March 9--Forever Family Day

Today, we officially became a family of "5"! We are parents of 3 children! That sentence in itself became very real to me today! The Lord has blessed us beyond words and we are so thankful for this amazing opportunity to be ALL their parents! In the eyes of China, we are Macy's parents. We went back to the Jiangsu government building to complete the rest of the paperwork and pay the money to the orphanage. she doesn't like to ride in the van that we are traveling in so she wasn't happy when we entered the building. Her nannies and the orphanage director were there today and were trying to cheer her up. Throughout the whole process, she was getting upset over a variety of things. (being told no, not getting to play, not getting to write with a pen) So, when we were done with everything, the nannies and the director were telling her bye and she was trying to figure everything out. It was very heartbreaking watching them leave waving bye and blowing her kisses. I know that they loved her very much and took good care of her. We are so thankful.

We also received some very special documents from the orphanage director. We got a photo album of recent pictures of her at the orphanage, a scrapbook of information/pictures from an early age, her finding ad (priceless), and a traditional Chinese gift. All these pieces will help her as she gets older and understands the whole concept of adoption.

We went to McDonald's for Macy's first experience of the big arches. She ate about 1 french fry and was done with the whole experience. We picked her up some noodles, eggs, and meatballs at Mi Noodle. She has not stopped eating since we picked her up yesterday. She is one healthy little girl.

After lunch, we decided to conquer bath time. In the adoption world, people say that this is a hard thing because most of them have never been in the water. I got my bathing suit on and started the water. Jason brought her into the bathroom and her eyes lit up. We got her undressed and put her in. She absolutely loved it. She was even okay with me washing her hair. We played for about 15 minutes and it was time to get out. Instead of throwing a fit getting into the water, she threw her fit because she had to get out of the water. Interesting!?!

We have been playing all day and her personality continues to come out. She is for sure a take charge kind of girl and I can see her telling her brothers what to do! It will be so fun when they all get together at home. We do some sightseeing tomorrow and find out some more about the Jiangsu province.

Pictures: Baba feeding Macy noodles with chopsticks (impressive)

Macy in the bathtub

Us with the orphanage director and 2 of the nannies