Day 9 - Getting to know Guangzhou

Hey folks. Long, long day. So tired. Can't stay up to watch the pork dumpling ball drop in Tienanmen Square at midnight. That's what they do here, right? Even though Chinese New Year won't arrive until late January, Folks here are more than happy to celebrate a new Roman calendar. Tomorrow begins a three day holiday around here.

Too tired to give the usual rundown of the day. Amy will send an update to this post tomorrow, so check back later for stories and tidbits. Until then, here are the pics and points of interest.

• Medical review and Passport pics. No problems. Lots and lots of families there.
• Walking around Shamian Island, former home of the US consulate. The medical center and friendly shops are still there.
• Shopping the Island - we walked from 10am to 5pm. Everything seems to be made in China around here.
• Very cooperative daughter took both naps in the sling today, very tired daddy looked for a sling in his size.
• New Years Dinner of Papa John's Pizza in the hotel courtyard. It was exactly the fancy dinner we needed.
• Bed. Sleep soon. The girls are already snoozing.

Looking forward to a day off tomorrow, some Skype in the morning and a walk in the park after Salem's morning nap. I think often of Jonathan and how I'd love to see these events through his eyes, and I'm thankful for Mom and Dad taking care of him while we are here. I look forward to telling Jonathan and Salem the stories of this week many years from now. As much as we cherish this uninterrupted time to bond with and learn our daughter, we are eager to be home. We also miss our Concord family. I am so happy that Terry Don Thomason, Ryan Thomason and David Ritterbush will be leading worship while I'm still here during the first week of January. I am jealous of those who will be there - I'd love to be led by these guys. I love each of these men and their passion for Christ. I hope Concord has a great New Year's morning.

One more highlight: Met an awesome family originally from China, now from Gaithersburg, MD and my favorite church north of the sweet tea line, Covenant Life Church. When we met and Amy asked how many kids he had, he said, "Wait a minute... we have six. Wow. We have six children!" They have adopted two more girls as of two weeks ago and are facing the growing struggle of raising a blind daughter who may be developmentally and mentally challenged as well. They feel the weakness of their capacity to care for her long term (as we all would) and we prayed for them to know God's strength and love for her, and for their encouragement and faith. Please pray for Sam, Betty, their whole family, and their newest daughters, Ruth and Bethany.

Happy New Year. When we wake up in the morning, we'll be well into 2012. It's going to be a good year. Check back later for a more flowery description of the day. xiè xie and zài jiàn.*

*Thank you and good bye. That's two of my seven Chinese words. I can also say hello, daddy, mommy, sister and brother. It doesn't make for a very helpful conversation. Needless to say, our "Chinese only" taxi driver was very frustrated today.

Day 8 - in transit to Guangzhou

Today was a travel day. We received Salem's Chinese passport and her final Hague Convention documents this morning, and that's all we needed to move on to Guangzhou. We said goodbye to our friendly hotel staff (they let us keep the bib from the Galactic Hotel) and our great Bethany field rep, Cabbeen. Cabbeen looks like a villain from a James Bond movie when he looks serious, but he's a great guy with a good sense of humor.

The airport was easy. I had to dump my thermos of hot water before clearing security, but not a problem! They have free boiling water dispensers in the airport. These folks take their tea and noodles seriously, and it makes bottle making easy. We got to visit with a family from New Mexico that we met in town. They'll be at another hotel in Guangzhou but we'd love to meet up again. Salem really enjoys their daughter Paige, though most 2 year olds don't have much interest in babies putting their hands on their faces.

The airplane ride was a little more difficult. We got a snapshot of what the return flight will be like. The seats on China Eastern are more snug than the ones we flew over in. When the cabin pressurized, Salem had a very hard time. She cried for about ten minutes, even screaming at one point, until she fell asleep in Amy's bundle. We were trying to think of anything to get her ears to pop, but she wouldn't take anything to eat or drink. Her exhaustion finally ended her discomfort, and she slept for over 45 minutes of the 90 minute flight. When we got on the ground, we reshuffled our bags and headed out. We were met by a nice lady with my name on a sign. She escorted us and our Pabst Blue Ribbon luggage cart to the road. Normally we are met by our Bethany rep, so when this lady put us in a van, closed the door without saying a word, and left, we were puzzled. As the van driver pulled away, we were left to assume two things. One, we guess this driver knows where we are going, because he speaks no English. We tried to throw him some conversation softballs, but he didn't swing once. Second, we assumed our airport hostess had another ride to wherever she's going. Sure enough, our driver took us right to the China Hotel Marriott.

