Finally...he is OURS!!!

It is official, Graeme is OURS!!!
Yesterday, Dad, Graeme and Lily napped! He is a good sleeper as I prayed for...Woo Hoo!!!

Graeme and his Jie Jie. She can hold his hand as he sleeps!

Sweet boy after his bath

There is a pond of turtles in the lobby of the hotel and they love to "sun" themselves on the rocks.

Lily loves the turtles and we have to check on them multiple times each day!

Lily snacks while I finish the paperwork.

Lily and Wyatt watching a movie at the civil affairs office.

Proud Daddy heading to lunch with his children.

Our hotel in Anhui Province, the Sofitel...fabulous now that we have air in our room!

First stroller ride, not to sure what to think about this but he is okay as long as he can see his Ba Ba.

Our little KFC picnic. Graeme is letting me feed him! Wes teased that we have to go all the way to China to get me to eat at a KFC...he's right:)

Playing cars with him, I got this smile. I would stand on my head for more smiles like this one. Isn't he a cute little Miracle?

We are officially a family of 4 in the eyes of China. Our adoption on the China side was finalized today!!! Woo Hoo! He is really ours. He is still doing amazingly well. He has not cried and only begins to if Wes tries to give him to me. He is definitely a Daddy's boy right now which is wonderful. We are so glad that he has bonded to one of us.

We went to the civil affairs office this morning to complete the paperwork. We arrived at the office and the nanny that brought him yesterday tried to reach for him to hold him and he would not go to her. He fussed a little and settled back into Wes' arms. This was a wonderful moment for our little family as it shows how much he has attached to Wes. He will let me play with him and feed him and push him in the stroller but when he wants to be held or changed, only Wes will do. This is a complete roll reversal from our first adoption with Lily. We are now referring to me as the "Sherpa Mama" since I am the one who carries all the stuff and there is ALOT of stuff. We are both able to get him to smile and we think we heard a little laugh today. He continues to be quite timid.

Lily and Wyatt (the 5 year old son of Tamara and Andy, our travel mates) have quite the friendship going. They are sharing snacks and movies. Wyatt is such a little character and is doing amazingly well. Lily continues to be a great Jie Jie to Graeme. She is very helpful and is sharing with him alot. She is a little hearbroken that he won't hold her hand when we are walking around. I remind her that he won't hold mine either...just Dad's but that he will one day. She has really impressed us and we so hope this continues.

We all had lunch in a private room at the Chinese restaurant in our hotel. Jane, our guide, ordered for us and it was delicious. Our three families are really getting along well. Each time we arrive to breakfast, we are escorted to a special table. It is almost as if it is reserved for us.

We have not said much but the heat and humidity has been extreme and the place that it bothers us the most is in our room at the hotel. We found out today that the air conditioning is turned off at night to conserve energy. After much urging from our guide, we now have a fan that blows cool air in our room and I think we will sleep much better tonight. At least, I know I will!

This afternoon we went on an adventure to a local shopping center. We bought some treats to take with us to the orphanage tomorrow for the children still there. We were the attraction at the store and got lots of stares. The only thing we could not find was more bug spray. Graeme was very cautious with the strangers that approached us but as long Wes was in sight he was fine. He also did great in the stroller.

We ended the day with a picnic in our room of you guessed it, Kentucky Fried Chicken. Graeme liked his fries and ate the chicken without the breading. He let me feed him and there were more smiles. I got a huge grin tonight when I gave him a butter cookie right before bedtime. He seems to be feeling better but still has a cough and is running a low grade temperature. I just hope this all clears up before we travel home.

Tomorrow, we leave early in the morning to visit the orphanage. This is where Graeme spent 2 years of his life. While we are happy that we have been granted permission for the visit, we are anxious and nervous as well. I want to see where he has spent so much time. I want to thank the nannies who have cared for him and meet his little friends. I want him to know that they know that he is with us and all is well. I know that the visit will be emotional. We told the director today about the donation from our church to the orphanage in Graeme's honor. She was very thankful. The donation is being coordinated through our agency CCAI and they will purchase what she requests and deliver it to the orphanage. I also have the items packed from the families that sent them and will bring them tomorrow as well. Pray for us all as we travel there tomorrow and especially for Graeme.

We really love reading all of your comments and e-mails. They mean the world to us and help so much!!!