She's got Hair!!!

We decided we can't wait until Lily's hair grows so we helped her along a little. We had Emily stand back to back with Lily and draped Emily's hair over Lily's head. Doesn't she look lovely? She's going to be even cuter when she has some locks on her head, in about 10 years or so.

6 Months!!!

This is Lily on the day she was placed into our arms. September 1st, 2008 in Nanjing China.

Now, if you take a close look you can see one hair that has grown!!!! Actually, maybe a few others too. But, sometimes we look at her and wonder if her hair has grown at all. Her face has filled out a little more and so has her vocabulary.

Our two little treasures!

Six months ago Lily was placed in our arms. She has been an amazing little girl. She never seemed to grieve, except the day we visited the orphanage. She has become more and more attached to us. She is definitely a Mama's girl. Lily has a sweet disposition, though she can be quite stubborn. For the most part her orphanage behavior is gone. She doesn't pinch, pull hair, or spit anymore. She gets along with her sister most days. She has days when she just wants to battle it out with Emily. Thank God those days aren't too often.

Lily can now sing the ABC song with very little help. She is recognizing some of the letters and is finally remembering some of the colors. She just did not seem to get the concept of colors. She now will sit and listen to a book being read. I don't think that she had books read to her in China. She used to want me to "read" a book to her and then stick her face in my face and wonder why I was talking like that. Of course, then I couldn't see the book to read it. The look on her face was just so funny.

Lily has just become more and more dear to us. God has truly blessed us with her. We are enjoying having her in our family.

God continues to draw our hearts toward orphans. On the side bar of our blog we have added a link to No Hands But Ours. There are peoples testimonies listed under "family stories". There are some amazing stories of how God worked in people's lives to connect them with a special needs child. We have been blessed and encouraged by these stories.

The stories we read on this site remind us of what The Lord did when we were waiting for Lily. We had been praying for God to bring people in her life who knew Him and would love her and care for her. We prayed this often. Then, the Monday before we were going to leave for China we received a comment on our blog from a person who actually volunteered at Lily's orphanage! They said, I know your Lily, we call her JuJu. They said they were praying for her and loved "Dad" like we did. They had been volunteering at the orphanage and had been praying that "Dad" would bring a family who would love her like "He" did. We were so blessed that God, in His awesome power had orchestrated it so that these people were there loving our little daughter for us until we arrived!!!  WE TRUELY SERVE AN AWESOME GOD!

Loving baby Elizabeth

Lily loved holding her niece. She did not want to let go of her. The look on her face was so precious.

Lily was very gentile with Lizzy.

Emily was so excited to be an Aunt again. She was so happy to be able to finally see and hold Lizzy. We have two nurturing, loving little girls. We are so very blessed.

Aunties Again! Elizabeth is Born!

Yesterday baby Elizabeth was born at 5:33 pm. Lily and Emily are both aunts again. The girls are going to have a lot of fun together. They both love babies.

This is Elizabeth at one day old. She weighs 6lbs. 12 ozs. Look at all that hair. She almost has more than Lily.

Here is Mom, Dad, and big brother with baby Elizabeth.

This Micah holding Lizzy(Wizzy  as Micah says it).

The kids are waiting outside the hospital. They are sitting on a bike rack. Emily and Lily have to wait one more day to see their niece because the hospital only lets siblings in the maternity ward to see the baby. The girls are really looking forward to tomorrow so they can see Lauren and baby Lizzy. We can't wait to see their reaction. They both screamed with joy when I told them over the phone that Lizzy was born. Lily was probably just copying Emily, but it was really sweet.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our Two Valentines

Valentine's day is Emily's favorite holiday. It's  probably because she is such a loving little girl.

Lily loves her new puppy. She also loves chocolate. It's the one thing she ate today without a speck left.

The girls both loved dressing up in their new heart clothes. Lily is starting to enjoy putting on new clothes. She is starting to notice what she is wearing.

We had our second Social Worker visit this week. She will be sending a 6 months report. Yes,we will soon be parents to our sweet little girl for 6 months. March 1 it will be 6 months since Lily was placed into our arms. The wait was sooooooo long, the time with her is flying by!

January Events (Gymnastics, Chinese New Year, and B-Day)

The highlight of gymnastics is getting the stamp on the hand.....and the foot.....and the tummy...you get the picture.

Lily started "Mommy and Me" gymnastics last week and she really likes it. It may have something to do with the fact that big sister does gymnastics...but she likes it!

We went out for Chinese food on Chinese New Year. Lily got to renew her noodle slurping skills!
Today she was going around the house saying "Happy New Year", the only problem is it comes out sounding like "Happy Noodle!"..........Happy Noodle to you too Lily!

The people at the Golden Tiger are getting to know us and they come over and help the girls practice their Mandarin.

This is Lily's 2nd cousin Carlee. She is one month younger than Lily but as you can see she is quite a bit bigger. This is the first time they have met.

Ashlee (in the middle) is getting the full beauty treatment from the two year old experts!

Paige (in her mom's lap) is the birthday girl, she turned one. Paige is another of Lily's second cousins.

Our Kitchen Helper(s)

We bought the kitchen helper so our girls can help without getting hurt. Lily loves to see what I am doing in the kitchen. Now she can see without getting too close to things and I can actually cook without holding her. In this picture Lily and Emily are washing their hands and playing with the soap bubbles.

Lily loves to be wrapped in my (Christy's) robe with me in the mornings. Lily and Emily are doing the same thing with their babies as I do with Lily. It was so cute to watch them imitate me.