The transition from Nanchang to Guangzhou is striking. Guangzhou is a much more diverse place, and they are more wired for westerners (and outsiders in general). At first glance, it appears to be a much wealthier city. Of course, our hotel is adoption central. Every week, dozens of folks are here because of the need to visit the US consulate as part of the adoption and immigration process. This week is no different. We've already met four other families in addition to our ragtag Bethany crew. We caught up with Mark & April and Loren & Michelle next door at McDonalds over an all too late dinner. Grilled Chicken sandwich: way below average. Chicken nuggets: better than home. The winning order goes to Amy. All our girls were beautiful and tired, but it was great to meet the newest family members of our newest friends. Everyone was so tired, I didn't bother taking a picture of the group. We'll have a chance to visit and catch up more tomorrow when we travel to get medical reviews and tests for the girls. Please pray that Salem, Quinn and Daifu roll with the punches with as much patience as possible.

Mark and April have bragged about the French toast on the breakfast bar, so we'll meet them downstairs in about seven hours. Salem is tucked into the hotel's pack and play and Amy is fast asleep. Maybe I'll share some of the interesting features of Chinese hotels tomorrow. I know that's the real reason you're reading this blog - obscure travel notes. But who am I kidding? You're here to see pics of Amy holding Salem, and I've got plenty of them. Good night, y'all.

Update!!! Did they switch our baby?

We started this day with a little girl who still complained when we gave her tummy time. She couldn't roll over, but she could spin around. During this afternoon's tummy session, Salem figured out how to roll over and did it with abandon all over the bed. She even attempted to crawl. She was elated, giggling and so proud of herself.
Well, when bedtime came, Salem was bouncing all over the walls. She was so excited about all her new tricks, she was giggling and moving all over the bed. She worked on crawling a bit more but never got it together. We were amazed by how far she's come. She was so wired, she didn't want her last bottle. We finally put her to bed and started packing. Suddenly, we looked up to see her STANDING IN HER CRIB! She was beaming ear to ear, dancing and rocking against the rails. You have got to be kidding me. We guess that the last three days are the first time she's had the opportunity to try these things (or the first time she was forced to do something besides cling to mama). After the last hour and a half of hard play, she is finally settling down a bit.When she finally does fall asleep, she's going to sleep like a rock!And when we get to Guangzhou, I'm going to have to lower the crib floor. I think somebody switched my spider monkey out for a barrel of monkeys!

Day 6 & 7 - Two days in Nanchang

The past two mornings have started with a warm bottle and Skype. When Salem awoke up yesterday around 6:00, we decided to surprise her Papa and Nana with an early evening skype at the house and this morning we introduced her to her cousins and Aunt Corie. Each morning Cabbeen has taken us to see the city. Yesterday, he arrived at 10:00 to take us to the Teng Wang Pavilion, a local attraction popular in Nanchang.It was originally build by a prince of the Tang dynasty in 653 and was rebuilt 29 times, each reflecting the current dynasty's style. Drew loves to learn and is always asking questions. Without his smartphone, he is at a loss for the Internet at the touch of a finger.When he wants to know information, his only source is poor Cabbeen.Drew has bombarded him with questions about all the places we go and we often get an "I don't know." Drew actually gave Cabbeen permission to say "I don't know" without feeling bad about it. So, like I expected, Drew spent the evening researching Nanchang. Before we left the Pavilion, we were offered motherly advice from a woman who was visiting with her grown daughters. The daughters stood back and laughed while their mother handed out gems like: "Feed her hot water after you give her the bottle. This will give her good health in cold weather." The reception everywhere we go has been generous and warm,but this was the first advice we've gotten. Still no clicking and chiding for underdressing Salem, so we're still good!

Today had a constant light rain, but it was pleasant enough to walk around with an umbrella. Cabbeen took us to People's Park, a huge park with ponds, older folks doing Tai Chi exercises, and a small amusement park. We walked around and enjoyed the landscaping, even though this is not the growing season here. We also went to a local porcelain shop where found a china tea set to use as a family and one day give to Salem.

