Finalization & First Giggles!

So I have held my emotions together pretty well so far here in China, until this morning, when we finalized the adoption and the Chinese government official stated the decree that Alaina was now our daughter. Oh my! Tears! So so many tears! I just can't believe how blessed we are to get to keep her! :)

Before the finalization we had had a pretty tough morning. Lainey woke up scared, very understandably. We had a lot of tears and it was so tough to just hold her and let her grieve. Thankfully, by the time we reached the Civil Affairs office she was calm and quiet, and did so well playing quietly in my lap as all the paperwork was processed (for over an hour). She fell asleep in my arms again, and napped for about 20 minutes before it was our turn to be decreed as her parents.

Lainey has been SO timid with us for most of the time. For example, when BJ would blow her bubbles and bring a bubble to her (on the bubble wand, if that makes sense), she would lift just one little finger very slowly, not lifting her hand at all, to pop them. Aside from the few little smiles we saw from her yesterday, she has been either stoic or sad.

After coming back from the Civil Affairs office, we went back to the room to just rest and play. Sitting on the bed with her, I brought out the toy necklaces and stacking cups I had packed. After playing for little while, I could see her relaxing... and soon I saw a little smile, then more and more smiles. I'd give her big kisses and she's laugh, her FIRST giggles for us! It was such a sweet sweet moment, as we were really able to start to see her personality and have her come out of her shell. This process of bonding takes time and patience, and we are just so thrilled to see her really opening up to us on just the second day. :)

We just returned now from her finding place location, which was close enough to our hotel to walk there, and good to visit, but also so sad. We're not going into detail on this, since it's her story to tell in her own time. But we can read a lot into her finding place, and it's very clear that she was loved by her birth family. What a heartbreaking thing to have to let go of your precious child.