Day 2 with Esther...paperwork and some starts of bonding:)

Esther first thing in the morning...still no smiles...and not sure of herself.


Off to meet with Civil affairs office and Nannies. The lady in this picture is actually Esther's foster mom. This rarely ever happens that the foster mom travels with the Nannies. But this foster mom did because Esther has had a cold and fever and they wanted her comforted on such a long trip. Notice the hand pushing me away? This is a smart and determined little girl:) This was actually a very emotional time for me as I was so thankful to this lady for the care and love she has given Esther since day 2 of her life. It was evident as I watched the two of them love on each other. She tried to show us all the things Esther could do. Then I got to ask her any questions I wanted through a translator. We both shed a few tears and I told her we would send her pictures of Esther as she grew. She said "yes, yes, yes". This was a sad time for Esther too as she had to say bye-bye to her foster mommy for the second time in two days. All day in our room, any time anyone would knock on the door and it wasn't her foster mom she would just burst into tears, as that is how her foster mom had entered the room we were in earlier. I am so thankful to have met this woman and see how much she loved Esther. I am so thankful to the Lord for arranging this meeting today. He knew my heart and wanting to go to Cenxi to meet and thank this lady who had taken such good care of Esther.


This is us signing more paperwork and promising to take good care of Esther in the notary's office. All in all, the paperwork went very smoothly today.


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We had some food bonding moments today as Esther took two bottles from me and one from Robert. This is me feeding Esther congee in the morning.


This is a most important paper that we signed and was notarized today. This paper makes Esther officially ours according to Chinese law. We will wait the next couple days for the paperwork to process in this province and then move on Friday to Guangzhou where we finalize the U.S. paperwork to bring her home! Please pray for her ears and sinuses to heal so plane travel will be easy for her on Friday...thanks.