Samuel's Adoption Day!!

Today was the day that Samuel’s adoption was finalized in China. This province is very different than the ones our daughters were adopted from.. With the girls, we only went to one place, the Civil Affairs Office where we received them, and did all the paperwork. With Samuel, our gotcha day was at the orphanage. Then today we went to the Civil Affairs Office, then we drove to the Notaries office, and then to the Police Station to apply for his passport. It took much longer to complete all the steps due to all the driving around town. But it was also interesting to see the different areas of Tianjin.

Before we left for our adoption appointments, we had a very big breakfast. Now this mom of many should have known better than to let her newly adopted son gorge himself at breakfast, all before getting in a van and driving all over town. On our way to our first appointment, Samuel got very snuggly, then very fidgety, and I should have recognized the signs, but suddenly we were both covered in his very large breakfast. And so was the van – the driver wouldn’t even look at me after that. So, we went to all these official appointments covered in partially digested food, smelling pretty rank, and our new son proudly dressed in a diaper and a hoody, because it never occurred to me to bring a change of clothes.

Here are a few random thoughts about our new son. When we hold him, he leans into us and wraps his sweet little arms around our neck. He is super chilled and laid back. He loves to laugh at his sisters, mostly at Mercy. He has the most adorable dimples you have ever seen. His eyes disappear when he smiles and when he laughs, his mouth opens so wide but very little sound comes out. When he cries, which he has not done often, it is very quiet and soft. But when he screams a happy scream, he can match Mercy’s loudness without a problem. We just love him so much and we are so thankful that God would allow us to add him to our family. He is such a sweet and peaceful child. And I know this is a honeymoon of sorts and things can change quickly, but I do believe that his nature is very calm.