Our First Year Gotcha Day Anniversary!

Today is a VERY special day for our family. One year ago today, we met our Sarah for the first time. We got to hug and squeeze that girl and endure all her tears! I remember reaching out for her from the caregiver in China that had been holding her. I remember her screaming her little head off-wondering who in the heck we were and why were we holding her! Where were the people she'd come to know over the past year while in Foster Care? She had probably never seen a caucasian before. Not to mention she was grieving the loss of her Foster Mother. She had been in her care from the time Sarah was 4 weeks old until the day she met us last year. It was a rough few days with our baby girl. She would only want me and cried like crazy when Troy would just look at her for the first day or 2. Then something amazing happened...he was trying to play with her on the bed the second night we had her and she smiled!! even smiled more than once. It took her a week before she'd smile for me but she would smile for her Baba after 2 days...it was emotion with him...crying or laughing, but Troy was the one who could get her to show emotion. Me? well...she just wanted me to hold her and comfort her, she wasn't really interested in showing emotion with me, just wanted me to give her comfort and all the love a mother could have for her baby in all the world. I suppose it was all part of the grieving process and starting to attach with us. I know that it took her some time in order to learn to trust us. Attachment is a process and we were thankful that she had an attached relationship with her foster mother because we knew in time she'd be able to transfer attachment to us and we'd be able to develop that kind of relationship with her.

Troy took this photo just after they handed her to me. You can see she wasn't nearly as happy about it as we were!

She slowed down here for a second...only to continue the screaming all evening long. Poor little thing. The amazing thing was-I didn't shed a tear! For those of you who know me, it's like the water works over here usually. I guess I was more worried about her and put all my energy into trying to calm her down. It wasn't until I crawled into bed that night that I started to cry tears of joy.

Of course, now things are much different. It's amazing the difference a year makes. With both of us every day, she laughs and smiles and plays. There is nothing in the world that can compare with the feeling of love coming to you from YOUR child. What a feeling!

Her first smile at her Baba!


Words just cannot express how we're feeling today. Our lives are so different than they were a year ago...what an amazing responsibility and blessing it is to have been chosen by God to be the parents of this little girl who was conceived and born half way across this planet. Thank You Lord for the gift of our daughter...and what a gift she is!

Here is our little angel today just after we gave her the first Gotcha day present...we bought it in China for her last year and got gifts for her every year until she's 21. It was nice how inexpensive things were in China that we were able to do this special thing for our baby.

Going on Vacation!

Well, I just wanted to let you all know my posts may be a little sparse for a bit. We are leaving for Ohio to visit my family this weekend and will be gone for a bit. I have been SOOO stinking busy trying to get some work done to make some money since we'll miss out on some paychecks while we're gone I feel like I'm in the middle of a whirlwind and it's winning and I'm losing! Hopefully today I'll be able to get the rest of the stuff done so that I can focus on packing tomorrow. Sorry I don't have any photos of my Noodle today. I've even been too busy for that this week, what a travesty! Well, we'll be back soon, and who knows...if I get bored while at my Mom's I may post a little or a photo or 2!

My Little Wall Flower!

Yesterday at church, Baba decided to put me up on a shelf, like a little baby doll! Mama said I looked like the prettiest wall flower she's ever seen, but I didn't know what she was talking about. I just know I was happy to have my crackers and to play with my Baba! Look, I even let Mama put a pretty yellow bow in my hair too, and I only took it out 5 or 6 times all day, not the normal every 10 seconds...cause for some reason, I'm not sure why I do it, I just love to pull it out of my hair and have Mama put it back for me.

Look, in this one I'm showing Mama and Baba my pretty teeth!

Uh, Baba...are you sure I'm okay up here?

I guess it is pretty FUN up here! heehee

Here are a few cute photos to show off of new outfits from Sarah's Lao Lao. Sarah has FINALLY progressed to keeping little bows in her hair with her waterspout! I couldn't believe it, but for the last few days, she's left them in for the most part, anyway. I can't believe how much my little baby is growing...she's getting so tall and much less like a baby and much more like a little girl! *sigh*

Yup, I am cute!

I LOVE for Baba to wrap me up in my "sof" so I am not "toad"

Yeah, I'll let Mama think that I will leave my bow in my hair...just wait 'til she turns her head...

Uh, yeah...So I have been a little busy!

Well, I'm a little bit of a slacker lately and a whole lot busy! I am finally getting back to trying to blog a little more consistently...at least until we go to Ohio in a couple of weeks to see my family. These photos were taken a couple of weeks ago after church and before naptime. I just LOVE this dress and the boots! TO DIE FOR! What a little fashion princess I have!! Thanks to Lao Lao, that is!

Hee Hee! quick, Mama, catch my smile cause it's not gonna last for very long!

Yeah, Mama...Hurry it up, will ya! I have "bottle on the brain!"

Okay, I have Winston (Sarah's FAVORITE doggie) all bundled up and ready for his nap...isn't time for me too?

