After about 10 minutes of quiet…she started to cry… no scream! The nannies from the orphanage helped us calm her and soon had her saying mamma and baba (daddy in Chinese). After signing a few papers, we left the Civil Affairs office with our sweet baby girl and went back to the hotel. It was a magical wonderful day. The adoption process takes two days and the next day we went back to the same office for more paperwork and fees. By the next day she only wanted us and clung tightly to us and that was just fine by us.
When we got her back to the hotel we introduced her to her sisters and other family members via a set of web cams Misty had set up for us to use before we left. Then it was time for a bath. It may have been her first bath…honestly…I think they mostly just wipe them off. That set off another round of crying and screaming but soon she was calm again and took a nap while Ronnie went out to buy bottles and other supplies we did not know we needed. Hope was still taking formula and in diapers at age three. I believe the formula was the only thing that kept her going back then she was so very skinny (19 pounds). After we started removing the layers of clothing we were shocked at her size.
We are so blessed to have this precious little girl in our lives. If you have ever considered adoption and think God might be leading you in that direction…just go for it… ! Hope has been a joy and beautiful presence in our family for the past four years and we are so very thankful we listened to that still small voice that led us to China.
We love you Hopie…with all our hearts!!!
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