it's official!

3:30 a.m. again. Jet leg is killer. On the flip side, we were asleep by 8:00 p.m. last night! Too tired even for dinner!

Greg is off to 7-eleven for Coke Light and who knows what.

I'm going to blog our journey yesterday, taking no time away from our precious Lucy Mei. She is sleeping peacefully behind me in her crib. :)

The day started with Lucy Mei waking up. This was a big deal.

In a new place, strange people - how would she deal. Greg checked on her periodically and at 7 a.m. he noticed her eyes were open, thumb in her mouth. I walked over and said "Good morning, Lucy Mei. It's Mama." and I reached for her. She looked confused.

I grabbed her blanket, picked her up and we sat in the chair. I turned to look at her and she smiled....big!!! It was soooooo sweet! She even did it twice!!!

Then she pointed (more of a "uhhh uhhh" type sound) towards the bottles. Greg quickly made her a bottle but she only took a few sips. We decided this girl needs some real food! Decided to try the breakfast buffet.

We were meeting our group at 9 a.m. for the ride to the Registration Office to finalize our adoptions so we had to get moving.

We got Lucy Mei dressed - new outfit, new shoes, socks - everthing. Clearly, this girl has never worn jeans. The material and buttons and zipper were all very intriguing to her. We believe she's worn mostly legging type pants or pajama type bottoms. She's very cooperative getting dressed and loved looking at herself in the mirror. I slipped a little hair clip in to hold back her bangs. She wanted no part of that.

We headed to breakfast and Lucy quickly spotted Warren. She became very excited and animated and walked right over to him. In fact, she wouldn't leave his side! We sat a few tables over and the kiddos couldn't stop looking and smiling at each other! Cracks us up!!

Greg gathered some breakfast food from the buffet.....a huge variety because we have no idea what she likes. Fruits, cereals, rolls, donuts, croissants, eggs, sausage, dumplings, noodles. She wanted none of it. Wouldn't try a single thing....except Cheerios.

She also wanted no part of a high chair. Something new, I'm assuming. Mama's lap worked fine. Cheerios aren't messy anyway. :)

We left promptly at 9 a.m. with our group and headed back to the Registration Office where we met Lucy Mei yesterday. It was a beautiful day, clear skies.

We arrived in front of the building and she freaked. She clung very tightly to me and began crying. Breaks my heart. She didn't know what was happening. Were we returning her to the orphanage? I held her tightly and we walked inside. The kids all began playing in a little gated in play area at the end of the room. Lucy was timid, but she entered when she saw Warren playing. :)

Lucy Mei also reached up for me to hold her....a milestone!!! (Now it's all the time. She's learning to say, "Up"). She also takes my hand a lot and always wants to know where I am. She's comfortable walking around by herself (in the lobby, at breakfast, etc.) but always with an eye on me. :) I love her independence.

After 30-45 minutes or so, all the adoptive parents and children were told to stand in a semi circle in the middle of the room. One by one, we would each be called up to receive our official adoption certificate. This is the moment when Qian Geng Yun officially becomes Lucy Mei Schultz! Forever.

It was so touching watching each family walk up to the Officers and receive their certificate. After everyone received their certificate, our guide announced, "It's now official. Congratulations to all the families." Everyone clapped and celebrated....for ourselves, our children and the other families. What a moment. 9 families celebrating 10 less orphans in the world. Wow....a moment I will never forget.

We then headed to the Notary Office to have all of our documents notarized for the U.S. Consulate appointment in Guangzhou (to receive Lucy Mei's Visa to enter the US and become an American citizen!!). I think Lucy Mei was relieved to be leaving the Registration Office still in our arms. :)

The Notary Office was up 8 or 9 flights of stairs...holding our sweet, solid Lucy Mei. :) Glad I've been hitting the Y at lunch! Ha! We finished this process rather quickly and headed back to the hotel. We had 1 hour before meeting Warren's family for the 2.5 hour drive back to the kid's home city of Zhoukou to file for their passports.

Back in the room, we tried feeding Lucy Mei the cold leftover pizza (no microwaves, so sad). She wanted none of that. Bottle? Nope. Snacks, heck yeah! The problem, sweet Lucy likes to take the lid off the snack cup and inevitably, snacks are everywhere....and she's eating them off the floor. We experienced this same issue with Ben in China and knew what we needed - duct tape. Georgette stated she had some so Lucy Mei and I wandered down to their room. 

As soon as we walked in and Lucy saw Warren, her personality changed....a LOT. She is much more outgoing, talkative (gibberish or maybe Chinese....who knows?) and assertive. She walked right up to Warren and grabbed a vienna sausage type thingy he was eating. Georgette, Rusty (her husband) and I were cracking up!!! Then, Lucy proceeded to grab 2 additional sausage thingys from Jaden (Warren's sister). She then walked directly into the bathroom (alone) and we heard the toilet seat slam. Sure enough, she threw one of the sausages and the empty bag into the toilet!!! What a hoot! Oh my....

Georgette stated the orphanage director gave her these "treats" on Gotcha day. Said the kiddos love them. Lucy Mei was holding one (and had to be starving) so I cut it open and she ate it in 3 bites. Girlfriend was hungry!!! Georgette gave us 2 more + the duct tape and we were on our way. 

