Really Rachel!

Thank you most wonderful Popham family for catching this moment! What a priceless gift. We are so thankful for you and our journey together. Huge hugs!

Gotcha Day is certainly a celebration for adoptive families. It's a tradition we chose to include in our family, ensuring to spend the day remembering our China journey as a family. We started our day taking big brothers and sister to school. Rachel and I then went to local photographer to have her "2-year-old" picture taken; figured it a good day every year to have her picture taken for both milestones. In her red polka dot dress, Rachel warmed up for a few smiles and had fun being the star of her own photo session. She's use to a lot of attention albeit she is not sure how to handle it all yet. After that we drove to downtown Dallas to check out The Crow Collection of Asian Art. It was a murky day with lots of low rain clouds and drizzle; exactly like it was this very day in Guanghzhou last year! Exactly. We parked and walked the streets of downtown, which really could have been any major city in the world at that point. The skyscrapers were masked with th...

It's our first mother's day as a family of six; Rachel' first Mother's day! That, alone, is profound. We are forever grateful for those sweet interim mommies who watched over her at Enping SWI. They nurtured this little girl for 14 months awaiting the day she would meet her forever family. And she's here! For us, getting the perfect pictures is, well, impossible, we're happy with what we get; there's always a story in our photos. In this picture, Rachel is shouting "cheese!" with arms open wide as in exclamation. Seems appropriate!

For a long time now I've been wanting to make a note about the songs we sing each night. With each child I kept adding a song to sing at night. I remember "walking" the boys to their room each night by following the flashlight we would shine on the floor as they tried to "catch" the light all the way to bed. We would sing "Night Night" in a sing-song way. But when they were babies, the routine was always rocking them to sleep right before putting them to bed singing a few of the same songs every night. I was convinced I was doing something that my grandmothers before me surely did through the decades. I think that's why I chose old hymns. I didn't know any nursery rhymes or kiddie sing-songs anyway! Starting with Noah and Simon I always sang, in order, (1)What A Mighty God We Serve, (2) I Love You, Lord, and (3) Amazing Grace. When Elizabeth came along, we added "Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord" because the boys LOVED singi...

So today as I'm spending a few hours writing up our report for our 1-year post adoption appointment with our case worker, Rachel is off to the side "using her imagination". Such a proud Mommy I am. My little darling using that noggin to discover the next cure for the common cold, of course. So did I laugh out loud or what when Rachel started singing "Happy Birthday Mommy" and presented me with a special "cupcake". Yes, that is a half-eaten apple with a Nintendo DS stylus tucked in the top just like a candle. I've told my boys to keep their games out of reach...oops!

Rachel had no problem learning how to collect eggs. She just kept going and going like and Energizer Bunny. We attended our church's Easter Speggtacular at a local park. Our kiddos covered all 4 age groups, so we came home with over 200 eggs...seriously! That said, we had an impromptu egg hunt in our greenbelt with our neighbor friends! Rachel's new vocabulary word for the week is 'EGGS' with the obligatory exclamation point thrown in!

I love her expressions in these photos! Especially the one where she has her mouth open saying "rohr!" I was giggling along with Rachel as she literally ran circles around me one morning as the sun casted its light on the wall. She looked so cute in her green stripes acting like a little cartoon character.

Rachel is a great sleeper...once she closes those wee little eyes. She likes to sleep on a big pillow and must be covered with a quilt or blanket. Toss in a ducky, Mulan, and another stuffed animal and she's content! She has to have things so precise to get her zees.

Rachel loves having her photo made. When the sunshine returns, we'll have to go out to the greenbelt and take lots of fun kiddo poses. With all the rain, we played "camera" in the house. I love natural light, so Rachel got to play in the curtains only because she was so darn cute! I adore the way Rachel "latches" on when she hugs. She lets you know very clearly with her arms she's NOT ready to stop hugging yet. I really love the photo of her and Noah. He is her protector, and I can't wait to see how that has altered his life as he grows.

