Day three with Ella. She is starting to figure out she's not going back home. We found out today she was in foster care and I think that is making the transition harder on her than I thought it would be. She isn't crying as much as she was yesterday but you can tell when she thinks of her foster family and she starts crying.

She is so smart. She can already say Noah and Logan. Of course she already used ba-ba and ma-ma for her foster parents so I think she is confused. Apparently they have two children of their own. One of them must have been a younger brother because she calls out for de-de alot and Michael our guide said that is baby brother. The other one must have been an older brother because she said ge-ge pretty quickly and that is for older brother. Noah was thrilled. She is very headstrong, just like the rest of her family. She's going to fit in just fine.

Inner Mongolia is a lot different than Beijing. I don't think they are used to foreigners. No one speaks a word of English in the hotel and Michael is staying in another hotel. I'm not sure why. Maybe the agency makes him stay at a cheaper one. Who knows. When you ask for toilet paper they bring you writing paper and when you ask for a glass of ice water they bring you boiling water in a drinking glass. We still have four more days here until we leave. The boys are getting restless. Ready for American food. We had McDonalds yesterday and it didn't set well with me. Today we had KFC and it was so good I didn't care at the time. I hope I don't regret it. We haven't eaten a real meal since we at breakfast in Beijing. I feel like I've lost at least five pounds but it doesn't look like it in the pictures. They say the camera adds 10 pounds. So maybe I have lost some. Logan said he was finally full when we left KFC. I told them we wouldn't leave until everyone was full. Ella likes mashed potatoes and chicken. Ice cream too.

The driving here is horrendous. No one pays attention to lane boundaries and the people walking and riding bikes almost dare you to hit them. Our driver is really a nice man. He's this little old man who doesn't speak English but loves Ella. He keeps wanting to hold her. When she cries he talks to her in Chinese to comfort her. He is sweet. Michael is always with us unless we are in our room. We don't have anything planned for tomorrow. We are a day ahead since we got Ella a day earlier than we were supposed to.

There have been a lot of weddings at this hotel. They shoot off fireworks when someone gets married. We saw some last night and we saw two brides today. They were so pretty. I pictured them being Ella one day. So much fun to have a girl already. Her clothes I packed fit her pretty good. I didn't pack enough warm clothes, though. It is really, really cold here in the north. It will be warmer in Guangzhou, I think. I'm going to sign off and post some pictures of our little princess.

Priscella

We have Xuehong/Ella and she is everything and more of what we envisioned!!! She was so scared when she got to the hotel. She cried, and cried and cried. Poor baby. She's so beautiful and she has HAIR. I didn't expect that. Our guide met us in the lobby around 3:40 and we waited together for her. He went outside and met them and them they came in with her. We tried to comfort her but she was not happy being with these people she's never seen the likes of. We had to sign some documents and take pictures for the orphanage and then they let us take her to the room. She was still crying and Dale sung to her and rocked her by the window and she fell asleep still gasping the whole time with every breath even as she slept. I knew she would be scared and I am prepared for it to take a while for her to take to us but it breaks my heart to see her cry like that. I wish I knew how to console her.

She actually has some movement in her arm and I am thrilled to see that. She is so bundled up because it's so cold today and we didn't want to upset her anymore than she already was so maybe when she wakes up we will bathe her and see just how much movement she actually has. I think she has a great chance at really being able to use it with surgery and therapy.

It feels strange having someone hand me a baby and have her be mine. I've dreamed of this day for so long and I am sooo happy and can't put it into words just how wonderful today was.

It's going to take some time finding out all the little things about her but for now all I know is she still takes a bottle but is potty trained. (All those cute gdiapers and she won't even be able to wear them.

Well, I want to see her eyes open when she wakes up so I'm going to stare at her while she's sleeping. We've moved her from Dale to me and back to him and she's still asleep. I hope that's a good sign.

Love to all,
Priscella