Anna is Ours

Five months ago today we asked the China Civil Adoption Affairs if we could adopt Chu Fang Ran. Through the support of the Chinese Government, the Xuzhou Social Welfare Institute, the United States Citizen and Immigration Services, The National Visa Center, our wonderful China Adoption Coordinator, our home study Social Worker and the other Xuzhou families; Anna Lin officially became our daughter today!  Oh, and we received TA on Christmas Day.It was waiting for us at the Nanjing office yesterday. (No comment J) The mountain of paperwork, numerous signatures and the fingerprints of John, Anna and myself solidifies that Anna Lin is our daughter forever. After the ceremony in the Civil Affairs office, we spent some time at the Nanjing orphanage with the other family in our group.  We then celebrated with lunch at Burger King. For all of you that told us Anna is a tiny little thing…we invite you carry her for awhile.  She is a solid girl!  Most of the clothes I brought her are too small and her feet are very wide so the shoes don't fit either. And this girl can eat! At breakfast she ate 6 dumplings, 2 fried eggs, 4 pieces of toast, a bowl of noodles, 3 yogurts and 2 glasses of orange juice. Our guide took me to the department store to buy her some clothes and a stroller. Anna's condition makes it very uncomfortable for her to walk and it hurts when we hold her. She likes riding in the stroller…I'm convinced she thinks she's VIP being pushed around in her special car. The smile has not left her face although we have had a few testy moments with her. She's getting to know Lily and they are working through the process of living together as sisters. She's also learning to bond with us.  Last night I crawled in bed with her to give her a hug. We spent several minutes in silence just looking into each other's eyes. Anna pushed back the covers and unzipped her PJ's and took them off.  She then reached for my top and had me remove it. She wanted to hug skin to skin. We lay in each other's arms for awhile and she slowly drifted off to sleep.  She looked so at peace with what is going on in her life. We are just amazed at how quickly she is fitting into our family. Pamela Block pamela.block@yahoo.com http://johnpamelablock.blogspot.com/