The weather has been cold and Salem nose has been running constantly.With every sneeze comes a flood of nasties. She despises having her nose wiped, but has the cutes scrunchie face when she blows bubbles with her snot. It is hilarious! After two days of observing her pulling on and sticking her finger in her ears, we thought she might have an ear infection. Ana, the Brazilian concierge, has been so helpful to us and managed for us to see the hotel physician. We laughed to ourselves and exchanged smirks when she used a flashlight to shine in her ears from about 6 inches away. Apparently if we want to use one of those scope thingamjigs, we have to take a trip to the hospital. She said she was fine with only a low grade fever. Amoxicillin is waiting in our bags if it gets worse.

The first bath we gave her was within only minutes of meeting her and we were scrambling to her and everything else ready for our appointments. So we took our time and I got in the bath with mybathing suit so she would feel secure. Drew prepared a bubble bath which ended up being a great idea for modesty sake. Of course, wetook pictures and captured the event. She did cry but I believe she felt more secure and let me wash her hair in the midst of her sleepy eye rubbing, her head in my lap and her limbs wrapped tightly aroundmy leg...spider monkey:)

We noticed yesterday that her belly button had dirt encrusted in the grooves and tried to wipe it down to no avail. So, after her nap we attacked it with a wet Q-tip. She played with toy the entire time and never made a fuss. Now she has the cutest, squeaky clean umbilical stump, clean enough for baby belly kisses.

Salem is quite the Daddy's girl. She is smitten, and it goes both ways. I love to watch them interact, not to mention the sound of her sweet little girl cues and giggles. She is quickly gaining strength as we play with her and it becoming more brave to try new things.Today, she discovered that she could roll over and has found a newgame that gets praises and claps from mommy and daddy. She is beginning to use her arm strength, catching herself a few times today and once she pulled to a sitting position. It is amazing to watch her bravely try new things and feel so proud of herself when she accomplishes them. Once she got the hang of rolling over today, she rolled from side to side on the bed, laughing and awaiting our applause. She came close to crawling today, but plopped back down quickly. I guess all she needed was a few less layers of clothes. As everyone who has seen A Christmas Story knows, rolling over is impossible to do in a snow suit.

This afternoon, we decided to explore Nanchang solely for the reason of making it to Walmart. We have heard here that they are quite the experience, and though it was raining, we slapped Salem in the Bjorn and made our way through the streets to buy a Chinese rattle and whatever else seemed worthy enough to try. Amongst the Chinese New Year decorations and sea of faces looking and pointing, we found what we were looking for and more, including some that were quite unfortunate. While looking for toys and baby paraphernalia, Drew spotted a box of boy briefs with a young boy posing as he were an adult underwear model... creepy and definitely not age appropriate!In America it is common to see items hanging on the ends of aisles asa marketing technique to draw our eyes to the item and feel as if we must need to purchase it. Here, apparently rendered goose fat with head and bones intact is a hot item. Tanks of live fish and vats of strange meats surprised us at every turn. At one point, we saw what looked to be like a chicken dyed black lying on a bed of ice. I'm not sure what in the world would make that taste good, and I am not about to find out.

 

As we were making our way through the produce section, we were approached by an enthusiastic local fellow carrying half of a pair of Nun chucks (a chain and one... chuck). He was overly friendly, asking us where we were from (normal), asking if we knew what nun chucks were (a little weird), and telling us cheerfully that they were his greatest weapon (getting very weird). Don't get the wrong idea - he was the least threatening little guy you could imagine, so Drew joked with him for a while. Bruce has the traditional Chinese concept of personal space: none. Bruce (but not Bruce Lee, he pointed out)teaches English and very much wanted to hang out with us, inviting us to join his group in the park over the weekend. Bruce's English was very good with one exception: he doesn't understand vocabulary used for ending a conversation. He trailed us all the way through the store. After we finally broke away from him and laughed at our good fortune, he rejoined us at the checkout. Drew spoke in short sentences keeping his back to Bruce, really hoping he wasn't going to need to ask Bruce to leave us alone. Bruce snuck up on us one more time as we were leaving the store. Just before we created a distraction and took evasive maneuvers, we made a communication breakthrough. Bruce said goodbye, only willing to part by saying "I will see you when you return to Nanchang." I have no doubt he will find us if we ever return. Maybe he will have found his lost chuck by then.

