It's Official!

This morning we returned to the adoption center in Harbin.  We signed all the papers and delivered the orphanage donation.  We are now officially the parents of Sophia Yi Hua.  

When signing documents we were required to add a thumb print in red ink.  Sophie got to make a palm print on one of the documents.  She enjoyed that quite a bit. 

After all the paperwork was complete we got an opportunity to sit down with the care taker who brought Hua Hua to us yesterday.  We learned that Sophia has lived in a foster home near the orphanage since November, 2010.  Each day she would be picked up and taken to the orphanage for physical therapy and then taken back to her foster family in the evening.  Wendy and I are very appreciative of the level of care Sophie received.  

We were also given a gift from the Half the Sky Foundation.  They are an organization based in the United States that has played a large role in elevating the level of care provided to children living in orphanages in China.  They have been documenting Sophia's life since their program started in Harbin in March of 2010.  Today we were provided with progress reports on Sophie and a short video comprised of photos taken of her through the years.  We were very moved. 

We stopped at a local landmark for pictures on the way back to the hotel.  Before we knew who our daughter was, or where she would be from we had already picked a name.  We had left open the possibility of changing it, but we were pretty settled on Sophia.  When we accepted the referral of a little girl in Harbin we began to research the area in search of any morsel of information we could mine on our daughter to be.  When googling Harbin one of the first things you will find are photos of a lovely old church called Saint Sophia's.  A great coincidence or a sign - whatever the case it made the decision on her name final.  We wanted to be sure to get a photo while here for the adoption.

Wendy and Sophia have bonded beautifully.  They have been two peas in a pod.  They even look alike!  Yes, I realize they are both Asians, but it's more than that.  Although, on our way back to the hotel this morning our interpreter told me Sophie reminds him of me.  Maybe we just see what we want to see.

She was a little fussy this evening before bed.  She's asleep now. 

 What a pleasure it is to watch her sleep.  We love her so much!