December 12, 2006- Adoption Day!

"O Lord you are my God; I will exalt and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago."
Isaiah 25:1

First of all, last night we were having a lot of trouble posting pictures last night and didn’t get them all posted until 11PM here. So please go check them out if you looked on the website before then. Second of all, thank you for all the emails. AnnaClaire has been keeping us very busy and it is very hard to respond, but we appreciate each and every email! So thanks!
AnnaClaire has not been a happy baby today. She went to bed late for a girl of her age and woke up at 5am. She woke all of us up (but we were up anyway) and Mom got her out of the crib. We all played with her and laughed with her, teased with her, she smiled, I gave her a bottle and she drank the whole thing, she was a VERY happy baby. We brought her to breakfast and she played with her hairbrush and a spoon. She played peek-a-boo under the table and ate a ton! She ate 2 pieces of watermelon, a banana, a thing of yogurt (she LOVES yogurt) and some congee. Amy met us at breakfast and ate with us. She couldn't believe how AnnaClaire had changed since she had last seen her! (AC took her bath and got her hairbrushed~the turning point, after Amy left). AnnaClaire was flashing smiles to everyone, bouncing around, just the happiest baby ever. She didn't cry in the elevator or anything. We came back up to get a few things before we left for the Civil Affairs Office. We all went except Will who stayed in the hotel to do homework. First they asked us all these question. You probably know what they are but for those who don't, "Do you promise to never mistreat or abandon her?" "Are you sure you want to keep her?" (Like we don't!) Mom and Dad sealed it with a thumbprint and AnnaClaire had to stamp her foot on the page. This was just traumatic. She sobbed the whole time! We then went in another room (the room we'd gotten her in!) and had to wait for a notice to go to the orphanage and for the que to get the "family" photo. I had to stay with the stuff while Mom, Dad, and AC got their picture. That is why "family" is in quotes. It's not really the family picture! ALL these baby's came in. They were all having their official adoption too. Finally they finished the picture and Mom and Dad came back. I asked how AnnaClaire was, thinking she had sobbed the whole time. They said she did well. I later saw a picture to prove it~no tears! AnnaClaire got a little antsy and started crying again. We fixed her a bottle which she drank. We then went in another room and got asked more questions. This was to get her passport. That all went fine except AnnaClaire would only go to Baba which made it hard for him to sign. She still cried though even though baba was holding her. We then had to wait for all that to go through. We played with AnnaClaire. She bounced around and I fed her cheerios. She LOVED her cheerios. She would give me the biggest cheesy smile whenever I gave her one. It was SO cute. We played around with her, with just a little crying. I took her on a little walk and she walked by herself with me holding on! She was so sweet and looked at herself in the mirror. Mom, Dad, and Amy came over and we went back in the elevator, a few tears. AnnaClaire and I got our picture taken in front of the Civil Affairs sign and we left. I held her. She doesn't cry when we are outside. She LOVES being outside. Everyone was staring and smiling. We got a taxi and AnnaClaire fell asleep on Daddy's shoulder. We stopped by a children's clothing store on the way to the hotel. When we got out, Dad handed AnnaClaire to Mom, and she stayed sleeping. We got quite a few coats and pants to give to the orphanage when we go tomorrow. AnnaClaire slept the entire time! A lady came up to us and started checking her, I guess to make sure she passed the clothing check. I think she did because the lady smiled and went on. She was wearing her adorable kitty dress, tights, her rose petal turtleneck, her light pink robeez, her wool coat from the Lindbloms, and her knit hat. She was just ADORABLE! We came back to the hotel and settled in. Daddy and AnnaClaire tried napping, but AnnaClaire just wouldn’t nap. Dad and Will decided to go to the grocery while Mom and I stayed at the hotel to try to get AnnaClaire to sleep. Well, this girl is a daddy’s girl if there ever was one. She screamed when Dad left. I was feeding her applesauce and she quickly forgot about her tears and ate. Mom gave her a bottle hoping it would make her tired. We turned out all the lights and tried to get her to sleep. No. We put her in the crib and she screamed and screamed. Mom tried putting her to sleep. No. I walked around the room with her a little and she was fine as long as we were moving the whole time. She would not sleep. So we decided to do finger puppets! We did Old McDonald and sang and danced. She liked that! It soon got old and Mom decided she had a dirty diaper. AnnaClaire did, so Mom changed it. She was a little happier, but not much. Mom and I decided to put her in the Ergo and walk around the hotel. She LOVED this. She cried in the elevator but cooed and smiled the entire time we were walking around the hotel. She was SO happy. We went back to the room knowing she’d cry, but tried anyway. Well, Daddy was there! She practically fell out of the Ergo trying to get to him. She has been a different baby since. We played with her stacking cups, she LOVED them. We played with her turtle toy, her rattle, her butterfly toy, we filmed her and she walked a little with help. We haven’t seen her walk on her own since yesterday and she is so scared to do it on her own, so we are thinking that those were her first on her own steps! Dad tried her in the crib and she screamed. Finally she is asleep! She’s sleeping with Daddy in the big bed, on his tummy. It is the cutest sight. So this baby has gotten 8 hours of sleep all day with about a 30 minute car ride/shopping nap and finally she is asleep!!! YAY! I think she has been so cranky because she is tired. She is just the sweetest thing and we love her so much! We haven’t quite had her 24 hours yet. We love her and can’t imagine life without her!
Love,
Emily,
Mom, Dad, Will, and AnnaClaire

