Month Five

 

Here we are five months later and still all smiles!  Life is great and Lottie continues to grow and blossom each day.  She loves her new school and we are so happy we found such a loving, supportive place to help her learn and grow.  She is making new friends and learning all sorts of news things like sleeping on a cot with the other kids, feeding herself, and participating in finger plays and circle time!  We are so lucky to have found Karebear Childcare we feel so confident Lottie is in the best of hands and its pretty evident they love her so very much.  I mean what's not to love right?!

 

Lottie has recovered from her surgery with flying colors, she is simply amazing.  We are so pleased with her scar and the reconstructive work to her nose and lip.  We always thought she was breathtakingly beautiful but seeing her new smile she just glows.  She is one beautiful little girl!  The surgery has drastically helped with feeding and now Lottie loves to eat solids foods!  She is eating so much we can barely keep up with her!  A few weeks ago we tried some Penne alla Vodka- she LOVED it we knew she was a Castagno and there will be more Italian food in her future!  Its so fun to watch her learn about food and enjoy eating- for the first four months she was home she essentially survived by milk- 3-4 bottles a day.  Now she is an eating machine and we are already seeing drastic changes in her tiny frame.  Lottie is a petite little girl and most likely will be her entire life but it was one exciting moment to see the scale climb over the 20lb mark and watch some of her 9-12 month clothing look too short and tight!  

 

The next month we have some big plans!  Lottie will celebrate her 2nd birthday, our first Referral-Versary,  celebrating her first Chinese holiday Moon Festival, her first walk down the aisle as Anne & Nate's flower girl, hosting her first party and celebrating 6 months in our arms!  We will have tons of photos and stories to share!

 

 

Re-Adoption in the Lone-Star State

Today was the FINAL step of our adoption!  Whew, feels so good to say that, if you are in TX  at 10:00 am you might have  heard our joyous celebration!  "Texas Administrative Code allows for a Texas court to authenticate the adoption papers of a child adopted from abroad. The adoptive parents can then submit a court order for the Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics to issue a “Certificate of Foreign Birth” for their child."  Although our international adoption was finalized back in March, we decided to adopt Lottie in the Lone-Star State in order to make her life a little easier when it comes to legal documents.  Now she has a Texas birth certificate in place of her Chinese birth certificate-no need for extra adoption paperwork, or lugging around the several documents and translations that prove her adoption. The resulting document looks similar to a Texas birth certificate but will not indicate Texas as the place of birth. Many families feel that obtaining a Texas certificate of foreign birth will be helpful for local purposes (school and sports enrollments, etc.)  With her TX birth certificate, there are no questions, requests for more information, or hassles.  "It appears that the key to this process is locating a judge who is willing to find “that all of the prerequisites of the law have been fully complied with by petitioners and that said order of adoption was and is legally valid and of full force and effect under the laws of the United States of America and of the State of Texas." Today we met with our lawyer & Judge Andrews at the Georgetown Municipal Court, and Lottie shining in her burnt orange and white we finalized this very last step!  Tonight we plan on celebrating with some ice cream!