Wow! Were do I start... Today, it's official, Alexis is ours forever by the Laws of the China Government. We finished signing all the paperwork this morning by 10:30am. At 2:00pm, we were all taken by bus to the Registration and Notarization office to take the oath, that we will love her and take care of her forever. We signed the oath and had our picture taken. It is such a wonderful feeling to finally be parents! After that, we got back on the bus and went to Wal-mart. This was quit an adventure to say the least. Know one speaks English and all the packaging is written in Chinese. Fred and I did a fabulous job picking out smaller size clothing/ shoes ( yes, had to go shopping again), more bottles and baby snacks. We make a great team on our new venture of parenting. We are taking shifts (him more than me because she loves her daddy to pieces) and we are loving every minute. She is the happy child and bright too. She can already say "daddy" and waves Hi. Alexis has also been eating none stop for the past two days. Honestly, I don't know where she is putting it.
Drove to Shenzhen by bus, but first had to cross over the border. This was a very uncomfortable experience but our CCAI rep's got us through with no problems. We arrived at the airport in Shenzhen and our flight was delayed due to weather. None of us had eaten since early morning and we found that Shenzhen would not take credit cards, US money or the remaining Hong Kong dollars that we all had in our pockets. So, we pulled together and eat granola bars, peanuts and what ever we had packed coming from the US. Needless to say ,we were all hungry by 6:00pm. Our CCAI rep bought 17 pizzas because by the time we arrived at the hotel, the babies were scheduled to arrive in 1.5hrs. Talk about rushing, but we all took it in stride. We then had to cram a 1hr. meeting about what to expect from the babies and what they were eating, into a 20 minute session, some of it on the bus ride to the hotel.
The babies arrived at 8:00pm sharp, not feed and very hungry. But first, we were all given beautiful photo albums written in Chinese with pics of the orphanage and our daughter. But the most special picture was one of Alexis with her beautiful, loving foster mother, who you could tell loved Alexis very much. I cried when I saw that picture. Fred and I will cherish this forever.
Ok. We received the babies one at a time, with each family name called. Of course, when our name was called, Fred and I bolted for the door, .dropping the video camera on the table and nearly tripping over a chair. We saw her and everything inside us changed. It is a feeling that, like parents have told us, you cannot explain. I saw that beautiful face and cried and I have never seen Fred more happy and content. Fred has become Mr. Mom and has more patience with this child. All the parents are commenting on how he loves Alexis so much and does everything for her. She looks at her daddy and lights up...it just amazing to see.
Last night, she played and smiled until 12:15am. It was the best case scenario that could have happened. We were expecting the worst and received the best. She has been that way since.
Alexis and another little girl in our group, were cared for by the same foster mother. They are both incredibly, healthy and happy.
Alexis' s Specs:
-She sleeps soundly, loves to laugh and play, very interested in everything, loves baths, never been ill except for fever and colds, active and outgoing, moves a lot, plays alot and loves to play with other children. Most of all, she really likes her parents and is growing very attached to us!
All the photos are of Gotcha Day yesterday and the Official Adoption today.
Well, it's late and tomorrow the doctor hired by CCAI is coming to perform medical check-ups on all the babies. Will e-mail tomorrow.
