Happy 1st Family Day, Adelyn!!

It has been just over 1 year since the day Adelyn was placed in our arms. It's hard to believe that this time last year we were holding her tiny, yet mighty little body for the first time. We were somewhat "lost" about how to care for her at first. But on the other hand, we were "found." How were we so lucky to be matched with this tiny timid child, we wondered. Now, we know she was ours long before we ever made the decision to adopt. Thank you, God!!

The following pictures show Adelyn's growth over the course of the year from Referral to today.
One year ago she was 30.5" tall, weighed 19.5 lbs. Now, she is 36 1/4" tall and weighs 26 lbs.

Dec '07

Feb '08

Mar '08

Apr '08

May '08

Jun '08

Jul '08

Aug '08

Sept '08

Oct '08

Nov '08

Dec '08

Jan '09

Feb '09

Adelyn has changed so much over the past 12 months. She has grown so fast! My favorite moments with Adelyn are reading books and snuggling at bedtime. I love to watch Adelyn and Daddy say how much they love each other with their arms spread out big. I love to watch her say the blessing before dinner. She closes her little eyes, but peaks to see if we have our eyes closed too. (Of course we don't because we are watching her!) I love to hear her in the morning say "Mommy, all done resting now. Come get Adelyn." She just smiles when she sees me. Her smile fills my heart with overwhelming love. We are so blessed to have been chosen to be her parents.

I recently had a short interview with Adelyn about some favorite things in life. Here's what she said:

• Favorite toy: Choo Choo Train
• Favorite veggie: carrot
• Favorite fruit: orange
• Favorite food: noodles and chichin (chicken)
• Favorite animal: giraffe
• Favorite day of the week: Tuesday ???(not sure why)
• Favorite drink: strawberry milk
• Favorite letter of the alphabet: A (of course)
• Favorite treat after going #2 in potty: 5 skittles!!
• Favorite crayon color: pink and purple
• Favorite activity with Daddy: play-doh!!!!
• Favorite activity with Mommy: dancing and singing songs
• What do want to be when you grow up: "When Adelyn bigger bigger, sing in microphone at church."

We couldn't leave out these other favorites that she may enjoy knowing when she gets "bigger, bigger":

• Her favorite books: "Good Dog Carl" and "May I have a Cookie Please?"
• Her favorite doll: Butterbean, of course!
• Her favorite movie: "Alvin and the Chipmunks"
• Her favorite TV show: "Little Einsteins"
• Her favorite songs to sing: "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Come Deedee come Speckle", "ABC's", "Itsy Bitsy Spider" "Frosty the Snowman" and "Wheels on the Bus".
• Her new "big" word: "Frustrated!" "Help, Mom...Adelyn fustated!!!!!"

Adelyn's milestones over the past year:

• She conquered her fear of the bathtub shortly after we arrived back in the states. Now, we can't get her out of the bathtub! She can even hold her breath under water.
• She can say her abc's, recognize all letters of the alphabet and spell her name.
• She can count to 20 (....although some of the higher numbers sound the same right now!)
• She is (daytime) potty trained.

Way to go, Baby!!! Mommy and Daddy love you sooooo much!!!!!

1st Family Day Reunion

February 18, 2009 was our One Year Family Day. We can hardly believe Adelyn has already been here a year. We celebrated with our travel families. Everyone was able to make the trip except for one family. We all decided that Louisville was the most central location for the group. We had a celebration party Saturday with lunch, cake, arts/crafts, music, dancing and just catching up on happenings throughout the past year. We dined at Lynn's Paradise Cafe that evening then came back to the conference room in the hotel for storytime. After breakfast the next morning, we said goodbye to some then swam for a while before checking out. We ate lunch with the Bakers at the North End Cafe before driving home. Adelyn is still talking about her China friends.

We feel so blessed to have such wonderful travel families. It's really interesting that we don't really know alot about each other since we were all so preoccupied with our babies while in China but we feel so close anyway.

All the girls have changed so much and are so happy and expressive now. I tear up when I think about that moment that we all shared with each other as our daughters were handed to us in the large, extremely loud Consulate room. What a frightening day for them. But look at them now.......

Amelie

Cara

Audrey

Grace

Alivia

Emma

Adelyn

Sacha

We had to include this picture 1) because it's so cute and 2) because Audra will be growing up with all these Chinese girls!

1 Year Ago on the Red Couch!

Famous red couch picture (orange in this case) reunited.

Rachel made these awesome photo books of the past year in review for everyone.

Adelyn loved the ladybug hats but decided to skate on them instead. Sorry Tom and Karla!!!

Playing abracadabra with Grace's Mom, Jennifer. Grace gave the girls beautiful handmade bookmarks along with a special book. Thanks, Grace!

Having fun at Lynn's Paradise Cafe!

Daddy having fun too (without the camera).

Brrrrr! Adelyn was shivering but didn't want to get out!

Stretching and bedtime stories

Lil' Buddies huggin' at lunch-getting ready to say bye-bye.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

February 14th sure was a "sweet" day for us this year!

ICE STORM 2009

Luckily, our landscaping didn't suffer much damage from the ice.

Two huge bradford pears planted by Don at our old house 15 years ago were not so lucky!

We wanted to share a few pics and experiences over the last 2 weeks as we weathered the ice storm. We were without power for 6 days but thankfully had wonderful family to take us into their homes. We spent one night at home without heat. We were able to use a propane camping stove to cook some things, but we decided it was just too cold for Adelyn. We stayed with Dennis and Michelle for the next 3 nights, then stayed with Doug and Debbie for the remaining 2 nights. We are so thankful to them for sharing their homes to make us comfortable!

Cousin Lauren teaching Adelyn about Ipod technology. (Yikes!!)

"Uncle" Shell (Aunt Michelle)

Uncle Dennis trying to check his email.

Adelyn thought we were on vacation during the whole ordeal.

One night during our stay with Uncle Doug and "Uncle Ebbie" (Aunt Debbie), Adelyn wanted a snack. Aunt Debbie gave her 5 mini oreos. Adelyn didn't eat them right away. She shared 3 of them with us before eating the remaining 2. She is a very generous child. We hope she continues to learn the meaning of sharing and generosity.

After we returned home, my sister, Gracie and her family came over during the next couple of afternoons to warm up. She and her husband Paul have 5 children and still do not have electricity. It has been 10 days since the storm. They have proven to be one resilient family to pull through so many days without power. We are praying that they have heat soon!

Uncle Paul and Nemo having tea with Adelyn

Playing with cousin Laken

Posing with cousins Bradley, Jared, Michael and Christian