Adoption Day!

Today, August 28th, our daughter Laney Kate Rao Schoeppner officially joined our forever family. She is now part of our wild and wacky group. (smile) We are thrilled beyond belief!

Last night, her first night with us, she fell asleep in my arms and I laid her in bed. She slept soundly through the night and this morning, when Troy and I woke up (around 6:30) we quietly crept over to her crib. We couldn't hear anything, so we assumed she was still asleep. When we peeked in, she was staring wide-eyed up at us, totally awake and then started grinning. It was adorable!! She has the most adorable dimples.

We met our guide around 9:00 this morning and drove to more government offices. We met her nanny & orphanage director again and said hello. I was nervous about her seeing them again...worried that the bonding we've begun might be set back. The nanny came over and started saying, "Yu Yu" loudly and smiling and holding out her arms. Laney just stared at her and then turned her head and held on to me. The nanny was almost in tears and I felt badly for her...but so thankful that my girl feels safe in my arms. She was obviously loved at the SWI, but I think she realizes she has better deal with a real mommy & daddy.

We were interviewed twice and asked the same sets of questions. Troy and I both were choking back tears as we answered things like, "Do you promise to never abandon this child? Do you promise to never abuse her? Do you promise to care for her and love her for always?" It was a powerful moment. We apparently answered all of the questions correctly, because a few minutes later there was a lot smiling and shaking of hands and we were congratulated.

Then we put our red thumb prints on a stack of documents and her red footprint on one document and it was complete! One little girl walked into a room an orphan yesterday and today, she was happily carried out in the arms of her mommy & daddy.

We ate lunch, had our laundry done (1 huge load, washed, dried, expertly folded and individually wrapped...all for about $14US!) and then hit the local Wal-Mart. I didn''t like Wal-Mart any better in China than I do in the US, but it was an experience. Two stories of insanity and the same weird smiley-face bags, but we were able to get more baby food and some baby spoons so it was all good. The cab rides here are so much fun! Troy and I are just cracking up at the traffic. It seems insane, but they have a system and we don't feel like we're in TOO much danger. I can tell Troy is dying to rent or borrow a car and try his hand at it, but I'm not letting him.

Here are a few pictures from the day. Enjoy!