I thought we needed a little more Kate :)

Here's a picture of Kate... I thought she needed to be at the top of the blog again :) Just can't wait to get my arms around that sweet girl!

It's now day... 46! I am so ready. It's hard to see so many of the people who got referrals the same day and after us getting TAs this week. I am happy for them, but it is so hard to still be waiting for LOA. I realize that they were through the review room and that is why, but I wish that it would just be quick for everyone. No matter how long you waited before, it is so SO hard to wait once you have that picture... When I know that my sister is somewhere in China (we honestly don't even know where she is right now... other than the fact that she is in Jiangxi...) It's so hard when all I want is to go get her, yet we have to wait... and wait, not knowing when we will even be able to go get her. I know 46 days is nothing compared to the amount of time that some people have had to wait, but the hard thing is that I know that it's going to be longer. Praying that God will bless the hands touching our LOA and allow us to receive it SOON.

On another note...

I forgot (in my last post) to do the meme Amy tagged me in! Amy is one of my mom's chatty friends and I was able to meet her last month! She is such a sweet person to be around! Anyway, here it goes:

O.K. Here are the rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged you
2) Post the rules on your blog
3) Write 7 random things about yourself
4) Tag 7 people at the end of your post and link to them
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up

1.) I am 2nd most traveled in my family (second only to my dad!) I've been to most of the big cities in the US, Canada, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, L*chtenstein (some tiny country in Europe... we actually only drove through it and stopped at a gas station there, but it sounds cool!), France, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, and China.

2.) I remember the strangest things... such as what someone was wearing on a certain day. Oh and birthdays... I always remember those. (Like... my elementary school friends who I haven't seen since like the second grade... odd and random? I know.)

3.) I've met M*ley Cy*rus in the mall. Don't really like her at all... but I still think that's kinda cool.

4.) I swam for 7 years (I stopped last year) and when I was 12, I was in the top 10 for 11-12 year old breaststrokes in North Carolina. Speaking of swimming, one of the guys who swam on my old team when I did (He is now at Texas... HOOK 'EM!) made it to the olympics!

5.) I hate soda. I never really drank it to begin with, but when I was like 11, it was my New Years Resolution to not drink any soda. Since then, I've tried it and don't like it at all!

6.) I am terrified of the ocean. Love going to the beach, hate going in the water. Ever since I was younger, I have had a fear of sharks and jelly fish. Even now, I am still scared and rarely go more than ankle deep! I also hate the dark. I cannot be the last person to go to sleep and I won't go downstairs at night. (yeah, I'm 15!)

7.) I am really bad at thinking of random stuff about myself (as you can probably see)

I know a lot of other people have already been tagged for this, so here's a few that I don't think have...

We traveled with Staci and her family back in 2006. I had talked with her long before we traveled (or knew we were going together) and we still email. Sarah Lu and AnnaClaire were so cute together in China! Now, Staci's family is going back to China for Chayah right around the time we should be getting Kate!

Lexie's family just received their referral for Karleigh Mei! Lexie is another jie jie that I have kept in touch with for awhile! She is so sweet and I can't wait to see her with her mei mei!!

Jeanette S was one of Mom's first "cyber" friends. She came with Elizabeth and visited us back in April and we had a blast! She is so sweet and funny and we just loved having her here!

Jeanette R is another one of Mom's friends. They live about 15 minutes away from us and she runs a great bow business. If you haven't already seen Sara Beth Bows, you should definitely check them out. Most of AnnaClaire's bows are from there and we just love them!

We had the blessing of meeting Keara and her mom and sister back in 2007. Keara's mei mei, Maura and AnnaClaire share the same birthday! Keara was the first friend I ever "met" through adoption. She has continued to be such a friend and I can't wait for a time when we can meet up again now that they are back in the states!

Robin is another one of Mom's friends whom we met in April. She is so sweet and we just had a blast hanging out with her and Maddy!

