Home for five months!

Today marks five months since we've been home with Sarah. We are all learning and growing together as a family, and each month we learn new things about Sarah and love to watch her growth and progess.

Sarah's Easter dress. I bought this after we got PA (preliminary approval) a year ago. So when I put it on her on Sunday morning, I was overcome with emotion to see just how far we've come and how blessed we are as a family!

Playing with bubbles.

Some things about Sarah that we've noticed this past month:

1. She LOVES to help me around the house. I remember after we'd been home a week or two, I was talking to my mom on the phone and I said, "She doesn't seem very interested in her toys. She likes to follow me around the house and do what I'm doing."

My mom said, "This is something that little girls do!"

"Oh," I thought.

This mama has never had such an enthusiastic helper before! The boys have never shown much interest in housework as toddlers or at any age (hahaha), so it's a good thing I've given them learning opportunities (aka "chores"), right? :)

Of course she DOES play with her toys sometimes, but she is a BIG helper (sometimes too big of a helper!). She enjoys washing our windows with baby wipes and helps unload the dishwasher (this has become a race for me to snatch the silverware basket before she grabs something sharp!). She also takes clothes out of the dryer and puts them on the couch, wipes the floor, and is fascinated with the swiffer and the vacuum.

2. Some of Sarah's favorite phrases are, "Where Daddy go?" "All done!" and the famous, "MY turn!"

She also does "roll call" at least once a day. It goes like this:

Sarah: "Where Daddy go?"

me: "Daddy's at work."

Sarah: "Where Justin go?"

me: "Justin's at school."

Sarah: "Where Evan go?"

Well... you get the idea. She really does know all her brothers' names, but sometimes she will call them "ge ge"(Chinese for "brother"), too. She is most attached to Jason, and will repeatedly ask where he is if he is playing somewhere else in the house.

And, as a side note, Jason and Sarah are doing pretty well together, most of the time (although we definitely have our moments!). Several times a day, Jason will say, "Mama, you're cute! And Sarah's a cute baby!"

We love this sweet boy! :)

3. Sarah is a great sleeper! We put her down at about 8:00 pm and she sleeps ALL night. She usually gets up around 7:00 am. Sarah also takes about a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. This may not seem that newsworthy to you, but to us this is WONDERFUL. The boys were not incredibly good sleepers at night (colicky infants, ear infections, etc.) and pretty much gave up naps by the time they were two... so we are really enjoying a toddler that sleeps on a predictable schedule.

We'd like to send a special "e-THANK YOU" to all of our family and friends who made Sarah's birthday so special! We so appreciate your friendship and kindness. Here is a picture of Sarah and Logan with a birthday outfit that a sweet family from our awesome travel group sent us! (Thanks again, J & D!) Notice Sarah is a pro at putting on layers of clothing!

In closing, we hope you all had a beautiful Easter. We are forever thankful for our Savior, Jesus Christ and his resurrection. Because He rose triumphant from tomb, we will overcome death and live again. His peace can fill our hearts and ease our minds every day!!