Ava Tian Fuller

February 19^th

Ava Tian Fuller is officially ours!!!!!! This morning we went to the Civil Affairs office and filled out our final adoption paperwork which makes Ava officially part of our family. Echo and the orphanage worker helped us through all of the paperwork. Some of it had English translation, but some of it did not so we were so thankful to have them there to help guide us through the process. After we signed our final paperwork and Ava signed it with a right thumb print we had a quick ceremony where we received Ava's adoption certificate. What a special occasion! Words cannot express how happy we are to have finally made it to the end of this process. Some it seemed as if we were never going to see the end, but we have definitely arrived!! And now it's easy to see who we worked so hard for and to know it was all so worth it.

Civil Affairs Office~Shanghai

Echo helping with paperwork

Ava signing her paperwork :)

While we were at the Civil Affairs office we had to wait quite a while. It was their first day back in the office after the Chinese New Year break so they were a little slower than normal but they also had a packed room of 3 families finalizing their adoptions as well as numerous newly weds waiting for their marriage certificate. While we were waiting we decided to see if Ava would walk at all for us. We knew she could walk but had yet to see it. See took off without any problem as long as someone had ahold of her to make sure she kept her balance. We were such proud parents and a very proud Lau Lau as well. It was like we were watching her first steps.

After the Civil Affairs office we went to some place to get our Adoption Certificate and Certificate of Abandonment notarized. Apparently this takes time so Echo is planning to pick up these papers before we fly out on Friday. What we did receive was Ava's Chinese passport! This is step one of her being able to fly home. Next week in Guangzhou the entire purpose is to get her Visa finalized and that is the last step needed for her to fly home.

The afternoon flew by as we all laid down on the bed and slept for an hour~it was a big day and we were all tired. And I love that having a baby is a perfect excuse for an afternoon nap ;) After that we went to supper with Echo and the other Holt family. Echo picked out a restaurant and they gave us a private dining room. Echo did a great job of ordering a wide array of dishes so that we could try different dishes. I had tofu for the first time and loved it. I will definitely need to figure out how to cook that at home. Ava ate supper in a high chair for the first time. She did fantastic! Perfectly content for over an hour as long as we were giving her food. This little lady can eat and eat until we tell her to stop.

After supper we did a little more shopping and walked around on Nanjing Road and then called it a night. Such a great day and a day we will NEVER forget.