Today :)

Our Mia Mei today...

... always with her foot in the picture :)

Sweet Daddy's Girl

Enjoying dinner and cake with the Aunt G & Uncle Stinky and boys :) Just like in China, loving her noodles, heehee! And, of course, a ladybug cake!

One year ago....

In the Jenfeng hotel in the city of Nanchang, in the Jiangxi province of China our four year journey to our daughter ended and our life as a family of six began!




Here is the photo taken when little Guo Dan Rui was handed to us. It is fitting that the picture is blurry. We were the last of the twelve families to receive our baby. Being last, at times, has it's benefits! We had the incredible opportunity to witness eleven other families welcome their little girls into their arms and hearts that day! It was amazing!!! But immediately after Mia was placed in our arms we were quickly hurried out of the meeting room to go feed the babies. They were so tired, hot and hungry from their day of traveling to us. Mia was so brave, she was inspecting us, taking it all in but finally began to cry out "ma ma, ma ma". It was so hard to see her hurting :( By the time we made it to our room she had stopped crying and was really checking us out :)






We fed her a bottle, which she would only take if it was practically boiling. She played on the bed for an hour or so and then fell asleep from exhaustion. We watched her sleep most of the night, in complete awe of her, our gift from God!!! Just as we had gazed at her three older sisters on their first night sleeping in a crib beside us :)


In an adoption story there are so many dates to celebrate, the day you start your paperwork, the day it was accepted in China, the first time you saw your child in a photo, the actual adoption day but for us the day we held her in our arms, August 2, 2009 was the day we hold most dear!!! This year has gone so fast. Mia has grown and changed so much but in the blink of an eye I can remember exactly what it felt like to hold her for the first time.


We celebrated today!!! We thanked God today! We remembered all of the people that helped us bring Mia home! Tonight we will pray for those in China that made it possible for her to find us, her forever family!

God's blessings

Our house is normally pretty lively with our four girls and many times, a few more children. Although I got home tonight very early, all my girls were asleep. I went through the house checking on each one as I normally do and making sure everything was okay. Even though I always do this, tonight seemed a little different. As I checked on each of them it brought me back to when I was anxiously anticipating meeting each one, including Madeline. I can remember wondering what each one would look like, or smell like, sound like or even feel like, and what their personality would be like. What I realized is that after each one came into my life I could no longer remember my original image of them. You see, they were so much more perfect than I could have ever imagined! It is getting so close to our one year anniversary of holding Mia for the first time. As I remember all of the things we went through during our adoption process it all seems so long ago and very small. I guess if you are ever down or questioning the blessings that God has given you sometimes all you need to do is watch the loves of your life while they sleep (Lucy is still on the bubble). I'm not sure what I have done to deserve these blessings but I thank God each day for them and you should too. Good Night.

June 22nd....

We can hardly believe that one year has passed since we first laid eyes on our Mia! After four long years of waiting - the phone rang, we answered, listened to information about our baby and gathered around the computer screen anxiously awaiting her photo! It was amazing, there she was - this little one was our daughter :)




We can hardly put into words how precious she is! She has grown so fast into the sweet and spunky little leader of the pack :)



God has blessed us with four wonderful girls and we thank him every day for the joy they bring to our hearts and our home!!!


June 22nd will forever be a VERY special day to us!!!! :)

Funny, Ingenious and just a little bit pathetic...

Oh how we miss Florida......

Their TN "pool" :}



For the record, this was ALL the girls idea!!!

Mia's "Face"

For a few months now Mia has been making this funny face. She pushes her lips to her nose, snorts a little and everyone laughs! So now the phrase, "Mia, Make Your Face" leads to this....



And then the older girls join in......






Ahhhh, FUN times 4 !!!!!

Home 6 months, today... 15 months old and Cutting Teeth

It is hard to believe that 6 months has passed already yet it feels like Mia has been with us forever :) She has had such a busy little life since arriving home and now we are all settling in to our new house as a family of 6!!! WOW!!!



She has been 'such a help' unpacking, lol :} Considering she is cutting FIVE teeth at one time, with several others on the way... LOOK at those gums!! OUCH!


She is learning new words everyday, has her sisters on their toes ALL the time and loves to give kisses, especially when she wants what you have! We are are all happy and healthy and hope all of you are as well :) xoxo