We just had our last dinner in the Galactic Peace Hotel, which means we've had our last visit to the noodle bar. Every night, we've looked forward to the most delicious noodle soup with the most basic ingredients: warmed spaghetti noodles served in broth. At the bar, you add your own mix of soy sauce, chives, chopped and cooked local veggies, very hot sauce, sesame oil, peanuts, and ground pork. It is a delight every time, and we have promised ourselves to cook more Chinese food at home. Salem showed her skills and delight in eating rice from chopsticks tonight. She ate so much rice, she might not finish her bottle in a few minutes.
We are about to begin packing up the room to prepare for our flight to Guangzhou tomorrow afternoon. By Friday night, we hope to be back with our original trip buddies and a couple of other families. We've heard encouraging reports from them, and we are eager to meet their girls.Thank you for praying for us and for our family. One more round of appointments, exams, and paperwork awaits in Guangdong province. After that, we return home. Whew.

Pictures from Nanchang Day 3

Nanchang Day 2

Today was a free day, or so the schedule said. That means that we don't go anywhere. I don't think you ever get a free day as a parent, but it has been nice to not be on a time clock with more appointments.

After dinner at the hotel, Salem took a bottle and went straight to sleep around 8:00. As soon as her head hit the pillow, I crashed on the bed in the sea of baby paraphernalia. Two hours later I woke to Drew typing, thankful that he had taken the reigns with the blog. My arm was all cramped up from holding Salem all day so I don't think I would have had the strength or mental fortitude to do justice to the day. I slept hard and woke up refreshed around 6:00. Salem's notes says she wakes up around then, so I scrambled to the computer to try to squeeze in a post from the day before, the light from my computer screen the only illumination in the room. She stirred a few times then her cues drifted back into sleepyland. Two hours into typing,her stirring signaled to both of us that she would soon be awake. We wondered if she would wake remembering us or if she would find herself once again in the company of strangers. Had the trust we gained the day before been enough to carry through until today or would we need to start all over again. This curiosity coupled with a desire to comfort her at all costs, compelled both of us to her crib side to wait for her eyes to open. She woke slowly, rubbed her eyes and stared at us, but not in a frightened sort of way. She felt safe it seemed and we said our good mornings for the first time as a family.

Without hesitation, she sucked down her morning bottle while mommy called big brother. This has been the first opportunity to video skype with Jonathan since we have been gone due to weak Internet in Beijing. His excitement over seeing mommy and daddy on the screen led way to multiple stories, leaving us little room to remind him that hehad a little sister to meet. When we asked if he was ready, he emphatically said "Yes!" As we anticipated, the moment was sweet, lavished with giggles and smiles and Jonathan trying to climb into the computer to hug her. Drew was correct in his prediction that Jonathan wants us to bring her home NOW. 9 more days, sweet boy, and we will all be home. You are going to be a GREAT big brother:)

The breakfast buffet here at the Galactic Hotel is something to behold. While we enjoyed lavish foods and juices, Salem was content to sample Drew's pancakes while turning her head to any type of spoonfeeding. Up until now we have reason to believe that the only foods she has eaten are formula and rice cereal in a bottle and congee, a Chinese staple made of rice and other foods used to introduce babies to food. But we don't think she has been fed much with a spoon. We tried to give her apple and sweet potato puree, but she didn't want it. Her pincher grips are good but the concept of bringing puffs or other foods to her mouth is new. The rice crackers we gave her yesterday were easier for her to manage.
When we returned to the room, she was tired yet fought going to sleep. As soon as I got her to close her eyes I would lie her down only to see those big brown eyes pop back open and immediately disappear into sliver amongst wails. I let her cry for a while hoping her exhaustion would give way to a nap, but the volume increased.Normally we would let her cry longer, but in our desire to build trust and comfort her at any cost these first few days, I picked her up after 5 minutes and tucked her in the sling. She was out within minutes. I took it upon myself to finish my Gotcha Day post with her attached to me. An hour later, with post complete, she remained in deep sleep, so Drew propped four pillows up for me to lie down with her. It felt so nice to take the weight off my shoulders and feet, to close my eyes and listen to her breathing. She radiates and exorbitant amount of heat. How she can stand it, I don't know. To feel that tiny heart beating so quickly left me content to stay and enjoy the moments that will be gone so quickly with time. I felt like I was on pregnancy bedrest every time I interrupted Drew's reading to ask him to get me something, and I loved ever minute of it!

