One year ago!

I feel like my heart is swelling with thankfulness to the Lord! Seriously, these little girls are breathtaking and a dream come true! It is so awesome to experience this at this point in our lives- today was bubbles by the beach and a sunset. I am on my knees thanking our dear Lord!

One year ago today- our family came to Florida. We had a referral of a 7 yr old girl. Before we could be approved to adopt an older child we had to finish some paperwork/reading and questions. Both Jim and I were drawn to this little girl but older child adoption was new territory for us. We had heard a few horror stories that concerned us but for some reason unknown to us we kept moving forward. When I was down at the swimming pool with Anna- there was another family there with a daughter from China- she was about a year older than Anna and of course the Mom and I connected right away! Yeah, adoptive families! She told me to check out JTM and look for ____, another family that adopted an older child. I read their whole journey and after that I knew this was our daughter and with God's help we could do this! As soon as we were accepted by the older child committee we accepted SARAH'S referral. It is so amazing to me how God  works miracles!  How did he know our daughter was half way around the world- waiting for us! 

A Day filled With Many "Firsts"!

We are having a wonderful time with the girls in Florida! We got coffee in the morning and went to the park. Sarah had never been on a swing.  We taught her how to pump- so the swing goes higher - she is afraid to go too high. She laughed and giggled the whole time! Anna loves to swing, too. It is beautiful here, the weather is 70's and sunny. Thank you Jesus!

Then it was off to the grocery store with 2 hungry kids! Riding in the cart was a big highlight- again a first! Sarah had to ride in the larger part of the grocery cart- we used a second cart for the food. Once we got home we used the cart at the condo to bring the groceries up to our unit . Since she has never had a chance to ride in the baby/toddler spot we decided to give it a try! She loved it! It is challenging going to the grocery store with 2 kids but 2 hungry kids  can be really challenging. They made it through the grocery store just fine - 3 pouts and one bathroom break later we were out the door. We have to monitor Sarah's potato chip intake- we stopped her half way through the pringles, okay she did share a few chips with Anna. Thank goodness Anna is still oblivious as to how many she gets compared to how many Sarah gets. The good thing about pringles is - they are sure to bring on a smile! 

After lunch we got ready for a swim. Sarah has been sooooo excited to swim! She has been talking about it and motioning diving into the pool and so on- our dear sweet child got her swimsuit on and put the tube around her and ... was scared to death of the water. If you know me - you know I NEVER get in the water. I put on my swimsuit, grab a towel and a good book and let everyone else get all cold and wet. Every once in a while a mom has to step out of her comfort zone and earn the respect of her kids- yep- I walked right in that water with a smile on my face and swam with Jim and the girls! Once I went in Sarah did much better- we were there for an hour and she improved steadily! I am looking forward to tomorrow!

After showers and a short rest we went and played on the beach. I love this beach- we have been coming here for 24 years. I feel so close to God when I am here. It is my favorite place to pray! The girls played in the sand.  Jim and I relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful sight of our two incredible daughters playing!

The evening consisted of a grouper dinner - which we all enjoyed! Sarah loved the grouper and Anna loves catsup... and occasionally a french fry, too! The sign they have posted says-

"UNATTENDED CHILDREN WILL BE GIVEN AN EXPRESSO AND A PUPPY!" I think that is so funny- even now I have to chuckle!!

All the pics are in the wrong order- oops- oh well!

Dance and Sing with Mei Mei!

The girls love this video! Sarah was so happy when she saw it for the first time! She loves singing and dancing! I think in China she would watch older kids sing and dance- more MTV like- when she was with older girls. This video is actually supposed to help you earn Chinese,  the dancers are adorable 5 yr olds! Just our speed! Anna has grown to love it too- and they are so cute doing the dances!! Sarah will sometimes want to watch this if she is a little stressed. I enjoy it too and the songs are catchy!!

BTW we went to the endodontist yesterday morning- no root canals for Sarah. He is conservative and doesn't feel it is necessary. I think they will just fill the cavities as best they can- but who knows?

