Adding 1 Chinese Sister: June 2011

It is amazing to think it has been 6 months since meeting Mia and having her taking her permanent place in my arms, heart and soul. The adoption journey was so long and filled with so many questions, doubts and at times pure fear. Now I feel so silly for all those questions and doubts. There is no doubt that Mia is the child that God intended for us to share our lives with. I will be forever blessed by her presence in my life.

This month we have had a lot more sunny days so Mia has gotten to swim, go to the park, take bike rides, catch her first fish and have a ton of fun playing with friends.

Mia had her first pre-school production. They sang songs all about America and said the Pledge of Allegiance. It was very cute to see her get all excited to go on stage. The other day, she was singing America the Beautiful. She got to the end of the song and sang "from sea to China sea". I thought for a second, it did not sound right to me. Sea to China sea? Isn't it supposed to be "sea to shining sea"? I asked Mia if she said "sea to China sea" and she said "yes". I smiled and said, "oh, do you know it is actually sea to shining sea"? She looked at me very serious and said "Mia no think so. Mia think (which sounds more like "tink" when she says it) sea to CHINA sea". It was super cute and makes sense to me so I said "oh, okay". She was very proud of herself.

Mia also learned how to spell her name. So, she often goes up to anyone who will listen and says "my name is Mia and then proceeds to spell it for them M-i-a - Mia.

Mia also loves to go downtown. She is always asking to go to my office (which is downtown). She tells us it is just like her big China. I think it is the elevators that reminds her of being with us in China but I am not sure. Regardless she shares our love for the larger cities so maybe some day when we take the big leap back into the bigger city she will embrace it with enthusiasm.

Mia is still enjoying school and playing with her friends. She only has 3 little girls in her class but she loves them all and includes them in her prayers every night. When we walk in in the morning, they all shout "Mia" and run up and hug her. She kinda stands there stunned and does not hug them back. It takes her a few minutes every morning to get into the whole class scene but when I come and pick her up, she if fully engaged and playing with all the kids. Sometimes I just stand and watch her for a few minutes. She just amazes me.

We are starting to work on fully sentences with Mia since she has most of her words down. So, when she asks for something, or needs help, we are asking her to use "all her words" which means using a full sentence. She is doing so great with this and we are so proud of her. She beams every time she gets the whole sentence down and we tell her great job. It is lovely to see her so excited and embracing everything she is being asked to learn.

Mia wants to do EVERYTHING her brother does. Logan is usually so good with this but sometimes it is just not possible. She usually understands but I have to tell you. It breaks my heart to see her sad about her not being able to do something that Logan is doing. That said, I also think it is important that Logan have time without Mia and be able to do things including being with his friends by himself. On the other hand, it is sweet how much Mia loves her brother and how much she wants to be with him.

So much more to say but never enough time to document it all. That said, we continue to look forward to the summer and everything it brings. More updates later. Until then....God Bless! :)

Easter Morning

Everyone needs a lift sometimes. Good thing for Mia she has Logan. :)

Love it when she puts her arm around Mike like this. So sweet. Mike is showing her the ipad.

Me and my sweet girl.

Mia's swimming suit. She loves it so much she wanted to wear it in the bath! :)

Sporting her new water wings. Again, so excited she could not wait for the water. :)

Checking out the view from our office.

Her first concert in pre-school. All the songs were about America.
She LOVED it!

They were asked to wear something patriotic. Mia loved getting all
dressed up for the occasion.

Showing off her American tattoos

Love that smile with all those beautiful teeth! As many of you know, we never got to see her smile until
we met her. In all the photos the orphanage sent she had a smirk at best.