Chloe is here!

Praise God! He is so good to us! We are the very proud parents and new big sister to a beautiful little girl. We have had Chloe with us for about 12 hours now and have already seen the blessing of an amazing transformation from a scared and screaming little baby to a relaxed LAUGHING little girl.

Yesterday at about 3pm we arrived at the Chinese Civil Affairs Office here in Guangzhou. There were a total of 10 nervous and excited families. We all went upstairs into a waiting room together. We spent about 20 minutes preparing some paperwork and had the great blessing of praying together to our wonderful God that He would bless our families and giving thanks to him for the wonderful gift and responsibility of receiving a daughter. It was a wonderful thing to be able to give God praise and honor in a Chinese Government Office!

As we were finishing up we could hear some babies crying and then caught a glimpse of some of the Chinese nannies carrying babies down the hall. I can’t explain the anticipation in the room. One of our guides stood at the door of the room and began calling out family names as the babies came in. We were number 8 out of 10 and the whole process was over in about 5 min! 10 families with new little girls. Chloe looked just like her pictures and was very serious. When I picked her up she looked at my face and at Melissa’s face and her lip started quivering. Dave really put her over the top. She just wailed a cry that sounded so scared and sad. It seemed as though she was recognizing how completely unfamiliar we were. During the next 1 ½ hours we continued to sign papers and hold our daughters. Chloe did calm down during this time and even fell asleep once, but every time she looked at our faces she would start crying again.

One of the workers from the orphanage was there and we were able to ask some questions with the help of our guide. I learned that this woman named Chloe when she came to the orphanage. Shao – is related to the city where she was found (Shao Guan), Fu – means double happiness, and Yi which is her first name was given because it is a “very beautiful name for a girl”. I was blessed to know that even when she arrived at the orphanage she was thought of as beautiful. It was very interesting to hear some of the other reasons that babies received their names. One was given her name because they thought she looked like a boy!:) Another was given her name – Peach – because her cheeks were like peaches when she arrived.

We also learned that all of our babies slept alone in a crib. This is a blessing because it means that hopefully Chloe will have and easier time adjusting when we get home. We will be able to visit the orphanage – either on Friday or Saturday. This is an answer to prayer as we were praying that God would give us the chance to visit so that we could tell her about where she spent her first year when she is older.

As is the custom, all of the families brought gifts for the orphanage director and the nannies that care for the children – so they took these gifts and left to return to the orphanage in Shao Guan. The woman who we spoke with seemed very kind and smiled a lot. She did seem to care very much about the babies and to know them personally. I was able to take a picture with her so that Chloe can see the person in this world who gave her her first name.

The papers that we signed basically began the final adoption process. It gave us temporary custody of the babies and today when we return to fill out the next set of papers, the adoption will be final. Chinese adoption law has already terminated all parental rights and there is no additional waiting period. So today Chloe will legally become a Northrup. What God has already done in our hearts will become an earthly reality!

By the time these procedures were finished and we got back on the bus to return to the hotel Chloe had calmed down a little bit and was more interested in what was going on around her. She especially liked the rattle we brought with us and was holding it very tight. Melissa held her on the bus and she seemed to like that. When we got back to the hotel we only had about 45 min until dinner so we decided not to bathe her or change her clothes. We didn’t want to overwhelm her with too much all in the first few min.

Dave spent most of this time trying to track down some of the formula Chloe is using and that story is a long and funny story all by itself. By the time dinner came we still did not have formula but we did give her some apple juice in a bottle. She loved that! The best moment came when she smiled. Dave gets all the credit. There is just something about a daddy acting goofy that brings out the best in everybody. She just relaxed more and more from that point so much so that during dinner he actually got her to laugh out loud! I can’t explain how it feels inside to have her already looking at us with new eyes. Thank you to everyone who is praying. She is asleep right now and today will be a whole new adventure as she wakes up to so many changes. We are leaving soon to sign those final Chinese papers so I have to go.

Angie