She woke up and met her Aunt Kiki, Uncle Matt and Nancy on Skype and just as we were saying goodbye, Cabbeen arrived to take us to thelocal supermarket. In his hand was a bag and I noticed a familiar green fabric sticking out. Marry told us yesterday that the photopillow we sent in her care package a few weeks ago was left in the vanby the orphanage director. He gave us the disposable camera we sent and the pictures of her foster mom and home, but the other things weren't there. I knew it wasn't guaranteed to make it back with her,but I had really hoped they would. The pillow i made to look like a green floral doll with a heart shaped picture of our family on the face. This I had hoped would help her to bond with us when we met in person. Jonathan has always wanted Salem to wear pink, so when we received our referral, we took a special trip to Target just to buy Salem a pink outfit. It, too was in the bag. And the most important item other than the photos of her first year is MeiMei, a pink giraffe that we got on our trip to Target. We bought two, one to send to Salem and another to let Jonathan care for until she came home. MeiMei is "little sister" in Chinese, so MeiMei became Kiki Monkey's little sister for the duration of the wait. We slept with the one we sent to Salem for a couple of weeks before sending it to her to infuse it with our smell. After having it for 3 months, it now smells like her first home. How excited I was to see all the items return and to have the smells that mean comfort to her in the transition!

It is common for mothers to bundle their children in multiple layers during the winter months, and anything less is frowned upon. Old women have been known to click and shake their fingers at foreigners who fail to follow the rule. In an effort to honor the culture andgive every passerby a good reason to think well of adoption we stuffed Salem into her pink snowsuit and panda hat then secured her in the sling making sure no flesh was exposed. One goal of this trip is to dodge any clicking or shaming by successfully bundling my child. As we were checking out at the market, an elderly lady from the next row over was looking at us and smiling. When we met eyes, she looked at me and gave a firm thumbs up. Initially, I felt glad that she would approve of our adoption of this little girl, and choose to bless us with an affirmation. As I walked away, I realized that more likely she was impressed with my efforts to cloth my child appropriately. Score!

On our way back, we stopped for an ice cream treat and in my efforts to encourage spoon feeding, I slipped Salem a little bit on the wooden spoon I was using. She took it and liked it. Jonathan had to wait until he was one to have his first taste, but after we found out how much sugar is in Chinese formula, somehow making Salem wait was silly. Apparently it worked because at dinner she ate spoon after spoon of her fruit puree. We are making progress!
For nap time, I decided to try lying her on her tummy to see if she would like that better than her back. As a bonus, I gave her MeiMei and immediately she gabbed it and fell asleep. What a blessing!It has been helpful to have the freedom to be at the hotel with her today. Without the whirlwind of events we have been able to better evaluate where Salem is developmentally. We know she has been held a lot as her referral notes indicate and her "spider monkey" tendencies with us confirm it. She is 11 months today and is still working on rolling over and pushing up to crawling position. Her arm strength has much room for improvement. Noticing these things, we decided to give her some quality tummy time after her afternoon nap. For the next two hours she and Drew played on the bed. She is incredibly strong sitting by herself and has the silliest scoot across the bed or floor by hopping and moving her legs. It is hilarious! This of course gets her in giggles and that is good to see. Drew is very successful in soliciting smiles and laughs. I love to sit back and watch them play pondering the many years we have waited to be here.Fifteen years ago, we had our first conversation as a dating couple about marriage and children. Both of us wanted to adopt, but Drew wanted to adopt from China. To finally see him with his little girl,laughing and playing is phenomenal and makes me fall in love with hi mall over again. I filmed for at least 20 minutes and captured the first moments of her personality emerging. She is amazing and we are so in love with this little girl!

