Getting Bigger!

Wow, I can't believe it's April already! Time has gone by so fast!! Sophia is getting bigger each day that passes. Her speech is getting better too! She has a huge list of words and is able to communicate more and more with us. Just today I asked her where her puzzle piece was, she walked around looking for it, put her hands up and said I don't know!

She's a very loving and sensitive little girl. She gives lots of hugs and kisses, of course we relish them!!!!!

Her favorite things are dancing to music, reading books, puppies, her panda bear, SHOES, stickers, balloons, snack cupboard (learned to open), monkey's and going bye bye!!! She's so much fun! We love her laughter and love of life! Enjoy the new photos! :0)

First Family Christmas

What a wonderful feeling it was to have Sophia with us this Christmas!!! She was so much fun to watch! It took her awhile to figure out the gift thing, but after a few she got it! She signed please for each gift to be opened.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas afternoon with Paul's family in Portland. She loved running around with her cousins and having free access to the cracker bowl!!!

Her favorite holiday item is the Mickey's Clock Shop and Singing Santa. Both are musical and must be played at the same time! Our home is very much alive with the sound of music!!!

Even though there were gifts under the tree, the greatest gift of all was Sophia! She has brought us so much joy! Her smile captivates our hearts, her giggle warms our soul. She's the BEST!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you God for blessing us!

5 YEARS AGO..............

We decided to adopt....We celebrated at Applebees! Crazy enough, that's where it all began, at Applebees!!! We were eating dinner and noticed some friends, whom we haven't seen for quite some time. They had a beautiful little Chinese girl with them. They shared their adoption story with us, as we drove home that night we talked about adopting a little one too. The next day at church we met with our pastors and prayed over our decision. We didn't want to jump into it without covering it in prayer and knowing it was HIS will and not just our selfishness. We felt God leading us.....several years later and MANY bumps in the road, here we are! Every year for the past 5 years we've gone to Applebees to celebrate our decision to adopt. This time we have Sophia! It was a very special night full of many wonderful blessings!!!

Beaver Believer!!!

Sophia wore her OSU jammies for the big Civil War game! She's a true Beaver Believer!!! GO OSU, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!!!

First Christmas Tree

Last weekend we set up the tree and decorated the house while Sophia was taking her nap. We rushed around making it festive, anticipating the joyous reaction she will have when she first sees it, even video taping her waking up and telling her that she has a surprise in the other room. She waddled into the living room and walked right past the tree! We redirected her and showed her the tree, ooh'ing and aah'ing the whole time. Should've seen us, it was hilarious! Once again, she walked past. She did manage to make her way to a lonesome reindeer sitting by the fireplace. She picked him up and carried him around, later on finding a Santa, she carried him along as well and called him baby. She put Santa Baby in her stroller, drove him here and there. Later in the evening she did managed to notice the tree. She touched a few ornaments, but that was it. She loves to go near the tree, but doesn't bother the ornaments. Wow! We were planning on moving the ornaments, but guess we don't have to. :0) In the next week or so we will be visiting Santa at the mall, pictures will follow.

First Family Thanksgiving

We experienced our first Thanksgiving with Sophia this year! We enjoyed giving her the traditional cinnamon rolls and watching her dance to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We spent the day with Paul's relatives in Portland. She loved running around the house with her cousins. She was excited about the turkey and all the trimmings, also feeding herself like a big girl. We had a tired little one on the way home, she crashed!
Most of all, we're very thankful to the Lord for giving us such a sweet and wonderful little girl.

First Halloweeen!

Sophia enjoyed celebrating her first Halloween. She wasn't quite sure about all the costumes and walking around with a bucket, but she had fun. She was funny because numerous times she tried walking into the homes of those passing out the candy, she also grabbed hand fulls of treats. She crashed hard on the way home. It was fun to watch her and we're looking forward to many more with her.