Here's a couple of updates I got today. Looks like they have their hands full with the little kid! He was so meant to be with us. pretty sure we are pro's at handling tazmanian devils.

" We went to Civil Affairs this morning for interviews and paperwork. We were there for 3 hours. The other 3 families have little girls, very quiet and calm, just sitting in a parents' lap and holding their dollies. We have monstro the wiggle worm!! He doesn't sit still for one second! We ended up pushing him in the stroller up and down the halls, he has never been in a stroller before and he loves it. He also will walk around forever while you hold his little hands. He doens't walk on his own yet, his leg is a little kooky. We are excited to get it all fixed and have him running in non-stop circles.
He is very partial to dad, he tolerates me when necessary but will cry for dad if he is there. That is why dad is so pooped, he had to keep him entertained the whole morning. He and Mason are both sacked out!! It is funny all the kids have a parent they like - the loser parents (as we call ourselves) are the errand runners etc, because we can leave the baby. Kase, he is so dang cute and funny, we are head over heels already, just like we were with all you kids. When we went to pick him up he was the very last one to come in the room. I thought I was going to die, I was so anxious and nervous and excited. He cried at first, but then he went straight to dad and never looked back. The orphanage people were so nice and helpful, telling us what they liked and you could tell they loved the kids.
OK, things I have learned about China. 1 - you need to take your own toilet paper to the bathroom - I will comment no further. 2 - make sure there is a Western toilet available, otherwise you are squatting into a little trench. 3 - Don't drink the water, don't even let it run in your mouth in the shower, or rinse your toothbrush by accident. 4 - I will quote our guide here: "do not cross the street on foot or you will be killed." There are underground tunnels at major intersections that we can use. 5- Babies here wear what are called split pants. They are literally bare-butted. When they need to go the parents just let them go on the ground and then they clean it up. We saw a parent in the Forbidden City holding his kid over the garbage can so he could poop. Dad took a picture of a baby in split pants, I will have him send it when he wakes up.
This afternoon we have to go do more paperwork, and then we have the evening to ourselves. I think we will go and try to find real Chinese food. This province does a lot more noodles than rice, which made me happy, maybe we will find some good noodles. "

"Hello big sister! It is Tuesday morning, 6am. Yesterday was a busy day. We spent half the day at the Civil Affairs office being interviewed and signing paperwork. Mason got very tired, but hung in there. He got to say goodbye to his caretakers from the orphanage, and actually blew them a kiss! He is a clever little dude. We returned to the hotel and he got a nice nap, me too. In the afternoon it was back to Civil Affairs to get the official paperwork; Mason is ours!!!! Then it was off to the province police department to apply for his Chinese passport, so we can actually take him with us. We went to a nice restaurant for dinner and fed Mason noodles. He knows to slurp them right up! One of the other kids, a 3-year old actually eats with chop sticks! The rest of the week will be here in Xi'an, waiting for the passport. Today is a shopping day, tomorrow is a tour to see the Terracotta Warriors (too cool!) Thursday is a tour of the Big Goose Pagoda. "