Adoption Announcement

We sent this announcement out with our Christmas cards, but thought I'd scan one and post it here as well. I bought this white Easter dress for Sarah soon after we received PA (preliminary approval) to adopt her. So it was an amazing day when she was actually able to wear it!
She posed beautifully for all the pictures-- the photographer was pleasantly surprised that a 20 month old was so cooperative. Sarah loves having her picture taken and looking at it in the little window!

New Year, New Blog Look

Thank you once again to my friend Ferrill who has spiffied up my blog! I love it, and we used FREE downloads from The Shabby Princess to create the new look!

One Year Ago...

One year ago today was the first time we saw Sarah's little face on AAC's website.

We had been searching Chinese waiting children lists for several months, and were growing increasingly frustrated. We either requested a child's file after it had been placed on hold, or were not far enough along in the adoption process (home study was still in process, immigration paperwork incomplete)to be considered.

January 15, 2008 had been another frustrating day, as I had waited for several hours for a different agency's new waiting child list to appear, and then it didn't because of a glitch. I sighed and thought, I'm going to check AAC's website one more time, and then I am DONE.

As I clicked on the website, I saw that AAC was downloading some new waiting children photos as I watched.

When I saw this photo of Sarah, I KNEW she was our daughter. We had been praying for some time to be led to our daughter, and God had prepared my heart to KNOW she was ours.

After months of frustration, suddenly everything made sense and fell into place. I actually gasped and cried when I saw her face. Then I quickly picked up the phone and requested her file.

And, so... the rest is history.

And now, one year later, this precious little girl is part of our family!!

God lives. Prayers are answered. Miracles happen every day.

Baby, it's Cold Outside!

It has been very COLD and SNOWY here for a while now. Here are some things Sarah does with her brothers to help fight cabin fever.

1. Pet the rabbit with Justin. Meet Babs, the bunny. We've had this rabbit for about four years. A neighbor was willing to part with her (cage and all) free of charge! Imagine that!
She is actually a pretty cool little bunny. She's very tame and likes attention. In the summer she spends a lot of time hopping around in our backyard. Sarah likes her a lot and calls her "Moe Moe", which is her word for most animals. Our Chinese guide Ike told us "Moe" is a Mandarin word for "cat"-- I think it might be a shortened version or something.

2. Play Ring around the Rosies with Logan and Jason. Sarah gets so excited to play this and just laughs and giggles the whole time.

3. Play Peek a Boo with Evan. Evan plays this game with Jason and Sarah with this big blanket. When he gets home from school, Sarah grabs the blanket and drags it over to him.

4. And if all else fails, the brothers enjoy tossing various soft toys over the upstairs landing down onto the first floor. Mom and Dad are not fond of this game. Occasionally a toy misses its mark and ends up stuck in the chandelier. Then Dad has to retrieve the tall ladder to remove the toy. Amazingly enough, when this happens, nobody has any idea who did it! Hmmm.

(Don't worry-- green monkey has been rescued from his perch.)

Reasons for Good Health Insurance...starring Sarah, the Climber!

Chairs are great for climbing. We hope she doesn't take the description, "ladder back chair" literally and climb to the top of the "ladder." (Oh, and forgive the pajama fashion faux pas)

Sarah: Here I am again! Once I get on this chair, I plan to climb on another chair...

Whew, I made it!

Ah, I've been looking all over for this!

A high chair is also a great climbing apparatus. I had to find the seat belt for the high chair when Miss Sarah arrived home. Otherwise she lets us know she is done by standing up in it!

Toys are also excellent climbing devices. Yikes!

I also like climbing IN things..

and UNDER things. And yes, I know I'm too cute for words!

It's not news to us that toddlers like to climb, but Sarah is a very determined climber and keeps all of us hopping to keep her safe!