5 Years Ago......

Five years ago today we got the call that would forever change our lives. Suzanne (a family coordinator at our agency) called me at work. Just as I was e-mailing a fellow travelmate that I guess we would not be getting our calls that day and that it was hard to bear as most of our February Firecrackers DTC group had already gotten their calls (Hi Marla!!) two days prior so we were about crazy with wonder when ours was going to come. Just as I was telling S that I knew it was all in God's timing but tell that to my heart the phone rang at work and I heard the receptionist say "May I tell her who is calling? Just a moment." I quickly typed "I'm on the call now!" to S. It was our agency telling me we had a beautiful daughter who was 7.5 months old and in the Jiangxi Province. I tried to call David and my BFF (at the time) and got neither. I finally got both of them and we made our trek to our agency to see our daughter for the first time. She was a tiny peanut and still is today. She is now 5.5 and enjoying Kindergarten.

At what age??

Question for all who have nieces and nephews that are adult age -- At what age do you stop buying Christmas gifts (actually mine prefer money) for them? I have a nephew that is now 20 years old and of course I will be giving him something this year but I am curious as to what everyone else does. Leave me a comment and give me your opinions.

Tagged.....

I have been tagged my my friend Marla at Life With 4 Js to tell 8 interesting things about myself. I don't remember what I have told before but here goes nothin':

1.) I am the oldest of 3 siblings. I have 2 younger brothers.

2.) For the first time since turning 13 I got a birthday card from my dad this year. He usually forgets but he has no excuse now since I gave him a calendar with all the family birthday's on it for Christmas last year. LOL

3.) I love to take pictures and would love to take a photography class to learn more about my camera. I once worked in the Sear's Portrait Studio.

4.) Unlike Marla, I hate coffee. I love the smell of it especially while its brewing but I can't stand the taste of it. Also, the coffee aisle is our favorite!

5.) I got braces when I was 23 years old - on my youngest brother's 18th birthday.

6.) I loved school especially math. I used to keep ALL of my old school papers and am now keeping all of Olivia's. Is there a 12 step program for that? LOL

7.) We live next to my in-laws who happen to be the best in-laws any girl could ask for and I'm not just saying that because they read the blog. LOL

8.) I am really good with remembering numbers - birthday's, phone number's etc. My friends used to just call me when they need a number because they knew I'd remember it!

Well, that's 8. I am supposed to tag 8 people but I know this has gone around so if you haven't done it and want to participate leave me a comment so I can check yours out.

3 years ago today.....

.....this lovely girl was placed in our arms! It is hard to believe that 3 years has gone by. Sophia is a funny, smart, beautiful little girl that loves her family, gymnastics and sports. Some things about Sophia:

She's counting to 20 skipping 15 just like her big sister!
She loves to color and she is actually quite good for her age.
She loves her Leapster and has learned so much.
She is really starting to play with baby dolls all the time.
She has quite a temper at times.
She is currently 36 pounds and is about 40 inches tall.
She is working on writing her letters. Her teachers are commenting about how good she is. Of course I think having a sister in Kindergarten is helping a ton with this.

We are hoping to go out tonight to celebrate her Family Day but that might have to be on hold. Olivia started getting a fever last night and complained of a tummy ache. She still had the fever this morning so we went to the doctor and came away with a positive strep culture and a precription. She still has a fever and if it doesn't go away soon we won't be going out tonight. I had planned on taking the girls to a local forest/park today for a photo shoot but with Olivia being sick we decided to put that on hold. I am hoping that Sophia doesn't get sick too as she slept in Olivia's room for the first time last night. Even sleeping with Olivia didn't help the coming into our room. She still came in there about 5:44 this morning. I hope I will have some pictures of Sophia from today to post later tonight but for now enjoy these two -- one from Family Day in 2005 and the other from the end of September.