Lili's Performance: "These Boots are Made for Walkin'"

I just realized that if you scroll down from my last post to the one previous to that, you can really see the difference in Lili. Just 3 years ago, she was living in an orphanage. She had no english, she didn't seem to speak much at all. She had hair shorter than Brett's, no ready smiles, no toys, no bed, no clothes, probably never enough food. Now to see her with her hair so long and shiny, talking and laughing up a storm, even smiling in her sleep, her closet STUFFED with clothes and shoes and hairclips and ribbons (not to mention her belly stuffed with food!), toys beyond belief, pierced ears , and all the love and family anyone could want, just makes you stop and think about how amazing God is and how He can truly work miracles--not just for her, but for us. Huh. Pretty amazing.

I cannot believe my little girl is seven!! That doesn't even sound 'little' anymore :(

She had the best birthday ever. She's been taking figure skating lessons practically since she came home from China. This year, they had their skating show on her birthday. She was thrilled beyond belief to have a skating show and a birthday all in one day.

She did a wonderful job on her performance. I took video of it, which I'll have to post later. She just had the time of her life. She loved every second of it (as you can tell by the pictures). In fact, the only was I was able to get her off the ice was to tell her that she had a new dress and cake waiting for her at home :)

One of the things she said she wanted for her birthday was to get her ears pierced. I never have gotten mine pierced, just was never a particular need for me. why cause myself unnecessary pain ? But, it's something Lili's really wanted to do, so I told her we'd see if we could get it done. Her daddy wasn't very thrilled with the idea. Heck, he's not even thrilled when I paint her nails, but he caved in since it was her 'birthday wish'. But! He's drawing the line at anything dangly, which is precisely what Lili is drawn to. Lili was kinda/sorta scared about it, but resolved. When we got there, she almost maybe could've backed out, but stood firm. She was rather squemish when they marked her ears with the pen, however :) She clapped her hands over her mouth so she "wouldn't scream" and boom, it was over and she was thrilled. And if you think she was enamored with herself before, you should get a load of her now, there'll be no living with her! But, she had a wonderful birthday and got everything she wanted, so that makes it all worthwhile.

Happy birthday, Lili!!

3 years ago today....

our lives changed forever.

3 years ago today, we found out we had a daughter. I cannot believe it's been 3 years already. It really seems like yesterday. I will never, ever forget that day or the days following when I was rushing around, filling out paperwork, shopping. Wow. It was just indescribable.

Below is my original blogpost from Thursday, March 15, 2007:

WE HAVE A DAUGHTER!!!!!!!!
I am shocked, amazed, dumbfounded and in total awe!!

I walked in my house at 4:25pm today to a ringing phone. It went to our answering machine, but I figured I'd answer it anyway. It was our social worker. She asked how I was doing and if Jeff was home or still at work. I told her that he was away on business in GEORGIA! FOR THE NEXT 8 DAYS!!! She said "Oh. Well I have some exciting news for you".........[loooong pause] "You have a daughter."

HOLY GUACAMOLE!! I HAVE A DAUGHTER? SERIOUSLY?

Here I am ALL ALONE!! My husband's gone. My son is outside and I'm FREAKING OUT!! Am I really on the phone, or am I completely psychotic, wanting this SOO badly that I'm imagining it, playing it out in my head? Thankfully my son came in and heard the rest of the conversation. I had to ask him later if I was insane (by the way, he said "yes") but he did confirm that the phone call did indeed take place!

So, I try to call my husband. Who has a work phone, a cell phone and a hotel room phone. No answer on any of them!

WHAT?!?!?! He PROMISED me that I could reach him ANY TIME!! I tried calling him for AN HOUR! AN HOUR! FINALLY, I got ahold of him. He was at a book store. I asked him if he found any books on adoption. He said "no, not really, I didn't really see anything....blah....blah....blah" I said "Honey, I was hoping you found something because you have a daughter!"[crickets chirping]

Me: "Honey? Did you hear me?"