One other interesting piece of information we have on the notes we received from her foster mom is that she has been trained to sit on the potty. This is common in China as they often don't diaper their babies, using split pants instead. After they fed the baby, they sit her down on a potty until she goes. This helped to explain her dry diapers today, so we thought we would give it a try. The hotel provided a potty that looks like a riding toy with handles. we stripped her diaper, sat her down and viola...pee pee:) She hated every minute of it though. It is tempting to keep this up to avoid the diaper bills, but I don't think we will require her to continue.If she refuses to mess her diapers, then of course, we will go for it,but I can't imagine keeping the regimen going while we travel and transition at home.

Tomorrow is a pretty easy day as well. We plan to visit the Teng Wang Pavillion here in Nanchang then spend the rest of the day resting and playing. Salem has a little cold, so I don't think we will be doing much. We miss you all at home and can't wait to introduce you to our sweet girl. Thanks to all who are praying...it is eveident and we are grateful. We love you!

Gotcha day from Mommy's Heart

Waking up in Beijing came as early as the day before and I laid in bed praying pondering what was to await us. The nervousness was gone....a silent peace swept over me. I got up and began preparing to say goodbye to this leg of the journey. With luggage in tow and 20 minutes to spare before having to depart for the airport, we quickly jumped on the computer to Skype call my dad. Jonathan and the Grands were due to be there for the evening and everyone was together for Christmas dinner. Although we could be there to see everyone, talking on the phone was just as special considering the day ahead of us and what it was to bring. On our ride to the airport, the three families shared language tips and took a crack at Google voice to make sure we were pronouncing correctly the words of comfort we have been practicing to use with our children. It is greatly important that we have the correct inflection on the word "mama" lest we confuse our children when we tell them we are their forever cow:) Such things are of great importance!Saying goodbye to the Andersons and Johnsons was exciting because we knew the other side of that is a reunion with our children in Guangzou. It feels as if we are saying goodbye to family in anticipation of returning from a great adventure. Flying into Nanchang, I felt a responsibility to capture for Salem even the terrain and it's unique patchwork of colors and texture and movement passing underneath us. Through the haze, I snapped whatever caught my fancy to scrapbook for her. This is where she is from, her homeland and God-ordained place of origin. To allow it to fade into the horizon uncaptured would be unfortunate. We would love to bring her back one day, but only God knows if that will happen. At one point, it seemed as if there were a glare on the scratched and foggy airplane window creating a light effect through the clouds. Upon moving forward what I saw clearly became a shaft of sunlight bursting through several layers of clouds as if to say "here she is!" The thought was a reassuring reminder that God has been intimately overseeing our journey and was now bringing it to pass. Tears welled in my eyes as I watched the ground come up to meet us, then we landed. The emotions I felt walking through the gate tunnel were a combination of a peaceful joy and awe over the faces I was seeing. Watching the locals pass by, I wondered what features they shared with Salem and what she might look like at their ages. Every step I took toward the door was one less than before, my feet steadily carrying me to meet her. Our bags safely arrived and popped out of the conveyor flaps the moment we approached the belt, the momentum carrying an assurance and urgency to keep moving. Cabeen met us at the doors, holding a sign reading "Scotts" and quickly swept us to the car where Mrs. Wang was waiting to escort us to the hotel. On the 30 minute drive, we had so many questions. Cabeen answered what he could, yet much was left to discovery upon arrival. Here was where I had to allow my expectations to allude me. Our daughter was waiting for us at the hotel. Would we have time to go to our room, unpack and get organized? Again, I had to let the unknown become a welcome part of the next few minutes. We were going to meet her...after such a long wait, and all else seemed to vanish in importance. As we approached the hotel I looked at Drew and said "I know that so many people are praying for us, I can feel the peace!" The butterflies that I imagined would be furiously flying around inside of me weren't there...My heart wasn't even racing. It was much like the day