He's ours.

Pictures first. :)

Simon loves bean sprout salad.

Giving daddy five.

I love my apple juice.

Being goofy.

Buddies

I ate all my peanut butter and jelly.

Yup, he is ours. We went back to the civil affairs office today, signed some paperwork, paid some (o.k. a lot) of money, each gave our thumbprint in red, Simon gave his hand print in red, and then. . . congratulations. CONGRATULATIONS. We have a son.

Now why, you might ask, do we need to stay here so much longer? Well, we need to wait for Simon's passport. We took the photo today. Then, we travel to Guangshou for the U.S. side of things. See, he isn't ours yet in the eyes of the United States government. One down, one to go.

Let me recap the past 24 hours.

*Big afternoon nap by Mr. Simon Sprick. Way to go big guy.

*Little walk in the afternoon to get some toilet paper. Gotta have it. Met Kyla on the way and she came back to our apartment and we chatted for about an hour. Love her. Simon, by the way, said hello, but would rather be by his daddy. That is a good thing.

*Peanut Butter and jelly for supper. Simon loved it.

*Out for an evening stroll with Leila, our guide.

*Bath time--loved it!

*Bedtime. . . did so great. Simon loves books and repeats all the words that we say in the books. Very cute.

*Good night of sleep.

*Simon has a cold and is bleeding a little from his nose. More liquids!

*Get up and go to the civil affairs office. Do all the blah blah stuff.

*Lunch in our apartment. O.k., I need to pause and tell you two things. First, we were going to have PB & J again. Yummy, filling, we are going out for supper etc. So, we mention this to Anne. She instead cooks us up some wings and some pot stickers. They were the most wonderful tasty yummy. . . oh so good. Second, the boy can eat. One wing, three pot stickers, raisins, bananas, AND 3/4 peanut butter and jelly--two slices. Hopefully he'll build up some fat in his biscuits. His pants are always falling off.

After Simon went down, I was invited by Anne to go to a market and so some shopping. So fun! We took the bus (good experience) and then enjoyed all the little shops. We saw the pet market: lots of birds and fish, turtles, hamsters, and dogs. . . not for pets. . . for food.

Simon is still sleeping as are most of you. We love you and covet your prayers. God is pouring out His blessings on us more than we even asked for. Thanks you Lord! Simon appears to be bonding with us. . . he runs and hugs and kisses us. He asks to be picked up, he loves to play, he sings Jesus Loves Me over and over again. . .Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

Prayer Requests

1. Continued bonding with Simon.

2. Paperwork all gets completed.

3. Thanks for Leila our guide and for the staff of ICC--they have helped us in so many ways.

4. Because we have so much free time in the next few days, homesickness may hit me hard. I miss my other kids. Pray that I may enjoy every moment here.

Dogs for sale in the market-to be raised and eaten.

The meat is hanging in the back, the innards are on the street for sale as well.