A Little Bit of Everything

Just warning you~ this post is a little bit of everything and I will probably end up rambling...

First of all, our sweet friend Lucy (who we visited in June) sent us some Half the Sky fortune cookies and they are the best things I have ever tasted. Plus, they are wrapped up all cute with the red thread and all. And of course there's the added bonus of the money raised selling the cookies goes to Half the Sky... which is an amazing organization that is in Chenzhou (as well as many other orphanages)... where AC is from. So yes, the first picture is AnnaClaire holding up the little box. The first cookie we opened had the fortune "Good news will come soon." No, I don't think anything of fortunes but I do have to say that good news would be really nice.

Today is officially our 44th day of waiting for LOA. Yes, I know there are people waiting in the 100s. But there are other people waiting in the teens. We have been waiting 44 days too long and I am just ready to go get my sister! We know China is capable of processing LOA in a week... so why are people waiting 100+ days. I just don't get it. But then again, I don't get a lot of stuff... like why they are only in January 2006 for the NSN referrals. So we continue to wait for that little piece of paper informing us that we can now wait for another little piece of paper. The first 40 days went fast (probably because I was getting ready/on my trip) but now the days are going slowly and I am just anxious for this paper! And once we get that, we still have to wait another month for TA! We were told that our LOA would come faster since our file is logged in as SN only. My question... what does "faster" mean? I wish that China would just send out all the LOAs and TAs and get a big batch of NSN referrals in before the olympics... then they could start fresh and new after the olympics. Wishful thinking... It just kills me that Kate was 15 months old when we got her referral. She's almost 17 months now and we can't even be sure that we will get her at 18 months... I hate that she is growing without her forever family. It was all too familiar with AC, getting her referral at 8 months and now getting her until she was 13 months. I just hate that it's happening again. We are missing out on more of Kate's life than we should have to when we are completely ready to go get her now. I would go to China right now if I could.

That brings me to my next point. For some strange reason, our homestudy is only valid for 0-18 months although our application said 0-2. This means that we have to get home with Kate while she is still 18 months old. She will be 19 months on October 6, so if we won't be home before then, then we will have to have an addendum done. It's not a huge issue, just something extra that we'd rather not deal with/pay for. Plus, it really would be AWESOME if we were able to have Kate at 18 months old... the sooner, the better.

Speaking of the sooner the better... on Tuesday, Dad and Drew roadtripped to DC to get Drew's student visa to go to China. (For those of you who don't know, Drew is doing a semester abroad in Beijing in the fall.) While they were up there, they decided to go on and (try) to get ours. They were able to get them. However, last time we went, our visas were valid for 6 months. Nope, this time they are only valid for 3 months. In other words, we have to be in China before October 22 or else we have to get new visas. So we are risking it, but definitely praying that we will be home by then. We really are hopeful to get Kate sometime in September...

AnnaClaire is doing well. She just cracks me up. On Thursday, she wasn't feeling well at all. She had a fever and threw up for the first time... poor baby. Friday she was a lot better and we did a mall trip. By yesterday, she was 100%. This is the second time she has been sick since we got her... the only other time she has been sick was back in February when she had the croup. She has been a little full of herself lately... I think she knows that something is going on. She really is a sweetheart... and so polite. She never fails to mention her good manners, either. The new room downstairs is on its way to being finished, so pretty soon she will be moving into Drew's old room which means... big girl bed! That should be interesting.

Today, AnnaClaire woke up from her nap with a huge smile informing us that she was ready to go to the pool (Dad had promised her before her nap that he would take her.) Drew and I went with so we had a little half-family pool trip. We had a good time and Boo had a BLAST. She does love the pool. It will be a sad day when it closes for the season.

I cannot believe it's almost August. Where has this summer gone? I start school on the 19th and I am NOT ready for that to happen at ALL. At least it means we are closer to Kate...

2 years ago today...

...we saw her sweet face for the first time.

