Dressing a little girl again is so much fun! My heart is so torn now that Kinley and I can wear almost the same size. It's nice to double our wardrobes, but I really did miss the cute little outfits. I got so tickled because we saw another adoptive mom who is here, and she said, "She looks like Alabama! Ruffles and big bows." That's how we roll...as long as she lets Mama choose!
We had to go back to the same Civil Affairs office where we had Gotcha Day for our adoption and notary interviews. While we waited our turn on the purple couch, she fell asleep. Not only was I super happy to get to snuggle her while she slept, we had time to admire these pretty eyelashes!
We went in to a stark government office filled with flags for our adoption interview, and the girl there asked a few questions--our ages (the hardest question we had to answer!), where she was from, her Chinese name, whether her adoption was done by free will, if we were satisfied with the child that had been provided for us, and we had to promise not to abandon or abuse her. When we answered these questions, we signed, gave her a gift, and left. It was strange--obviously just jumping through hoops, but also emotional when they asked if we were satisfied with our baby girl. Yes, yes, and yes.
We went upstairs to another office where we had our notary interview. We had to wait a while here, and were able to visit with other families from various agencies who were there for the same interview. It was amazing to see babies who had been screaming on Gotcha Day holding on to their new mommies and daddies. 24 hours makes a big difference! Judy Lin woke up just in time for our interview, so she could participate in this one. We answered almost the same questions again, but this time they added, "Why China?" It is a question that we have been asked so many times before. We have always wanted to adopt from China, ever since a little girl in a shoe store made me smile before I was even a mom. And now, we want to adopt from China because it is where our girl is! We were also asked our impression of Judy Lin, which was in the middle of her charming the lady with a very official presence with her sweet smile. It was so much fun to watch her work her magic!
When we finished, we came back to the hotel and played. She loves to play with her toys, so we sat on the bed and let her play! She also loves rice cakes and rice cookies, and she kept turning and looking at me with half of a cookie sticking out of her mouth. So cute!
We ended our day with a trip to a Noodle and Dumpling house recommended by our guide. We couldn't find the restaurant at first, and an English-speaking Chinese man from the wrong restaurant took pity on us and walked us from his restaurant around to the right one. It was seriously the BEST food we have had! They brought Judy Lin a steamed egg that she did NOT like, but she can put away some dumplings and noodles! We ordered noodles, pan-fried dumplings, and sautéed mushrooms. It was all so good! There was a tiny miscommunication with the water--we asked for water and the waiter said, "Right here," and poured some steaming yellow water in our cups. It was some kind of tea, but we declined and decided to choke everything down! We will travel with water bottles from now on! Kinley couldn't make herself try anything because she was afraid of getting sick, so we got her some comfort food in the form of McDonald's on the way back to the hotel--and some cokes for us to wash down the noodles. Day Three--in the books!
(This Chinese New Year decoration is outside McDonald's. Zeke and Kinley are trying to figure out how to bring one of the dragons home!)
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