Marisa Turns Three!!!

Our daughter is three now!  She keeps getting more beautiful as the years go by. 

The balloons were THE highlight of the day for all the kids.  We could have skipped most of the other party activities and they would have been content with balloons.  I love this age of simplicity!

Marisa got to open gifts throughout the day.  What a cutie!

We went to the mall to ride the carousel for the first time.  I was anticipating a melt down from somebody.  Ended up, I was dizzy for about 15 minutes.  Everybody else was fine.  :)

Marisa wanted cupcakes for her birthday.
We had low-fat chocolate ones and full of buttery goodness vanilla ones.
Everyone seemed to like the chocolate ones best.  

Pictured here: Mommy, big brother Kieran, Marisa & cousin Haley.
The birthday girl got another penguin!  (This one is a night light.)  Marisa loves penguins!

Like I said, the kids LOVED the balloons.  Each kiddo got to hold the number of balloons that matched their age.  (Kieran had 5 balloons.)

Happy birthday, sweet girl!  We are so blessed to have you in our family.  (February 2013)

February 2011...one year old. (Just arrived home from China a month ago.)

February 2012...two years old.

February 2013...three years old.  She's sweet, funny, quiet, creative, industrious, and a pure joy.

Marisa's One Year "Gotcha-versary"

One year ago today we met Marisa for the first time.   My thoughts as I first saw her were, "This can't be real!  Is this finally happening??"  The dream to adopt a daughter from China began shortly after Christmas as we were welcoming in the new year of 2001.  We traveled a long, long road (ten years!) to get to that hotel lobby in China on December 27, 2010.  I will never forget those first few moments with Marisa.  Once they placed her in my arms I was amazed at how light she was underneath those four layers of clothing.  She was precious, so priceless and beautiful, and it was amazing to finally have her in my arms!  As I wavered between awe and disbelief that this was really happening, I kissed her rosy sweet cheek.  What a miracle it was to meet Marisa!  She was obviously overwhelmed by the sudden changes in her life.  I was expecting her to cry, so it was blissful that she didn't.  Daddy's whiskers brushing against her little face did bring about some tears.  We were both over the moon about her!

That was one year ago.  Our sweet baby has grown a lot! She's added four and half inches, and gained 12 lbs!  But the biggest change in her is that she knows us now.  We are her family, and she is our daughter.  There is a beautiful bond that we share that took time to develop.  Today I spent some time just basking in the joy of being bonded with her.  She snuggled up to me and we had some fun together while Kieran and Daddy were busy.  Tonight she called for me from her crib when she didn't feel well.  A year ago, she didn't know who I was.  What an honor and delight to be her Mommy.  Marisa is a spunky, funny, creative, smart, independent, happy, and content little girl.  Mike, Kieran and I absolutely love her!

 Also, I wanted to give a quick "shout out" to the other four families that shared our Gotcha Day.  We can't think about meeting Marisa without thinking of the wonderful people that we were blessed to travel with.  We are thankful that we got to share that special time with them.  All of their daughters are thriving too and we love to look at their lovely little faces on our refrigerator.  Blessings to you on this happy anniversary.  :)

He knows the plans He has for you!

October 28, 2005 we began the process to adopt from China!

It's amazing to realize that five years has gone by since we applied to AWAA and began the process to adopt Marisa.  So much has happened since then.  Most notably, we went to Rwanda and adopted Kieran!  God knows the end from the beginning.  He put us on the path to China knowing that it would also lead to Rwanda.  One of our favorite verses is: " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you. plans to give you hope and a future.' " Jeremiah 29:11 There are always going to be things in this life that don't make sense.  Trust God that He will bring good out of the hard things.  Waiting five years was hard.  God has done a lot of character building in us during that time.  He's also blessed us with a son.  We are so grateful for God's timing and His blessings.  

October 2010.  Older and maybe a little wiser.   

While we wait

Nothing new to report about our China adoption.  Hopefully next week we'll begin to hear some news about when referrals are due to arrive.

Meanwhile, we are doing our best to keep busy.  I've climbed out of my funk, thankfully!  I'm sure prayers of friends and family have helped me immensely.   I'm doing a lot of mental processing right now, trying to wrap my brain around the concept of a daughter about to be added to our family.  Soon, we're going to have two children.  Wow! The days I have with just Kieran are getting fewer.  I'm treasuring the time and being able to give him my full attention.  I'm also realizing that life is easy right now with just one kid, and I'm grateful for this season of simplicity.  Funny, a month ago I didn't think having one child was easy.  Perspective changes things!  I'm also so excited to find out about our daughter.  We are imagining our daily routine with her in it.  It's bittersweet as I also realize that she's waiting for us, and needing the love that only a family can give her.  Memories of our trip to get Kieran are also rushing to the forefront of my mind.  In a few months, we are going to pack our bags and head out on a new journey to bring home our second child.  There's a lot to think about, and pray about.  I am very grateful to have God to lean on right now!

