After getting her yesterday, we had a sort of 24 hour "trial period". Then, this morning, we headed back over to the Civil Affairs office and went through some paper work and were asked if we would like to proceed with the adoption. There was no way we were giving up this precious, playful, wonderful little girl! :) We had to sign a lot of papers including 'sealing' the signatures with our thumb prints in red ink. We vowed to never abuse or abandon or neglect her and then she was ours.
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| Ellie's first official picture as a Burton. (Nanny and orphanage director on the right) |
Afterwards, we came back to the hotel and had the rest of the day to hang out and play. Ellie started to get sleepy and a little snuggly with daddy which he did not mind at all. :) Then momma got to snuggle her and she fell right to sleep. I held her for a little while just marveling at this precious gift we have been given. It was hard to give up the snuggle time but I knew that she would nap better in her bed and I was really needing a nap after being up since 4am too.
After nap time, Marcus was feeling brave so he ventured out to Walmart again to get a few things. Ellie and I stayed behind and played. She is like any other toddler. Curious, into everything (especially the things that she is not supposed to play with ;)) and busy. :) I even got to see a little bit of her stubborn side when I tried to get the remote away from her. ;)
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| Trying to reach the things that momma put out of reach up on the desk. ;) |
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| A pile of napkins can be quite entertaining. |
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| Apparently, our girl is not afraid of heights. She seemed to be trying to 'climb' out of the 19th story window! :) |
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| Mali, Ellie is looking forward to having her big sister read your favorite book to her. :) |
(PS- Have I mentioned that our 20 month old is potty trained? When they told me that yesterday I didn't really believe them but it has turned out to be true! First thing this morning, I sat her on the potty and she did both of her businesses. Then the rest of the day, she would point to the bathroom if we were nearby or pat her diaper to tell me she had to go. The only 'accident' she had today was while we were at the Civil Affairs office and mommy was distracted and she did NOT like to be dirty! Such a surprise!)
Later on Daddy ventured out again for some dinner and after another picnic in our room Marcus gave Ellie the bath that she had been asking for earlier while she was helping mommy do 'laundry' in the tub. She really seems to love bath time. :) She was so sleepy that we got to see her slap happy side which basically consists of her going into overdrive in fear of falling asleep if she holds still. So funny. :)
Tomorrow, we will be spending much of Christmas day in the car. We are going to be traveling to Datong where Ellie is from. It is about a four hour drive north. We will get to tour her orphanage, possibly meet her foster family, and stop at the police station to get her passport. It is going to be a really long day and I hope that we don't go too crazy being cooped up in the car for so long. I also pray that we can gain a lot of insight and history of Ellie's first 20 months while we are there. Being in an orphanage is certainly going to be a different way of spending Christmas and I pray that God will move in our hearts and remind us of the deepest meaning of Christmas. We were all lost orphans before Jesus humbled himself and came to Earth as a man only to die for us as a way to make atonement for our sins. Through Him, we can all be adopted into God's family and never be separated from the love of our Father again. Adopting Ellie is such a beautiful reflection of why adoption is so close to God's heart. Here's to another day of this amazing journey! :)
awesome.
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