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.

Christmas in Beijing - Day #3. Tomorrow Salem!

Riding through Hutong

Meeting Mrs. Zhang

Drew in Forbidden City

It was an interesting Christmas here today. We had to keep reminding
each other. Thankfully, my thoughtful and always electronically
prepared husband brought his battery operated Zune speaker for the van
which set the mood.

Driving into Tiananman Square was sobering. I wasn't sure how to
feel...it felt strange to be spending my Sunday Christmas there. The
weather was freezing and the seemingly endless walk through the
Forbidden City left my toes numb. A quick warm up in the van was just
what they needed before catching a rickshaw through Hutong. This was
my favorite tour of the day...an authentic look at the old city and
the average life of mixed class living together in such a beautiful
community. At one point we thought we passed a church...it sounded
like people singing to the Lord. At least that is what we hoped. We
were even invited into the home of a lady who had lived in Hutong for
30 years. She served us jasmine tea and peanuts and shared her
experiences living in Beijing and Nanchang. That was particularly
interesting to us as we will be traveling there tomorrow to meet our
daughter. She allowed us to ask her questions and thoroughly enjoyed
sharing her stories, as we did hearing them. At one point during the
day's tour, we passed a man with chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
We thought it quite appropriate for the day and snagged a picture.

We arrived back at the hotel earlier than expected which left room for
rest and an early crack at repacking our overstuffed luggages.
Although in country flights have more strict weight regulations on
checked luggage, as long as you can carry it, they are supposedly wide
open on the amount of carry-ons you can bring. After packing, the
three families shared Chritmas dinner together over three boxes of
Pizza Hut delivery and a can of Moravian Spice cookies. Yes, I
brought them all the way from home. Christmas just wouldn't be the
same without them:)

Now we try to sleep and wake up in time to check out and leave for the
airport at 5:40 in the morning. Tomorrw we meet Salem at noon. Four
days will be spent in Nanchang until we reunite with the other
families in Guangzou on the 30th. We will be the only Bethany family
in our province, however, there may be other agencies sending families
to meet their children alongside us. We will find out when we arrive.
Until then, we can only assume that we will be flying solo with our
guide, Mary. She will meet us at the ariport and escort us to the
hotel, then serve as our lifeline for the remainder of our time in
Nanchang. Bethany has taken wonderful care of us through these local
social workers and we are grateful! Though they don't know it now,
they will all be blessed to have their very own can of Moravian Spice
Cookies as a thank you...gotta share to love!

Good night for the last time in Beijing. Next time we post we will be
with Salem and will most likely have pictures to share. Here we go!

Chestnuts roasting...

Tiananmen Square

Merry Christmas from Beijing

Merry Christmas from Beijing! Happy birthday to our King! Ha:)...it seems fitting to begin the day with singing:) Well, to those of you celebrating Christmas Eve, we are awake with you. I have been awake since 2:00am our time and Drew in and out all night. What woke me was an unsettling feeling in my stomach. Of course, the first thing that came to mind was a stomach bug...an all too familiar travel companion that seems to follow us to the third world. I remembered that the probiotics I packed have remained untouched and took it upon myself to crack them open and chase this nasty thing away. As I returned to bed unable to even relax my thoughts, I realized that this might just be nerves. At least I am praying toward that end. I have learned that when I wake and can't go back to sleep that the Lord is giving me an opportunity to pray, so I met with him in the dark and enjoyed sweet fellowship over my active thoughts.As I initially laid back down, I realized that our family was visiting with Great Grandmother in Mount Airy and it made me glad to be awake, feeling as if we, although thousands of miles away, were with them all along. Currently, it is almost 5:00pm Christmas Eve and I am well aware that my sweet boy is probably eating Moravian buns and sipping all too sweet coffee right now as he sings Christmas carols and hears the story of the nativity. Hopefully the snack is distracting him from running to the front of the church to act out or correct whoever is telling the story. This has been a favorite activity in our home this month:) I'm sure Gommy, Grandmother and Granddaddy are joining forces to reign in the little boy's energy and excitement of the day, at least for the remainder of the Love Feast. I am glad to be awake now...it feels like I am there singing along with them as I have my entire life on this day. But, I am thrilled to be here, in the wee hours of the morning, counting down the hours until I meet my daughter.

She has been a welcome thought this morning. As she wakes up later this morning, it will be Christmas and her last full day with her foster family. I am praying for them, thanking God for their care over her, and asking the Lord to comfort their hearts as they prepare to say goodbye to our sweet girl. In 24 hours we will be waking up to packed bags and a waiting plane to take is to Jiangxi Province. We will barely have time to get to our hotel before Salem arrives. I am praying for a timely flight and quick ground transportation so we can be ready to see her walk through the doors. I have to be careful not to create too many expectations about what that will be like. Drew set the perspective well for me..."If they throw her into our arms as we step of the plane that will be ok." :) She will be ours when and however that initially takes place. I am nervous though, so pray for a calm spirit about me, How will she react? Who will she want to be held by? Will I know what she needs? Will our questions be answered thoroughly These thoughts have cycled through our minds many times as we have anticipated this day. Only God knows the answers and we are comforted in his foreknowledge of our union and all that it entails.

As for the families sleeping down the hall and waking up in Guangzou this morning, I am prayerful over them and their families at home. Somewhere in South Dakota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, loved ones are waiting to hear the news just like you. Until then, we wait and celebrate our King Jesus, His life, death and resurrection and OUR adoption as sons and daughters into His forever family! Merry Christmas!

(Received from Amy 5:37pm EST, which is 12/25 6:37am in Guangzou, China!)

Day #2 in China

What an incredible day of experiencing China first hand! We are completely zonked yet so grateful for beautiful weather and the opportunity to experience our daughter's country and culture.

After our fill of the ultimate chinese breakfast buffet, we metJasmine for a tour of a lifetime. First, we drove for what seemed like over an hour to the Cloisonne factory only to find out that it was closed for the holidays. So we took a little detour and had the welcome surprise of visiting a jade factory where we watched master craftsmen carving beautiful and unique sculptures from all types of jade mined in different regions of China...oh and we spent a little bit of money on a sweet necklace pendant for Salem:) From there, we ventured through the mountains where we hopped on a cable car which took us directly up toward the Great Wall. We spent about and hour and a half climbing up and over ancient stones. The wind was furious but a welcome cold with all the exercise we were getting. We could have spent the entire day up there exploring. With every turn, a new perspective emerged keeping the family photographer intrigued:) Looking over the endless mountain ranges, I pondered again at the majesty of the Lord and His plans to have us here. To be absolutely on the other side of the world, so far from home and family, yet so close to our newest family member, ready to scoop her up and escort back home brought tears to my eyes. For such a time as this, we have become parents to this beautiful creation God has made. On our way back to the cable cars for our descent, I realized that in 48 hours, we will see her face for the first time. The long wait is closing in and the union is near...the thought even more breathtaking than our view!