Enough with the deep thoughts, here's something fun.  Today Kieran and I made Kool-Aid playdough.  If you'd like the recipe, hop on over to my Mom Thoughts blog for all the details, and more cute pics of Kieran.

Kieran & Mommy having fun with the Kool-Aid playdough we made.

Progress update

Potty training.  It's tougher than I imagined!  I'm amazed that Mike and I still have hair on our heads.  We've done a lot of proverbial hair pulling these past two weeks, but also celebrated many milestones along the way.  Today is day fourteen.  Kieran is mostly potty trained and has been since day four!!  Awesome.  We've gone to church, taken walks, played in the pool, ran errands to various stores and the library,  jumped in bouncy houses, and gone to a neighborhood bbq all with great success.   (I am now familiar with the bathrooms in all of the places mentioned above.) Kieran does an excellent job of letting us know he needs to pee and he usually waits till we get to the bathroom.  However, pooh has been a major battle as he doesn't always want to go in the toilet.  Thus the figurative hair pulling.  On many occasions,  Kieran has cried and twice I even cried in frustration.  The main thing I've learned is to let it be, and allow him to take charge of his potty needs.  Keeping the potty chair where he can see Mommy, but also have some privacy, has been the ticket.   Also, a high fiber diet has been very helpful!  We're so proud of Kieran for transitioning out of diapers in such a short time span.  We're  also very thankful that we're getting this accomplished before Marisa comes home!  I wish everyone else who is working on potty training all the best!

My Car by Byron Barton, great reading material for any occasion!

China.  I think about Marisa every day.  Where is she?  How's she doing?  Who is taking care of her?  Are her needs being met?  What size will she be wearing?  How will Kieran respond to a baby sister?  What will her personality be like?  How will our family change once she's home?  How will parenting a girl be different from parenting a boy? {Have I annoyed my readers with this litany of questions?}  Finally, when will we be getting our referral??  I am starting to go through that "nesting" stage that I went through before Kieran's arrival.  I'm cleaning out closets.  I'm dreaming of how I want to decorate the nursery.   Last week Kieran and I went browsing for possible items to put on the walls in Marisa's room.  Nothing caught my eye as a fit for what I've got in mind, but I did see a quote that certainly applies to adoption, "Keep dreaming until your dreams come true."  Kieran is our dream come true for sure!  Having completed his adoption gives me hope and a healthy perspective as we wait for Marisa's adoption to be completed.  A calm excitement is the best way I can describe my feelings about getting closer to the end of the journey to Marisa.  (But, I'm also antsy to know when we'll actually be going to get her. )

Wish I knew who to credit for this clever "sonogram" of China.

  

Looking at the future

I took this picture to show how Kieran is starting to outgrow the stroller. (He'd rather be running down the path instead of being strapped in as a happy rider.) Once I uploaded this picture to our computer, I saw something even more precious...the future. It looks like we have two children, not just one. It appears that Mike is pushing a younger child in the stroller while Kieran runs on ahead. In my heart, we do have two children. Our daughter has been growing in our hearts for so many years but, I didn't know how to blog about it, until I saw this photograph. We've been in the process of adopting from China since 2005; it's been a long, slow journey. For the record, God put the dream of adopting a son from Africa in our hearts around the time we began our China adoption. We didn't know that Kieran would end up coming home before his baby sister, but sometimes life's delays are God's way of bringing about miracles. If you are experiencing an unexpected (and agonizing) wait for something you've been praying for, take heart because God brings good things out of the waiting.

So, the news is out, Kieran has a baby sister, we just don't know who she is or when we will finally get to meet her. Optimistically, we'd like to think we'll get a referral around October this year, but realistically it's looking more like February 2011. God knows, and my heart is at rest with the timeframe. (That is a huge attitude change from where I used to be!) Even though we don't know when we'll meet her, we talk about our daughter often. I'm excited for Kieran to be a big brother and to have a playmate! Although he doesn't understand it, he knows that his sister is in China. When you think of us, will you please pray for our daughter, Marisa? We love her already and long to bring her home.