One Year Ago...

One year ago (on 1/4/06 I'm a few days late) we received the call that would forever change our lives. At the end of that conversation we got the first glimpse of this tiny angel...Our daughter Yangchun Hua Zheng. An 8 month old beauty waiting for us to come and bring her home to her family. About 7 long, long weeks later (as if the past 16 months hadn't been long enough) we traveled to Guangdong province, PR China and were handed this treasure that we had only seen pictures of, our Maya HuaMei. We are the luckiest people on the face of this planet!!

One year later we are still reeling from the evolution of our existence. Each morning we are awakened by (most of the time) the sweet sound of her contented voice talking to the critters in her bed. Then a little louder comes "Momma, Dadda?" And then a glorious smile when she sees one of us peek into her room.
It has been a long and bumpy road. This has not been an easy journey. But we are finally getting to a place where we are all feeling pretty normal, tightly bonded, securely attached and very, very loved.
If all of this has occurred in a little less than a year, I can only imagine what the next year will bring. She is an amazing, resilient, independent soul. She is the love of our lives. She is everything we could have ever hoped for and more. She is our Maya HuaMei.

Happy New Year!!

Christmas Catch Up

We went to Tennessee the weekend before Christmas and had a great time and wonderful visit with our family there. Maya really enjoyed her big girl cousins, Caitlin and Chloe. We had not seen them since June.

We went to my sisters on Christmas Eve and I didn't take one single picture (what was I thinking???) Then we came home and opened our presents. Santa made his big appearance Christmas morning and Maya was thrilled with her new play area with her "chichin" (kitchen) and other toys on the spongey alphabet floor. We went to my Mom's and my brother's on Christmas day and once again, no pics. We had a great holiday and are actually still trying to see everyone while they are in town. We are getting ready to make two more holiday stops today. Maybe I'll bust out the camera. Maybe.

Merry Christmas!!

This has been the best Christmas that we have had in years! All we needed was this precious angel to remind us how much fun Christmas can be. Maya has had a blast counting down the days until Christmas and reminding us that "Sa Sauze" would be coming at anyone's mention of Christmas.

I had to post this picture! I just can't stop laughing when I look at it. I left it big so you can click on it and get a really good look at just how close Maya was to getting a big ol' kiss.

It doesn't get much closer than this.

And, I'm just wondering if anyone can tell me why in the world do tights have such a high waist?

Today also marks the day that we have had Maya for as long as she was in China without us. 10 months ago today, we were given the greatest gift. This Christmas we are so thankful that we have our sweet, sweet girl. We couldn't ask for anything more...Except for a sister...maybe.

The Christmas Card Revealed

Just couldn't wait any longer. This is the picture of our beautiful angel that we chose for our Christmas card this year. We love her more each day and she truely is the "Best Present Ever"!!

SNOW!

This is our summertime girl. You can tell by the look on her face what she really thinks about the snow. Or maybe it's just the snowsuit.


And then I pulled out the sled! We have a little hill in our back yard so we took a few trips down on the sled. But that only changed her attitude while we were sledding then right back to the grouchy face. I have to agree. Snow is only fun when your sliding on it (and not in your car!).


Fisher on the other hand, thought it was the best. He had to rub and rub and run and jump and bark and... well, you get the picture.

Christmas Card

I sent out our Christmas cards this weekend. We have been waiting for so long to be able to send a picture card featuring our child. I love getting cards from friends each year with their kids pictures and seeing how they change and grow from year to year.
We've been trying different outfits over the course of a few days and finally picked the winner (which I will post in a few days. I don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone who hasn't received their card yet.) Here are some of the contenders.
This outfit was a gift last year from Trisha, a friend at work. I am so glad that it still fits this year. We were on our way out to our local China adoption group's holiday get together.

I am a little disappointed that the winner doesn't have Fisher in the picture. After all, he is our first child. Oh well, maybe next year.

I'll offer this clue, this was the photo session that the winner was chosen from.

Little Miss Clause with her hat pulled down way too far according to Dad.

Taking all these pictures wears everyone out. Pardon the toys scattered everywhere. I tried to crop as many of them out as I could.

Just some cuteness in case you didn't get enough.

I hear "da bee, da bee, bzzzz, bzzzz" from the monitor. That means Maya is awake from her nap and she's playing with her bear, Flower. Flower has a butterfly on her head and Maya thinks any flying insect is a bee. Better go get my sweet sugar.
If you don't receive a card and think you should or would like to maybe I don't have your address. Send me an email and I'll hook you up. jm_nicurn@yahoo.com