Prayers needed...

Yes, I know she looks really happy. But, we are adjusting to our new situation. I believe this is the last change in Lily's sitter that we can all possibly handle. Lily is basically herself, except at night since the night terrors are back. They appear every time we have had to find a new sitter. These are the same night terrors that we experienced with Lily in China when we had no idea how to handle them or what to do. Of course, now, we are experts on the subject. But, it does not make it any easier to watch her go through this separation anxiety issue. So, we have about 10 more days of sleepless nights to go through. She also has a defense mechanism of completely shutting down in the mornings and afternoons as we make the exchange of my beautiful daughter. But, when we are in the car on the home, Lily returns. She smiles, laughs, and talks just like normal. She is doing great when she is actually with our new sitter. That is a blessing. Once we get through the next few weeks, she will begin to show her true personality and take down the barrier that she puts up when she feels like someone has left her. I just can't believe we have had to find 5 different sitters. I do know this- God knows what He is doing. I will trust in Him through all of this. The one thing Lily does know- Mama and Baba are always still here. I know that is all that really matters.

Lily's First Day with Alice

Lily had her first day with her new sitter today. Of course, we were worried, but we know that God allows all things to happen for His good- and today for Lily's good, too. She had a wonderful day! She only cried for a few minutes this morning, and that was it! She even made a stinky on the potty for Alice, and she only had to use one pull-up all day long! She is in a great mood, and we asked her if she had a good day with Alice. She shook her head, yes, and said, "Alice!" while continuing to shake her head yes. It was really cute! She did not want to take a nap, but Alice knew just how to handle that- and she got her to sleep without any drama. She also talked for Alice today, too. All of these things are just major blessings because Lily has been known to shut down in new situations. So, thank you for your prayers! I hope that tomorrow will be another super day for Lily!

Praising God

I know many of you have been praying about our sitter issues. Thank you so much. Today, God led a new sitter right to us in the midst of losing Cindy for now. Cindy still needs your prayers. Lily will start with her new sitter, Alice, who is another parent from school. I have known her for awhile, and I have taught one of her wonderful children. We are very blessed to have her for Lily. However, Lily will still need your prayers. It will be hard for her to get used to another new caregiver. But, I am sure that God will take care of her completely, and all of this has happened for a good reason. Another reason we are praising God today is because we just got our taxes done. We had no idea the adoption credit would be this abundant! Wowie! I just had to show you these pictures of Lily after her bath.
Here she is screaming, "Mama- Baba- Mama-Baba!"

Then, you have our deep in thought Lily with her new toy- a paperclip.

Year of the Ox

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Lily is ready to go out to eat with the other families in our area for our celebration! She enjoyed wearing Kenli's outfit that she wore when she was Lily's age. Thank you Kenli!

She was very excited about spending time with her new friends!

This is Keaira. Her parents go to church with us, and she is 4 years old.

Here is a picture of most of the girls together. It was almost like a red couch photo- we never could get them all together, looking the same way. There was another little girl there who was about Lily's age, and she kept walking out of the picture. The girls (left to right): Lily, another Lily, Kenli, Meg, Keaira, and Kate. Ellie Lu kept walking out of the picture.

After our Chinese dinner, the girls took over the restaurant, and they did some New Year's craft projects. The Chinese man who owned the restaurant was so sweet. Some of the parents apologized for taking over the restaurant, and he said, "I don't mind at all. I love seeing all of the girls together."

Lily had a great time. It took her about 30 minutes to warm up to people, like normal. But, then, she was walking around talking to everyone, blowing kisses, and showing her beautiful smile!

Thank you , Amy and Ira, for getting everyone together. We had such a wonderful evening!
If you want to see more pictures of the girls- go to http://kenliskorner.blogspot.com/. Amy took a lot more pictures, and she got some with Ellie Lu in them. She is so cute! You should go see them!

Chinese Acrobats in the Snow?

Yes, Lily has experienced her first snow. Isn't it amazing? This much snow got us out of school for 2 days! Seriously! You gotta love working for the county. We took Lily to see the Chinese Acrobats. They were in town for the evening, so we went with Amy, Ira, and Kenli to see the show. Here she is saying "Cheeeese" right before we left for the event.

She was ready to go. We could not believe how much she enjoyed the show. We had seen a performance the night before we got Lily in Beijing. But, this show was even better, if that is possible. Lily totally enjoyed the show. She clapped, she oohed and aahed, and she kept poking Jamie and saying, "Baba- Look! Look!" Kenli was really cute to watch during the show. She is a little bit older than Lily- (her blog is the Kenli's Korner one to the right). At one point, she asked if they might give her a turn to jump. We were all laughing! The girls were wonderful, and we enjoyed spending the evening with our friends!

On Saturday, we are going to have a Chinese New Year celebration with some other families in the area who also have beautiful Chinese daughters. I will try to take lots of pictures!

Monday Morning...

Here are the pictures of Lily from this morning. She had to get up early to go to school with me. We had an inservice day, so she got to play in my room all day. Of course, she entertained the rest of the faculty at school with her new words and new things she is doing.

She was still half-asleep while she was eating her cheerios for breakfast.

This is a picture of her last night. She was jumping up and down on our bed after her bath.

20 Months old...

Lily turned 20 months old on Saturday. So, today marks being together for 10 months and 1 day. This means that she has officially been with us 1 day longer than she was in China away from us. We got Lily on the day she turned 10 months old- St. Patrick's Day of 2008. She had been with her Nannie for 10 months in foster care. It is amazing that this time has flown by so quickly! Happy Gotcha Day anniversary to all of our China groupmates!!