Our Birthday Girl

My little girl is growing up! She is two today! So hard for me to believe she has only been in our lives for six months. It feels like she's been with us forever ... but I guess that's what happens when you are where you belong. Lia Katherine has turned our world upside down and filled my life with more joy than I thought imaginable. It's hard to fathom loving anyone as fiercely as you love your first child, but Lia Kate has shown us that your heart just grows bigger when there is another little one to love. I mean, how can your heart not melt when she gives you her sweet kisses and "i love you"s. Pure joy this girl is. I can't believe how blessed we've been to add her to our family. So, so thankful to be celebrating her 2nd first birthday with her.

Happy Birthday, baby girl! Here's to many more ...

What are the chances?

Last Fall, when we first decided to start looking for a waiting child in China, the thought popped into my head "how cool would it be if our child and I had the same birthday?" Because ... um ... what are the chances of that?! My sister and I -- born nine years apart -- share a birthday, so the sharing-a-birthday-thing was on my radar, and Danny and I were looking for a child in the age range that would fall with a summer birthday. But, really, what were the chances of that happening? Imagine my surprise when I checked my email the morning of October 21, 2009, and saw an email titled "Referral -- Lian Jia Jing" ... as I anxiously opened the file, the first thing I saw was, "Date of Birth: July 31" -- my birthday. My mouth hit the floor. I couldn't believe what I was seeing ... I may have even let a curse word fly. I mean what are the chances??? I knew she was our daughter. I didn't even know how serious her medical needs were, but I knew she was ours. We accepted her file that day, and have never looked back.

And this weekend, we get to celebrate our first triple joint birthday -- me (turning 34), my sister (turning 25), and my daughter (turning TWO!). Now seriously, what are the chances of that?

We will be living it up with Lia Kate this weekend because technically it's her FIRST birthday. I'm thinking no one was celebrating her birthday last year in the orphanage, so we'll just make up for lost time, starting this morning with a little ladybug party with friends. Then on Saturday we'll celebrate all three July 31 birthdays with some family, and then next weekend with more family.

Lia Katherine, I am so thrilled to share a birthday with you. You were so meant to be a part of this family! Happy 2nd first birthday!!!

Baby Love

Here are some sweet pictures of my babies loving on a little babe. They have never paid attention to babies, but they both loved looking at this little guy -- Will Garrison -- who went to the beach with us. Love these pics...

Last of the Beach Pictures

Here are the last pictures of my babies on the beach!

More Beach Pics

So ... going to the beach with two toddlers is no easy feat. You've got the the sunblock to apply, the swim diapers, the bathing suits, the floatees, the chairs, the tent, the toys, the tantrums, the snacks, the transport, and when the beach fun is over, you have the dreaded sand-removal process. Whew. By the end of the week, the parents were exhausted. We needed a vacation from our vacation. ;o) It was a lot of work but so, so worth it to see our kiddos enjoying God's beautiful creation. These are all pictures from our second day at the beach.

Oh, did I mention that we also saw also lots of ...

... tears ...


... and tears...


...and, yep, more tears. Sis Priss is not afraid to let them flow!














Britton thought it was pretty cool to be buried in the sand.






We also saw a large shark swimming along the shore that day! That was quite an experience. Danny had just gotten out of the water when a guy pointed it out to us. It swam within 10-15 feet of where swimmers were. Everyone was on the shore telling them to get out of the water, but they just looked at everyone ... clearly not getting the message ... as the shark cruised by. That fin popped out of the water and I could.not.believe.it. Not every day you get to see a large shark patrolling the beach. I definitely have a healthier respect for the creatures.

The Beach

We spent a week down in beautiful Seaside, Florida recently. Danny was asked to preach at Seaside Chapel and in return, a very gracious family, gave us their beach house to enjoy. We loved staying in Seaside! The house was a block from the beach, and a block from the pool, and two blocks from the Seaside town center. We loved walking everywhere ... even though it was crazy hot and humid down there. The Gulf water was crystal clear, and we loved getting to show off the beautiful beaches to our Lia Kate. She turned out to be like Britton -- they like the sand, but they definitely do not like the water. Here are pictures from our first day at the beach...

When you go to the beach with two toddlers, sand is everywhere!