G's Family Day

It's hard to believe, but 5 years ago we met our wonderful G and she became part of our family. I look at her so grown up now and wonder if she was ever a baby??? It certainly doesn't feel like five years have passed.

As has become our family day tradition, we watch the "baby movies". These are the movies that R and I have from when we opened G's referral, the first moment that we met her in China and then that precious time in China when we had her all to ourselves.

It is always so hard for me to watch these as it reminds me of the passage of time and how quickly it has gone by. It is also hard for me to watch the one of our first meeting because I realize how scared G must have been when she was handed over to complete strangers. We had been waiting for her all our lives but she had no idea who we were and why we were taking her from familiar surroundings. I don't believe she is old enough to put these feelings together with what she sees in this movie but my hope is that when she does, she will realize that we did it out of love.

A note to G's birthmom-may God continue to bless you and comfort you with the knowledge that G is a happy, beautiful little girl who is loved by many. R and I are thankful for the sacrifice that you made that has allowed us to parent this wonderful child.

Spring is here.....

Spring is here......The flowers and trees and blooming, the weather is getting warmer, and the ice cream truck has returned to our neighborhood. It has finally been warm enough to get out the pink car that K got for Christmas. Initially, we could ride her around the house in it but once the baby gates went up that was a no-go.

Both girls enjoyed the car-baby K enjoyed the ride and G enjoyed being the big sister and pushing her around the cul-de-sac. Even better than the ride was the first ice cream sandwich purchase from the neighborhood ice cream truck.

Enjoy the pics!


"Toot, Toot, Chugga, Chugga, Big Pink Car"


First ice cream sandwich of the season


There's nothing better than sharing an ice cream sandwich with your sister!


Should have gotten two ice cream sandwiches!

G's Birthday

G celebrated her 6th birthday at the Young Chef's Academy with a princess tea party. It was nice-no setup or cleanup for me. We just showed up about 10 minutes before party time and then when it was over, collected our stuff and left. I think I prefer this type of party over the last few that we've had :-) There was definitely a lower stress level!

See pics below from the party. I used a new photo slideshow program this time-a little "bulky" to get it setup and it will only let me have 100 photos before I have to become a paying customer so I'm not sure that I will use it after this.

Make a Free Flash Slideshow

No words needed......

Look what happens when I leave these two alone.....

A different perspective on adoption

This week I received a different perspective on adoption. As an adoptive family, we've seen what I would consider the happy side of adoption. A couple wants to have a child, a child needs a family, and after mounds of paperwork and an interminable wait, a family is born.

We have a close friend of the family who has grown children and teenage grandchildren. A teenage granddaughter of this friend is pregnant and has decided to put her baby up for adoption. Upon hearing this, I said to close friend of the family, "kudos to this young person for making such a mature decision and for thinking of what's best for her unborn child. There is a family out there waiting for this baby that is going to be so happy to have him/her."

My friend didn't see it in the same positive light that I did. She saw this decision as a loss. She was sad that the granddaughter was making this decision and even more sad that she didn't live near enough to be a support system to this granddaughter. She also saw this situation as a breakdown of sorts within her family structure.

This friend is also from a generation older than mine when adoption was closed and there was no contact between the birth family and the adoptive family. Current research is indicating now that an open adoption with contact between all parties is the most beneficial for the child. I hope for my friend's peace of mind that this is possible.

Our third CNY Celebration and the first week of March

A week behind, but here are a couple of pics from our third CNY celebration. Our local Families with Children from China group held their CNY party last week and as always it was a treat to see all of our friends. There were crafts and games for the kids and an amazing slide show that one of the parents put together each year.


Aunt M and G


All of us

This first week of March has brought three new teeth for my munchkin and anxiety for my big kid who is getting ready to have allergy testing done tomorrow. The munchkin has had terrible intestinal distress from teething (I had no idea that teething could cause so many problems)and the big kid has had a stomachache off and on all week from nervousness about getting the allergy testing done. Here's hoping that this coming week will have all of this resolved:-)