Happy Easter (more pictures)

Happy Easter!

18 Month Pictures

As if there was any doubt she was my daughter...you can put a dress on her if you'd like, but the real smiling came when she held the baseball :)

Strawberry cutie

We took Zoe for her 18 month pictures today. She was a bit wary of the process and the photographer this time had less patience than the one we had at her 12 month pictures...plus, they were really busy today taking Easter pictures. We were able to get a few we really liked. The baseball one is my favorite. Eric and I have been on Spring Break this week. What a difference a year makes. Last year on break we were miserable because we thought we would have had Zoe's referral by then. However, we were very well rested. This year we are having a ball with our amazing daughter..but we're exhausted. Zoe's decided that 5:45am is just a perfect time to be waking up. It's a bit early..and a bit dark! Her smiles and hugs make it all worth while and I do have the most amazing husband who knows I need a lot more sleep than he does to be a happy person so he's been letting me sleep in. There are no words to describe how much I appreciate that man.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wishing everyone a lucky day!

Father and Daughter

I just love this picture. My brother recently gave me the pictures he took at Zoe's baptism/first Christmas home. I think this is the best one. Warms my heart.

Nana

Four generation picture from Zoe's baptism


My wonderful Nana

My Nana passed away last Thursday. She was 94 years old. If it hadn't been for a fall out of bed and subsequent complications at the hospital, she probably would have lived to be 100. I was incredibly lucky to have such a elegant, classy, loving woman as my grandmother for 34 years. I'm even happier that we were able to take the 4 generation picture that is posted above. In recent years my Nana started to suffer from some dementia, and although I doubt she knew Zoe was her great granddaughter, she enjoyed watching Zoe toddling around. My hope is that she's now with my grandfather again, a truly amazing man. My grandparents were exactly what you would want grandparents to be. I attended college a few hours from their home in a small town in Illinois. Some of my favorite memories are going to their house to visit and catch up on sleep. I always left well rested, well fed, and with more than enough gas money in my pocket :) Until my grandfather died during the second semester of my sophomore year they also made frequent trips to campus to take me to lunch. I always invited them to stay longer but they didn't want to interfere with my life. A 4 hour round trip just for lunch. Memories I will have forever. Memories I will be able to share with Zoe someday about how people are supposed to be.

9 Months Together- Half her life

Then.......

Now...

Zoe is 18 months old today and it's been 9 months since we first met her. As of today she's spent half of her life with us and from here on out she will spend more time in America and then did in China. I have conflicting emotions about that. On one hand, the past 9 months have been the happiest of my life. Eric and I marvel everyday that we were given the amazing opportunity to be Zoe's parents. She is such a joy. On the other hand I'm sad for the circumstances that made it impossible for Zoe to be raised in China. I read the blogs of adults who were adopted from other Asian countries and sometimes there is such anger in them about having been taken from their birth country and raised by Caucasian parents, often in places with few other Asian people. I hope that Zoe will grow up happy and secure in our family. I hope she knows that everyone in her life is just doing the best they know how to do..from the orphanage where she spent the first 9 months of her life, to Eric and I. I was reading a book to Zoe the other day and it's a nice poem about adoption with pictures of both a Chinese mother and a Caucasian one as well as a little Asian girl. Zoe pointed to the Caucasian woman and said, "MaMa." I know she's too young to understand, but I made sure to point out that the other lady was the little girl's China mommy and she also loved the little girl. Adoption isn't a one time decision, it's a life style..one that is often full of trial and error.

Zoe continues to do really well. She's adding new words daily and today said a funny two word phrase...she said "bye-bye dog" while she closed the door on Herman's nose. From the pictures above you can see she still loves her dog, but sometimes he's just in the way. I think she's mad at him for eating two of her crayons yesterday and causing her parents to spend $60 on a 30 second phone consultation with Animal Poison Control. Oh wait, I'm projecting my feelings on to her :)