It's official!!!

Yesterday, we headed back to the Ministry of Adoption Services Office where a day earlier we had picked up Grace.  The purpose of this day is to make the adoption official in the eyes of the Chinese government.  Both meetings while a little nerve racking were primarily formalities.  The officials ask if we are "satisfied with our baby" and if we will "ever abandon her" and similar things.  They check to make sure all of our basic information is correct on all of the forms and then it all wraps up with a gift of American products for each official.  In total, the individual meetings lasted only a few minutes each from start to finish however we were there for nearly 4 hours while all of the parents went through the same routine.  All of this is very worthwhile for us however because after today Grace is officially our child!!!  The long wait has melted away and now we have our sweet little one with us.  All of this excitement made Gra ce a bit tired though...By the time we were ready to go Grace was fast asleep in Mamma's arms.

 

Grace is settling in very well considering all that she has been through in the past 2 days.  She is laughing and giggling and she loves her big sister and brother a lot.  She knows who "Momma" and "Ba Ba" are and she looks for the kids when they leave the room.  She is very sweet and very very small.  She fits best in the 3-6 month clothes.  Her favorite toys are the "stacking blocks" and her beach ball; and just like her "Jie Jie" (big sister) she likes to brush her hair.  Food hasn't been a problem either (she's already a Reading!).  Watermellon, breads, Cheerios, small pieces of meat, Congee (which is "rice soup") and pancakes with just a little syrup have all gone down in a flash. Later today we head to the police station for some additional paperwork and then tomorrow we have the day to ourselves.  There is a park across the street so we will likely head over there for some fresh air and exercise.  We will post some pictures later on tonight when we get back to the room.