Home for Christmas

I remember this time last year.  I had one thing on my mind for Christmas...bringing my little girl home.  At that point, I had no idea what she even looked like.  Now, I can not imagine my life with out her.  She brings so much joy to all of us.  She is spunky, funny, sassy, full of energy, always smiling, and our best Christmas gift that we could have this year.  I so love this little girl.  Her brothers adore her, and she adores them.  Yesterday, when her daddy came home, she ran to him and hugged him.  That melts my heart!  I feel so blessed for the family and the life that God has given me.

Merry Christmas!!! 

Hayley and Anthony

Exactly two months ago was our "gotcha" day!  Today we took the kids to a skate park in Sellersville.  While the boys were skateboarding, I was watching Hayley ride her little bike with training wheels.  I couldn't help but think about the last two months, and all the things that have changed in her life.  She has been able to experience so many new things.  She looked so happy and carefree...the way it should be for a two year old little girl. 

So in one of my previous posts I mentioned a little boy that lived in the same orphanage where Hayley lived.  Take a look at these pictures.  The first one is the two of them in the orphanage.  The second one is in China when we met for the first time, and found out that Hayley and Anthony came from the same place.  And the third picture is from tonight, when our families met for dinner.  Can you believe it?!?!  There are millions of orphan children in China, and our children went from Xianyang, Shaanxi, China to living 30 minutes apart in Pennsylvania.  A huge blessing from God that these two children can grow up knowing each other.  

Today was a good day.  For me, a day of reflecting, and a day for me to just say "thank you God for this precious little person that you have brought into our lives"! 

Little Feet in the Grass...

I love trying to see the world through my daughter's eyes.  There are so many things that we take for granted that she has never had the chance to experience.  One example...grass!  The first time she saw it, she looked down and decided that there was no way she was going to step on that strange looking stuff.  Then, we showed her that it was perfectly safe to walk in, and she was certainly not convinced.  It took a little time to show her that it was fine, and now she loves to run through it.  The other day, I decided to take her shoes off and REALLY let her feel the grass.  This was her reaction...

Then she couldn't help herself. :)

Imagine never experiencing grass!  It made me think of all of the children that are there until they are 5...8...10...12 years old and they have never felt grass!!!  The things we take for granted!  God thank you for grass, trees, flowers, and all the beautiful things you bless us with each day. 

Life as a family of five...

We have now been home for just over 2 weeks.  It has been difficult, but amazing.  It is amazing to see how far this scared little girl has come over the last month.  I feel so blessed when I look at her smiling and watch her playing with her brothers.  She deserves a life full of love and happiness.   God has truly blessed us with an adorable, happy little girl. Hayley has her moments of struggle, as I am sure she will over the next few months or even years that she is home.  God will get her and us through them...I know!

Our trip overall went very well.  The jet lag was pretty rough in the beginning.  Especially when Hayley decided to wake up between 3-4am the first 4-5 days that we were home. :-)  But now I cannot complain, she is sleeping great!  She sleeps all night, and takes a nap too!  I can deal with almost anything when I have had a good night sleep.

Aidan and Cameron love her to pieces, and they both have been so great with her.  They are patient with her, and are constantly showing her love.  She is a bucket of endless energy, and fortunately Cameron is the same way!  I think he is the only one that can really keep up with her!  Hayley is also starting to do really well with her daddy too.  He came home today, and she ran over to give him a hug and kiss, and they played outside for a while tonight.  It has also given me a welcomed break here and there. 

Tomorrow we have Hayley's appointments at CHOP.  It will be a long day for her.  We have three different appointments scheduled...all in one day.  Poor thing...that is the last thing she needs, but we figured it was better all in one day.  If not, we would have had to go down to the city three different times. 

We are all adjusting to life, as a family of five.  And we are all in love with this new little member of the family.  I now cannot imagine my life without her.  She has the cutest smile, and she always makes me laugh.  She loves to give me kisses, and loves to snuggle after her naps.  She loves to get her books and sit on my lap.  She loves to sing 5 little monkeys...over and over.  Yes, I love her.   When I look at her and think of her being back in the orphange that she came from, I feel so thankful that God chose me to be her mom.  It gives me strength to keep going, if we are having a tough day.  It makes my heart break for the other children that are still there...

God thank you for my little girl.

We are home!

We are so beyond happy to be home, and it was so nice to be greeted by our family and friends at the airport and at home.  Hayley handled it all pretty well considering.  When we arrived in the U.S., it was the middle of the night in China.  She was so tired, but managed to give everyone a smile. 

Now we are trying to overcome the jet-lag, and the little one sitting next to me decided to wake up at 3am.  So here I sit (at 5:30am), and she does not look at all like she wants to go back to sleep!  This should be interesting. 

After being home for about an hour, Hayley decided to get down and play with her brothers for a while last night.  They were thrilled, and they were able to see a little bit of her fun personality.  They are so excited to have her home! 

Thank you again for all of your prayers and support!  I will still try to update periodically to let you all know how Miss Hayley is doing!

Last post from China!

So today will be my last post from China!  Tomorrow night (tomorrow morning for all of you) we head to Hong Kong, and we are there for one night.  Then, we fly home!  Fifteen hours in the air from Hong Kong to Newark.  Sounds fun...right?!?! Hmmm.

Saying that we cannot wait to come home would be an understatement!  We were ready the day we got Hayley, but we made it through the last 2 weeks. We feel so blessed to have this adorable, spunky, funny, little girl.  She has come a long way in a short time.  

I can't wait for you all to meet this little one.  I was reading my Bible the other day, and came across a verse that is very familiar to me.  It is probably very familiar to many of you too.  "He who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it."  That verse hit me in a whole new way, as I was sitting there reading next to my sleeping beauty.  He began a good work in this little precious one's life, and I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be part of how He chooses to complete it.

See you all soon!

Time at the pool!