Honestly, this story never gets old. It is always the same, beautiful story... the story of our sweet girl. Yet, it a story that never leaves my mind. It is just as vivid 2 years later as it was on that day in late July, 2006. Before I get into the story of how we received AnnaClaire's referral call, I want to mention a few things...

We were DTC on July 7, 2006. We had read about SN adoption and were interested and praying about it, but at this point, we were not on our agency's list or anything. However, a week after we were DTC, we received our DTC packet with info on SN. We felt like God was calling us to adopt SN... It was only a few days before we decided to go on and get on the interested families list. This was on July 16. On the 21st, AWAA received 4 "surprise" referrals. I remember reading about this on the weekly update:

"America World was surprised to receive four Special Needs referrals this week and anticipates the receipt of the remainder of the set in the upcoming weeks. The Special Needs Coordinators are unable to predict precisely when they will arrive. The four Special Needs referrals are being translated and eligible families will be contacted once the translations are received. The Special Needs Coordinators are unable to give out any information on these four referrals until the complete medicals translations are received. When the remainder of the referrals do arrive, the Special Needs Coordinators need time to translate these referrals to process them accordingly. All applications received on or before Friday, July 21st, will be considered in the matching of this Special Needs referral group. Please understand that there are many families on the Interested Families list that have requested female, 0-2 years, with minor special needs. Due to the increase, not all families on the Interested Families list will receive a call with this upcoming Special Needs referral group."

I ran downstairs to Mom and told her. However, there was no way we would receive a referral... we had just been added to the list! So keep in mind that only families that had applications received by the 21st were considered in this batch. Our application was received on the 18th. Also keep in mind that we were VERY close (I'm talking less than an hour) off missing the Wednesday cutoff to be DTC on the 7th. If we had not been DTC on the 7th, we would not have gotten the DTC packet with the SN info in time to be added to the list to be considered for this batch. So as you can see, this was a HUGE God story!

On July 24, Mom and I were at Target getting AnnaClaire's carseat. At this time, we thought we would have this carseat for a long time with no baby to go in it. When we got home, there was a missed call from AWAA saying to call back before 4, they needed to talk to us. It was after 4, so we knew the office was closed. No one really thought anything of the call because Mom had called AWAA to ask some questions about the special needs matching process. However, the next day, after a few tries on both ends, our phone rang at 1:04 and it was a Virginia area code. I was reading The Waiting Child when I heard Mom say, "Of course! We would love further information!" My heart started racing. I ran downstairs just as Mom got off the phone.

She was 8 months old. She was in Chenzhou SWI in Hunan China. Her name was Chen Xun Hui.

I was hyperventilating as we waited for the email with Xun Hui's pictures to come. (Oh by the way, we did call Dad during this time!) We opened the pictures. She was perfect. She was ours. She was AnnaClaire. We forwarded the email to Dad and he called back agreeing that she was ours. These are the first pictures we ever saw of our sweetie... the face we fell in love with...


The day definitely had it's share of talking and researching, but by the end of the day, I think we all knew that she was ours. Mom and I had actually been on our way to our big outlet mall, so we headed there and got a few little things for AC. (fitting that we had to go there today, too!) While at the mall, Mom called Dad and said, "It's her."

And so... the story of how God put AnnaClaire in our lives. How he blew us away and matched us with this beautiful little girl that I am blessed to call my sister.

2 years later, I still see that face we gazed at in her. She has the same flat nose and the same gorgeous eyes. However, she has grown so much. She is no longer the sad baby that she was in those pictures. She is a happy (and by happy, I mean HAPPY) 2.5 year old who loves everything and everyone.

Today will always be a special day. It will always mark the day that we saw our beautiful girl for the first time. Praise God for my sweet little princess and the way he put her into our lives!

Two years ago, we fell in love with her. Today, that love has only grown. I love her more and more with each passing day... and it all started with those pictures we saw on July 25, 2006.

1 year referral anniversary (7/25/07)

Romania!!!