LATER~
We all took naps while AnnaClaire slept. Mom said that Dad took her for a walk around the hotel but I was sleeping so I don’t know all the details. When I woke up, she cried a little. We went to dinner at the hotel. It was good! On the way there, a lady was playing piano and AnnaClaire was dancing with Daddy and smiling. AnnaClaire ate so much and was just the happiest little thing. She let Mom and I hold and feed her which was good. She ate 2 pieces of watermelon, some green beans, a steamed egg (the orphanage told us that that’s her very favorite), and some congee. She loved ALL of this. She was smiley and sweet and laughing. All the ladies came over and were playing and talking to AnnaClaire. This made her VERY happy. We came back to the room and decided to bundle her up and go to A Best (a very large grocery store here) and get some diapers. We only have 4 left and we have a long day tomorrow! We put AnnaClaire in the Ergo and went outside. AnnaClaire loves it outside. She was such a happy baby. She also loves her Ergo! Dad and Will had been to A Best a few times but this was Mom and my first time. It was such an experience! It is 3 stories with all kinds off stuff. Clothes, groceries, appliances, anything you can think of, they have it! It’s about a 10 min. walk from our hotel, so not bad. We found diapers. By this time, it was AnnaClaire’s bed time so she was getting very sleepy. Of course, she has been sleepy ALL day and wouldn’t take a nap! She was very good but very sad to get out of her Ergo. We changed her into pjs and Dad got a bottle ready. She drank a little. She fell asleep in Mom’s arms but awoke quickly. We put her in the crib and she is almost asleep. She is wailing but not screaming. Not as easy as last night! Poor thing has had a long day. We did get lots of smiles to make up for all the tears though!

Oh and to end this even better, our girl has wailed herself to sleep and is now sleeping peacefully in her crib!

I’m going to try and add pictures but if they go really slowly, they won’t all be there till tomorrow!

Please pray for us and AnnaClaie! Pray that she would bond to everyone, not just daddy, pray that she would sleep more so she wouldn't be so exhausted. And also please pray that she would stay happy tomorrow as we have a long day visiting her orphanage! Thank you for your prayers and emails. We love you all!

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One year ago today, AnnaClaire officially became a part of our family. This is going to be kinda short because exams start tomorrow and I need to go to bed... but I cannot believe it's been a whole year. I remember how attached AC was to Dad. A minute with Dad out of sight made her scream. At night we would take walks outside of Changsha. There were all kinds of Christmas decorations. It was fun to experience real China. AnnaClaire was always so happy outside. She loved our walks in her Ergo. I remember keeping her occupied as we made her a part of our family. She screamed when we had to have her footprint taken. I remember they asked us if she was okay and if we wanted to keep her. The best words were when they said, "She is yours forever". She is ours. FOREVER. I love her so much. God is SO good.

AnnaClaire, a year ago you officially became an H! I love you so much. You have grown so much in the past year. You mean the world to me and I thank God for every moment I have with you. I can't believe it's been a year. I love you forever, sweet girl!
Love, Sissy

Oh and I fixed stuff with the music so it won't play unless you scroll to the bottom of my blog, so if you want to watch the movies you can, and if you want to hear the music, just scroll to the bottom and then back up.