It's Official!

Good evening!  Today we went back to the civil affairs office to complete Charlie's adoption.  It's official!  Xie Yi Chen is now Charlie Yichen Thrasher!  We had to sign some more paperwork, again stating that will will not abuse or abandon our child in the future and why we want to adopt from China.  Then we had to place a red thumb print over our signatures to make it official and sign a document in front of the notary.  That was it!

The not so fun part was that Charlie wanted none of that room.  We were there about two hours and he got very restless.  He did much better when we took him outside to walk around.  On our way back to the hotel, the bus driver drove us past the place where Charlie was found as an infant.  I'll leave the details for him, but it was pretty surreal to pass the place.  The bus couldn't stop there but we may have a chance to go back later this week.

Charlie's fussiness lasted the majority of the day.  While he was pretty stressed and out of it yesterday, today he was not happy with much of anything.  We are all pretty tired of being in this hotel room.  It's hot and stuffy and there are far too many things for him to hit his head on.  So we walked around the mall and walked the halls.  We were also able to buy some clothing and treats for the orphanage children with the money so generously donated by our friends at Charlie's baby shower. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

Tomorrow we get to visit Charlie's orphanage.  I am looking forward to it and not looking forward to it at the same time.  I want to see where Charlie spent his days and meet his nannies and friends.  This is an important piece of Charlie's history and I want to be able to share as much as possible with him about that place.  I am also not looking forward to it.  So many children who have yet to find homes.  Children living without families.  It will be hard to see as well, I'm sure.  I mainly want to hug Charlie's nannie's neck and thank her for all she's done for our son.

Charlie also got his first bath tonight.  He LOVED the water and didn't want to get out!

We are very tired, as we usually are by early evening, and hope for a good night sleep!  Goodnight friends!

Specific Prayer request:  Please pray that all goes well at the orphanage visit tomorrow.  That Charlie doesn't get scared or worried about returning there and that we get a great picture into his history.