The First Time We Ever Saw Your Face....

Exactly 1 year ago today, we received our long, long, awaited call! 

But even though we had waited almost 6 years for this call, we were still caught off guard, scared, excited, and relieved. 

At the time, China had only been referring just a few Log In Dates at a time, so given its pattern, we were not expecting our referral call until June. 

Needless to say, when we did receive our call, first thing on a Monday morning, we were overwhelmed with emotion.

And then a few minutes later, we received these 3 precious little photos via email, and our hearts instantly knew that this was our Daughter, the one we had hoped for, prayed for, and loved in our hearts, long before she was even born.

Ning Xing Yao was her given name, and we were told she was residing at an orphanage in Ningdu County, Jiangxi, China, and had just turned 1 year old at the time. Little did we know at the time that it would be yet another 6 more months before we could meet her in person & kiss her sweet face, but for the time being, we held on to these little photos very tightly & counted the days until we could finally be together as a family.

Adoption is a beautiful thing! Not only do we get to enjoy the gift of becoming a family, but we also get to adopt many new beautiful traditions, anniversaries, and celebrations, like today -

May 21

Happy Referral Anniversary to us!
( and to all those families throughout the world with babies from China 
who also received their referral on this date )

You are now officially 2 years old, my sweet Madeline!

Dear Madeline,

You turned 2 years old on May 1, 2013 my sweet girl, and your daddy & I were so happy you were finally with us to celebrate this wonderful milestone. Here are a few things we'd like for  you to know about your little self after only being with us for 6 months.

At 2 years old you have continued to blossom in more beautiful ways that we can count. You have attached very strongly to mama & daddy and have even started to cry out for "daddy" whenever we have to run errands without him.

You also adore your Pake & Beppa, and get so excited every time they come to visit you or when we take you over to visit them. You also love your abuelita and abuelito but for some reason, you tend to be a little more naughty with your abuelita.....maybe because it's hard for her to tell you "no".

Speaking of "no"....it's your favorite little word lately, as you have discovered just how powerful that little word can be. But you are still a sweet little girl who is quickly learning to save that little word for when it's really needed. You do not like to disappoint, and have started to show giddiness or even embarrassment when you either hear nice compliments about you, or we ask you to sing a song.

You love to hold hands, with us, your grandparents, and sometimes your favorite little playmates.

You have a strong willed personality, confident in what you want, and very wise for your very young age. You are starting to put two words and sometimes 3 words together to communicate with us. Just the other day you tapped me on my lap and said "mama, Lila bone", to tell me you wanted to give our dog Dalila a doggie bone to much on.

You continue to show great appreciation for music and dance, as you love holding a fake microphone to your mouth to sing, or dance away when you see dancing on t.v.

You always show a great desire to learn new things everyday. Your latest thing is asking for a pencil and saying "Mamalin" indicating you want to write your name Madeline on a piece of paper. You are the cutest when you start to sound out all the letters as mama holds your pencil to the paper. And if others are around, you are not shy to point at them and ask to write down their names on the paper too and then you will start to point at the names and then at the people to indicate their match.

You recently had your ears pierced ( per your request, as you would say "mama" and then point to my earings and then to your earlobes. You did the same when you wanted your toe nails painted. You love showing off your little painted toes.

You also seem to love fashion at your little age, always wanting to carry a purse, change your shoes, go through your little rack in your closet, and love putting on your plastic jewelry and sunglasses.

You are still being pretty good about going potty in the toilet and not in your pull up ( although sometimes you get a little distracted when there are visitors and you forget to tell me. But it has been months since I've even changed poopie diaper, so for that, Mama is very happy!

Although you seem to get along quite well with kids who are over 4 years old, for some reason, I still have to watch you very closely if you are ever around little ones. Whenever there is a baby or a 1 or 2 year old, you tend to get a little aggressive and charge towards them to try to pinch them, smack them, or pull on their clothes. Of course, I will always try to get to you before you get to them, but sometimes you are much quicker and have made a few little ones cry. Then mama will usually have to apologize to other mommies and then try to tell you not to hit your little friends. I'm not sure about how you spent your first 18 months of life, but I am assuming you may have had to fend for yourself many times and had to learn a few little survival skills on your own, weather it was snatching the few little toys available, or perhaps even food.

Although we celebrated a little bit with you on your Birthday a few days ago, we are looking forward to your birthday party set for this Sunday. We can't wait to see your little face as you enjoy all the fun at the museum with your little friends, and watch your face light up when we all sing "Hap Bee Bee Day" as you like saying.

Happy 2nd Birthday, my sweet little doll! You are a blessing in our lives.

Love,
Mama & Daddy

Approaching 2.....

Our little girl is now 23 months old......and in just a few more weeks she will be turning 2! 

The good 'ol "terrible twos" as many of our friends have warned us! 

Oh, but if they are referring to the stage where toddlers will suddenly start to become more explorative, more independent, develop a pickiness for food, decide that their favorite word is "no", and try to prove that they can do it all by themselves.....I think our little sassy gal is already there!

 March was clearly a month in which our little Madeline suddenly decided she felt loved and secure enough in our home to begin to express more of her independence. 

