Happy Birthday Michelle!

Our baby is turning 2 today. I don't know where the time is going but it's going by way too fast. We brought Michelle to San Antonio to spend her birthday with our families. Today is going to be low-key with lunch at an Italian restaurant and a small cake. We're going to have the big party Saturday with all the family and friends. I'll have tons of pictures to post once we get home.

I'm very excited about celebrating Michelle's first birthday with us but I can't help thinking about her birth mother today. I wonder if she thinks about the little girl she gave up every year on her birthday. I wonder if she could even have imagined that her little girl would be living in America with a family that absolutely adores her and spoils her rotten. I always say a special prayer for Michelle's birth mother.

Stay tuned next week for pictures from our trip.

Cuteness

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I haven't had much free time lately. Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

She loves her cupcakes.

Our little beach baby.

Michelle loves her dog. It's her new favorite toy. She calls out for her dog when she wakes up during the night and first thing in the morning. She has to put her dog to bed every night and give it a goodnight kiss. She also really likes her panda pajamas. I have a pair of panda pajama bottoms with a somewhat similar pattern and the first time I put her pajamas on her, she got a huge smile and said "Mama!" She gets really excited when we both have our panda pajamas on at the same time.

Michelle through the months

July

June

May

April

March

February

January

6 months ago today

We became a family. It's hard to believe it's been six months since we held our precious Michelle for the first time. The time has gone by so quickly. Our baby has grown and changed so much. We're constantly amazed by her. She's blossomed so much since we've been home. She seemed to realize that this was her home right away and she seemed to relax and open up to us very quickly. She's become a sweet, loving, gentle, thoughtful, generous, silly, funny, smart little girl.

Summer Fun

Those of you who know me well know that I've never been a big fan of summer. I hate to be hot and I'm terrified of bees and wasps (basically anything that flies and has a stinger). I always try to stay indoors as much as possible in the air conditioning and pray for an early fall. I never thought I'd enjoy summer until now. Now that we have our princess I'm suddenly loving summer. Michelle loves being outside. We're getting out and exploring and going to the beach all the time. Michelle is having a wonderful time and seeing her happy gives me more joy than anything else ever has. I love to see her squeal with delight when we wade in the water at the beach or holding her face up to feel a cool breeze on a hot summer day.

Below are some pictures of our latest outings.

Pretty Princess

Michelle's birthday is next month and we're very excited. We're going to have a big party for her in SA with our friends and family. We wanted to send out a picture with the invitations so we got her all dressed up in a princess outfit and took her to the photographer. She wanted nothing to do with the whole experience. She didn't want to smile or wear the crown or hold the wand. Of course the pictures were adorable since they were of Michelle but we didn't get a single happy picture of her. Later when we got home, she pulled the crown and wand out of the bag and wanted to put the skirt on. She was a very happy princess who was happy to pose for the camera. Have you ever seen such a pretty princess?

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone had a wonderful day, especially those of you celebrating your first July 4th with your new daughters.

We were originally planning to spend the day at the beach but Mother Nature had other plans. It was cool and rainy this morning so we quickly made a plan B and it was great. We heard about a Chinese exhibit at the Children's Museum so we decided to check it out. It was our first time taking Michelle to the Children's Museum and we were really excited about it. The Chinese exhibit, called The Children of Hangzhou, was a little smaller than we were expecting but it was nice. Michelle was very interested in the abacus but nothing else impressed her very much. She liked the construction exhibit a lot. That was fun. The museum was very crowded so we only spent a couple of hours there and then we took a nice walk along the harbor. Michelle loves being near water so she enjoyed that a lot. We ended our day with red, white and blue cupcakes. Michelle really enjoyed those. It was a very nice day. Sometimes Plan B turns out to be much better than the original plan.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook