Ruth and Paul

My Mom's sister, my Aunt Ruth, came to visit on Sunday. Uncle Paul came with her. Lily had the best time playing with them.

Paul taught her how to let her kitty ride her cow. She thought he was hilarious.

Lily loved spending time with both of them! She enjoyed showing Ruth around the house. Of course, Ruth's favorite place is outside- like Suzette's- and Lily's! I guess she got that from them.

She thinks it is funny when she tells me to sit in her lap. So, we were pretending that she was holding me.

Lily loved telling Paul to "Sit, sit". She had the best day with her Great Aunt and Uncle. Thank you for coming! We loved having you!

No way, Mama!!!

Well, I just keep trying... Lily finally let me put her hair in ponytails-

For about 30 seconds!

Yes, there were tears- followed by these exact words, "No way, Mama! No way!" Then, she added, "Like Liana's!" We will take some pictures of her hair like Liana's so you can see them.

By the way, Lily got really dirty again yesterday and today. Yesterday, I let her blow bubbles all by herself- she dumped the entire bottle all over her. It was really funny! Wish I would have had the camera. Then, today, we took her to the Regional Park. Her feet were nasty! Lily couldn't even stand it! She told us she needed wipes for her feet as soon as we got in the car! :0)

One last look at our weekend...

Beth sent us some great pictures, and I just loved this one of Liana and Marah. Being around their family and their girls definitely made us want a sister for Lily. We are just praying that God will lead us in that direction when He believes we are ready. Knowing our hearts are in China, we couldn't imagine going anywhere else. But, for those of you that know so much about the process- it seems almost hopeless at this point. So, we are going to concentrate on Lily for now, and we know that God will let us know if there will be more children in our future.

Here are some other pictures of our weekend. We stayed at our favorite hotel, and we enjoyed walking around the city on Friday and Saturday morning.

Our next post will be of Lily's ponytails. I just haven't downloaded them yet onto the computer. She let me put them in the other night, but quickly insisted that I take them out. They weren't like Liana's hair. And for now, all she wants is hair "like Liana's, Mama."

Part 5... The Water Fountain

These are all of the pictures that we took with the girls together. But, Beth has emailed some more pictures to me. So, once we download these this weekend, I will put hers on, too.

We had such a wonderful time visiting with David, Beth, Liana, and Marah. We cannot wait to go back to see them again!!!

Part 4....The sand

Liana is leading Lily into the sandy area at the park.

At first, she stands there, and she seems to be deciding what to do next. Normally, she doesn't touch anything on the ground.

Then, she squatted down and started to play with the sand- just small grains of sand at first.

Liana was burying her feet while Lily was discovering this new stuff.

Marah and Lily found Liana's shoes and they used them as shovels. They had the best time.

I wish we would have had some video at the restaurant later that evening. Lily and Liana sat beside each other. They ate off of each other's plates, they giggled constantly, and they smooched on each other over and over again. Liana also fed Lily for awhile, too. They were so cute.

Tomorrow, I have some pictures of the girls at the water fountain. Yes, it was another first for Lily.

Part 3...The Nature Walk

After playing on the playground, Lily followed Liana over to the grassy area. Liana picked up a stick, so Lily picked one up to and started running.

Here she is just as happy as can be watching her new friends.

Jamie and I are learning about sand spurs in this photo. We had no idea what those were, so David and Beth were teaching us a bit about life in their part of the woods. :0)

Liana was enjoying being carried around by Jamie--

We were walking across a bridge, but the girls kept stopping to see things in the water. This time, I think they had found a turtle or some lily pads... whatever it was- they were loving it.

Marah was getting in on the action, too. They were discovering everything.

Lily and Marah took a walking break for a moment on their Father's shoulders.

We were on this bridge that overlooked the waterfall. The girls found a baby caterpillar. They sat their and watched this caterpillar forever.

Here we are continuing our nature walk. Notice Lily's hand... in Liana's.

This is my favorite picture. I just love this picture of the girls hand-in-hand with their shadows behind them. Lily has never responded to a child the way she has with Liana. They clicked so quickly.

Come back tomorrow for pictures of the fun in the sand!

Part 2...The Playground

After visiting for a few minutes at Beth and David's house, we took the girls to the park. I know this sounds really bad, but we have to admit- this was Lily's first time on a playground. We took her last summer, but we only played on the swings. So, you can see she is a little leary about this.

Here, she has started to follow Liana everywhere. But, she is still holding on for dear life. However, Marah is flying through this playground equipment.

Liana is so adorable! She has the cutest haircut, and now, Lily wants to wear her hair like Liana's. So, we got her some little clips. After bathtime and in the mornings, she says- "Mama- like Liana's" while pointing to her hair.