The other families we are with have been so inspiring to us. We have both thought this and expressed it to each other and want to bless them with those words at some point tomorrow. Both families are adopting special needs girls, one with spina bifida and the other with cerebral palsy. It has been fascinating to listen to their stories and the journey that God has carved out for their families. It has specifically blessed me to hear how in the Lord's leading, they have responded in faith and fiercely pursued these girls. Our long hours in the van has created much time for hearing these stories and for pondering the greatness of our God in His deep care over us. We have noticed and they have expressed their nervousness over what will take place in a few days. As they have been faithfully praying for God to prepare the hearts of these girls to meet their families, please join us all as we lift them up. Our sovereign God has ordained these moments yet to be experience by us near-sighted individuals. May we look to Him in faith to provide the strength an courage to trust Him in His wisdom in building our families for His glory! In the midst of these conversations, we were surprised by a visit to another Cloisonne factory and family style Chinese lunch greatly welcomed by our worn out bodies. The intricacy of the artwork done by this culture is mind boggling. When we see the work and dedication put forth to producing just one piece, our appreciation for thefinished product leaves us in awe. After shopping and filling our bellies, we headed out to our last stop, Olympic Village!If you know me well, you know that I am an Olympic fiend! Not much gets done when they roll around every 2 years and Beijing 2008 was no different. It was nice that I had a great excuse for doing "nothing" that summer. Jonathan was only a few months old when Michael Phelps won his 8 gold metals. It was epic and I was just sure that my long and lean, web-footed son would be the next to break his record. I am still holding to that:) So, to have the opportunity to see the Bird'sNest and the Water Cube was incredible. Not only did we see it, but we got to get out of the van and walk around, take pictures, and refuse to buy every nick nack the vendors felt sure they could sell to us unsuspecting Americans...I must say it was difficult to pass up the ashtray in the shape of the Bird's Nest or the "gold" metal encrusted with jade. I could have hung that on Jonathan's wall for inspiration! Oh, well. Drew snagged some great pictures and I fulfilled my giddy need to be a part of the event that happened 3 and a half years ago...better late than never!

With weary bodies and droopy eyes, we all tipped the driver well and stumbled to our rooms for a rest before dinner. Only four of us made it as one couple fell fast asleep for the night. Dinner gave way to yet another wonderful conversation about our journeys and a deepening of respect for those walking this road with us. Please lift up along with Salem, Meilynn and Quinn. Their adjustment will be very different from Salem's as they are much older. Please pray for them to feel at peace and comforted by their new parents and to be accepting of these wonderful couples who have come so far for them.Pray for our first moments together, that God will give us everything we need to love and serve our girls, and for the days to follow. As I write this, our Christmas Eve is coming to a close, and Christmas Day will soon be here. Ironically, we will be spending our day at Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City and on rickshaws through Hutong. Our hearts will be celebrating Christ, the reigning King over even this vast country and all of its devastation. His kingdom is coming here and all over the globe. Happy Birthday to our great King Jesus! We love you all and LOVE sharing China with you!

Our adoption group.

China day #1 update

Amy here:) Here are some pics to post and an update of our day.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Travel to the eastern hemisphere has been long, yet suprisingly we seem to be close to catching up to a 13 hour jump into the future. After landing in Beijing around 9:00, we had managed to stay mostly awake (with the exception of a few short naps) since 4:00 EST. From the time we left Chattanooga to arriving here, we had been traveling for 26 hours, and as we fell asleep, we said goodbye to a very long day of 31 hours. At the airport, we met up with another Bethany family, flew though customs, and met Jasmine holding a Bethany sign. She escorted us to our hotel and we called it a night. I must say that we are grateful to the Bethany team for our travel schedule. Arriving here when we could take advantage of a full night's sleep was ideal!

We awoke to the honking of horns on a beautifully clear morning. At 10:00 we met up with two other Bethany families and Shiyan for our orientation.

Shiyan has been working locally with Bethany for over 20 years. Speaking with her brought much comfort and clarity to the process. Her experience is so valuable to us and we are thankful for her. Shiyan told us that the workers in Salem's province take very good care of the children. In such a poor province, the opportunity for work is appreciated and taken very seriously. Families commonly foster children there as an added income. From what we know, Salem has been very well taken care of by her foster family. Although we won't have the opportunity to meet them, we are grateful for their deep love and care for our daughter.

Salem is the youngest of the group (11 months). The other families with us are adopting children 2 years and 8 years of age. One of the other families traveling with us is here for a second time, so they have been wonderful to have as experienced travelers.

Lunchtime gave way to many stories and created a time for the three families to bond. It is nice to have such a small group as we can comfortably fall into getting to know one another and sharing the experience. After lunch, we followed them to a favorite market where we stocked up on bottled water and snacks. At 4:30, Jasmine met us in the lobby to escort us to a Chinese acrobat show. Traffic here is much like traffic we have experienced in South America. I think Drew wanted to be in the driver's seat. It equates in his mind to a real life video game. It was enjoyable to watch the locals on a Friday evening navigate their way home from work in the mangled yet considerate way they do. It makes for good entertainment on an hour's ride that should have taken 20 minutes. By the time we arrived the show was half over, so Jasmine managed to get us tickets for the next show, too!

