Hello Guangzhou

We have finally arrived in Guangzhou and we are feeling refreshed. It was wonderful to see the province where Mason was from but we were really starting to feel a bit of cabin fever. We were sort of stuck in the room because the weather wasn't great for walking and sightseeing. Our hotel in Guangzhou sits on Shamian Island and it is really beautiful. We met the rest of our travel group tonight for dinner and we actually ate OUTSIDE! It was a gorgeous night and we enjoyed ourselves :)

Mason seems to be doing better everyday. We are definitely seeing his personality and wow! can he throw a temper. Right now he pretty much swings from happy to mad without a lot in between. He has figured out what the camera does and likes to ham it up whenever I pick it up. Here are some cute pictures from dinner. He was really interested in the leaves and flower petals all over the ground.

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Jennifer

Friday in Xinxiang

Today we made the trip north to Mason's orphanage, the place where he spent 19 months of his life. The orphanage directors welcomed us with hot tea and clementines. They gave us a bit of info about the orphanage. There are over 100 children living in the Xinxiang SWI ranging in age from newborn to 18 years old. We met some of the children in the special needs part of the orphanage. Scott had fun passing out mini m n' m's to the older children. We also got to see where Mason slept and spent much of his time. Gracie's Room is the room right next to where Mason slept. This room is sponsored by CCAI (our agency) and funded through donations. (Check it out here http://www.xinxiangkids.org/index.html). In this room, some of children get extra time with nannies, more help with development, time out of their cribs. We are blessed that Mason was one of those children who spent time in Gracie's Room. We also got to meet Mason's best friend while at the orphanage. We fell in love with him instantly and are so excited that his forever family will come and adopt him next month. It was so hard to see the children still waiting to be adopted. They are all sooo sweet and just want to be loved.

Mason's crib

After visiting, the orphanage directors took us out to lunch. We ate at a delicious restaurant and tasted many of the popular dishes of Xinxiang.

Much love to you all! Tomorrow morning we fly to Guangzhou and will remain there for the rest of our trip. We are really looking forward to getting home and kissing our other three babies!

Love,

Scott, Jennifer and Mason

Mason

Hello all,

Yesterday, Mason had a better day. We got a few smiles out of him and some very happy laughs. We knew he had it in him, how could he not with silly parents like us :) I know you are here for the pictures so here goes....

After breakfast, we took a taxi ride to the Lotus Center, which can only be described as Walmart on steroids. The taxi ride was its own experience. Hard to believe there are not more accidents. Lanes on the road only seem to be suggestions (not taken) and the sidewalk is an appropriate place to pass. Pedestrians do not have the right of way anywhere, even of the sidewalk :) Anyway, we bought him this truck and a ball and he really enjoyed that. We enjoyed getting out of the room for a bit too!

Have a great day, we are missing you all!

Jennifer, Scott and Mason

Officially a Wescott

Today we adopted Mason~officially! It was an emotional moment, add it to the rest :) Happy emotional, but emotional, nonetheless. I know, I know, me? Emotional?

I wanted to post really quickly while the little man is sleeping. He hasn't been feeling good, running a low fever and very congested, since his gotcha. He has slept most of the day on and off and seems to be rounding the corner on this bug he has. We are still trying to coax a smile out of him. I got a bit of a laugh yesterday when we were alone playing while Scott ran out to finish up some paperwork. He definitely wants me to hold him most of the time. He kind of clings to me mostly. He will go to Scott but not without a bit of a fuss. I am sure that will change in time.

Even though we have really only seen his serious side, I am sure that little by little he will emerge. Check out the pictures....even his sad face is precious and kissable.

Scott gave him a bath this morning and we put fresh clothes on him. He definitely does not like to be naked. He really enjoyed his bath (hard to tell from pics) and was very helpful once I started putting clothes on him. He put his feet up for me to put pants on and shoved his arms into the shirt as quickly as possible.

These were the clothes that Mason was wearing on Gotcha Day. Bundled. Our guide tells us that children should have on 3 thick layers in the winter. The green outfit is quilted and very thick.

This afternoon we are staying in but we may take a taxi to a shopping center tomorrow for a change of scenery. Probably depends on how Mason is feeling.

Sam, Alice and Paigie~Mommy and Daddy miss you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much and can't wait to give you big loves. I love seeing your precious faces on Skype. We will call soon.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Mason Joseph Sheng Wescott

We have him!!!!!! We arrived at the adoption registration office this morning at 10 and he arrived soon after us. Actually, we were signing papers when the orphanage director brought him in. We didn't even have the camera out and ready. Thanks to our travel companions Judy and Drew for taping and snapping tons of pictures. Mason is in total bewilderment of his surroundings including Scott and I. We fed him some noodles for lunch and a bottle of milk and now he is sleeping.

Thank you so much to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers and notes of encouragement. They have meant so much to us!

Love,

Scott and Jennifer

In Zhengzhou

We arrived this afternoon to Zhengzhou, Henan. Henan is the province where Mason's orphanage is located. Zhengzhou is the provincial capital of Henan. It is a bit warmer here than Beijing.

