The top 5

These are the top 5 reasons I love Mother's Day! I am so grateful to THE ONE who has blessed me with all of my babies-I have truly never done a thing to deserve such blessings and I am so grateful to serve a God who sees fit to allow me this joy in life! I can't believe that we are all finally together as a Forever Family of 7!

Andrew Update

Just wanted to update and let everyone know how well Andrew is doing. He has been with us for 3 months-It is unbelievable-Time has flown by. I will admit that for awhile, time seem to stand still. Kind of like the movie Groundhog Day. I am not sure of the exact moment but somewhere around the 2 month mark, things began to level out. Everyone started sleeping through the night and the days got happier. I can't imagine the emotions that Andrew has felt. Although in our minds we like to think that life began when he stepped off of the elevator, for Andrew life was turned upside down. We looked different, smelt different and spoke a language he did not understand. We took him away from his home and his family. Our sweet boy handled all of these hard changes like a champion. He has worked so hard to become a part of our world. He is talking, going to school and acting like he has forever been a part of our family. He loves his Mei Mei(Anna Grace) and will defend her like nothing you have ever seen. They fight lots of times but there is not a minute of the day that one is not looking for the other. They act as if they are twins. It is amazing to watch their love build and develop. I can't tell you how proud I am to be their mommy. I wanted to document all of the sweet things he has learned-
Andrew can:
say his ABC's
count to 10
communicate all of his needs
says "I lubba you mama"
Dress himself
put on his shoes(and he gets them on the right foot)
sing Jesus loves me, twinkle twinkle, little start, itsy bitsy spider, and he can sing all Barney songs!

Andrew's favorite shows are Barney, Kai Lan, Wonder Pets, Wow Wow Wubzy
He loves to sing
His favorite movie is Alvin and the Chipmunks(there is nothing as funny as watching him and Anna Grace sing "All the single ladies"
Baba(daddy) is his favorite person in the whole world and Mei Mei is right up there with him
He loves being outside
He can ride his scooter like a pro

Everyday is full of new things. I am amazed at how quickly he is learning. He has changed our whole world and we are all so very blessed to be a part of his life!

Easter Fun

We had our annual Easter Party at Nana Bunny's house again this year. It was so much fun. We had so many friends join in on the fun. Nana Bunny made her appearance and the kids were thrilled. Andrew quite enjoyed "dying" his eggs. He spent forever working on his masterpieces. He did not like the bunny at all. All of the kids had fun hunting eggs and they loved their baskets from Nana Bunny.
Easter morning was so much fun. Andrew was thrilled that the bunny left him a basket full of goodies. It was priceless to see his joy! We got to spend the day with both sets of grandparents. Hal and I are so blessed to have such wonderful families!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

On Friday, Hal will be 40 years old! Wow-Happy Birthday to the best husband, daddy, friend in the world. We are all so truly BLESSED to be a part of his life. He loves each of us unconditionally. He takes time with each of the kids. He supports me in everything I do. He has provided for us so that I can stay at home and take care of our children. There are no words to describe what a special man he is to each of us. Tonight we invited friends and family to a surprise birthday party for him. He thought we were meeting Craig and Jodi to celebrate Craig's birthday. He was so surprised and so very grateful.

Spring Photos

I must admit it-I think these are the CUTEST KIDS EVER! Today was picture day at school. Andrew was not very happy to see school this morning. He kept shaking his hand at me and saying NO very loudly-Bless his heart-he wants to say with "Mama" Once inside, he quite enjoyed having his picture made with the live bunny. He kept patting him so sweetly. He got tickled when he let his Panda kiss the bunny-It was precious! Anna Grace is wearing a dress that Mema hand smocked for Ashton when she was 3 years old. I have got to find a picture of Ashton wearing it so we can put them together. Andrew ended up staying at school and having a great day. He is so lucky to have such sweet teachers loving on him. I think he gets spoiled greatly while he is there-We are blessed!

Guangzhou

I could not believe it when we arrived in Guangzhou and the entire island was in chaos. They are preparing for the Asian games in November and it was was a mess(truly like nothing I have ever seen before) I had been looking forward to shopping since we found out we were going. I had honestly dreamed of the carefree days shopping and enjoying the beautiful island(I know I have a problem :)I had so many regrets from our trip with Anna Grace. I wanted to make sure I found everything to celebrate Anna Grace and Andrew's Gotcha Days. I was not prepared for the island to be destroyed. There were no sidewalk vendors and most of the shops were closed. The sidewalks were torn up and you had to walk in the road alot. Cars ALWAYS have the right of way so that could be dangerous. I imagine it is going to beautiful when it is done, but we will not be there to see it :) Hopefully it will be all cleaned up and the shops will be open by the time our friends go to bring home Lily and Owen!

FRIENDS FOREVER!

Today was one of those moments that makes you stop and think---I mean really think---Think about things that you will never know the answer to---
My computer is in our kitchen. When it goes into screen saver mode, pictures are displayed. Today right as Andrew walked by the computer, MollyClaire came up. He stopped right in his tracks and started speaking in Chinese. He grabbed my chair and climbed up to the screen. He was so animated talking and gesturing to the screen. He tried to pull MollyClaire off of it. It was so precious. It melted my heart. What do these 2 share? A past that we will never fully understand, a connection that will last a lifetime. He was so thrilled to see his friend. I am so grateful that they had each other. I pray that one day they can tell us more about their past-but if not that is okay. I know one thing for sure---They have a wonderful future together--they will be able to see each other often-I feel so blessed that we can share in MollyClaire's life-God orchestrated something so much bigger than I ever imagined. He knew that we would travel twice with this sweet family. That both of our children would be friends. We feel blessed by their friendship.