Back in the room, Lucy Mei wanted another sausage thingy. Again, 3 bites and gone! She also snacked on crackers and cheerios and drank a yogurt milk drink popular in China.  

We wrapped her snack cups in duct tape....Lucy Mei, NOT a fan. We also tried her in the Baby Bjorn type carrier I brought. She was facing me and it was soooo comfortable. These are popular in adoption for bonding....better than a stroller. Perhaps we'll try it out today in the park. Not sure how she feels about it yet.  

At 1 p.m. we met our guide, Rita, and Warren's family for the drive to Zhoukou. The van had 3 rows and was not entirely comfortable. We were in the back and surprisingly, no motion sickness for me! Lucy Mei fell asleep in my arms almost immediately (nap time) and slept the entire way.

It was an interesting drive. All interstate, but countryside. Something we haven't seen before in China.

We arrived at the Zhoukou City Police Station and the orphanage administrator from yesterday was there to greet us and file paperwork for the children's passports. He tried assisting Lucy Mei out of the van and she freaked. She wanted no part of him and was terrified. Her little arms clung around my neck so tightly. God love her. She has to be so confused!!!

The orphanage administrator indicated there are 200 children in the orphanage and 100 of them are about Lucy and Warren's age. The other 100 are older. He stated Lucy Mei and Warren are very close and she calls him brother. :)

We completed the passport paperwork and inquired with the orphanage administrator if we could visit the orphanage. Not surprisngly, he said no. Our guide indicated the larger, wealthier orphanages often allow visitors. :( We asked if we could drive by and take pictures. He agreed. 

I recognized it immediately. We drove to the front entrance and a guard approached our guide. She explained, and he indicated we could stand back (not approach the gate) to take photos. Lucy Mei recognized it too, I think. Again, she held on to me tightly but loosened up once we were all outside the van. We spent about 5 minutes taking photos and left. As we were getting in the van, I placed Lucy Mei in first. She screamed for me in utter fear. I think she thought she was leaving and I was staying!!! Seriously, this kid has been through the ringer!!! Poor girl.

We cuddled in the back seat....sang songs, played pat-a-cake (she loved!).....until she and Warren (seated in front of her) started to play. Ohhhhh my. These two. Lucy would grab his hands and squeeze them tightly and make some kind of sound. At one point, she grabbed his ear. She would tickle him. She would take his stuffed tiger and they would throw it back and forth over the seat and belly laugh. It's sooooo amazing to see her true personality. What a gift and a blessing to be traveling with this family. To boot, they are a hoot!!!! We love them. They are soooo fun. Can't wait to connect with them back in the US.

I'm so glad we visited the orphanage....even just for pictures. Just standing in the spot where our baby girl lived her entire life until now.....was very emotional and a blessing. To experience the sites, smells, sounds - all of it matters. It's the only bit of history we have. We were unable to visit either of the children's "finding spots". They were 40 minutes each in opposite directions...and it was a long day already. Our guide did indicate that Lucy Mei's finding spot was located very close to a hospital. 

We arrived back at the hotel around 7:30 p.m. - completely wiped out. No dinner. Gave Lucy Mei a bottle, changed her diaper, jammies on and right to sleep. Greg and I - asleep 10 minutes later. Luckily, the rooms here are fabulous. Comfortable beds and great air conditioning.   

Lucy Mei is still lukewarm with Daddy. She did feed him Cheerios at the Notary Office today. A huge first step! He also got a smile in the van ride to Zhoukou. It will come in time. She is a child very weary of change.....and ohhhhh, the change she is experiencing. I can't begin to imagine. At this point, I am her safety and security. She will open up in time. The orphanage administrator told us today that men at the orphanage play with the boys and the women play with the girls. I'm sure she's had very little interaction with men. I'm confident she'll be a Daddy's girl in no time....giving Ellie Sue a run for her money!!!

We are getting to see more of Lucy Mei's personality and trust and love each day. It's a truly amazing experience to watch her trust blossom and grow. She cries when she's tired or scared (any moment of transition), but for the most part, she's extremely well behaved. No tantrums, just pitiful cries and alligator tears. She wasn't reaching for the door today, although we weren't in the room much. :) 

She's very strong and solid physically. Not sure what she's been eating but she hasn't missed many meals! She doesn't seem to understand how to "play" - more of an observer - and we're thinking she may need some training in the sharing department! She's very interested in looking at the photo albums of the kids and learning their names. She loves balls and being around children, in general. She has shown absolutely no aggressiveness or anger towards us....but, when she's with Warren, we can tell they were very physical. Lucy Mei was in charge....let's put it that way! :)

Lucy Mei is starting to stir, so I must go! Thanks for following along!! We love connecting with everyone back home and your comments and posts will be treasures for Lucy forever in this travel "journal". Please pray for Lucy to open her heart a little for Greg. Today is a completely free day - looking forward to lots of good bonding with our girl!

P.S. Photos! - top of the blog! Click to see our Lucy Mei Shutterfly site with all the photos daily. Greg is in the process of updating now. Once on Shutterfly, click "Pictures & Videos" at the top of the page in the menu bar. :)