A Year Ago Today......

My sweet precious Hannah Grace,

A year ago today we boarded an airplane headed to China to finally find you. I must admit, I felt every emotion imaginable. Once we finally got your referral, things started to happen so very quickly. It was all so exciting. We wanted you so badly.

We were afraid, we were relieved, we were excited, we were.....well a mess. If only, I truly knew just how special you were, I would have only felt that I needed to hurry to China. The packing, the list, the clothes just really did not matter.

What a trip we had to China. It is a beautiful place with beautiful people. I loved the country, my life will never be the same in many different ways.

I am grateful and will forever celebrate Nov 18th, the beginning of the trip of a lifetime, the trip to YOU.

Love,
Mom and Dad


Mike and I have struggled to think of ways to celebrate these special anniversaries. Today, we went out and bought clothes to send to Hannah Grace's orphanage. We will mail them on Gotcha Day (along with updates on Hannah Grace) and celebrate that day as well.

Nov 18th, 2008, feels like it was yesterday in some ways, yet forever ago. Regardless, we are so happy we got on that plane a year ago.

Thank You

Reading with Elmo

Both have books. Both have pillows. I am partial to the one on the left, in the purple hat. She brings me great joy. Remember, the one on the right tried to kill me! I have never forgiven....

Sweet Surprise

We ran into our friends Daphne and Ben at the park. Oh my Hannah Grace was so excited to see Ben. They ran, played, rolled in the grass, went down the slide and played on the swings. Later we went out to dinner.

Halloween

Helping Dad carve the pumkin

The sweetest baby girl in the world

This is so much fun



I like candy

But my favorite part is ringing the doorbell.

Yep...not the candy the doorbell. After the homeowners would come to door she would turn around and say tail. If you look in the picture above she has a stinger on her bumble bee costume. She kept calling it a tail and wanted everyone to notice and make a comment.

Halloween marked the last "first holiday" as a family. In other words, we have almost been home for a year! So very hard to believe.

Trunk or Treat

I think I have this Trick or Treat thing down.


In the bouncey house.

I cannot tell you how wonderful it is for Mike and I to see our daughter act so independent. She was walking up to the cars at our church's trunk or treat and just acting like she knew what she was doing. Too cute!

Then she just walked right up to the bouncey house and begged to get in. We thought she would want out immediately....NOPE. She walked right in there and started jumping like she owned the thing...too cute.

So, I guess you are thinking this is great. Well, the snapshot that I described would indicate that huh? What you do not see is the anxiety of this week and the week before. Any type of over stimulation (good - the zoo or bad - eye doctor) causes nightmares and night terrors. Within these two weeks Hannah had nightmares 10 out of the 14 nights. Mike and I are exhausted. I know this is having some kind of negativity on her as well. Goodness, it makes you feel bad for putting her in situations that she becomes anxious. What is a mom to do?

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday after the eye drops no longer affected her eyes, we went to the pumpkin patch. Hannah Grace, went in the hay maze, saw farm animals, played a game of corn cob toss, went on a hay ride and picked her pumpkin. Little Miss HG picked a small little white pumpkin. We all had a great time.

Eye Exam

There were several things I have dreaded once we got home from China. Vaccinations, the dentist, first hair cut and the eye doctor were a few of them. Well, I finally decided to get them over with but saved the dentist and eye exam to last.

Because her eyes are so dark, it took 5 drops in each eye. To intensify the issue, they gave 3 drops and we had to wait for 20 minutes, then get 2 more and wait another 20 minutes before the exam. I guess you get the picture.

Hannah Grace screamed during the eye drops and kept saying dis way (this way) while pointing to the door. The she cried home home. It was difficult to say the least.

I had to hold my child like a wrestling move. Holding her legs and arms was difficult but the hardest was holding her head still. I do not know how in the world the doctor could do the exam but somehow he did. The news was good...not great but good. The health of her eyes are great but she will probably have to wear glasses when she is about 6 or so.

The picture above is her afterwards with the sunglasses on!

Getting Ready

Yep, about that time. We let Hannah Grace pick the color and sit in it at the store, Unfortunately, she wanted both Mike and I to sit on it. So Mike was on the green one, I was on the white one and Hannah was on the pink one. It was a cute special moment until a woman walked down the aisle we were "sitting" and stared at us for several minutes. Wow, that was a little embarrassing.

We have a little prep work before we actually start the training but we are asking her to sit on it before she gets in the bath. We tell her what we are expecting from her. She says...OTay, so we will see.

Leave me some suggestions for potty training PLEASE!

Halloween Fun at the Zoo

Cutest Bumble Bee Ever

My First Piece of Candy and my First Trick or Treat



Riding the Train and Holding on to the Candy