Him: "Are you serious?"

Me: "Yes"

Him: "We're not supposed to find out until tomorrow."

Me: "Um, sorry" (???)

Anyway, he was just as dumbfounded as I was (and still am!)

So, here's the story of our Liliana Laura-Mei.

Our agency receives a special needs/waiting children list a few times a year. We applied for a girl last time the list was out (in January). We were not matched. So, this time we were leary. Should we really get a picture of this little girl and put our hearts out there for potential disappointment? Well, thankfully the answer was "yes". We decided to write our agency a letter stating our desire to be matched with this girl.

The list came out last Thursday afternoon. We spent all weekend praying about it and researching her special need. Tuesday I emailed our social worker our letter. They were supposed to review it today and notify the families tomorrow. Supposed to. WOW!!

This post is ALL OVER THE PLACE, but I am just a mess! A LONELY mess! AAHH!

I have so many people to tell and so much to do. My son doesn't have a passport yet. We should be traveling anywhere from 3-5 months from now. Unbelieveable. I still can't get over the fact that we're just going to be going to China! WOW! we never go ANYWHERE!

OK, so, our daughter is going to be 4 years old on the 20th. That's much older than we thought. BUT! God obviously knows that our Lili was born in 2003 and has been waiting for us all this time. Before we even knew we wanted to adopt. She's been there. Just for us. And, since our son is almost 10, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of them being closer in age. Otherwise, there'd be a 10-11 year age difference. That's quite a bit. She'll be in kindergarten when he's still in elementary school. That will be nice. The thing that bothers me the most is all the time we've missed with her. All the milestones that she hit when no one really cared (not as much as her parents would). So, we have a lot of lost time to make up for and the rest of our lives to do it! I consider that a fair trade! :)

"In a moment what has been is lost in what will be"--Steven Curtis Chapman "When Love Takes You In"

Easter Crafts and Home Improvement

First, I can't post any of this without giving credit to my buddy Kim for her crafty inspiration. I took a page (or 2 or 3) from her book and delved into some cutesy Easter crafts.

SO MUCH FUN!! Thanks for the inspiration, Kim (now if I only had a craft room...)

We redid our 1/2 bath a few weeks ago. It was all beige from ceiling to floor.

We added wainscotting, travertine-look floor tile and light, beachy blue paint. We're thrilled to see less beige!!

We got on a roll and decided to paint the living room while we were at it. It's kind of a "french" blue/green and we love the way it looks with the white as well as the darker woods. Once again, it had been "builder's beige", so we needed a shot of color.

We have some golden yellow paint for our den, so that's going to be our next project. We're just thrilled that all we need to do is PAINT! No ripping down wallpaper, tearing up floors, redoing plumbing and electric...so nice to be "modern" for a change :)

Hello, my name is Lili and I'll be your guide today.

Lately, Lili's been into this thing of telling people what to do and how to do it. Almost mothering you to death. She's been very, I don't know, solicitous. Telling me to sit and relax and how to lay my head down and how to breathe. Both her grandmas said she's been doing the same thing with them. I don't know what it is with her, but if my kid's telling me to relax and breathe, I guess I should just take it :)

This is just one more example of how she's in the mode of explaning everything to death and showing off all that she knows. So take notes, I'm sure you'll learn something (ahem, ahem)

Your Next American Idol (circa about 2021)

Can I just tell you how much we love this keyboard with microphone?!?! Yeah.

Lili was having "quiet time" (and I use that term loosely) in her room the other day, when I noticed she really wasn't being all that quiet. Imagine that.

I got a very cute video of her playing, singing and talking blissfully unaware that she was being watched, but I was sneaking up on her, so the video's pretty dark. Once she caught me, she just insisted I take more video of her. Imagine that.

I'll have to post her performance video: part II next time.

Until then, enjoy part I.