My baby, then and now!

Here's two photos of DD1. The first was 14 years ago in the hospital the day after she was born, and the second is her school picture from this fall. She was cute back in 1993, but is beautiful both inside and out in 2007!

Happy 14th Birdthday DD1!

14 years ago today at 11:03 a.m., I was lying in a hosptial bed in northern Virginia with DH beside me after having pushed for 2 1/2 hours when the OB said that he was going to prep me for a c-section. So they halled me out of the nice comfy birthing room to a sterile operating room and had me lie on a narrow cold table. The OB pulled out these looong forceps and told me to push one more time. I pushed like a mad-woman being deathly afraid of having to deliver by c-section. The OB pulled out a bloody, white-pasty covered baby with a tiny little scratch by her eye where the forceps had nicked her skin. I remember touching her hand as the nurse held her up for me to see, and DH crying saying she was amazing.

The next thing I remember is crying out to the OB because whatever was happening "down there" hurt so badly. They whisked my baby away, and gave me something to knock me out. After that I woke up in the recovery room with DH and DD1 beside me. DD1 was sleeping in her bassinet, and I remember the first words out of my mouth were "Is she cute?"

I slept for another couple of hours before being moved back to a room in the maternity ward, and that was how my sweet little DD1 came into this world. There's lots more to this story about the day DD1 was born that is both funny and painful to remember, but the most blessed result of that day was that DD1 joined our family. Now 14 years later, we are still blessed to have her as our daughter!

I'll post photos of her then and today a little later, but for now, I just want to relish in the fact that this amazing daughter of mine is the one I have to thank for allowing me to say "I am a mother", which is something I wanted more than anything in the whole wide world! Thank you DD1, and happy 14th birthday!

Love is Grand!

No photos today, but I just had to write about something I saw as I was coming into work this morning that really touched my heart. As I was going about my morning routine of getting out of the car after a 45 minutes commute, locking the door and heading up to the office building, I saw a man standing at the curb on one side of his car with a woman walking towards him. They were probably about 25 feet apart. The man was short, in his mid-forties, wearing jeans and a gray sweater. He was not attractive really, but not disgusting either. I guess I would have to say he was nothing special, with the exception that he was standing with a single rose in his hand facing the woman. The woman was also short and in her mid-forties. She had short dark hair, streaked with gray, wore glasses, and well...very overweight. I doubt that anyone would say she was attractive by today's standards. The woman did have a smile on her face that got bigger as she approached the man.

When she reached the man, he said something to her, handed her the rose, and reached out to hug and kiss her. She responded by taking the rose and kissing the man back. It was a very tender and sweet moment to watch. And the funny thing about it was that this was all happening out in public view of everyone walking into the building, which at the time was about 10 people that could see what was going on. Neither one of them seemed to care, as they were both caught up in that moment on the sidewalk.

I have no idea why this man was giving this woman a rose, and no idea if they were husband and wife, lovers or friends, but I was truly touched by the scene. I'm sure that this woman feels loved today!

Witnessing this act of love reminded me of how a simple thing like this can make someone in your life feel special just for that moment, for that day or maybe even for a lifetime!

I may not go out and surprise my hubbie with a single rose today, but believe me I will show him in some special small visible way how much I love him. I hope everyone that reads this does too for the special person(s) in their lives!

Happy 1st Birthday Gracie!

Gracie turned 1 yesterday! We celebrated by having a small family party for her at my dad's house on Sunday. My sister, her daughter, her grandson and granddaughter were there, as well as my brother, sister-in-law, their 2 daugthers and one son. Of course, we were all there with my dad too.

We started the party by having a barbecue. My dad said that it had been a long time since he'd had that many people in the house at one time. I know he's thinking about when my mom was alive. It's so sad to think that she never got meet Grace, but you know, I know that they will meet again and that she'll know Grace immediately as her granddaughter.

Anyway, after trying to eat outside, most everyone came back inside because of the bees being pests. We then sang Happy Birthday to Grace, she opened her presents and then we had cake and ice cream. I had a lady at work bake a ladybug cake for Gracie. I asked her to bake a small cake just for Gracie to dig into, so she made one and put it on top of the bigger cake. It was too cute!

It didn't take Grace long to figure out what to do with her little ladybug cake. She dug right in. I had DH strip her down to her diaper so there wouldn't be a problem with her getting icing all over her clothes, so no worries there.

Yesterday was her actual birthday, and as I reflected on her turning one I am so grateful to her birth family for giving her a chance at a better life. They probably did not know where she would end up, but we are still so thankful that they chose life for her. I pray that they know that she is loved, healthy and well taken care of!

 

Photos of Gracie in the Nanchuan Orphanage

After we got our referral for Grace, we sent a care package to her orphanage through a great organization called "Blessed Kids". It is run by a Chinese American woman that lives in the US. She will pack and ship care packages to Chinese orphanages with a letter indicating that the person is very happy to get a referral for their child, and other things related to adopting a child from China.

In our Blessed Kids care package I sent a stuffed panda, two disposable cameras, two packages of candy for the orphanage workers, and a letter stating that I'd really appreciate it if the workers got the candy, Grace got the panda bear, and that the cameras were used to take photos of the orphanage and Grace's caretakers and playmates. When we got Grace, we got back the cameras. Her nanny told us that she was not able to bring back the panda bear because of being so busy. I can imagine that this was the case, so we were very grateful to have the cameras with photos from the orphanage back. These are priceless to us, and I know will be to Grace someday too as they are one of the few direct connections she'll have of her life in China before being adopted.

Here are some of the photos. Just in case you can't tell, Grace is in the black and white outfit with the light blue sandals.

 

Sleepy Baby!

I snapped this picture while Gracie was sitting at the table eating a bitter biscuit. She was happily enjoying it, when she got so tired, she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer! It was too cute!!!

Many Firsts already and many more to come

Yesterday, without fanfare, Gracie turned 11 months old. It's strange to think that our little baby that we just added to our family will be a year old in less than a month. She's still a baby, but with turning a year old, it seems like she won't be a baby very long. Of course, I knew this would be the case, but I guess I didn't realize how I'd feel like it's going way too fast! It's like bringing home your newborn baby one day and in two months having her turn a year old!!

There are many first that we missed with Gracie, not having her with us for the first 10 months of her life, but at the same time she's on the cusp on having many new firsts being part of the family. She's about ready to have her first tooth pop in, she's about ready to crawl, and she's about ready to start pulling herself up. These things will all probably happen before her first birthday.

There are also some firsts that she's already experienced with us. She moved from taking a bottle exclusively in China to eating solid food. First she was eating stage 1 foods, then moved to stage 2 within about a weeks time, and now is eating from the table (although not alot because she doesn't have any teeth to chew anything). She had her first ride in a car while in China, her first plane ride in China, and her first ride in a carseat on the way home from the airport (although if she could talk today, she'd probably tell you she could do without this last first). Oh, and of course, the biggie first of having a forever mommy, daddy, and two big sisters that don't look anything like her, and don't talk anything like people she was used to being around at the orphanage.

Next month she'll have her very first birthday party, and then a couple of months after that she'll experience her first Thansgiving and her first Christmas. So in just a few months time, this wonderful little girl, has had and will have so many changes and so many firsts. It must be overwhelming for her. Sometimes I wish I could get inside her head and see/hear what she's thinking, but since I can't I only pray that she's feeling loved and safe in her family!

Happy 11 months old Gracie! I love you!!!