UGH, Mama...can you put that camera AWAY?? I really am tired of modeling for you today! I want to go night-night!

INTRODUCING! My Uncle Robert!

Okay, So Troy's brother, Sarah's Uncle Robert, came to visit last weekend for a few days. Sarah had a BLAST with him. Unusual for her, she took to him immediately. I think that she could recognize things in him that are so similar to her Baba. She kept asking about him all the time and when he left she was always asking me about Uncle Rober? It was really cute, a few days after he left to go back to California, I was folding the laundry and there were some shirts of Troy's. 2 of them were the same color as the shirt that Robert's wearing in this photo and she kept pointing to it saying, "Rober, Rober?" I couldn't believe that she even recognized the color of one of Robert's t-shirts! God blessed me with a little smartie for a daughter! Enjoy the photos!

Okay, you can't tell they're brothers AT ALL, can you?

Let me see, Uncle Rober...what's with that fuzz on your face?

See, I love my Uncle Rober...but my Baba is over there being silly, trying to make me laugh!

A girl and her Uncle!

Doesn't she just have that, "I'm going to do something really mischievious," look?

Caught up? Yeah, right!

Well, I THOUGHT I would have a chance to get all caught up on this blog...BUT, then Life happened and well, not so much. But, here are some photos from last Friday and Sunday. I have been trying, to no avail, to get Sarah to wear bows, barrettes, headbands, you name it in her hair for the past...well-11 months since we've been together. FINALLY, I have NO idea what happened, I cannot explain it nor do I even care to...I just LOVE it!

Last Friday, I asked Sarah if I could put a bow in her hair (even though this water-spout thing is just a tiny hair tie) and she said Yes...as she always does. BUT, this time, instead of taking it out 3 seconds after I put it in...she waited about 10 mintues then took it out. BUT, the difference is she brought it to me and said, "bow?" and leaned her head over to me so that I could put it back in her hair. Miracle of it is that she left it in the rest of the day! And, since then, every morning when she wakes up and every time she wakes up from her nap, she grabs her hair and asks, "bow?" Can you believe it? It's like someone just flipped a switch in my little girl and now she has learned to appreciate "pretties" in her hair! It's gotten to the point that when I take it out at night, by morning it's so used to being in the waterspout, it's still sticking straight up waiting for another little rubber hair tie to be put in! I'm hoping we can progress soon to the pretty bows and barrettes that have been filling her drawer. I guess it doesn't take much to excite me anymore! I just realized I wrote a really long paragraph on my daughter wearing little ties in her hair. Huh. Well, anyway, hope you enjoy the waterspout series of photos! I sure do enjoy her asking for them!

Having a good laugh in her Sunday dress with waterspout, of course!

A girl and her Baba...she sure does adore him (and shhh, so do I!)

Awww, it's story time in the living room!

Look at those pearly whites! I love that girl so much, just look into those eyes and you'll fall in love, too!

Our first water spout day in a new dress from LaoLao. Notice the strawberry? Well all day on Friday, she kept showing me that she had a "shrawbear" on her dress! What a little smartie!

Mama, "toad" (cold in Sarah) she kept telling me, "toad" she HAD to have me wrap her in her sof (soft) so she wasn't "toad"!

Okay, Mama, I have my purse...I'm ready to go Bye-Bye!

Awww...I just LOVE my Baba! Gotta give kisses!

Hey, what are you doing...you have the camera AGAIN? sheesh, Mama...give a girl a break!

Getting Caught up!

I'm trying to get a little caught up here! I've had a very busy week. Last night, Robert (Troy's little-not-so-little) :) brother arrived for a visit from California. It is really nice to see him. The last time he came to Utah was for our wedding so, as you can imagine, Troy's VERY excited that his little brother is here. They've gone to Cabela's (a man's paradise) then shooting for the afternoon so they'll have a blast (literally and figuratively), I'm sure. SO, my week has been REALLY busy making sure the house was presentable for a guest, chasing Sarah around, selling stuff on Ebay to make some money for an upcoming trip, going to bible study, doing Mystery Shops (my 2nd part-time job) and just being a Wife and Mom. Now I should be able to get some cute phtos of my Noodle up here from the past week.

Here is my Noodle riding her VERY cool Radio Flyer trike from her Lao Lao. (Thanks, Lao Lao) She loves for me to push her in it, and hasn't quite figured out she can make it go herself by pedaling...we're still working on that one.

A girl, her bike, her dogs, and her Baba!

These were taken at our church picnic last Sunday. It was fun and Sarah got her face painted for the first time by my friend, Paige. (She's the one that painted the GORGEOUS murals in Sarah's room as our baby shower gift--she's one talented artist) Any of you who are looking for someone to paint your nursery or anywhere in your house, let me know and I'll get you her info, she's amazing!

She looks like she's really concentrating and held AMAZINGLY still! I couldn't believe it! That was the ONLY time she held still all day!

