Civil Affairs Appointment - Tuesday Part 2

Getting ready to go to the Civil Affairs Office again. We are praying that it goes well as there will be chaos again with screaming babies and possibly even one of her caregivers from the orphanage. We decided after yesterday's episode that a trip to visit her orphanage at this point would not be a good thing for her. She needs a clean break from her attachment to the caregivers there.

What a beautiful outfit on a beautiful little girl!

Posing for the official government photographer.

It's now officially official! We had to answer a few questions about our personal history with this very nice lady...

Then a few more to answer from a different lady in this very formal setting. We brought gifts for both officials as is it customary to offer a gift of thanks after the process is over. Our gifts for the ladies were handmade bead bracelets by Kelsey. She also wrote the thank you cards in Chinese. Both officials seemed to appreciate receiving them, although they couldn't possibly use everything they get from every person.

While Mommy and Kylie stayed in the room after lunch, the rest of us went on a stroll around the block. We managed to find a little back alley market with shops for everything you need. Live moray eels for dinner anyone?

How about some herbs from a traditional Chinese pharmacy?

We returned just as Kylie was waking up from her nap. After a snack, we sat down to see if any of our Chinese cartoon DVD's would interest her. What we discovered is that we still have a lot to discover about each other. We managed to find a Veggie Tales DVD that seemed to hold her attention for a little while. But, Kylie has a quiet and sometimes mischievous streak which comes out in the picture above.

This next picture was taken right at the end of a rough 20 or so minutes where she was out of sorts and we couldn't figure out why. We did learn, though, that a piece of bread in each hand cures tantrums in approximately 3 nanoseconds!!

It has been a day of light-switch moments and behavior extremes. We are spent. But, we know that God is faithful -- he will give us what we need for each day. Please keep praying for her to adjust well, to know that our love for her is real, and to begin the process of bonding to us as her Mommy & Daddy as she realizes that we aren't going anywhere. Thank you for all of your notes of encouragement. It's fun for us to see how many are following our journey.