Jiangxichildren : Jiangxi Province Children

I belong to several yahoo groups all for different reasons. Shortly after receiving Sophia's referral I joined a yahoo group that is for the Jiangxi Province. Jiangxi is where Sophia is from, Wanzai city to be exact. The Jiangxi yahoo group much like other province groups are very helpful to information starved families that are waiting to travel to get their children. They help to educate families about what to expect when they travel. They connect families to others that have adopted from the same area. Once home they help to keep you connected to what is going on in that province and with the children that have come home from there.

Below I have included the link to the group

Jiangxichildren : Jiangxi Province Children

Today I clicked on the group to see if there was anything new going on. Much to my delighted surprise up popped Sophia's pretty little face. A few weeks back the moderator of the group asked all of us to send a referral photo along with a current photo of our children so that they could be shared on the home page of the group. I was so excited and proud to see her on the home page. Here is the photo they used..

I am so proud of her and I swear she just keeps getting prettier everyday

Sophia at 6 months old and Sophia at 22 months old

10 months and 1 day

Today is 10 months and 1 day since we first held Sophia in our arms. I am sure you are wondering why I am writing today, instead of a few weeks from now when we celebrate the One year mark of our referral for Sophia or two months from now when we will be celebrating our 1 year mark as a "Forever Family". Well not to worry I will write then too, but I wanted to write today because today is the day that Sophia has Officially been with Riz and I longer then she was with her foster mother in China. I get emotional just thinking about it.I can't imagine caring for a Child for 10 months and then having to give that child away never knowing what happened to her or if she was OK. I have so much admiration for those who are able to foster children. I think about how much our lives have changed and been blessed because of Sophia. Her life is so different now then it would have been if she were still with her foster mother in China. I am not saying better just different then it was. I think of Sophia's Foster Mother every single day with a sense of overwhelming gratitude for this women I will never know. I have written about her before many times. I will never stop talking about her because she is the person that held my baby at night when she cried and feed her when she was hungry dried her tears witnessed her joy and nurtured her into the happy,smart,funny,intuitive,strong, beautiful girl she is today. We look at her pictures with Sophia frequently and she has learned to say "Cha N" (China). I want her to know about this women and the little bit of information we know about her. She is part of Sophia's story her beginning. So while I feel really happy about how far we have come in 10 months and 1 day I also feel a bit of sadness for this women. I wonder if she thinks about Sophia. I wonder if she knows that she was adopted internationally. I wonder has she seen our pictures. I wonder if she realizes how much we love this child. I wonder if she knows we will forever be grateful to her ............

You Know You're An Adoptive Parent When...
1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's 'real' parents.
7. You have ever been 'pregnant' with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)
8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide.
9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word 'Dossier' means, and you can actually pronounce it!
13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

-Author unknown

Happy Spring

We just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Spring. We have had beautiful weather here in Florida. This picture is from a photo shoot we did with Sophia on Saturday. I will post more of them in the next few days over on her blog Simply Sophia. We also have vacation pictures to post along with pictures from Easter. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Holiday. Ours was wonderful because we finally had Sophia with us. I will post more later about her first Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Baskets (yes that is plural... LOL). I have also not done Meal Plan Monday since we have been back from Vacation but I will get back to that next week. In the mean time I hope to catch up on all my blogging.

So much to post about

I have so much to post about..

Sophia turned 2 on March 31at and we hada birthday bash for her (pictures to come)
Riz turned 41 (no pictures of that LOL)

The three of us have been on Vacation in Savannah Visiting Wendy and the girls.Then we drove to Atlanta to see our friends and China travel mates the Loves. We took in the Terracotta warrior exhibit at the high Museum and the Atlanta Zoo while we were there. (Pictures to come) and now we are in Amelia Island because we got stuck in 3 hours of GA traffic on the way home. (Pictures to come)

Tomorrow our good friends are coming for a visit with their 2 beautiful kids. (I am sure there will be pictures of that too)

I had Starbucks at 5 so I am still awake at 1am and just entered a blog giveaway over on Maisie Eats Bentos. This is one of my new favorite blogs and is becoming an obsession of mine. Wish me luck... Check out Maisie Eats Bentos here......