In the meantime, we got to experience Chinese KFC. We, along with Colonel Sanders I'm sure, were disappointed. You just can't mess with his original recipe.The acrobats were amazing! Jasmine shared that most of them begin training when they are younger than 10, some starting as young as 3. The level of strength and precision displayed left me realizing that we have been given great potential with our bodies and that this one needs to get back to the gym:) Sleepily we rode back to the hotel and said our goodnights.

Tomorrow will come earlier than today as we head out to the Cloissonne Factory and the Great Wall (so stinkin' excited about that!) Can't wait to post pictures tomorrow. In the mean time, enjoy some from today.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us and Salem. Please pray that our good health would remain for the duration of the trip and that the Lord would continue to prepare us perfectly over the next few days to meet our daughter and care for her well. Please pray that He would build in her heart an affection for us and that in first seeing us she will feel at home and comforted. We have reason to believe that she has seen our faces in the pictures we sent in her care package a few months ago, so she very well may recognize us as her "mama" and "baba". We also know that this transition could be very tramatic for her, so pray that the Lord would bring her comfort quickly. We love you all and are so glad you are taking this journey with us. More to come tomorrow...

Safely in China!

We landed an hour early, and arrived at the hotel around 10:30 tonight. We're 13 hours ahead of you guys. We'll go through orientation tomorrow, and then we'll get our head around the next few days. We met one other family in our group of five. They were in front of us in the security line, and we got to know them while waiting on luggage and riding to the hotel. They are from South Dakota. Other than the extremely dry air and the coughing it produced, we had a very good flight. We stayed awake as much as possible, so it feels like it was one really long day. Looking forward to going to bed now. Will hopefully share a few pics tomorrow night of this side of the world.

Packing our bags

Well, all our documents are in hand, and we are a few days away from the 35 hour trip to Beijing. We're very thankful for so many people who are holding the ropes while we are away for two weeks. We've got house sitters, subs, and extra help all over the place.

Now that we have the official travel invitation, we can share Salem's picture online. Of course, the only pic we have is now almost five months old, so we are very eager to see her in person.

One person who will help us out here is my brother, Chris. Assuming we can get email through the great firewall of China, I'll send him pics and updates to post on the site. Thanks, Chris.

Obviously, we didn't switch over to a different blog site. Chris is most familiar with blogger, so we are staying put.

Please check back with us in a couple of days. I'll post our travel plans as soon as we have them (yeah, crazy). I'm putting together a list of ways to pray for us while we are in China. Check back Tuesday.

We've seen Salem!

It's finally here. We received the referral package on Tuesday, and we hope to travel before Christmas to get Salem and bring her home! She was born in January of 2011, so this will be her first Christmas! Our agency has encouraged us not to post the picture right now, so bump into us and we'll share her beautiful face with you.

Yesterday, I realized that most people in Chattanooga have known us longer as "the family waiting for their daughter in China" for the majority of the time they've known us. That's pretty crazy. Well, we're about to change status! Jonathan is thrilled, and he's already bought Salem a pink giraffe blanket to match his Kiki Monkey.

When we can share more, we will happily post it. Until then, we look forward to the rest of our matching group to get their approvals in the mail (ours was mailed back within 5 hours of receipt!) so China can begin processing travel permissions.

Thanks so much for praying with us through this long wait. God is so kind, and we trust His timing as much as His faithfulness. This little girl is Salem Scott, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Next stop: Jaingxi.

One more thing. Next week, we're moving our blog to Wordpress. After being away from blogspot for a couple of years, I feel like I just stepped back in time. I'll post a link then.

Easter 2009

We had a beautiful Easter Day and took lots of pictures.....it was a worshipful morning, remembering the ressurrection of Jesus, and celebrating Christ risen to live in us daily!!!