We received a surprise in the mail from Aunt Carrie! She is quite the knitter; so fast I might have to dub her the bionic-knitter (not all superheroes wear capes, right?). She made a special blankie for Rachel. It's orange, because we LOVE orange. Rachel's referral photo had her in a orange walker. It stuck in my mind immediately. I tagged all of our China luggage with orange polka dots. I rented an orange stroller while in China. I must have bought 10 different orange outfits. I still love it. So to get Aunt Carrie's special blankie made with love knitted in orange was a super birthday treat for Rachel (and me!). We just wish Aunt Carrie and our cousins lived closer. Next time you see us dressed in orange, you'll know why! Which is kind of funny since Randy is an Aggie...

Rachel and Mommy had a special Elmo matinee together Friday morning; a birthday gift. It was a great time to spend special time with this special girl! It's hard to believe we still haven't been home a full year yet...just 9 months so far. Like any adoptive parent will say, it's like she's been with us all along. Rachel LOVED the Elmo show as she clapped, waved, and squealed "Elmo" most of the 2-hours from our 3rd row seat. She really wasn't scared until the characters got a little too up close and personal. These guys are already like 7-ft tall...can't even imagine what they must look like to a 2-year old! I mean, for Rachel, Elmo and friends are only about the size of a 27" TV screen in her real world. So when they walked down from the stage to our aisle seat to shake Rachel's hand...well it just didn't happen! I mean, I like "Super Grover", but yowza...doesn't Grover look more like "arrrgh!" than ...

Today, Wednesday, February 25, 2009, our Rachel is two-years old! Two years ago this day in 2007 she was held in the arms of the warm caretakers of Enping SWI. One year ago this day in 2008, she was growing and thriving being prepared to be placed into our arms. Three months later we received this little darling. She's such a happy girl, can you tell?! Rachel has been saying "Happy Day" for weeks now seeing others have parties. Today we say "Happy Day Rachel". She just grins so big. In our own tradition with our kiddos this young, we have a simple family party where they get to be a star for the day. Rachel still very much adores Elmo so I couldn't deviate away from that theme, so I embraced it by making the Elmo cake (no laughing too loud, please!). Her big present was the Take-n-go slide along with a few more Elmo toys. Can't seem to get enough of those, can we? The special gift she received was one of many gifts we purchased in China....

OK so Valentine's Day is like Christmas in our household. Four of the six of us all celebrate birthdays within 15 days. Thus Valentine's Day could almost go unnoticed. ALMOST. Nope, we celebrate it big. Randy is my sweetheart and pampers me every year. I'm thankful for my prince! Every kiddo gets a special Valentine card and treat. Yep, it's pretty festive in February here...lots of CAKE and CUPCAKES abound. So if you have a sweet-tooth, your chances are good here for 28-days. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3 17b-19

We got to celebrate Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival) with friends and families of other Chinese children. Everyone brought an authentic dish from Asia. I opted to adventure out and make pork Lion's Head, a dish from Beijing. YUM-O it was. Rachel was the little cutie pie amidst the tweens and teens of the party making other parents reminisce about their own adoption journeys years ago. She was giving out kisses by the time we left. She gives air "smacks". Awwwwwww. The New Year festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays . It is often called the Lunar New Year , especially by people in mainland China. 2009 is the year of the Ox which symbolizes prosperity through fortitude and hard work. Among several celebration activities we let the children exchange lucky red envelopes followed by a lion parade. Randy had to try on the lion's head (hilarious since that's what we "made" for dinner).

We waited a full 7 months before we touched our little one's noggin. Having her wee little head shaved for so long, we wanted to let it grow as long as possible. And grow it did in ALL directions and ringlets on the bottom. So cute. The time came to even up her locks so I could only take her to someone I knew and completely trusted, Miss Melanie! She's my hairstylist...so if you ever need a super best-ever referral, Melanie is it. Rachel sat in my lap the whole time, because those big chairs still intimidate her; anything remotely clinical means crocodile tears. The results was a cutie bob. Yay! Thanks, Melanie!

We were all over the place January to and from the farm for Christmas and seeing Denise's brother for the first time in six years. Rachel got lots of playtime with her cousins. Is there a playground we have not conquered yet? And with January came a lot more independence...like peeling her own oranges. Oh no, don't even try to take that orange from the little darling. Ahhhhh, the 2s are coming :o)