Our whole team with the translators

Cristina and Manu

at the lalau

Deb, Roberto, Daniela, and me

Daniel, me, Teresa, and Timi

Our small group the first week

Cori, Kristen, me and Blair at the camp the first day there

Me and Daniela

me and sweet Ema

Everyone from camp the first week

me, Daniela, Adina, and Emily

Crazy boys

A bunch of the little boys with me

In Arad

Diana and Naomi holding up our team's flag!

Me and a few of the girls at camp (2nd week)

Me, Diana, and Teresa

Our small group the second week

The whole camp 2nd week

me, Joni, and Cori in Budapest!

Before I start, I want to just say that we got home Monday and I wanted to do a post before now, but my power cord died while we were over there and so I had to wait to get a new one (which I got today). Also, I just had to mention that when I checked my bloglines earlier, I had 579 posts to catch up on... crazy. (and no, I did not read them all!) Lastly, I thought I would mention that there are close to 1800 pictures on my computer from the trip (no, I did not take all of them) so these are just a few that I liked. Anyway... on with the trip :)

I wish I could put into words how amazing my trip was. However, I can't... But I know many people have been wondering how it went, so here's my trip summed up in a post... First of all, let me say that it was the most life changing experience and that we had a really, really good trip.

As you know, on the 4th of July, our team of 24 left. We had a 9 hour flight, but surprisingly it was not bad. I think its safe to say that maybe 2 or 3 people actually slept, yet it was still a really fun flight, other than a few screaming babies. We landed in Munich on Saturday morning and had a layover before flying to Timisoara. We all played cards and got a bite to eat, so it was a fun layover. I slept the whole flight to Timisoara (2 hours.) We finally got there and went through customs and on to "baggage claim" (if you would call it that.) It was then that we found out that half of our bags were missing! The plane was too small to fit all the luggage, so they just left a bunch of it in Munich and no one knew when it would be there. Supposedly this is a problem that happens all the time. We all had 2 bags... 1 personal and 1 ministry. Some people were missing both, some none, and some one. I was missing my ministry (which didn't come until Friday.) The majority of the suitcases came on Tuesday, when one of the Dad's who was with us offered to bring them with on the way to the camp. The last one didn't arrive until the next Monday! Anyway, that was just a glitch but we made it even if we were missing half of the stuff we needed to run the camp and had to all share clothes so everyone had some! We got to the camp and I was amazed at how beautiful it is! I was not expecting Romania to be so pretty! The camp is in a small farming village about 2 hours from Timisoara. The rest of the weekend, we set up camp, got to walk around the village, and slept. We also got a taste for what we would be eating the next 2.5 weeks. Lets just say I think I had 3 pieces of bread at every meal and that was it. (I promise... I tried everything!) Thankfully everyone had lots of snacks so we all just shared those and made it through :). Camp started Monday and the bus load of kids came pretty early. There were not as many as we were expecting... only about 20. They were a very weird variety of ages... ranging from 5-26! I'm not going to lie, I was scared. Although half of them were between 7-10, all the older ones were between 18-20. When we split up into our small groups, we had 2 girls... a 9 year old whose family owns the camp and a 19 year old, Roxy. Here we have 15, 17, and 18 year old girls leading the small group, plus another 18 year old translating for us. If that doesn't explain awkward enough, I don't know what will. Although we were a little discouraged, we learned to trust God and know that this was His plan. We kept working through it, as this is how all the small groups were. On Wednesday, one of the other leaders, Bethany and I were able to lead Roxy to Christ... which was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. We had an amazing week and 5 people came to Christ (two 10 year olds and three teens!) It was a fun week filled with games, crafts, music, talks, and just really great memories. It is a week I will never forget and always cherish. We all sobbed on Friday when those kids left. I cannot get those people I met that week out of my mind. They have all made a difference in my life and in just 5 days, I had come to love each and every one of them dearly. I worried about what they were going back to at home and I still do. I just have to trust that God continues to work in their lives, as He always does. It was amazing how awkward the first day was with such a variety of ages, but how amazing the end of the week was when everyone bonded and loved eachother with this amazing kind of love that you don't always see.

