Baptism Day

Chris and I have been blessed to be members of the parish of the Basilica of St. Mary. Before we moved, we wanted to make sure our girl was baptized in this special church. Despite the rain (and a Godmother with food poisoning) we made it through the day with a lovely mass.

May this be the beginning of a wonderful journey of Faith, my sweet girl.

8 is Great

May flew by and June is doing the same! In the midst of everything, we were able to celebrate Maddy's baptism. Her Godparents and our families were able to join us for the event.

We celebrated with a backyard party the night before, which also happened to be the 8 month anniversary of our Gotcha day. It's amazing to see our confident happy girl surrounded by her family and all the love they have to give just 8 months later.

We are blessed!

Trying on Poppi's glasses

Swimming with cousins

Party Time!

Just hanging with the big girls

These two brought Mickey & Minnie- they are ok!

Maddy loves her Nanny Annie

Godparents Brian & Jacquelyn

Finally, the cake!

An experienced cake tester helping the newbie out.

Aunt Deb helping with the presents. 

"Listen Sophie, if I can fly across the ocean, so can you."

ATS

Due to taking time off when Maddy came home, I was unable to go to the pulmonary national meeting this year. While my colleagues were in Philadelphia, I had a breakfast date with this cutie.

I definitely got the better deal.

Aunt Eater

Aunt Ana has been asking to come visit for a long time. She's probably the only person who lives in the sub-tropics but is willing to come to Minnesota in the yucky part of winter and early spring. While one might attribute that to the cute scoot who lives with us now, Ana voluntarily visited in March pre-Maddy. Which means she either likes her sister or is crazy. Maybe a little bit of both.

Ana has been prepping to be Maddy's aunt since she heard about her. During our long wait, a book arrived monthly with a message to Maddy from her literary aunt. Now that Maddy is home, little packages and cards arrive on a regular basis so that despite the distance, Maddy knows her Aunt Ana. Notably, in the course of preparing to be an aunt, Ana did have some concerns. Namely, her name. She was very concerned that 'Aunt Ana' sounded like 'anteater.' This would not have occurred to me or Chris otherwise, but now it makes us all crack up.

 So to our wonderful Aunt Eater, thank you for coming. We all had a wonderful time and can't wait to see you again. We love you!

*Disclaimer* Maddy actually doesn't call Ana 'Aunt Eater'. She actually loves Ana's name and yells out 'Naaaa-naaaa!' in reference to her. It's just me that calls her Aunt Eater. You're welcome :)

Ana is sure to have Fancy Nancy on the next reading list for her students. Clearly, a classic.  

Checking out the horses at the zoo for the Farm Animals exhibit.

Attempting to feed the goats. 

M not actually wanting to have anything to do with the goats. 

Looking into the rabbit hutches with Daddy. 

Trying out the John Deere in honor of her great-grandpa, Leroy. 

Loving time with Auntie Ana.
*Note the mittens Ana borrowed from me. She probably thought she wouldn't see snow in late April. Ha!

"These aren't real, right?"

We are so cute together!

Thoughts on our first Mother's Day.

I am thankful to not just be a mother but to be our girl's mother. She is mine and I am hers.

I am thankful for her birth mother. The one who gave her life when there were other options. And while I don't know the circumstances of the birth and the decisions thereafter, I do know she left her baby in a place to be found. And this gave her a chance. A chance the healthcare she desperately needed at that time. A chance at life. A chance at a family to love her. For this, I will be forever thankful to this woman.

I am thankful for the nannies and nurses at the Show Hope Special Care Unit in Zhengzhou. Thankful they were able to nurse her back to health and be mothers to her before I could.  We think of them fondly and pray for these women who love so much.

I am thankful for her foster mother. For opening her home and heart to a child who would leave her.  We have a picture of Maddy's foster mother with her on what I think is their last day together. And while the picture is fuzzy, her foster mothers eyes are bright with tears. Clearly, this isn't just a job but a calling.

So, while I celebrated mother's day with my family, I considered it a day to pray in thanksgiving. For not only the wonderful gift of my daughter but for the women who helped me become her mother.

Mother's Day 2013

Breakfast in bed with my sweeties

Shopping with my busy girl. 

Hitting the farmer's markets. Brrr!!!

Lucky No. 7

I'm running a little behind in blog posts. I've had some started for a while now but.... oh well.

7 months...

What did we do with ourselves before Maddy arrived? I can't remember how we filled the time.

Sometime, I can remember and it involved sleep and working out among other things. However, it was just that. Filling the time until we could bring her home. And now she's been here for 7 months. I still kiss and pinch her cheeks to make sure it's real.

7 months in...

Maddy loves being outside. She has been very happy to have winter finally leave. So is her mother. She loves playing with her water table. She can scoot around on her trike and is trying to figure out the pedals. Not quite there for long runs, but she's getting there.

Her vocabulary is increasing everyday. Her favorite part right now is when we answer back. "Tanks!" is a favorite and she waits for a "You're welcome" every time. We are now working on 'please' but it's not in the rotation well yet.

She is eating a variety of food- including fruits and vegetables. She really likes strawberries which I refer to as "the gateway berry" in hopes that blueberries, raspberries, etc aren't far behind. She's come a long way since the processed meat days.

We had our follow-up international adoption clinic visit. She took down physical therapy like it was a game. Puzzles- check. Throwing and kicking a ball, check. Using scissors appropriately-double check.
The therapist was amazed and said not only did she catch up, she's a little ahead. Our doctor was very happy with her attachment and felt she was doing great overall. We have a few things to follow up on, vaccinations, etc, but in the end- we were discharged from the IA clinic and told to see our primary pediatrician now. Yay!

And finally- big news. Maddy is sleeping in her own bed. I was rocking her on our 7 month gotcha day anniversary and she was flopping like a fish. Finally, she pointed to her crib and I asked if she wanted to get in it to which she answered yes. And promptly fell asleep. And has been sleeping in her own bed without any big issues since.  We felt we would know it was right to move her. And we did. We are all- Annie including- sleeping well.

Family dinner at SeaSalt!
 Add scallops to M's list of likes. 

Not sure about the slide. Good thing Daddy is there. 

Posing for the camera. 

First ice cream cone.
I think she thought she had to take it all in one bite. 

Ultimate relaxation on the swings!

More! More!

Moved to her very own bed.
Next thing we know, she'll be in college.