about 90 minutes in our hotel room before our guide picked us up. Sarah had a lot of fun playing. She is very quiet, calm, focused, and very smart. Rupert taught her a Chinese nursery rhyme game and she caught on fast, even though he was speaking Cantonese and she only knows Mandarin.  She LOVES MUSIC. (Later today she started dancing to music on one of her toys. SO SWEET.) Here are pictures playing the game with Rupert.

Clapping hands with Daddy

Arms up high

Watching Daddy intently. 

Our guide, Alexa, picked us up at 9:30 this morning, and took us to Civil Affairs for the adoption of Sarah. (Ironic that our guide's name and Sarah's middle name are the same. Alexa told us when she was in grade 9 in high school there was an American teacher - very unusual for that time in Guangzhou. The teacher gave them a long list of English names to choose from. She chose Alexa for herself and that is what she goes by now.)

Both yesterday and today, we saw our guide from 2010, Wensi, and she remembered us. She now works at Civil Affairs in Guangzhou. She was the registration official who we saw today. She asked a lot about Aaron, asked to have a photo taken with us, and told us that we had been featured in a book about Bao'an orphanage. Here is the book and that page! 

Those family photo was Father's Day. The bike photo was about a week after we got home. The top left one is Aaron on his Lunar/Chinese birthday.

                                  

Back at Civil Affairs to finalize the adoption. It was a MUCH difference experience than yesterday! Sarah was calm, quiet, and wanted to be right with us all the time. Everyone commented on how different she seemed from yesterday! 

Above and below we are with the Registration Official, who was our GUIDE back in 2010 when we adopted Aaron. We had no idea she now worked full time for Civil Affairs. It was wonderful to see us. She remembered many details about Aaron and our time in China. She had no idea we were coming back! We will see her tomorrow when we apply for Sarah's Chinese Passport (which is how she will travel to the U.S. - on a Chinese passport with a U.S. Visa inside).

Waiting for the Notary to finalize the adoption.

With the notary. There's something very emotional this beautiful child is sitting on your lap and they ask you, "What do you think of her?" and then, "So, do you wish to adopt her?"  "YES PLEASE," was our answer!!!!!!!

After the appointment, we came back to our hotel room and had lunch. Sarah devoured two steamed meat dumplings, and a big bowl of noodles. She has a great appetite.

After lunch, we headed out to the bakery where we have been buying Chinese cookies and pastries. There is a very kind 19 year old girl who when we first went to the bakery on Sunday,  immediately asked me to help her practice her English. She is the absolute sweetest young woman. Very friendly and kind and so interested in us.  We went in there yesterday and ordered a small birthday cake for Sarah, and told her we would be bringing our daughter today for her to meet. I wanted to take a photo with her and also have her write down her Chinese name so I can practice saying it correctly. We also want to bring her a Hershey chocolate bar. For the average person here in China, a Hershey chocolate bar  is quite expensive  and not something they would indulge in. We took a photo with her. 
                                         

We went shopping on Shamian Island. Sarah rode in her stroller no problem! Phew! I had been worried about that. It is just TOO HOT AND HUMID to be carrying a 26 pound child everywhere. Carrying her up and down the stairs of the overpass to and from Shamian Island is enough! We had to pick up Rupert's laundry, and a teapot we had Sarah's name painted inside of that was being finished this morning. We bought her a pair of "squeaky shoes" (pictured above, as the pair of shoes she came with are a little bit, really stiff material, and do not look comfortable), several Chinese dresses (including a white one for her Baptism next summer), and a bracelet. 

We came back to our hotel room, had a snack, played, and I put her down for a nap. She was asleep in 2 minutes! When she wakes up we plan to go to a new, modern shopping mall that has a hot pot restaurant in it (and the mall and restaurant are well air conditioned!!!). (Thursday and Friday are supposed to be 98 degrees. We will be in the hotel pool!!!)

Something humorous from yesterday. After Sarah had calmed down (this was after 55 minutes of screaming), someone told her she would have two big boy brothers. Oh my gosh! She started hysterically crying. She apparently told them NO, she wants a SISTER.  There was much laughing and the guides and workers said, "Oh you'll have to come back for ANOTHER ONE." Let's just say that was NOT what Rupert wanted to hear. We were both very clear - no, this is our final child! 

Sarah is an absolute joy! We are starting to see her personality in just 24 hours since we met her! I can't wait to see what the rest of our time in China brings!