we met Jonathan. Although the circumstances were different having been our first experience of becoming parents and the lightning paced speed thrusting us to him did create a nervousness, the peace I felt was identical. This is what we are called to do today, and my autopilot mommy sense went off. Ok, here we go, I thought.With video camera in one hand and my carry-on in the next, we barely had time to walk through the doors before a barrage of people came moving towards us from the left side of the lobby. Suddenly I realized the moment was on top of us and I scrambled to start filming. I still don't know what was caught those first few moments. All I remember was a lady positioning herself beside me, her words a jumbled ball of Chinese, and others closing in welcoming us with similar sounds. Smiles were exchanged, the camera clicking furiously behind me, and then I spotted her, sitting with a woman on the couch. She was wearing a thick pink snow suit, similar to ones you would see allover town on babies and young children, and wearing a warm hat, lying on her back, her arms and legs dangling. The image of the little boy from the Christmas Story came to mind, but I didn't even have time to chuckle until now remembering it. The lady sat her up and handed her to me. She just stared, unfazed by the commotion. The peace that we had been praying over her for so many years, was evident in her face.She let me hold her and navigate the sea of information washing over both of us. We left knowing that we would see the orphanage director later and have an opportunity to ask more questions. Salem needed to be fed, and that was the most important thing.Mary, our local advocate with Bethany brought us to our room and informed us of our next appointments that afternoon. We had two hours to feed her, hopefully get her a nap, fill out forms and prepare our gifts. She had no interest in her bottle and showed evident signs of sleepiness, yet her curiosity keep her from her nap. She did however find that the rice crackers her older brother loved as a baby were to her liking as well and gnawed them to a paste in no time. She had a bath which I'm not so sure she had experienced in the same way before. Unlike her brother, she did not like the water at all and screamed until we had her dressed in her new clothes, We skyped with the Grands and Gommy in the last moments of their Christmas Day to introduce them to their Christmas gift and new granddaughter. Before we knew it, we had 10 minutes to get everything together. Amidst the explosion of bags that happened when we first arrive in haste to find everything we needed for her bottle, we scrambled again to pack a diaper bag and try to remember what having a baby was like again.Unlike in South America where appointment times are negotiable within several hours, here everything is like clockwork. Off we were swept to appointment after appointment. Our pictures were taken, papers were signed, interviews were given, thumbprints stamped and gifts were exchanged. In two hours time, we had been to three different places,had multiple appointments, met other adoptive families swept up in the same whirlwind of family making and had an official certificate declaring Salem was ours. We adopted her today and she will be forever ours irrevocably. We had not known that today would be the official day, but it was and we welcomed it with thankful hearts.In China, car seats are a foreign concept. Salem tried to catch up on her naps in the mobile intermissions between appointments as she nestled onto my chest. As we drove across the Gan river, I looked at Drew and said, "my heart is full." For my child to fall asleep on me is a welcome blessing and sweet answer to prayer. And to ponder that at that moment we were exactly where the Lord wanted us gave us an overarching peace.On our return to the hotel, Salem was getting fussy. We knew she was hungry and thirsty as her diaper had been dry since we changed it after her bath. She had yet to take her bottle, so for the next two hours we played with her and let her explore the bottle. Most of our efforts were met with a push of the arm or a clinched jaw, but once the bottle was in her mouth and she trusted us enough to let us feed her, she sucked it down in no time. After she ate, mommy and daddy ate. We took her to the hotel restaurant and fed her puffs and fruit puree. She mostly wanted to play with it or throw it on the floor.Spoon skills have yet to be acquired. After a long day, she let us feed her again without complaint and went straight to sleep at 8:00.Twelve hours later she quietly awoke, took a bottle and met her older brother on Skype.What a day to remember! We will post more pictures soon. As, I type,Salem is fast asleep in front of me in the sling...oh, my heart!Thank you, Lord for this gift.

