Adoption Day!

Our Hotel in Nanchang

Nanchang Skyline (well....part of it. This place is huge!)

Civil Affairs Office

It's Official!!



Square near the city center which commemorates the August 1st uprising of 1927,
which occurred in Nanchang.

She's not too sure about this thing yet!

Entrance to the festival area next to the hotel.

I don't even want to know.

Rylie slept great last night....she is definitely a Kung Fu Princess throwing punches and kicks left and right, but we actually had to wake her up this morning. We ate a great breakfast in the hotel (she will eat anything by the way....even spicy noodles that were about as hot as we could handle!) and then headed to the Civil Affairs office. It seemed abandoned when we walked in! First we had photos taken for our adoption certificate and Rylie's passport. Then we had to have our adoption interview. It was quick and easy....basically them confirming our names, occupations, how long we've been married, asking why we wanted to adopt Rylie and then they made us confirm that we would never abandon or abuse her. After that, voila! We are her legal parents! Hooray!

We were given a beautiful wooden cylinder with Chinese calligraphy on it as a gift from the province as well as our "red book" which contains our adoption certificate. She is child #484 from her province this year alone to be adopted from America.

After we were done, we headed to a notary office to get some things notarized (another quick process) and that was it for the day's scheduled events. On the way back to the hotel, we drove past her finding spot. We weren't able to get any pictures, but hopefully will have a chance before we leave. It was right in the city....our guide said it is a good hospital, so perhaps she was left there in hopes of her receiving care. We headed back to the room, ordered some food from a restaurant next door and took a nap....for 5 hours!!! We had no intention on sleeping that long....it was an accident! Thank goodness one of our travel mates called our room!

This evening we ventured out onto the streets of Nanchang. Wow. Talk about culture shock. This is REAL China. Whereas Beijing is very much an international city, Nanchang is not. We are the only Westerners anywhere to be seen (along with the other couple with us) and we definitely draw some attention. Everyone stares at us constantly and tries to get us to buy things. Right next to our hotel is the start of a large street market/fair-type thing that goes on for a few blocks. There is stand after stand of games, goods, and food to buy (which we were not brave enough to attempt). Most of the food I had no idea what it was. People were EVERYWHERE!!! We reached one point where multiple people with severe diasbilities were on mats in the center of everyone on the street begging for money. It was very sad and eye-opening. It reminded me of stories from the bible....we just don't see things like this in our usual life. The traffic is still mind blowing....not just cars but buses, pedestrians, bicycles and scooters. There is a constant honking of horns, yet no one is mad. It's almost more of a warning thing....like saying, "Hey! I'm here!" I still can't believe I haven't seen someone crushed by a car. It's pretty much a perpetual game of chicken. Either you go or they go...one or the other. If you stop walking, they're going to go. So we are learning to just keep walking and they will stop!

The smells were intense, the sounds were intense, and the sights were amazing. I think Rylie was a little overwhelmed, and rightfully so. I was overwhelmed and I've seen a lot more than she has, living in an orphanage for most of her life. But we wanted to experience this city, her city as much as possible. I am sure it has more in store for us over the next few days. We didn't find anywhere to eat dinner, so we come back to the room and ordered room service....a club sandwich, french fries and some rice with egg. I think the french fries were eaten. The club sandwich consisted of ham, lettuce, tomato, egg, pickle and some type of mystery meat. No thank you.

The coolest thing that happened today was that Rylie started signing "more" at dinner. I did it with her some this afternoon as she ate a granola bar and by dinner, she was doing it independently. Talk about a smart girl! She also started waving today. She waved to Sharon on Skype and then to the kids as well. I think she really likes Skype because she keeps pointing to the computer and making some sounds and waving. So funny.....

Anyway, she had bathtime again and a massive slathering of lotion for her poor skin and it was off to bed, which took a while thanks to the 5 hour nap incident.

Tomorrow, it's off to experience Chinese Wal-Mart to stock up on some diapers and other necessities. Then our guide is taking us to a restaurant for lunch.

Yet again, we're tired, but loving every minute of being with this munchkin. She is amazing and starting to come out of her shell. It's very cool to watch!

Jonah and Reagan: It was great to see you today on Skype!! We miss you both so much and can't wait to give you big hugs! Your sister really likes watching you guys on the computer! I can't wait until she can see you in real life! You wouldn't believe some of the things we saw today....some crazy, some funny and some just scary! There are so many people all around. People carry their babies around with their hineys hanging out of their pants OR completely naked!! You guys would laugh at all the naked baby hineys everywhere! :) Love you guys so much! I can't wait to tell you about Wal-Mart tomorrow! Jonah, I hope school went well...don't forget to do your homework!!! Reagan, I hope you had a great day with Grandpa! xoxoxo Mommy and Daddy :)