On Saturday, our team headed to Arad (a city about an hour away from the camp) where one of the translators showed us around (by the way, our translators were AWESOME. They were all our age and very fun to be around. Plus, they were really good at their job and were very passionate for Christ which made it fun to work with them.) I can't post about Arad without mentioning that we picked up a hitchhiker on the way. Our bus driver was very interesting, to say the least. We had an awesome day in Arad. We got to go to an open air market, a few shops on the street, and one really neat store with traditional Romanian hand made gifts. We also got to have lunch at McDonalds. I have never been that excited to see a McDonalds in my life! It was SO good! Later on Saturday, we had to say bye to half out team which was a really hard thing to do. They went back to Timisoara to do work in the city, while we stayed at the camp to run it a 2nd week.

The 2nd week was equally as amazing as the first, although it took a lot longer for me to realize that. There were around 60 kids all between 5-15 but most of them were 9 or 10. They were better off then the first week of kids, so they were not striving for love like the 1st week. The kids from the first week would literally hit us just so we would pay attention to them. They finally realized that we were there to pay attention to them and that they didn't need to hit to get that love. By the end of the week, they would hug and kiss us instead of hitting and pushing. Anyway, the first two days were extremely discouraging. Our small groups were much bigger, having about 8 girls in them. I felt like we had a lot of 1 on 1/personal time with everyone the first week, and we definitely did not have that. We were all discouraged and I definitely did not think there would be much of an outcome at the weeks end. However, God definitely proved us all wrong AGAIN when 5 kids (all in the same group) gave their lives to Christ on Wednesday. Wednesday was the funnest night of the week both weeks (although Thursday was fun, too, because we went on a hike up the mountain and had a huge campfire both weeks!), because we had a lalau! There was yummy food, lots of funny skits, and just a fun time of fellowship with all the campers. Now added to this Wednesday was another celebration, this one of 5 more kids entering Jesus' family. I think this really encouraged all of us, as Wednesday night was amazing and went even better than the first week's lalau! Thursday was incredible. We had really fun water games, good talks, a blast doing dishes for the entire camp (not... it took over 2 hours!) The most incredible part of Thursday was no doubt small groups. Bethany and I had felt led to do "1 on 1" time with all our girls. I think the whole talking about spiritual stuff in front of all their friends really intimidated them, so no one had REALLY talked yet. One by one, we talked to each girl. 3 girls decided on that day to give their lives to Christ. One of the girls informed us that she had asked Jesus into her heart the night before. It was incredible. That is the only way I can describe it. The amazingness of witnessing people make the most important decision of their life is overwhelming. After small groups, we went to snacks and most of the other team members/ small group leaders were sitting talking. Everyone was smiling so big and we all just started sharing out stories. 16 more people came to Christ that day. It was truly an amazing day. We capped the day off with a hike up the mountain, where we did our talk. As we walked down, there was a gorgeous sunset. I just couldn't stop thinking how great our God is. We had a huge bonfire afterwards and we all just sang together. Looking around and seeing close to 100 people all sitting around this huge bonfire, singing and praising God in Romanian was such a beautiful thing. Not just in Romanian, though. One of the most beautiful things we experienced the whole trip was on night when we were singing "Prince of Peace." We sang it in Romanian first and the second time through, we sang it in English. Then we ended it in Romanian. How beautiful to hear 2 languages singing the same song, lifting up praises. No one was ready for Friday to come (other than the fact that it meant our team being reunited). Saying goodbye was once again really difficult. As I hugged each kid, whispering te iubesc (I love you) in their ears, I could not help but thing of how amazing, how life changing this trip had been.. not only for those kids, but also for me.

