Really Rachel!

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).