It's Official!

The interview...

Signing the papers...

The official footprint...

It's really final!!!

Our adoption group after a morning of "finalizing"! See our smiles... we are blessed!

Napping after our full morning of officializing (with the little monkey we sent in his care package).

What a morning this has been! Up until a couple hours ago, I was Gong Gong's "guardian", now I am his mother! His name was officially on the papers (after much indecision) as Jonathan Pierce Yi Gong Horton!

I really sense that, while this is all a very big change for Gong Gong, he has been well prepared (Thank you, L*rd). He is a little trooper. He has not spoken at all with words, but responds to my questions in Chinese and lets me know things like when he needs to go potty. He is in so many different places developmentally. He appears to be quite bright, but is so small. He still takes a bottle with formula at 27 months. However, he took quite a liking to McDonald's french fries when (at the group's request) we stopped to get lunch on the way back to the hotel (sorry, Bob, I couldn't deny him). I learned so much this morning from the director of the orphanage. She seemed like such a dear lady. Apparently Gong Gong's foster family were friends of hers, the father a retired government official. He had an older foster brother (19) and a "pretty" sister! They gave me a little album of pics--what a treasure! I know he is going to grieve. I see it, yet he wants my comfort. I think this is good. He is such a sweet little guy. I just can't get over how blessed I am!