We ended the trip with a trip to Budapest. It was really fun and gorgeous. We were probably quite the site... 24 Americans dressed in Church clothes, all carrying cameras, walking down the streets of Budapest. It was a really fun way to end the trip, and what a beautiful place Budapest is!

On Monday, we headed to the airport. We were all ready to see our families, but we all wanted to stay. (by the way, what an amazing team we had! No drama, just fun and fellowship. We truly had an awesome time and have already planned a reunion!) The flight was really fun on the way home. Horribly turbulent (which made quite a few of us, including me, feel very sick) but really fun. We got off the plane, went through customs, got all (yes ALL) of our luggage, and went down to the main airport part where signs and tons of families were waiting. AnnaClaire RAN up the ramp, yelling "SISSY! SISSY!" when she saw me. I was so glad to see my sweet girl! It was so weird when she spoke English and understood me, though. I was not used to that!

It was a really good trip. Life-changing and amazing. I missed everyone at home, but I really did have the best time. We are already talking about next year and are hopeful that our Church will be able to bring a team back :)

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for all the prayers. I definitely felt them. Thank you so very much!

HOME!

I got home yesterday afternoon and I'm doing very well. Went to bed at 8, woke up at 8, and have been exhausted all day today. I had the most amazing trip and I can't wait to get into more details... but for now I'm going to bed! Here's one picture though. This was on Friday... our last day of the 2nd week at the camp. This is me with Naomi. She was my little friend the second week. She followed me everywhere. It was so cute! We are holding sheets with notes from everyone in our group and she wrote on mine (in Romanian) "You are my very best friend." It has been an amazing 2 and a half weeks that I will never forget. Can't wait to tell more!

Having an amazing trip...

Happy 4th!

Well... this is it for awhile. I am bringing my computer (so I can upload pictures and skype and maybe even watch some movies on the plane!) However, I'm not sure about the internet connection, so don't expect any posts... just be pleasantly surprised if there is one :)

I know many people have wondered why I'm going to Romania... A group of 24 people from my Church are going. We will be running a camp there fro 8-18 years olds. There is a Church in Timisoara and the pastor is getting lots or Romanian kids to go. Some are orphans and some have parents sending them. They all have one thing in common... they need to know the Truth.

So in about an hour, I am heading to the airport. Our flight is in the evening and we fly straight to Munich. From there, we fly to Timisoara. We land on Saturday and we have a few days to settle in before camp starts (on Monday.) The camp runs Monday-Friday (there are two sessions. One this coming week and one the next week). We will spend the weekends in the city... next weekend in Arad and the following in Budapest (or maybe Bucharest. I've thought Budapest this whole time, but now I'm thinking it may be Bucharest... I guess we'll have to see!)

I covet any prayers and thank you in advance. I am so excited although I will definitely miss everyone back at home.

I will miss a few days while I'm gone. First of all, Miss Kate turns 16 months old on Sunday (7/6) and Monday (7/7) marks 2 years of blogging... you can read my very first post here. Also, the 7th marks two years since we were DTC. I will never forget going to Washington DC the day after the 4th and getting all of our stuff together really fast, making the Wednesday cut off, thus having our dossier sent on the 7th. We then got a SN info packet (we had been thinking about it, but this packet sealed the deal!) A few weeks later, we got AnnaClaire's referral. That was on July 25, but I'll be home then, so that's a post for another day. Oh and then the 13th marks one month of waiting for LOA. They say it should come between 1-3 months, so we will be in the timeframe, although we definitely aren't expecting it that soon.

I'll be home on the 21st so I'll be back to blogging shortly after! Have a very blessed 4th of July!

For Your Viewing Pleasure...

Beautiful girl...

Full of PERSONALITY, that is for sure!

Swimming with Sissy!

Wearing my new floaties!

I have my duck and my floaties... but once I jump in, I'm making you hold me anyway!

Pool girl!

Drew always brings me home "munchkins" after work... oh how I love my biggest brother!

