We escaped for a few days to the beach. Ah....it was so nice.

What a blessing to live so close to such beautiful beaches. My girls are full fledged beach bums already...makes me smile : )

The Tooth Fairy is coming tonight...

Ok, she turned six last week and today she lost her first tooth. There's only a trace left of my little baby girl and that makes me so sad. She's stopped doing so many things that we thought were so cute. Like mispronouncing words like "falimy" instead of "family". Now, she's using words like "outrageous" and telling me things like " I get ya mom ".  She's not afraid of things she used to be afraid of and she's stepping way out of her comfort zone in so many ways. I'm getting a glimpse of the young lady she will one day become. I have to say that I love what I see, but I miss that little bit that used to toddle into my room and into my bed at night.

Six years old today....How could that be?

Happy Birthday my sweet Bella. I cannot believe that you are six years old. This has happened way too fast for me. I am soaking up every moment with you. Your light shines so brightly Bella. I treasure that about you. What a gift you are from God. It's like He leaned down and gave me a kiss right on the forehead when He perfectly placed you in my life. You are my precious girl and I love you to the moon and back.

This is how I found my Mari napping today......

That girl sure loves her "Pig - o - let" : )

I would like to introduce our son, Josiah Jian Guo

Isn’t he a cutie? Don’t you love those sweet cheeks? He just turned two and is waiting for us at Hubei CWI. We just started paper chasing and look forward to him joining our family. He’s a special focus child and we are re-using our dossier from Mari’s adoption which is all new to us, but that means that we get to skip some steps and hopefully bring him home sooner rather than later.

This has been a long time coming and well, let’s just say that it took a long time for us to “hear” the Lord on this one.  It’s easy to miss what He’s saying when you have your fingers in your ears and your eyes closed saying “I’m really busy, Lord…not now”.  I’m so grateful He is patient with me. His whispers eventually led to a clunk on the head. Sometimes I need a clunk : ) What else can I say. Thank you Lord for revealing our son to us. It’s an honor to be chosen to be his Momma and I can hardly wait to hold him in my arms.

My Marianna

Today I've noticed her over and over smiling at me. Just out of the blue....sweet little smile on her face. It's almost like she has a secret or something. And she's been very quiet and contemplative today. This is not the norm for her. She's usually way too busy for that. She's my mischievous one. She rarely slows down and is often into something she shouldn't be. She's a ball of energy. Definitely the "life of the party" as her Mama and Baba described her. But today, she's been quiet and every time I catch her eye she's smiling at me. I'm not sure what's going on in that little mind of hers today, but I'm surely blessed by it. I love getting a glimpse of a different side of her. Even at being home ten months I'm still getting to know her. Sounds strange, but it's true.

We've had some difficult times. When you don't really know someone it's hard to know what they're thinking or what they want or why they did what they did. It's been a learning experience for me. For her as well. She didn't know me either. She's so different than Izzy it took me awhile to appreciate it. She's truly a breath of fresh air. I just needed a little while to recognize that. You know it seems strange to have an idea in your head about how your child (that you've never met) is going to act, but you form these ideas about them. You just do. Can't help it. Then they come home and act completely different than what you imagined. Turns out that it's awesome and much better than what you imagined, but it catches you off guard at first.

I'm seeing this beautiful little flower emerging from a bud. It's so sweet to watch.

Well, not exactly. I see this beautiful little flower busting out of it's bud and it's the ride of my life to watch. Yes, that says it better. That's Mari : )