Buddy Birthday and Autumn Moon Festival

Today was a busy day. First Lily had her "buddy birthday" celebration. She invited her friend Emily for a happy meal and then a visit to Sweet and Sassy Salon. The girls were so cute. They sat together at McDonald's giggling, eating and being silly. I got a taste of my future as I sat in a booth near them keeping an eye on them and keeping my distance. Then it was off to the salon. They carefully selected their nail colors. Lily chose dark purple and Emily selected bright orange. They got glitter lotion, dolphin nail decals and giant yellow sparkly rings. Then it was glitter hairspray, a star on the face and time to mix your own lip gloss. It was a sparkly, glittery, giggly good time. We cruised the mall, stopped at Claire's bought matching stuffed animals and just had some good old girl time. It was fun to see them together and I could tell Lily really enjoyed herself. Here are some pictures of the sparking beauties.

Then it was time to go to the Autumn Moon Festival hosted by our local FCC chapter. It was held at a new location and we had a really nice time. I was laughing with my friend Georgette and said "Where else could you get to do the chicken dance, eat a moon pie and walk in a lantern parade?" The weather was beautiful and the location was fun. Families picniced while the little ones played on a playground. Miss Lily lead the group in some crazy dancing including the Cha-Cha Slide. The kids made paper moon lanterns, had a scavenger hunt and then we all walked in the lantern parade. This year the lanterns were really pretty and it was dark enough to enjoy them. Here are some pictures of the event. I have to say the Lia and Andrew were too cute together.

Sharks and Mermaids!

So many firsts........

I'm happy to report we've all been doing well and had a lovely start to the fall and the new school year. It's also been a window for many different firsst for both kids. Here's what's happened so far:

Lily has started the school year without tears. This is huge as the past 2 years we dealt with tears the first 6-8 weeks.

She took a dance class and actually liked it.

She went with a friend and her mother to an outing.

She took off her training wheels by herself and is flying around like a pro.
(I should note we could have done this a long time ago. We just never seemed to get around to it).





Andrew decided to not be outdone by his sister. So far he's

Took his first gymanastic's class with me. He did a wonderful job, participated the whole time and followed the teacher's directions

Had his first solo playdate (i.e. without Lily)

Started using the bathroom with a lot of success. By the way, we had tried the potty training a few weeks ago and he expressed significant fear of falling in. Then he announced he was ready.....and he's been ready.

6 years ago today...........

We got "the" call. It was the call to let us know we had a beautiful 11 month old daughter waiting for us in Guangxi, China PRC. I can remember the day very well. Referrals had come in and our LID had been included. Our agency took one full day to translate the referral information and to verify the children were still available. Then the next day the calls would come in after 2 pm our time. Bill and I both decided to work and then come home for the call. We had requested for them to call us at 4:30 because we both knew we'd be home. Well, neither of us could sleep the night before, we certainly couldn't concentrate at work and we just couldn't make it till 4:30. So around 3:45ish, I sheepishly called the agency saying I couldn't stand it any longer. Xiao, the agency director's sister, talked to us and said "Bill. Melissa. You have a daughter." After that, I couldn't process much of what was said. Xiao would give us a piece of information and I'd repeat it. It went like this "She's beautifull." "She's beautiful." "She has lots of hair." "She has lots of hair." "She's in Guangxi Province.".........You get the idea. Both sets of new grandparents came over and we all stared at the computer looking at this image of our Lilianna.

It really is hard for me to process that was 6 years ago already! I knew then that I was so fortunate to become this little girl's mom. Though really, I had no idea how fortunate I was. Our Lilianna is such a joy and it's our priveledge to be her parents. I'm not sure if it's because we spent so many years trying to be parents or if it's because we've seen the whole adoption scene become next to impossible. Really, maybe this is what most parents feel. In any case, we really and truly feel so blessed to have our sweet, loving, funny, caring, smart daughter in our lives.