Here's a few pictures from yesterday and today. I am almost ready for my trip. I just have some packing and stuff. Our flight isn't until later tomorrow... around 5. I'm sad I'll be missing out on the 4th of July festivities. Our family is going to the gardens for a picnic and fireworks with our best friends. We've gone a few years now and this year pretty much everyone will be there, so I'm sad I won't be. Oh well... I'm sure there will be pictures. Instead, I'll be on a 9 hour flight to Munich. From there, we (our group from Church) will go to Romania. We get there on Saturday! I am really excited, although I can't say that I am thrilled to be flying so long. Of course, it's really nothing (okay... it's still a lot!) compared to China, but I don't love flying. It's all for a good reason, though and I am soooooo excited!

So today... we ran out and got a few things, had lunch at Chickfila (boy am I going to miss Chickfila these 2 weeks!) Once we got home, Annaboo went to sleep and I headed to the pool with my friend. Mom brought AC up to me once she was awake. We had a fun time. AnnaClaire does loveeeee the pool! Dad came and met us up there and my friend Becky and I went with another friend and her mom to a July 3rd event (picnic, symphony and fireworks) by our mall. We ended up meeting up with a ton more friends and had a very fun time. I was happy to get my share of fireworks since I'll be missing them tomorrow!

Oh and by the way~ did you notice her pig tails in the pictures? We can almost get all her hair in them! Her hair grows so fast!! I love those piggies!!

Anyway, I just wanted to post a few pictures from yesterday and today. I'll post tomorrow with some 4th of July pictures and a little about my trip... so stay tuned!

My princess

One word: princess

AnnaClaire, Riley, and Ella. The twins are so good with AnnaClaire!

Anna banana and Summer!

Yesterday, we were pulling in the driveway (I was driving!) when AnnaClaire noticed our twin neighbors outside! She wanted to go say hi and ended up staying awhile while we all talked. She had so much fun! Ella and Riley have a Barbie jeep and AnnaClaire had so much fun riding around in it, while it was being "girl powered" by Ella and Riley! I had to laugh as they "drove past" with the twins pushing with all their might and there's AnnaClaire, smiling and waving like a little princess. She just cracks me up. Soon, Summer and Charles came over from next door and we just had all the kids from the street playing! Summer is only a week older than AnnaClaire. They are so cute together! Charles, Ella, and Riley (who are all in 1st grade) were so good with the little girls! AnnaClaire was not happy to go inside... she had so much fun!

On another note, Kate's website is up and running!! We had it done by our friends at Adoption Websites. Mom has chatted with Mrs. B ever since we received AC's referral! They set up AnnaClaire's website, too, and we just loved it. Kate's website turned out beautifully!! They even did a custom design for us! :) Go to www.katecomeshome.com to see it!

Oh and I just had to post this! We got this sweet little dress for Kate at Pottery Barn. I love the monogram... so sweet!

Chenzhou sisters at Chickfila!

Happy girls!

Mia and AnnaClaire!

Two girls drinking their lemonade!

Friends jumping up and down!

HI!!!

I think I mentioned last week that Mom met a new friend at storytime. After talking, we were shocked to find out that sweet Mia is from Chenzhou, just like AnnaClaire... and she lives just 5 minutes away!! So anyway, today after storytime, we went to Chickfila. AnnaClaire was so excited to see Mia all morning! They both had so much fun reading about ladybugs at storytime. Then we headed to Chickfila! The girls were so cute drinking their lemonade together. Mia turned 2 in May, so she is a little less than 7 months younger than AC... what a height difference! You can really see it in the jumping picture. (They definitely love to JUMP, JUMP, JUMP!) Anyway, after lunch, AnnaClaire showed Mia how to go up the playset and down the slide! They both had so much fun! I love the picture of the girls waving out the window! It was a very fun day and we can't wait till next time, Mia!

I do have some more cute pictures from later today, but those will be for another day.