Adding 1 Chinese Sister: September 2011

WOW! It is absolutely insane how fast a couple of months can fly by. Summer has sadly come to an end and the kiddos are back in school. Logan started 4th grade this year and Mia is in her last year of pre-school. Next year she will be in Kindergarten. I am very grateful for Mia having another year in pre-school before heading off to the "real deal". Mia has Logan's favorite pre-school teacher ever this year. Her name is Ms. Kyleen. We love, love, love her. Mia does too. On Friday they get a homework folder sent home. Mia cannot wait to jump into it. Mia loves to count. She loves to sing her ABC's. She really loves to color and tell me the shapes of everything. She also LOVES to find matching things. She seems to be enamored with things that match. She is always pointing out things like we (Mike, Logan, Mia and I) all have on shoes on (meaning not flip flops) or that her and I match because we both have on dresses and Mike and Logan match because they both have on pants. She points things like that out to us all day long. While Mia has her numbers down pat, letter recognition and writing is something that is going to be a main focus this year. I realize she is a bit behind the curve compared to the other kids her age however given she just learned a whole new language this year, I am honestly not even slightly concerned.

Mia has completely forgotten speaking Mandarin. In fact, she tells me that she never used different words for things. I am simply amazed how quickly she forgot- and a bit sad too. I can still remember her going on and on in Mandarin when we first got her and not having a clue what she was saying but just loving to listen to the words. I also LOVED listening to her sing songs in Mandarin. Anyway...after reading lots of other blogs from other people who adopted from China and realizing that almost all of them had their kids in speech therapy I asked her teachers at school what they thought about her going to speech therapy. They said that she absolutely did not need speech therapy and that she has picked up the language incredibly quickly. WHOOOOOOOO! :)

Mia started dance this month. OH MY GOODNESS! It is her "thing" for sure! It almost makes me cry how beautiful and happy she looks in class. She is razor focused and you can tell it is very important to her to get the moves she is being taught just right. She is so long and lean and it seems like she was simply born to dance. It will be interesting to see where she goes with it.

Food is SOOOO much easier with Mia. She is trying more and more foods and FINALLY starting to like them. We have found out she likes beef jerky, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, pop tarts - however we have to call them princess cakes, cereal (we just added milk this week) and many other things. I still think she would prefer to eat bread with ketchup or should I say ketchup with a little bit of bread for every meal however she knows the answer will be no. She also still loves most fruits. Veggies are a bit more of a challenge but she likes edamame and salad with ginger dressing. Regardless, I am happy that eating is getting easier!

Logan and Mia are FINALLY starting to act a bit more like brother and sister. :) You know, all the silly stuff like, why does Logan get to go first? Why did Mia get to get "x" and I didn't? Occasionally annoying one another etc. I do have to say that honestly, compared to my brother and I (when we were little) they still get along WONDERFULLY. Every night I get asked if it is a school night or a family night because they want a slumber party. Mia also HAS to give Logan a hug and kiss each morning before he leaves for school. It is very sweet.

Mia still talks about going to China (which she calls "my China") and wanting to see "China Mama" again but that she wants us to go and she wants to stay for 5 minutes and then come home to America with us. She is very specific about only going for 5 minutes and then coming home to America. Every once in a while she still talks about her friend Jahn Jahn (the little girl in the crib next to Mia's in China) and says she misses her. We talk about Jahn Jahn's new family and that she lives in America now too and Mia seems to like that.

Mia's 5th birthday is next month. She is VERY excited about it and has picked out the theme, her dress, told us where she wants her party, and what presents she hopes to get. SOOOOOO stinking cute. Oh, and when Logan does something sweet for her she says "Thank you Logan, you can come to my birthday party". Oh my.... :) On another note, it is crazy for me to think about her being in China last year for her birthday and that I was completely stressing out about what to send her. It feels like she has been a part of our family forever.

Mia's interests continue to be dancing, Barbies, playing with her babies, having tea parties with her babies and stuffed animals as well as dressing up in anything and everything princess! She also loves to color and do puzzles. I must admit I love to watch (and listen to) her play. It is very sweet. She is so gentle and just sings and sings and sings. I love to see her sweet happy soul and feel so blessed that God chose me to share her life with.

We are quickly approaching our year anniversary with Mia. I always knew God had called us to adopt. I had no idea the road would be so long, have so many twists and turns and yet be so incredibly rewarding in the end. I thank God for my family and look forward to where he plans to take us in the future.

Until next time please enjoy some recent photos and a video of Logan and his friend.

God bless!

Logan and Mia in front of Qui's for our celebration of her referral

Logan helping Mia. He is such a great big brother

Mia LOVES ice pops. She also loves her princess dresses. She calls this one
her Sleeping Beauty dress. I swear she would wear these dresses day and
night if I would let her (which I do - A LOT).

OH MY! Okay, so this one is funny. This is what I woke up to one morning.
Mia usually gets the fashion thing right but this time.....WHOA! :)

Celebrating my 37th Birthday

Love my family!

On a pony at the zoo thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Richmond

Loves her grandpa....She is ALWAYS talking him into carrying her everywhere. :)

My little "sleeping beauty"

Just before bed at the hotel....

....in bed at the hotel

My job at the warrior dash this year. I was supposed to run it with Mike but hurt my back. I was
SOOOOOOO bummed - still am. :( I am doing it next year FOR SURE!