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.