DAY 4 - December 11, 2006

Today was a full day of paperwork and official meetings. But first, the over-night report: Just as our paperwork had said, Abby woke in the middle of the night wanting a bottle. So, from 3:00am-3:30 we scrambled around in a semi-dark room to boil water and measure formula. We learned from this experience and pre-made her morning bottle at the same time, so all we had to do was add water. Abby woke us at around 7:30 wanting another bottle. We then got everyone ready, and by ready we mean clothes on and that's it...we didn't even get a chance to brush our teeth... for breakfast, as our first meeting of the day was at 9:00am. They were right when they told us she is a hearty eater-this girl can put it away! She ate fairly steadily for almost an hour, cheerios, banana, noodles, pancake, and boiled egg. Then it was off to fill out her registration forms and she was given her "red card" saying that no one can take her from us now! At 10:30 David trekked over to the registration office to make it official. At noon the orphanage director from Ruijin came to speak with us and answer questions. He was very generous and spoke quite lovingly about each girl. He explained that Abby's name, Jin Hong Mei does mean Red Little Sister. Every girl from Ruijin city has the surname Jin and every girl found in 2005 has the name Hong. He personally chose Mei (Little Sister) because several girls were found all around the same time and she was the youngest of the group. We also received photos from their last few weeks with the foster family and then at the orphanage. Some even received photos of the day they were found and brought to the orphanage, but we didn't get one. That was a pretty big disappointment to us. We plan to pursue it with CCAI when we get back so maybe we can dig one up from somewhere. We also discovered that 4 of the foster moms live next to each other and therefore 4 of the girls "hung out" together. Abby was one of the 4. These 4 girls also seem to be grieving the most for their foster families. We then only had time to get back to the room, eat a little something, change and meet for the notary appointment. Of course this was scheduled at the same time all the girls usually take naps, so we had a bus full of cranky kiddos! But on the ride over Abby loved looking out of the window and responded to the bicycles and scooters on the road- it was the first time we had really heard her try to babble. What a great sound her little voice makes and what a thrill to finally hear it other than crying! Then it was on to WAL-MART! That's right, Wal-Mart and it was incredibly crowded! We all needed to stock up on baby items and clothes that fit (well, as close as we could find at Wal-Mart). We're having "fun" trying to fit Abby correctly. Her 9 month outfits for the day seem to fit fine, but her sleepers with feet are just a tad too short! You heard us, too short! Now, the sleeves and torso are a bit big, but her legs and feet are just long! Now we KNOW she's one of us! So, if she looks like her clothes are too big in the rest of the photos for the trip it's because they are! People have been asking what size to buy her so we'd suggest 9-12 months to be worn right now and 12 months for sure will fit her for a while to come. But like most Chinese girls she has no tushie, so the size 2 diapers fit her perfectly. We have a feeling she's going to be a fitting challenge for the rest of her life. We returned with our many bags of loot and that's when Abby's skipped nap caught up with her. We had quite a melt down on our hands. And with her mouth open so wide because she was screaming we could see she's cutting a molar! No wonder she's kind of sick and really cranky! But, man, does she ever hate us giving her meds to help her out. That's when the melt down turned into an out and out "I hate your guts and will do anything I can to get away from you." But we held her tight and got through it together. So now that we've dealt with that, we finally get to shower and get to bed! It's the best exhausted we've ever felt...but it's still exhausted! Good Night and peaceful sleep to us all.

P.S. We're not sure she can walk on her own yet, but she's stood for us a couple of times and walked holding on to the edge of things. It won't be long, for sure!