She's Officially Ours!

Today was a full day for us. Today was the day that we had to complete the official process of adopting Raina in her province. The Chinese officials granted us legal guardianship for 24 hours (from the time we met her) to make a final decision. This is designed to give the adoptive family and the authorities an opportunity to confirm the match through mutual agreement. We knew that the first stop of our trip today would be the one we were dreading the most, since we would have to again see Raina's caretakers from her orphanage, as they would be required to be at the meeting. So first, we went to the Fuzhou Civil Affairs office (kind of like a little courthouse... emphasis on the "little"... yet very official). There, we signed many documents, placed our thumbprints (Raina's footprint) on their seals, and were interviewed by the higher ranking officer about our reasons for adopting Raina and our intentions of providing for her life from this point on. This was surprisingly a very nerve-racking experience and we felt a lot of cultural pressure entering the interview. We did see her orphanage workers again, and our fears were realized when Raina wanted to go with her Nanny. This was shorter-lived than the day before though. Signed, sealed, delivered... RAINA IS OFFICIALLY OUR DAUGHTER! We took a final picture with the officials, and we headed off to apply for Raina's passport and US Visa. This was a quick visit without much fanfare, and then we were on our way to the Fuzhou Notary Public Office to notarize and get verification that we are who we say we are. Another official interview where we were asked about our intentions in adopting one of China's children. With this, we were off to a good old-fashioned American visit to McDonald's and Wal-Mart. One final cab ride back to the hotel, and then we were in for the surprise of the day... with a little patience, Raina came out of her shell big time. She was drinking from a bottled water, and coughed a little. We laughed and she thought our laughing was funny. This started about a 20 minute episode of "fake" coughing and total giggling. To watch her interact with us this way was simply priceless. We finally got to see her real smiles and hear her glorious little laugh. It was heaven.