But for Goodness Sake.....she is just so cute as a bug! 

It all started in early March when we decided to move her crib closer to my side of the bed to somehow make it more appealing for her to want to sleep in it. Ever since we returned home from China in December, she had not wanted to sleep in there, screaming every time we tried to lay her in it. And so we had decided not to push her, and had let her sleep with us in our Cal King bed. And although we loved having her get cozy cozy with us, her cute little kicking feet were becoming not so cute anymore. And then one day as I was rocking her in my arms she suddenly pointed her toe toward the crib and then I laid her in it and off to sleep she went. But although she now takes all her naps in there & sleeps in there during the night, there are times when she starts to whine or even cry ( from nightmares possibly ) and we'll still let her come with us to sleep. And then a few hours later, she'll wake up again a bit fussy and point to her crib with her hand and I'll lay her back in there until she wakes up again around 8:30-9am.
She is so bossy, funny girl!

Also in March, she started a "Learn with Play" class for 1.5 to 3 year olds and their parents. Madeline loves going to this 2 hour, Friday class where she's learning to play and share with other children ( or defend herself when she gets shoved or stepped on ), and she has also been learning some fun songs, numbers, shapes, colors, and we both make a weekly craft together ( or sometimes daddy attends too ). She's got an awesome teacher, with amazing patience! We have her signed up until May and then we're considering swimming classes for the summer, since she loves splashing around in the tub pretending she is swimming!

Madi has also been understanding a ton of language ( both in English & Spanish ), although she isn't speaking much other than two syllable words, sometimes three. And she will get frustrated sometimes when she can't communicate to us what she needs, its almost like the words are in there somewhere but when we don't understand her she'll just start to whine and gets very frustrated and does this cute little waiving of the hands. And every now and then she's even tried to smack our hands ( more so with me ), but I've been very diligent about holding her hands when she does this and remind her not to hit mama or hit other kids etc. "only hug and kisses please". And lately whenever I have to say this to her, she'll have that frustrated pouty lip look for a while until she finally puckers up to give me a kiss, it's so funny!

But overall, this stage ( although challenging at times ) is still a fun stage & very enjoyable to be able to watch her learn. We are looking forward to celebrating her 2nd birthday next month! She loves singing the "appy biday" song, so we can't wait to watch her as her little friends sing it to her! We will be having it at a nearby children's museum where there are miniature buildings for kids and a pretend stage etc. We took Madi there once & she just absolutely loved it ( I loved it too & wouldn't mind celebrating my own birthday there ).

Until next time.....here are a few pics of our little sassy gal.

Ringing their bells in class to help them learn when to make noise & when to be quiet, "shhhhhhh"!

She is loving her Daddy more and more each day! 

Have I mentioned she loves bugs?

At Pake & Beppa's house on Easter, helping to water the garden. 

Shedding some cute little tears of frustration.........

Is she sassy or what? She loves wearing her glasses & colorful jewelry & holding purses & changing her shoes throughout the day!
 ( She also recently got her ears pierced, oh my! )

She got her first tricycle in March. Can't quite peddle it yet, but still enjoys it very much.

She loved her first visit to the beach while her twin cousins were visiting from up North!
 It was still a bit cold, but she still enjoyed playing in the sand.

Sporting the new messenger bag I made for her. 

                                                  We think she's got the best smile!

3 Months since Gotcha!

Madeline has continued to thrive with us! 

In addition to bringing us our daily joy & laughter, her understanding of both English & Spanish have been outstanding! Abuelita Cari speaks to her mostly in Spanish ( as do I on occasion ) and she has really been responding well to certain requests. She's a very smart little girl who currently prefers books over toys. She also has been mimicking what she sees in photos or on television when it's on, although she's not all that interested in cartoons, she really does prefer for one of us to read her a book or enjoys playing with her little kitchen. This past week she also had a few playdates with her little friends, and she really enjoys that playtime. We will soon be attending a "parent & me class" on Fridays where she will enjoy music, books, and interaction with other children, so I am looking forward to that. 

Speaking of mimicking....click here to see her do her version of sit ups after seeing mama do it. 

On the not so rosy side of things.......Madi was sick with the flu a few weeks ago & it was miserable for her & for all of us. It was not easy watching her suffer with a runny nose, fever, cough, no appetite, and super sensitive especially during the night. She would wake up on occasion just terrified, and crying, wanting only to be held by mama. It was very hard for daddy to try to sooth her, but after a few days of this, she was slowly getting back to her old self and was less clingy, poor little gal. What helped was also giving her a little panda to hold on tight as she would wake up crying, we would tell her, "hold your baby panda and tell him don't cry panda, mama is right here". She really took up on this & it seemed to really calm her a lot quicker. Madi herself is a good little care taker. 

But after about a week and a half of this misery, Madi was soon up and running again, and we are so happy about it! She did end up giving us her sickness ( although not the flu part, just a yucky cold ), but it was all good...better us than her. 

Here's a few more pics of our little sunshine. 

Here she is helping to wash some dishes again ( she loves to help )! & since she was so sick during all the Chinese New Year's festivities, we still decorated around the house for her. 