Gotcha day!

After years of waiting and several sleepless nights, "Gotcha Day" finally arrived! We were awake long before the alarm went off this morning, and we left the hotel at 5:40am not knowing what to expect of this day. We said goodbye to our new and dear friends at the airport as they left for their girls in their respective provinces, looking forward to meeting their girls on the 30th in Guangzhou. It was a fairly short plane ride to Nanchang (just over two hours). Everything seems shorter once you've flown to the other side of the world! We were picked up at the airport and had a 30 minute ride to prepare for the news. Salem and the orphanage officials were at the hotel waiting for us. Prayerful but not fretful, we again realized how supported we feel in this journey. Clearly, folks are praying for us. Gone is the anxiety and stress over meetings, expectations, and what may happen. Well, all except for the dream I had several times last night involving the value of the dollar crashing overnight and me waking up to find that I did not have enough *mint condition US currency* to complete the adoption process. Yeah, it was still rough after I closed my eyes to sleep. We thanked God together and prepared for our introduction.

The introduction came even quicker than we anticipated. As we walked into our hotel, a small delegation of people were sitting to the left of the lobby. I didn't have to see the little baby on the man's lap to know that it was my daughter. Things moved quickly, and by the time I knew it, Amy was holding Salem. For all I knew, she jumped over someone to grab her. I'll have to review her videotape. Handshakes, introductions, instructions, directions - all these things were shared, but it was a blur that was over before anything could be retained. A few minutes later, we were brought to our hotel room by our host, Cabbin, and the local Bethany coordinator, Marry. They made sure we knew which end was up and that babies require occasional feeding. I guess there are a lot of first time parents adopting with Bethany. I was very glad they were here, because I needed a little push towards responsibility. It was very easy just to enjoy the moment, but there was no time for that. We are now the parents of a beautiful 11 month old girl! They told us we had under two hours before we were to begin the gauntlet of government office visits.

 In a perfect world, we would have fed her a bottle, put her down for a nap, and gently awoken her as we slipped down to the lobby at 1:30. In Salem's world, she was too curious to eat or sleep. After about 15 minutes in the room, the began talking and playing, but mostly she wanted to be held. If you know Amy's heart, this was an answer to prayer. We laugh at how non-affectionate Jonathan is. Incredibly sweet, but not cuddly. Salem may be his opposite. Her clothes seem to be velcro. She loves to be held, and she even rests (and sleeps) on us. As we were riding in the car to an appointment with Salem snuggling Amy with both arms and legs wrapped around, Amy looked at me and said "My heart is very full." I mainly hope she remains snuggly through the Shanghai-NYC flight. Salem is incredibly content (until she's not - see later). She is sweet and pleasant and very curious.

At 1:30 (really 1:40 as I'm frantically grabbing bottles and changes of clothes and stuffing them in my backpack), we went to the adoption registration office. By 2:30, we had signed, transacted, been interviewed and photographed, and we were handed what looked like a small diploma case. Inside was the good news - Salem is ours. Salem Ruidan Ellison Scott officially joined our family two hours after Christmas EST. We reveled in this a few moments before we had to run to two more government offices. Fortunately, we moved through those visits quickly and got to the hotel before 4 pm. By this time Salem was getting restless. The was hungry and thirsty and tired. 10 minute naps in the car between appointments and mum mum biscuits weren't meeting her need. She needed sleep and a bottle, and she wasn't too interested in either. She cried and fussed, but refused to accept what she needed. Isn't that just like us? But Amy was gracious and patient, and we played with her and coaxed her for almost two hours. Finally, around 6, she trusted us and took the bottle. After Salem ate, mommy and daddy ate. We missed lunch, and the clif bars only go so far. We ate, came back to the room, gave Salem another bottle (gone quickly), and she went down without complaint. Amy followed 10 minutes later, asleep on top of the sheets in a bed crowded with baby clothes, bottle parts and camera equipment.

I will follow as soon as I can, but I could not wait to share our day and our beautiful daughter with you. So many have prayed for us, and we know that support well. Thank you so much. Pray that Salem will bond with us, that we will be able to discern a schedule for her, and that the following duty filled days will be easy on all of us. I can't believe that we still have another 9 days of hoops to jump through, but the biggest hoop is behind us. Salem is ours, adopted (past tense) into our family and forever a Scott. Praise God for His kindness to us.

Pray also for our friends who met their girls today. They each face unique challenges, a 2 year old with spina bifida and an 8 year old with cerebral palsy Pray for the Andersons as they also face communication challenges with their daughter. I love their courage and faith, and we will meet up with these families and two others in a few days to celebrate with them. Love to you all, especially those who are making sacrifices to allow us the freedom to be here. I know more people than I can count have been waiting for this day. I can't wait to introduce you to my little girl. By the way, I made her smile ear to ear. There could be no greater victory today.

Tomorrow we have an easy morning at the hotel, we get to introduce Salem to Jonathan via Skype, and we go shopping for water and necessities in the afternoon. I'm looking forward to being in the wild with Salem, and I can't wait for Jonathan to meet his little sister. Down side - he's going to demand that we bring her home quickly. Maybe that can be one more prayer request. Good night from Nanchang.