Doctors and Dentists...

I knew when Sarah handed my a chunk of her tooth that we would be needing to go to the dentist soon. I was hoping we could make it to our January 18th appointment but I guess that wasn't meant to be. Today after I returned from the Dr with sick little Anna, Sarah looked at me and held her lower left jaw- ouch, she said. I immediately got on the phone to the pediatric dentist office that of course, was closed today.  The dentist on call, called me back and met us in the office within an hour. What a nice man he was! Sarah did so good for her first dental visit, especially under the circumstances and we had no way of explaining it in mandarin. He checked out the situation-  both bottom 6 yr old molars are in rough shape. They have cavities and a cusp has broken off both of them. The dentist took x-rays and said they are salvageable- thank goodness!! 

He put a temporary filling in - hoping that will stop the decay until her January appt.

Anna went to the Dr is morning- she has had a fever for the last 3 days. She is on an antibiotic now, hopefully she will feel better soon. She is two for two as far as being sick on Christmas.

Both girls were exhausted and ended up taking a late afternoon /early evening nap. It was so quiet, Jim and I couldn't help ourselves- instead of waking up the girls (so they would go to bed at a decent time at night) and feeding them - we sat down, had a glass of wine and called it a date! Works for me!! Sarah was sound asleep on the couch in the family room and Anna was under the coffee table in the family room- I will post the pics tomorrow! Both girls woke up after an hour and then we had dinner- it was nice while it lasted!

The Girls do the Christmas Baking!

Katie loves to do our baking so when she came home I was all set for her to get started!! She had 2 very eager helpers this year! Sarah can actually do a good job and Anna is adorable trying to help!! She has a step stool that gets moved all over the kitchen so she can reach whatever it is that she needs! We are chocolate lovers, so pretty much everything we make must have chocolate in it!

The missing piece to our family puzzle!

It is so much fun to have our two daughters home and together! They are such a joy! Anna adores her big sister and Sarah is so good with Anna. They have taken a few baths together and have had so much fun in the tub!! I am guessing that Sarah has never really taken a tub bath before. I think in the orphanages the kids are sponge bathed and then they move on to showers.

Having Sarah home feels so good  and so right. Even Dad has said that "she is just meant to be in our family". It feels like we found the missing piece to the puzzle and it was her. It is amazing that so many families feel that way when they adopt!

She is making wonderful progress- somehow we seem to be able to communicate. She is trying more and more english words. She called Jim, Daddy today instead of Babba. She is eating more American food- like tonight she had a margherita pizza with Katie and I. She is drinking a half glass of milk in the morning and she has even had milk with her cereal once! When ever she has milk we all show our muscles! She likes Dad's but she thinks Mom's muscles are pretty funny! The other day she had a glazed donut- she really seemed to enjoy it! She loves salmon and chicken for dinner and deli meats are great for lunch! Fruit is always a hit! The cheese on the pizza worked but she doesn't like plain cheese.

It is getting late and I need to get to bed- tonight she wanted to sleep with Mom and Dad! Katie is in her room and she still wanted to sleep with us- wow! Things are moving in the right direction! 

Blessings abound!!

We are home from China with our darling daughter Sarah! Anna adores her new big sissy and wants to do everything just like her! We feel so incredible blessed by our dear Lord! It feels so good to have our girls home and together! My heart says to me that we do have one more daughter still in China and when the times comes we will move forward to bring her home but for now we will focus on our adjustments at home. Everything is moving in the right direction and it is good. We do have challenging moments and the mom of these darling girls is a bit tired but all is good!

Yesterday Sarah started ESL classes at the local elementary school, she loved it!! There is another little 2nd grade girl from Holland in the class and Sarah was amazed at her long white blonde hair. At one point she just couldn't help herself and she gently grabbed it, held it and stared at it in amazement! Sarah has made it clear to me that she wants her hair long! As long as can be!   

I am too busy to even finish a post ;-) I will add more when I can!