Tuesday, February 6, 2007

The name Lottie means petite beauty but today she is our sleeping beauty. She slept all the way through her first night with us and even had us peering over her crib this morning wanting her to wake up!! Today is the day that our ADOPTION IS FINALIZED!!! She is officially ours!!!! When she awoke this morning she was happy and she ate some rice cereal before going down to the breakfast buffet with us. At breakfast she sat in a highchair and ate the little puff snacks with her fingers while we had eggs and bacon and pancakes and delicious croissants!!!

We then loaded up on the bus to the civil affairs office to finalize her adoption. We had to have a family photo taken for an official document and then had two interviews with Chinese officials where we explained our reason for adopting from China and our promise never to abandon or harm our daughter. Now it is official – She is ours for keeps!!!!!! Forever …and ever….!!! We actually even saw the workers from her orphanage again at the office and she smiled and laughed with them but when we took her down the hall away from them, she was very content to be ours!!!!!

We left the civil affairs office and headed to the friendship store which is a large multi-level department store. On one level is actually a grocery store. Her we were able to purchase diapers, formula, snacks, etc, for our stay here in Guangzhou. Lottie fell asleep in the hip carrier with Shannon while we were walking around. We got back on the bus and she woke up and took her first bottle of formula. She has not really been wanting a bottle. We were glad to finally get some nutrients in her.

We came back to the hotel and she was a little fussy while we tried to play for awhile. She acts like her teeth are really bothering her. We tried the baby oragel, Tylenol, a cold teething ring, a Chinese cracker especially for teething but nothing seemed to soothe it. We finally laid her down for an afternoon nap and she cried only about 5 minutes and then slept for about 3 hours!!!. She was a little fussy still when she woke up but she took another bottle of formula and we changed her outfit and got ready to take a walk outside. As soon as we got ready to leave the room, she stopped fussing and was very happy the rest of the evening.

The evening was quite pleasant as we walked up the street by the hotel and went in some of the shops. This was Lottie’s first shopping trip and she came away with a new set of wheels. Wonder what the future holds??? She likes her new umbrella stroller !! Mommy bought a jade bracelet. There is a Chinese tradition for the mother to wear the bracelet until the daughter gets married and then to give it to her daughter on her wedding day. We may have mastered the bartering system here in China. The bracelet was priced at 1600 Yuan. Shannon bartered the salesman down to 400 Yuan and then asked Battle for the money. Battle only had 356 Yuan in his pocket. We showed the salesman our empty pockets and he gave Shannon the bracelet. He also gave Lottie a little jade fish to take. We laughed when we remembered the fish in China is a symbol for money. I guess he thought she needed all the luck in the world with these parents with empty pockets!!! :)

We came back to the room and she continued to be happy and even started making some sounds with her voice. She was even more playful. She took another bottle of formula after playing for awhile and started rubbing her eyes. Shannon sang Jesus Loves me and Kum Ba Ya to her and laid her in her crib, covered her up with a blanket and she went to sleep with out a whimper. She is our little princess!!!! We love her and thank God again tonight for His richest blessings of our three children !!! Great is HIS reward!!!!! Our cup runneth over!!!!