Miss Grace is Finally Home!

Some of you may remember that we had started another adoption process prior to our move. Realizing that the move would slow down our paperwork, we put things on hold so that another family could come forward. Well, another family did, and today was their adoption day. Below is a description of their day, and I also added a few pics with the family's permission. Dave and I are so happy to know that she is loved and has a family. What more could we ask for?


We finally have our beautiful Kenzie (Cong Cong -pronounced "officially" tsong tsong). She is more beautiful and wonderful that we already knew.

We got to Civil Affairs about 9:15 and Kenzie was to be there at 9:30. There was a traffic jam though and they did not get to the office until about 10am. The nannies came in with the prettiest girl in all of China (at least in our opinion). She was dressed in the typical 4 layers and was as somber as could be. They later told us that she had been sick in the taxi - twice. No wonder she was so somber. I went to her and she did not cry, but she was really not interested in either Glen or me. We expected this and were fine with it - though the guides and the nannies kept apologizing. I kept it together for her sake. I was surprised that I did not dissolve into a driveling mess, but rather was able to talk to her and try to play with her - on her level. Kenzie did not cry a tear even when the Nannies left. That surprised be even more.

We left the civil affairs office and went to get her passport and our "family" picture taken - that went marginally well. She wass till very stoic but she sat and stood for the pictures. From there we planned to go to lunch, but shortly after leaving she was sick again, and then again. Change of plans and we returned to the hotel. I took Kenzie up to the room and changed her out of the first 2 layers of clothes that had been soiled. It was then that the tears came - fast and hard for about 30 minutes. I held her and sang to her and rocked her. We sat in a chair and after while the sobs subsided and she just settled into my chest - ahhh what a wonderful moment for Mom. Daddy and our guide Selena went to McDonalds and I finally got the cheeseburger and fries I had beencraving. We also found that Kenzie loves her fries. She ate none of her nuggets, but all of her fries. It was during lunch that we began to see some personality shine through.

Bubbles - the miracle bubbles. We opened the bubbles and started blowing them, then Kenzie tried blowing them and we were all 3 in fits of laughter. It was fabulous. This girl has a smile that lights up an entire room and a laugh that encompasses her entire body. We spent the afternoon in our hotel room just playing.Kenzie had zero interest in the doll and stuffed animals. The cell phone and jewlry however were a big hit. We did wander down to the dining room for some Pepsi and dessert. We came back upstairs and played for most of the evening. In addition to loving the jewelry Kenzie loves her new clothes. She went to outfit after outfit and wanted to try every last one of them on. We found that 1 of her 3T dresses was way too short. The other 2 dresses will be ok for acouple of wearings. The 3T pants were ok and the shirts were ok fora few wearings as well. She is kind of tall so 4T it will be and the adjustable waist pants will be a must! She tried all of her clothes and all of the shoes on and was happy as a clam doing so.It was quite fun.

Took a break for a room service dinner and then attempted to get Kenzie ready for bed. As soon as we put the jammies on her lip began to quiver and the floodgates once again opened. She cried and cried. I held her for aout 45 minutes and thought she was asleep.As soon as I laid her down she woke up and cried again. There was no going to sleep right then. She has been happily playing and is is dressed in her Cinderella night gown with her pearls on! She truly is a princess.