Our Gotcha Day Celebration Continued

For Gotcha Day, Elizabeth gets to choose where we go for dinner. Of course she picks "soup" which is her favorite Chinese buffet.

Momma loves her baby!

A Blessed Family of 3!

Yum, Yum, her favorite

After dinner we had sang Happy Gotcha Day and got a few treats including a doll that I had bought in China. We also picked out a charm on line which will go on her charm bracelet. It should be no surprise that it is a Mickey charm.



This weekend we went to Richmond to meet with two other families we traveled to China with. We sure did miss Little Miss C and DD and DB. After plenty of socializing and reconnecting on Friday night, we went to the Richmond Zoo on Saturday. It was blazing hot (not quite as bad a China but getting worse by the minute) but it was great. Fin, you would love it!!!!!

Elizabeth and J were happy to see each other and reconnected so quickly!

After dinner J joined J and Elizabeth. They were silly and tired!

Fun was had with the all of the treats the girls had received.

The zoo was fun! Lots of different animals. Fin ~ you gotta go!

It was time to part ways at the zoo. Nobody seemed excited to leave or maybe they were just hot, tired, hungry and dehydrated!

We got to share one last meal with J and her family before we parted ways. Cool air, cool drinks and some food brought those smiles back out!


Elizabeth fell asleep in the car and slept most of the way home! She needed it!

We missed those who couldn't come. You were constantly in our thoughts and part of our memories recollected! We have some big plans already in motion for next year. We hope we will ALL be together again!

Today We Celebrate

Today we celebrate. Today, two years ago, We woke up as a family of 2 and went to sleep a family of three. The day I wed my husband and this day were the two best days of my life. Sadly, for Elizabeth this was probably the scariest day for her as everything she knew and depended on changed forever. I hope she never has to feel that again. Kind of ironic that the adoptive mom's greatest joy can be the adopted child's cross to bear.

Tonight we will continue the traditions that we started last year. Miss Elizabeth will get choose where we will go to dinner (she has already declared that we will be getting soup (aka the chinese buffet that she LOVES!), we will pick out a charm for her bracelet that will represent the past year and she will get a small gift from our collection that we bought while in China.

My sweet Elizabeth,

I can not believe it has been two years. So much has happened in the last 12 months, that it is hard to recount. Most noticeably, you have grown. You have gotten taller and so much more muscular. Your language has really developed as well. We love to hear you chatter and boy do you like to hear yourself chatter as well. This past year, you have started to become engaged in some fun activities. You enjoyed being part of the church choir and gym class. You learned about Mickey Mouse, Busch Gardens, and the fun you can have playing with friends. You know your colors and letters, you can almost count to 20, and you know how to sing so many songs. You remind us every night to say our blessing over dinner (even snack now) and you recite your prayers each night praying for your family, friends and other people who have touched you that day. Do you think Ms. Gee will ever know how many times you have said, "Dear God, please help Ms. Gee feel better". You still are not a big fan of Mommy and Daddy leaving but you will now leave us, if we sit quietly in one place.

Every day that goes by, we love you more than the day before. When we look into your beautiful almond shaped eyes, we are reminded that we are the luckiest people on earth to have been chosen to be your mommy and daddy. Two years ago we were overwhelmed with gratitude to the Peoples Republic of China for entrusting you to our care. Those feelings have not changed. We are grateful everyday that you are ours and we are yours. You have a brought us such incredible joy. We love our home filled with your devilish laugh. We love you like crazy cakes my dear baby!


Love,
Mommy and Daddy

August 20, 2009

August 20, 2007

On a side note, we went to the dentist yesterday for our first teeth cleaning in a conscious state. There was much screaming but it ended peacefully. We love Dr. Plauka. Best news..... No cavities, no $13,000 worth of dental work needed and six year molars are popping out a year early!

Clean Toothy Smile

Playgroup

This past weekend we had a wonderful time hosting our FCC playgroup. We had 4 little girls all about Elizabeth's age over to play at our neighborhood pool. I hope fun was had by all because E really enjoyed it. It made her so much braver!

What is missing from this picture? Elizabeth clinging to my bathing suit in terror that I will let her go.

I love watching Fin have a good time.

Karen's cooler is so good for many different things!

Our playgroup friends

Later in the week we decided to take advantage of her new found bravery. Uncle Max and I took her to the pool after a long 100 degree day.

"I do myself" was heard alot. I love it.

For the first time she would jump in and let the float catch her which resulted in water in the face and eyes. Until that night, there would have been crying and fussing. Not tonight. Tonight there was laughter.

It was a fun night!

We continue to struggle on a daily basis with attachment issues. Days like this when she is willing to move away from my immediate presence is wonderful. It gives me faith that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It was especially needed after the huge meltdown at church on Thursday night which was related to attachment.
I look forward to more pool time before the summer is over. Now, just make the rain stop!

A Nightmare

There is a family in China right now who is being forced to leave their newly adopted 4 year old behind. She tested positive for TB and with the new CDC laws, they will not permit her in the country even though she has been on meds for 2 months and is not contangious. This is an atrocity for many reasons. This family who has bonded to this child must now abandon her because they most go home. This child has been legally adopted so she is really left without a country. If she was a natural born child born on foreign soil she would not have been subjected to these tests. If she was traveling to the US for pleasure or work she would not have been subjected to these tests. These are not Chinese laws creating this nightmare. It is OUR government. It is our CDC. The website which tells the story of this family is http://jayscruggs.livejournal.com/

The made a video of their saying goodbye to their daughter Harper. They did this to stir emotion in some politicians heart in hopes of having this decision over turned so that they can bring their dear daughter home. If you don't like watching a little girl scream for her Baba not to leave in Chinese, I wouldn't suggest watching. It is heart wrenching. I feel for everyone who is in the process of adopting now who will face this horrible rule along with the new immunization laws. How many families will this happen to before the cruelty ends.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G1FCAhL-WA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkldZTw5f9g

They need help now but a long term fix is the passing of the Foreign Adopted Children Equality Act. Please keep your eyes and ears open and share your passion for these beautiful newly adopted children with your elected officials.

Busy, Busy Weekend

Time flies so quickly, last weekend we had a crazy time. Friday night, I brought Uncle Max home with his friend Michael. We all went to a work function. Max and Michael stayed behind while Elizabeth and I went to the Dollar Tree to "find Jesus" (I think a few people thought I was crazy as E announced our intentions upon entering the store. Luckily, we found the statue of a woman holding a boat wheel which somehow E thinks is Jesus. Unfortunately, said Jesus busted in to our next stop, KMart. I think we must say a few extra prayers for breaking Jesus!
On Saturday, we made three round trips through the dreaded tunnel. We took Max and Michael home in the morning. Rushed back for E to go to gym class. Rushed home from gym so we could go back over to meet our friend Fin for a playdate. While on the way to Fin, Elizabeth was, without any prompting, rehearsing her behavior in the car ~ "I no hit Fin, I no bite Fin, I no scratch Fin, Fin love me". After our playdate we went home to get daddy to rush back over to meet our friends, Katy, Rich and Leslie for Daddy's birthday lobster dinner.


Sunday was just spent hanging out at the beach!!!
Here are a few pictures of our playdate with Fin. They were totally stolen from Fin's mommy since I didn't have the sense to bring the camera.

The innocent look when plotting something good!

My favorite picture! I hope they are friends for a very long time.

Hmmm... Fin hasn't thought of it yet so let me ponder what trouble we can find!