Mason will be brought here tomorrow morning and we will meet him at 10 am. We will walk across the street to the registration office with the other couple in our group and meet our children there. I am feeling every emotion possible right now! It is amazing after waiting soooo long, this is FINALLY happening! And I thought that Sam, Alice and Paige were overdue :) Check back tomorrow for pictures of our precious baby boy!

Much love to you all,

Jennifer and Scott
I am not sure if I mentioned in an earlier post but while in Beijing we visited a jade and cloisonne factory. They were both really interesting. Scott commented that they probably weren't up to OSHA standards :)

Busy

Today was another busy day in Beijing. The weather was a bit warmer today but still pretty cold. I wore my running pants under my jeans and about 3 layers on top. We started out at 8:30 and headed to a jade factory. After the jade factory, we went to the Great Wall.

All I can say is Wow! What an experience. Scott went up pretty much as far as he could go. I walked up a short stretch and then watched him from below. So....all the pictures at the Wall were taken by him. Pretty amazing (the wall and his pictures). The pictures are a bit foggy because there was a lot of smog in the air today.

After lunch we went to the Olympic village and walked around for a while. The Olympic village was really fun to see and we got to view the Birds Nest and Water Cube up close and personal. Finally, we ended the day with a Chinese Acrobatic Show. That was so cool and the kids would have loved it! Tonight, we decided to forgo dinner and eat an Odwalla bar in the room. We are wiped! Scott is asleep on the bed as I write.

Tomorrow we head to Zhengzhou and then Monday is Gotcha Day! We can hardly wait! I hope that all is well at home. We are really having a blast. There are 3 other couples in our travel group and we are enjoying their company. It really has been a great 2 days here in Beijing but we are anxious to move on. Please keep Mason in your prayers as he is about to have big changes :)

Love to all,

Jennifer and Scott

Beijing

Rickshaws lined up. We had a fun but very cold ride :)

Forbidden City

We spent today touring around Beijing. We started out at Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City, stopped for lunch, toured a silk factory and then took a rickshaw ride. Busy! We are having a lot of fun learning about Mason's heritage and the culture of his homeland. The weather today was nice, chilly but the sun was shining. We are so excited and ready for Monday to come. Our thoughts are with Mason and how he will accept the changes that are about to happen in his young life.

Sam, Alice and Paige~ Please listen to Grandma and Papa and we can't wait to hear about all your adventures when we get home. Love you.

Love,

Scott and Jennifer

We're Here!

Hello all,


Just wanted to send out a little note and let you all know that we have arrived. We had great flights all the way here! Now we are relaxing in our room before we venture out for some dinner.

Sam, Alice and Paige~ we love you and miss you! Don't forget to open your presents each day!

Love,
Jennifer

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope that you are all having a nice day! We are having a busy one that is for sure! Scott and I started off with early morning runs. Unfortunately not together...he went at 7 and I followed at 8. I wish that I would have taken my camera with me because it was such a gorgeous morning. It started snowing just as we were headed to bed last night. When we woke, everything was covered in snow and there was a low fog. The trees were so beautiful.

I started packing our bags today so that meant finishing last minute laundry. I also made sure that our guest bedroom/Mason's room is ready for Scott's parents when they arrive.

This afternoon, Scott and Sam went our for some boy time and the girls went to a Valentine's party at the neighbor's house. It was really sweet and the girls had a blast, as always.

Tomorrow we will still be working to tie up any last minute jobs before we leave. Scott is officially off for a month on Tuesday and then we leave on Wednesday.

Valentine's Day this year is full of love for our family as it grows from 5 to 6.

Much love,

Jennifer

We had a lot of fun this weekend just hanging out. We spent time playing games, playing outside, good ole' quality family time :)

Saturday, Scott and I had a night out (could be one of the last for a while). We had a great time and really enjoyed each others company. We are so excited because we will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in China with our new son. We had originally planned a trip to Mexico to celebrate but instead we will be flying halfway across the world to adopt our newest son and we couldn't be more thrilled!

Have a great day!

Jennifer

Today rocks!

Today we received notice that our U.S. Consulate appointment has been confirmed and we have travel dates!!!!

We will be traveling February 18-March 6th. We are so blessed that this process has moved so quickly since our referral in November. Now I am making lists and checking them off!

Please continue to follow us on our journey to China, I am hoping that I can update my blog pretty regularly.

The weather here has been so awesome. Hard to believe that we are in February. We even ate our lunch outside today! I couldn't help but snap some pics of Paige playing in the yard.

Yes, she is playing on the dilapidated swing set. Who needs conventional toys....a big pile of wood and plastic seemed to do the job!

I truly hope you had a blessed day!

Jennifer

CHINA, HERE WE COME!!!!

We finally received our Travel Approval today! Our agency says that we tentatively will be traveling the third week of February!!!! Wow!
Now we have to book our U.S. Consulate Appt. and then once we receive that confirmation we can buy plane tickets! To China!!!!! Unbelievable.