Lamb or Lion

Hello everyone again...

Just typed a message only to have it erase on me.....trying in vain to add pictures. Anyway, lessons learned to pass on to adopting parents....buy things when you see them. I listened to the advice to wait until Guangzhou to buy things. I saw a few things in Beijing I wished I would have bought...just not seeing the same here. But I have only been here a day in Guangzhou...we will see. Xi'an was great, however we were in a business area where there was only restaurants and hotels. Not much for shopping. Not unless you wanted to go down to Wal-mart. It was hard to venture out with the toddlers. Our 4 families had all 2 year olds and one 4 year old. A hard age to be out doing a lot. Not to mention we were normally given a lot of attention by the local people. Very friendly - however overwhelming for all our girls. At the airport I made the mistake of showing my badge that explains I am an American adopting a Chinese girl and we are so happy and going to love her so much....Very sweet little explanation made by our guide. Well, this girl reads it and soon enough about 10 other employees have joined her side. Aurora does not like people talking to her...so she really starts crying. So getting on the plane 5 minutes later, she is still upset. She eventually calmed down. Plane flight was okay, hard but okay. Not looking forward to the long flight home....just knowing we will get home will be my goal. Kind of felt weird thinking on the way to Guangzhou - I was a bit more relieved to be moving on...getting closer to home. Where as Aurora is further from her home than she has ever been.
Guangzhou is much warmer and humid. However today and supposedly tomorrow we have had Seattle rain. Nice. The island we are on is very European in design. The park area is nice to walk through. Today I saw about 8 wedding couples out there doing something...pictures - I don't know. I saw people exercising and kids playing. Also, people here are very used to seeing Western people with Chinese babies. We don't get the attention as much - although she still had a few strangers take her picture. Aurora has this not so lovely defense mechanism she has discovered for dealing with a stranger...she will either take a very hard swing at you or shout "raaaa!" Well, at least she speaks up for herself. I have been trying to get her to wave at people...getting better. Sometimes she may even give someone a smile.
Thus my title lamb or lion. She can be sweet and give kisses. Then at the drop of a hat she can pinch, hit, or spit. She can easily out eat her brothers put together...found she does have a stopping point which includes her spitting out food. Lovely. She loves her noodles. However now we are in the rice part of China. She does not care for rice. Still does not like chocolate. She loves to smear it or chew and spit it. But she does not eat it. People keep giving it to her thinking they are being helpful. She hugs her panda bear and then throws him off the bed. She will continue this if I let her. She can say a lot of words already. Mama, Dada, Donah for Jonah, A-war-a for Aurora, and of course no. She learned that by day 2. We are working on Aidan. She says a lot in Chinese. Wish I knew what. I just try my best to repeat them back. Until she gets too loud and then she gets shushed...which she mimics back. She is quite the tape recorder.

Anyway, since they are charging me by the minute...I need to run. I will try to update later.

Much love
Sarah and Aurora and Grandma

What a girl!!

Hello all! I got a chance to update everyone. Our little girl continues to be more expressive everyday. She was very car sick the day we got her. It was a full day before she made any noise at all. Then the second night she woke up, smiled at me and babbled. Everyday, when we are in our room she gets a little more outgoing. When we are out she gets pretty quiet again. If people try talking to her she gets even more serious. We have had two wonderful dinners at night the last two nights. Amazing food for about 30 yuan per person....about 5 US dollars. Today we were at the Terracotta Warriors...a beautiful country drive. The villages are beautiful. From what we have been told we are very lucky - to have it so sunny. We could see the mountains in the distance once we got off the bus. Not very clear but somewhat of an outline.

We hope everyone is well back home. As much as I am enjoying my clingy little girl - everyday she gets a little more outgoing and rebellious - I know my days are numbered...just hope I can make the plane ride home before she really lets loose :) I am sure her two brothers will really help her blend into our crazy family!! We will have our hands full...but in a very lucky way. :)

We sign papers today!!

First of all - I am so sorry I have not posted since I left for China. I finally got a chance to post in the hotel we are at in Xi'an. I will not be able to post pictures unless I find a card reader - no USB cord with. Anyway, Beijing was a cultural lesson cramed into 2 days. We had a great time - nice to get to know other couples before you get your babies. I was glad we got there a day early - the extra tour was well worth it. Beijing weather was hazy and cool. We arrived in Xi'an Sunday morning. It was sunny and beautiful!! I was not expecting the area to be so beautiful. We went past farm fields and green trees!! Just to see color has been wonderful. We got our daughter yesterday evening at about 5pm. She has been in a daze ever since. She slept okay...just wish I could get her to let go of some emotion. She is beautiful and tall!! Some of my 2 T did not fit around her wrist and ankles. She finally said something like "hi" today. I got her to smile and she is such a different person when she smiles. She eats everything...loves playing with the car I brought her...oh-oh!:) Another car player. She is very quiet. I have been spending time keeping things quiet...letting her take her time to start expressing herself. She has a small cold and I know she got car sick yesterday - they had to travel 7 hours to get here. Poor thing. She has the sweetest giggle when you get her to laugh. I just got a book translated from the director of the orphanage...it was something I had sent ahead to have them filled out. What a treasure...so many thing I thought I wouldn't know are in this book. I know her first word and when she got her first tooth...I know she was in foster care with a mom and dad and big sister. This has been the first mention of this. I know she loves to be hugged and touched and that she likes to sleep on her back. I know of all the things - she loves the outdoors! All these things make me cry - what a treasure. Words just can not express.

She is asleep right now. I can not be too long. But I wanted to give everyone back home some type of news. I miss Peter and the boys. I wish they were here but at the same time - I know we would be a mess. Looking forward to coming home. I sign papers at 1:30 today. Then we will be the parents of Aurora Mengxue Scott. Love to all!! Sarah

Ready to Go

I am all set to go. Bags are packed (mostly). The house is almost clean. Little details are checked off. I can not believe that in less than a week I will finally meet our daughter! This amazing beautiful girl who I have only seen in pictures! We are all so excited. Aidan is very excited - however as it gets closer to mom leaving, he is starting to express that he will miss me and he does not want me to go. I know he will be fine - I will miss our boys like crazy. Everyone is asleep - I should head that direction myself - hard to relax! I am ready to go!! My mom and I fly out March 19 at 3:oo PM, we will get into Beijing around 9:30 PM on March 20. We will fly to Xi'an on March 23 to get Aurora that afternoon! We will fly to Guangzhou March 29 and we will be homeward bound April 3. I hope I am faithful at keeping up with reporting back to everyone while I am gone!