Tuesday, March 18, 2008

What an amazing day today was. Although I only slept peacefully from 9 PM to midnight, I feel amazingly well. After waking Maggie up at 7:30 AM (she slept a loooooong time), we ate breakfast in the hotel. Maggie ate at least one croissaint, some noodles, a couple of french fries, and some watermelon. She probably could have eaten more if we gave it to her. After breakfast Barbara bought her some hair stuff at the hotel store for .60 cents apiece, and also a ball to play with (her favorite toys is my camera - she likes to watch it flash. I've changed the batteries three times already). After breakfast we, along with the other two families in our group, met our faciliator in the hotel lobby to go the the notary office to complete more paperwork (I forgot to mention that before dinner last night, we completed some paperwork at the hotel). The appointment was quick and easy. We then traveled back to the registration office where we would meet with Maggie's nanny and the director of the orphanage. I was nervous as I thought it would be hard for her to see them again and may again start crying. We did meet with them, Maggie was held by her nanny, and we got to ask them some questions. Her nickname is Ay yah, so we now know what she will respond to (I got no response to Fuxia). After we spoke with the, Maggie amazing held out her arms and came to me. She didn't cry for a second. She played with us in the waiting room as we waited to meet with another official to answer some questions and sign some forms. We swore that we would never abuse or abandon Maggie, and were told that her adoption is now final, and we are officially Maggie's parents!! (on the China end - we have an appointent to complete the paperwork on the U.S. side on the 24th in Guangzhou). What an amazing feeling this is. We were given gifts from the nanny and orphange director, and then we were on her way. I learned how to get kisses from Maggie from her nanny. If I point to my cheek, and she feels like it, she will give kisses. Sometimes I point to my cheek and she just shakes her head no. She definitely knows how to say no non-verbally. After leaving there, we came back to the hotel for just a few minutes, and headed out to lunch. At Barbara's request, we once again went to Pizza Hut. It was as good as last time, and Maggie ate a whole piece of pizza after finishing off the bowl of cheerios we brought with us. She rolls the cheerios onto her fork with her knife and then eats them off of the fork. After lunch we went to Walmart again - I bought a stroller, another suitcase, some underwear for Maggie (we didn't bring any so one of the other couples gave us two pairs to tide us over). Walmart is different then the ones I am used to - it is 2 stories and very large. It's kind of strange seeing it in China. After shopping everyone was tired and we returned to our room. Maggie and Barbara are taking a nap and I am catching up on here. We will eat dinner in the hotel restaurant tonight. Tomorrow we will take a trip to the country part of Nanning and go to People's Park in the afternoon (it is supposed to be very nice). On Thursday we will go to the zoo and to McDonald's for one of the other family's biological daughter's 6th birthday. At least we are staying busy and getting closer to being home. This journey has been amazing and we have not one regret about the whole process. One more thing - before leaving for our appointment this morning, we were waiting for the bus in the lobby and Barbara went to the rest room. As she was walking back, Maggie pointed to her and said "mama". My heart felt like it was coming out of my chest. I CANNOT Wait for everyone to meet her, she is sure to have the same effect on everyone else.