Pictures!!!! 9 months old!

The Pierce family just adopted their beautiful daughter Clara from the same orphanage our daughter is at! They came back with these wonderful pictures of our daughter! I feel so blessed to have gotten glimpses into her life before we get her. There is so much we are missing out on and I am so thankful to see her with these pictures at different times during her first year. Joy Pierce said that they showered lots of love and hugs on our little Yi and told her we would be there soon to get her. Joy said that she is very peaceful and sweet. Pierce family, from the very bottom of my heart THANK YOU!

We got a second update!

Today we got a second update on our daughter. This was more of a developmental update. I am so thankful for this update and only a little sad that we are missing out on so many firsts while waiting for our Travel Approval (TA) from China.

Xin Xiao Yi’s Updated Development Report

She has grown and developed quickly. When she was more than six months old, she started to sit by herself. She could crawl by slowly creeping on her tummy. Half a month later, she could crawl quickly, and she could reach out her hands to grab toys to play with. She could make “yi yi ya ya” sounds to “talk” to other children. When she heard her name called “Yi Yi,” she would immediately turn her head and smile. She learned how to make faces and clap her hands. At eight months old, she could stand on her own when holding on to the crib railing. She could also hold on to the railing to take a few wobbly steps. She cooperated by parting her legs when her diaper was changed and she could hold her own bottle to drink milk. When she was full, she would take the bottle out. When she was playing with her little friends, she would talk to herself with “da da da da” sounds. She could pick up a little towel from her bed. Now she can walk back and forth when holding on to the crib railing and can push the baby walker around. She can use her finger to push the switch on the music box. When it plays music, she will happily wave her hands and feet. When she sees the nanny who takes care of her, she will call out “Yi Yi, Yi Yi” (Nanny, Nanny) nonstop. She is lively and cute, and she is a very bright child.

A Treasure in the Chinese Medical Records!

For anyone else who is waiting... I was just trying to find the Pinyan version of our daughter's name and was flipping through her Chinese medical records that CCAI sent. I had never really looked at them before. They were paper-clipped to the English translation and I just never took the paperclip off. I had flipped through it, but never really LOOKED at it.

Well, today I was really looking at it and right there under where the paperclip had been was an extra picture of her! And this is the youngest one we have seen!

So, if anyone else is like me and never really looked at the chinese medical records that were in their referral packet... take another look. There might be a black & white picture in yours too. :)

Lisa's New Car

Well, this is one step closer! With the addition of a 3rd child and a 3rd car seat, Lisa's Pathfinder wasn't going to be big enough. So, today we bought a newer Honda Odyssey. I LOVE this Odyssey! It is awesome! It has dual power sliding doors (controlled by remote or interior buttons), a DVD player, leather, 3rd row seats that fold down into the floor, heated seats, a dual stereo that can play something different in the back than in the front and 6 cup holders in the front seat alone!

Now we just need the 3rd child! Come on Travel Approval! We are ready!!!

Quilt Blocks

This is the top of the quilt. I haven't gotten it "quilted" yet, but that is the easy part after all of this applique work on the top! Here are the links to to all the quilt blocks I have made for Jana's 100 wishes quilt. You can see each up close with these links below.

First Block made for Ellen Prest
Quilt block made for Amy Moore
Quilt block made for Emma Moore
Quilt block made for Brad Moore
Quilt block from Me (Mom).
Quilt block made for Nana
Quilt block made for Lisa Switzer
Quilt block made for Rachel Lang
Quilt block re-made for Aunt Ellen (redone)
Quilt block made for Pop
Quilt block made for Great Poppa
Quilt block made for Carissa Vaughn
Quilt block made for Eyre Family
Quilt block made for Susan
Qult block made for Peter & Kaela Donbavand
Quilt block made for Grant
Quilt block made for Whitlows
Quilt block made for Granny
Quilt block made for Dad
Quilt block made for Pixtons
Quilt block made for Amy R.
Quilt block made for Russel & Hannaha
Quilt block made for Pat Jones & Uruskys
Quilt block from Kaleb & Brayden
Quilt block made for Randalls
Quilt block made for Bea
Quilt Block from Uncles & Family
Quilt Block with a Chinese Theme
Quilt Block made for Tori
Quilt block made for Great Grandparents
Quilt block for Dippels & Dillewyn Families

These are all of them!!! I have added a link to this page in the column on the right under "links".

An Update on our Daughter!

We have been so blessed today to get an update on our daughter! These are dated and you can see they are from yesterday and the day before! Very recent!

09/07/2006 update

Medical/Development: She can sit alone since middle of June in this year. She is crawling and began at the end of June in this year. She began to eat biscuits, bread, cake, banana, apple recently.

Personality: Her personality is outgoing, active and smiles easily. She likes to get a bath and likes to play in the water.

General: She sleeps in a crib by herself. There are 8 kids in her room. She does not suck her fingers when sleeping. She sleeps well and through the night from 9:00 pm to next morning. She has two naps during the day time.

9/6/06 - Measurements
Age: 9 months
Weight: 9 kg (19 lbs!)
Head: 43 cm
Chest: 45 cm
Height: 69 cm (27 inches!!)
Feet: 11 cm
Teeth: 4!!!
Health Status: Healthy

Beautiful Flowers

We got these beautiful flowers from our friends, the Pixtons! Catherine, I am going to add the card to our daughter's 100 Wishes Book. Thank you so much! They have been so nice to look at and remind us of how real this is.... that we are about to be a family of 5!