Mia~one year later

Mia has been home with us for one year now and oh what a difference a year makes! She is a completely different child! A year ago she was a "baby" who was fragile, scared, and in desperate need of medical attention. When she was first handed to me she took my breathe away not because she was beautiful but because truthfully her appearance scared me. She was thin, malnourished, and bald. None of the pictures of those first few days truly captured how scared I was. In every picture I was hiding my fears behind my smiles. My fear continued to grow as Mia experienced "tet spells" due to her heart condition after breakfast almost every morning. By the second or third spell I was able to tell the signs that she was about to experience one and I would quickly put her knees to her chest and hold her while I walked up and down the hall trying to console her until she passed out in my arms. A blue coloring washed over her face, hands, and feet. I was scared and anxious to get home where medical attention was waiting for us. Sadly, because of my fears and all consuming desire to get home I wasn't able to enjoy China the way I wish I would have. Here are a few pictures from our first few days together.

Fast forward to a year later. The year certainly has not been easy and it has been full of numerous adjustments for all of us but it has been one of the most blessed and life changing years of my life! Mia is everything we could have hoped and prayed for in daughter! The little girl who was once so fragile is now healthy and full of life! She has overcome so many challenges both medically and in her development and it has been inspirational and a joy to watch her grow and blossom! It warms my heart to watch her play and hear her exclaim "I'm happy!" One year ago an empty place in my heart was filled when Mia was placed in my arms. I am forever blessed to call her my daughter! What an incredible gift she is!

Vacation pics part 2

Our vacation recap

We vacationed this year at Hilton Head, SC with my parents and sister. Oh how I love that place! It is a little bit of heaven on earth! We biked on the trails, sat on the beach, dug in the sand, swam at the pool, visited Pool Bar Jims(a couple times), and enjoyed some relaxing family time! We also had our family pictures taken on the beach. I have always wanted to have professional family beach portraits taken but since I knew it would be costly I wanted to wait until our family was complete and unless God says otherwise we are "complete." I also purposely scheduled them on our one year anniversary of having Miss Mia. I was mostly happy with the results though I do feel that some of the extra editing fees I had to pay could have been prevented if the photographer paid attention to detail (ex: Mia's diaper is showing in a couple of the pictures and we had to pay to have them "lengthen" her dress to cover it). Silly details like that but also costly adjustments.

Mia and Logan loved the beach but Ethan and Christian preferred the pool which worked out great because our condo was right on the beach! Logan and Mia would play in the sand and in the ocean most days while Ethan and Christian would swim at the pool. Dan is more of a pool person and I love the beach so we were all happy!

I took over 300+ pictures so I will post a few of my favorites over the next couple of days!

Ethan is 13!

It's official. We now have a teenager in the house (gulp)! We celebrated this milestone birthday by taking him to lunch at Steak on a Stone and having family over for dinner later in the evening. Tonight he is having friends over to "hang out". Turning 13 deserves a week long birthday celebration don't ya think? It is hard to believe I have been blessed by the incredible gift of motherhood for 13 years now! Ethan enjoys playing soccer and is also taking guitar lessons. Ethan is becoming such a wonderful young man! He is kind, sensitive, and helpful. I am so proud of the person he is and can't wait to see who he becomes.

He adores her......

and the feeling is mutual. She adores him. It is a sweet relationship. The last 10 months have been a little bumpy for him giving up his spot as the baby in the family. We have had to work through some jealousy issues though he keeps his feelings pretty well hidden. To someone looking in you would think he has adjusted just fine. But I know better. He has struggled and though it is getting better it is still there at times. It may be in the way he stares silently as he watches Mia and I play together or it may be how he acts out at times to get my attention. His place in the family changed the most when she arrived. He became the "middle" child. Add to that she was the first little girl in the family which brought even more attention for her and less for him.

Still he loves her and he is begining to settle into his place in our family as her big brother. He is fully aware of how much she loves him. She laughs hysterically at his silliness. She has discovered his passion for soccer and loves to chase and kick the ball around the yard with him. She loves to sit in the chair with him in the evening and share a snack. I love to watch the bond they are forming. It is a sweet relationship.

Mother's Day

It was my first Mother's Day with all four of my kids! We took lots of pictures to mark the occasion. Logan loves taking pictures! He does a great job at trying to make Mia laugh(and is usually successful) while he is taking pictures of her. I was able to get pictures with each of the kids individually but the battery in the camera died before I was able to get one with all four of them.

The morning started off with Dan stopping by Panera Bread to pick up some bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. He was also sweet enough to bring home an iced green tea for me. The man knows me well! We had a light breakfast because Mia and I were skipping "all things soccer" today and going out to lunch with my mom and grandma. Soccer stops for nothing around here I tell ya, including Mother's Day! We had a nice lunch and afterwards we took "shop till you drop" to a whole new level. After shopping we drug ourselves to the nearest Starbucks for a much needed afternoon pick me up. Dinner was served by my dad and then followed by strawberry filled cake!

I am so blessed to be able to journey through motherhood with my four amazing kids! I love each one of them dearly and love being their mother. I am convinced there is no greater joy in this world than the joy of being their mother!

Mia did shop until she dropped!

One year ago today....

we saw this face for the very first time and our lives have never been the same! It is hard to believe a year has already passed since we first saw Mia's sweet face! I remember it like it was yesterday. I opened the email sent to us by our agency containing her referral information and pictures. Her "mug shot" picture was the last picture I saw but it was the one that grabbed my heart immediately. Her eyes drew me in and captured my heart. I felt an instant connection to her. She was the one we had been waiting for for over three years. She was the one we prayed for, dreamt about, and longed for. In that one moment there she was. Revealed. She was the missing piece to our family puzzle. The road to her was long and difficult at times but I am so glad we took the journey that ultimately led us to one of the greatest blessings in our lives!