Uh, Baba? I think I may need a little...

... help! Whew...thanks Baba!

WOW! I really like this tube thing, Mama! This is cool!

Look out, here I come!

Heehee, that was FUN!

Rock-a-bye-Baby!

Well, my adorable little baby, has for the first time begun to nurture her baby doll. It was so cute. She took her "sof" (yellow blanket) over to her Baba and said, "toad" (cold) along with the Babydoll, so he wrapped her up and she went and sat on her chair and rocked the baby. It was so darned cute.

You can see her little lips, she's saying, "Shhhh, Shhhh" while she kept her baby all wrapped up and helped her fall asleep. Wow, what a moment! *sniff-sniff*

My little Mama loving on her little baby

Our First First Anniversary!

Well, today was a day to celebrate. Last year on this day, we received our referral packet from AWAA by FEDEX and Troy and I sat together on the bed and anxiously opened an envelope full of information that would change our lives forever. We opened our referral packet from China and saw our daughter's face for the first time. This was probably the most overwhelming feeling I'd ever had, I mean I was ecstatic! We sat there in awe and just stared at them and of course, I was crying and I think I saw Troy wipe a tear or 2. We read her medical information, her growth information, where she was living in the BIG country of China, the offer from China for us to adopt her, the letter telling China that we were accepting her that we needed to sign, and that she was in foster care. I remember how excited we were about that because we had prayed and prayed over the previous months that she would receive God's favor. We prayed that she would be loved and cared for in a special way. So, for us, this was a total answer to prayer. We figured, if she had a foster family to attach to, it would be easier for her to transfer attachment to us.

In reflection of the significance of this day, I can't believe that a whole year has passed us by. Our lives have changed so much since then, and in the best possible way. We have a few more anniversaries coming up: On 10/27 we'll celebrate the day that we left to go to China, but more significantly; Sarah's birthday--the first birthday that we get to celebrate WITH her. On 10/31 we will celebrate the first anniversary of the day we met our daughter and held her in our arms for the first time in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China in the conference room of the Lakeview Hotel. On 11/1, it will be one year from the day our adoption was finalized in China and on 11/9 it's the first anniversary of Sarah becoming a citizen of the U.S. and the day when we got home from the great country of China with our Jewel of a daughter. All I can do is thank God for the miracle of adoption that has touched us and changed our lives forever. He gave us the most beautiful gift in our daughter...it's really more than mere words can express.

Doesn't she just looked scared to death in these photos? And it's like there's a lack of "life" in her eyes...her expression. Just goes to show you how much she's changed in this past year.

Wow, I thought she looks like she's seconds away from blowing a gasket in that photo!

I remember looking at her little face wondering what she was thinking. "Why the heck am I laying on this thing?" "I don't think I like this, what are you doing to me?" "I don't know about this, am I going to be okay?" I remember thinking that she was about to start SCREAMING! based on the look on her face in this photo. I wondered, what do her little feet look like...and her little fingers, how long are they? She's so bundled up, she looks like she can't even move, even if she wanted to. It seems like a lifetime has passed since I looked into those black almond shaped eyes for the first time...but it's been only the first year of many more to come of being Sarah's Mama.

A little break at the park

Okay, Sooo some would say I'm camera happy when it comes to my Noodle (as I affectionately call my little Chinese Noodle) but I just can't help it. I think she's so darn cute I just keep shooting those photos and can usually figure out which ones are the ones I should post. Then I have days like today, when I think she's being so cute and her personality is beaming in each one, I just
HAVE to share them all. Before nap time this afternoon and after lunch, we decided to go the park down the street and play. I couldn't resist her telling me, "SHLIDE! SHLIDE! SHLIDE!" like she does every time we pass it, I thought, I'll go and slide with my Noodle for a little bit.

Okay, so Mama, I think I like this horshey, but I'm not too sure it's not as bouncy as my Buttercup at home, I guess the jury's still out on this one.

This horshey, however...I think she needs some hugs, I'll have to help her to feel better, Awwww, come here horshey, it's okay.

See, there? You're a good horshey, I think you're really sweet, hmm...maybe even sweet enough for...

A kiss from your friend, Sarah, MMUUUAAAAHHHH!

Mama, Mama! Look, they have woodchips here! You know how I love to put them places they don't belong!.

See? Do you like the pretty design I made on the sidewalk?

Hmm...I think I do pretty good work, if I do say so, myself!


Mama, Over here...I want to go up the stairs! Come on!

Hey, Mama! I know you think I have a cute bum, but do you have to immortalize it for all to see? --Sorry Noodle, Mama just can't help herself!

What's going on over here?

What a bummer, look Mama, it's so sad...someone broke my favorite shlide!

Okay, Mama, here I come...I'm a little nervous on this bridge cause it moves, Help?

Okay, here I go, back across the bridge, stay close Mama!

Look, Mama in the sky, there is an Ay plane!

Ahhh, I love to swing...Mama, more?