Adoption Day Tuesday, June 17

Today was the day to legally adopt Zi Xuan.  It was going to be a long day, as we were traveling in the afternoon to her birth city of Kaifeng to apply for her passport.  We had an early breakfast, and it would appear that she is just as fond of a buffet as our boys always have been, though she likes a little more variety.  She likes her rice and bean shoots, but boy when she found sausage and scrambled eggs...stand back.  John David and I didn't think 2 or 3 sausages would fit in such a little person, but they do.

After breakfast we loaded up on the bus to go back the Civil Affairs Building.  We were concerned that this might be a little frightening for her going back again.  

She took it in stride and was busy goofing off while we waited.

After a short wait and a brief speech by the Director, we were granted the final adoption decree, she is legally our daughter.  Welcome to the family Zi Xuan.

It's legal...she is now a Mohr

Back on the bus to go to the notary division to get everything signed and notarized for her passport application so she can leave the province to go to Guangzhou for rest of the immigration process.  She seems to love a bus ride, especially if she is sitting on one of her brothers.  On this ride Dad got a turn.

The notary office was hot and stuffy and on the 7th floor of a building with no elevator, fortunately it did not take but an hour, along with photos for her paperwork, we were back on our way to the hotel, for a VERY quick bite to eat.  At 1:30 we left for the 90 minute drive to Kaifeng City, Zi Xuan's hometown and the location of the orphanage where she has grown up for her first 21 months.  We were able to keep her awake to take her nap in the car...which she did like clock work.  

It was pretty cute to hear the boys talking over who got to hold her while she slept on the ride.  After a bit of negotiating with each other, they decided to build her a spot between them.  It got a little bouncy for that and she ended up on John David almost all the way there....because his arms are longer by his reasoning.

They are a crack up.

At the Kaifeng Police Transfer Station, we applied for her passport.  What an experience.  There was a mistake in her file that showed her city of birth as Beijing rather than Kaifeng which we were afraid was going to be a major issue, but our agency worked with them and they were able to get someone to get into the government computer system and straighten the whole thing out form somewhere...it took an extra hour but they got it fixed and we loaded up to go visit her orphanage.

She grew up in the Kaifeng City Social Welfare Institute, in a special wing of a large orphanage and elder care facility on the outskirts of the City.  She was in a special wing which is a pilot program with our agency CCAI here in the States called a Lily Orphan Care Center.  It was a visit that we will be processing for a very long time.  An orphanage is a hard place to visit...even a good one, but we would have not missed it for the world. 

It was so sweet to see John David and Wyatt playing with the children.  Wyatt teaching one sweet little guy how to dribble a basketball and John David pushing a little toy truck for an adorable little boy born without his feet.

We got to meet and thank the nannies, especially her two primary nannies that have cared for here since she arrived at one month old.  We saw her crib where she slept and got some pictures for her.

Her Nanny and her bed.

All of us with her two nannies.

When it was time to go the was no doubt she wanted to go with us.  No tears, just hugs and good bye to a couple of friends at the door of her room,...

and a very sweet goodbye from one of the facility guards at the security door ....she has a lot of personality and they all knew her very well.

We climbed in the van for the long ride back to Zhengzhou which took a couple of hours with the traffic coming back into the city and we played all the way.  Mom and Dad wanted a beer...so we grabbed the stroller and headed to the market and T headed off to find us a bite to eat while Dad and the boys went back to the hotel.  FWIW, T came back with some fine looking dishes...the chicken feet that were in the chicken dish were....intriguing.

She had a final snack of an apple before her bath...

Bath is not quite a bath as we would understand it...she is not used to that sort of bath yet but she stood in a couple of inches of water and let me drizzle water over her.  She seemed to like getting the Johnson's baby wash.  We got her diapered up and then it was a traditional Mohr boy pillow fort wrestling before bed.  Pillow forts are gonna be a hit it would seem.

Jammied up, she had a night, night bottle and went right to sleep.  What a long and crazy day...she was a trooper and seems to find fun in everything.

She is amazing.