Warmer weather, books, and Lunar Fest!

It's just now starting to get warmer in California, so Madi has been excited to be wearing dresses with no tights, or coats, or boots, or hats! 

Lately she's been into books, and more books. A nice friend gave us a box full of books, some hardly used, and some brand new! 

She found this tiny little one called Danny the Duck, that she just loves!

And since Chinese New Year is already approaching us, we took Madeline to her first Lunar Festival at a nearby town a few weekends ago. There were lots of performances, food, music, and lots of activities for kiddos. She seemed to really enjoy the music and the free noodle samples!

2 months since Gotcha!

Today we celebrate 2 months since Madeline came into our lives.  We met her on November 25, 2012 in a hotel lobby in Nanchang, China. She was a very scared, confused, sad little girl. And who can blame her? She didn't know us, and she was leaving behind the only life she knew. But after 2 months of sharing our lives together, it really feels as if she has been with us her entire life. We have all been sharing lots of beautiful and sometimes very funny moments together. She is no longer showing nearly as much anxiety when she meets strangers. Since we've been home, she has had at least one new visitor almost everyday, getting to know each one of them slowly. 

Thank you to all who have stopped by to visit. 

She has also slowly learned to trust & love our dog Dalila just as much as we do. 

Here she is feeding her "Lila". 

Here's a few other things we are celebrating during our 2 months together:

She has learned a lot of new words, mostly 1 syllable, but sometimes even 2 or 3 like "butterfly" or "tortilla", or "apple pie".

She hasn't been too crazy about Mami's bland food, so I've been adding more spices which she seems to like better. & she also still loves using her chopsticks!

She can understand us when we tell her to go do stuff like "go get your red squeeky shoes from your drawer", or "go get your coat so we can go outside", or even greater:  "go to daddy's office & bring me the paper from the printer"....she will actually walk through the hallway, go to daddy's office, tap on his knee to get the paper & return it to Mami. 

She loves to help do chores around the house, whether it's helping Mami do dishes, or rake leaves outside, help feed the dog, sweep, or wipe the furniture. ( We are sure that the foster family she was living with in China engaged her with little things like this ).

She also Loves to peel onions! Yes, onions! She will go straight to our pantry, grab an onion & entertain herself for minutes peeling it, while we watch her intently and giggle at her cuteness. Lately when we go grocery shopping, we will just give her an onion and a little plastic bag & she's as content as can be. Until she's done, then she'll want to help put items in the cart, swipe our card through the paying machine, and want to help bag the groceries and help carry them too, thank you very much!

She loves all of her purses & shoes! She's gotten several passed down from either myself, her auntie, or grandma. She'll carry her favorite items in there like her bracelets, her glasses, a little phone, a plastic onion ( after Mami swapped it from the real one ), and sometimes a jar a Vicks. The girl loves to smell Vicks! Who knew?

We are Thankful Every Single Day for Madeline coming into our lives! 

She is Exactly the little girl we had dreamed and prayed about during our 6 year wait for her referral. 

Leaving you with a few images of our sweetie.

Here's another one of her enjoying her absolute FAVORITE book! A Mother for Choco! She will bring this book to us every single day for one of us to read it to her. 

And if you want to see the youtube vid, go here. 

Our little happy girl loves taking her baby out for walks, rain or shine!

She loves her sunglasses too!

And if you are into sewing, or crafting, you can always visit my other blog MKLittle where I'm sure I'll be posting a few more pics of our little doll since I really enjoy making things for her.

3 Kings Day!

We Love having this little kitten around.....

She's been a lot of fun lately. 

Got this cute little corduroy dress at Gymboree the other day & I couldn't pass it up for under $10 for three pieces. Too bad the sleeves are rolled up in this photo, but it's got cute little bows at the edges & ruching along the sides, and a peter pan collar. Very cute!

And today we took her to mass once again. It was El Dia de los 3 Reyes ( 3 Kings Day ) celebrated by Catholics or Christians in general. She did so-so, enjoying the music and watching people, but then she wanted down and walk on the side isle to look through the big side windows. She kept quiet for the most part, except when I made the mistake of taking out her favorite little animal book and wanted me to read it.....out loud! Here's a video clip of her Abuelita "trying" to read her the same book on the way to mass...pretty funny!

"No Madi, I'd tell her, we need to be "sh sh". She would then mimmick me doing the "sh sh"with her little finger then pointed to the book and make a sort of grunting noise, like to tell me "read it". 

She then spotted her little friends Sydney & Raegan, and wanted nothing to do with her mama anymore, just hold their hands and wonder off. Good think that Mass was over by this time. We were able to hold her off for a few minutes to snap these photos, after she blew kisses to baby Jesus. 

She really wanted to get closer to the nativity display but Mama didn't think that was a good idea. Knowing Madi, she would most likely want to pick up baby Jesus to take him with her or try putting it in her backpack. 

We then took the kids for some donuts and juice ( sugar.....oh, it's the happy drug for kids ). She had a blast learning how to "Ring around the Rosy", and playing in the little play kitchen in one of the rooms.