Forever Ours Day

Today we made it official.  We left the hotel around 8:00am and headed for the Civil Affairs offices here in Tianjin.  We signed the official adoption paperwork and received our little red book which means she is ours!  There isn't any going back now, she's a Madsen, and we're a family of 6.  We are so happy!

If you read yesterday's post, you know we have a little girl who doesn't like to be held.  We've been working with her, but she cries when we hold her.  In this picture we're on our way to the Civil Affair's office and she's strapped into the Ergo.  She did very well, but would cry off and on.

Just so we won't forget where we were;)

She sat on her daddy's lap most of the appointment.  It was a little extended because the man from the orphanage who does the paperwork forgot some of the papers and had to take a taxi back to the orphanage to get them.  It's not a quick trip.  We gave her some time to rock to soothe herself.  Taking baby steps:)

Here we are in the van on the way to the police station.  She liked having her own seat.  Maybe the plane ride won't be too bad.  We had to go the police station to get her passport photo taken.  Then, we had lunch before going to the notary to do more paperwork.  She missed her nap by nearly 3 hours so her schedule is off again.  She's very tired tonight, but we'll keep her up as long as we can. 

Happy to be Isabelle Li Grace Madsen

I know this is blurry, but I loved her smile.  I think she's as excited as we are!

And finally, she got her nap.  After her nap she had part of a jar of baby food.  Guess what kind?  Fish and carrots.  It definitely smells like fish.  I won't give you my opinion!

To complete the afternoon I received a phone call from a dear FB friend named Christie.  She lives here in Tianjin and volunteers at the orphanage.  She checked up on Isabelle periodically and would  send me updates.  She has been such a blessing to me over the past few months.  Christie is stopping by the hotel tomorrow afternoon so we can meet face to face.  I'm so looking forward to it!  I've brought a few things to give to her, too, gifts from our church family.  It'll be fun to visit and to lighten my suitcase:)  

It's about 6:30pm now and I'm so encouraged to see the growth in Isabelle today.  God is so faithful.  She is adjusting slowly but she is adjusting!  She hasn't spent hardly any time in her crib today which is huge.  Please keep the prayers coming as she's learning about being part of a family!