This is one of Lily's first times down the slide. She is still so apprehensive, but she is enjoying herself.

How precious is little Marah! She is a doll, and she is so tiny. She is showing Lily how this sliding business should be done.

Tomorrow, I will show you pictures of Lily's first nature walk; her first walk across a bridge; her first waterfall; her first caterpillar; and her first time playing in the sand. Liana and Marah taught her so much this weekend!

Lily's China Sisters- Part 1 of many...

This picture really says it all. We had the best weekend with Beth, David, Liana, and Marah. We just got home, and of course, we have tons of stuff to do. So, please come back for the next few days to check out our pictures of the girls together. We took so many, so I will only blog about a few each day this week. Lily was so happy this weekend. She adored Liana- and she followed her around everywhere she went.
For those who may not know, we went to China with Beth, David, and Liana to get our girls. Marah and Lily are from the same orphanage, and there birthdays are only 14 days apart. We love Beth and David! We are so thankful that God led us into each others' lives. If only we lived closer together!!! Thank you guys for the best day ever! - as Liana said at one point- she was certainly right.

Going on a trip...

We are headed out of town this weekend to go to a Christian concert and to see our dear friends from China- David, Beth, Liana, and Marah. We are so excited to visit them again. We also can not wait to take Lily to another concert.
I hope to have some great pictures for you next week!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Easter Egg Hunting...

Lily saw the egg, and she pointed at it. She then said, " Baba, Poppa, Nana" as she waited for someone else to pick it up for her.

Here, she is all about the business of getting the eggs in her basket, but no so much about the actual task of picking them up. Well, they were on the ground.... and you know she is my daughter.

Here, her cousin Ashley and Baba are showing her where one of the eggs is laying. See how she is just standing there....waiting for someone else to pick it up. At one point, she even let people carry the basket around for her.

Do you see those fingers and that grip that her feet have to the soil? She did not want to pick any of the eggs up. Of course, eventually, everyone talked her into it. She picked up one of the real eggs, and she turned it over- just to see some dirt on it. She gently laid it back down where she got it. Her Poppa picked it up and wiped the dirt off, then he handed it to her. She placed it in her basket. Apparently, we won't be winning any egg hunting contests in the future.

She really did have a great time spending the day with family. When I was little, my Mom used to have the egg hunts inside the house for me. We are going to do a special one for Lily this week inside the house, too, since she is obsessed with eggs now. I know she will enjoy looking for them throughout the house where she can actually touch things. In only a little over a year, we have managed to completely ruin her! It is so much fun!

French Pedicures by Baba

First off, I had to show you one of our matchy-patchy outfits. I just love Life is Good clothing because we can match all of the time- even with Baba!

When we were waiting on Lily, we decided to save lots of money by Baba becoming my mani/pedi-man. So, Lily has been so excited about having her toes and nails painted often. Tonight, we asked her if she wanted a French Pedicure. Of course, she shook her head Yes, and go into her chair with the following word, "Baba?" while she pointed her toes toward him. She was really excited about her "whIIIte and clear toes". When she says white, it has a definite long I sound in the middle.

It was hard to get a clear picture of this French Pedicure, but we tried to show the outcome.

She loves it!!! Poor Baba! Now, he has two of us to pamper. But, I really think he already knew that.

Lily's Hair!

Every night after bathtime, I blow dry Lily's hair. My thought is always the same- I want her hair! I have been able to use a big round brush on it now, and it is so adorable at night!

She loves the whole process of blow drying her hair, getting her pj's on, and showing off her clean hair. When we are finished, she runs to Baba and shakes her hair from side to side to show off how cute she looks. She always has to see herself in the mirror, too, when we are done. Most nights, she even asks for her toes or nails to be painted purple!

We are still trying to let her bangs grow out, and it is hard to keep all of her bangs out of her eyes. But, she still like wearing her "Abby" hair. So, that is definitely helping. I can't wait to see how much it grows this summer...

I should have some family Easter photos after Sunday.

The Zoo- Part 2

These pictures are from the petting zoo. She did not like this part at all last summer, but Saturday was a completely different story. She wanted to brush those goats forever!

Once we left the zoo, it took about 2 minutes until this happened... She was worn out from our exciting day! She got to pick one thing from the gift shop, which she is getting so good at- and she chose this little purple penguin. She held a few other stuffed animals, but looked them over and handed them back to us. (One was a purple monkey and a purple panda) Then, she wanted this penguin. She held it, smiled really big, and hugged it close. Then, she said, "Mama" in that tone that said this is what I want. I said, "Give it to Baba, and he will buy it for you." She handed it right over. I am glad that she is learning about this whole shopping thing really early!