Life is Good!

We had a great school vacation week that ended with a visit to the zoo and to the beach. We have had 4 straight days of beautiful weather and spent a lot of time outside. Everyday Lily is introduced to a new experience and handles them all so well. Lily is just so adaptable and there is nothing better then seeing new things through her eyes. Everything is magical and wonderful. Being at the beach on Sunday was crazy and emotional. Crazy becasue we have never sat on a beach in 80 degree temperatures in Mass. in the month of April! Emotional becasue seeing my three children together on the beach has only been a dream for the past 3 summers. Finally the picture was complete. Lily took it all in and then sat down and acted like she had been shoveling sand her whole life! I just sat in awe as I looked at my daugher on the beach..she was a natural! Pat and I both were very emotional seeing our "family" together where it all started...Minot Beach, the place of our engagement!

Lily roaring at the lions with her Nana Judy

6 Months Together!

It was 6 months ago today that Lily was placed into our arms. In so many ways it feels like forever ago that we were in China. Our family of five is into a nice routine but there are still so many first with Lily remind us daily that Lily is truly a newbie to our family. Today she went to her first Boston Marathon and later this week she will have her first trip to the zoo! Everytime we celebrate a holiday I feel so blessed to have all 3 of my babies with me and this past Easter was no different. Lily is quickly becoming a toddler in every way. Her walking is turning into running, she is testing the limits and learning what "no" really means and she is becoming a pickier eater. Lily is keeping us on our toes! We all love to hear her laugh..such a beautful sound, her speech is starting to pick up and each day we hear a new word. Some of Lily's favorite things to do are to be outside or to grab a book and plop down in the middle of our lap and have it read. When I want her to go with me somewhere in the house I will put my hand down and she will hold it and follow along. She is my little shadow.

I refelected on the wait tonight when I was giving Lily her bedtime bottle. I had such a hard time with the wait..I am not a good waiter for anything. Even with all the frustratiuon, sadness and anger that I felt during the wait I would not change it. The wait made me the person I am today and taught me so much but most importantly I have my Lily Mei-Chun from Jiangxi Province that was truly destined to be our daughter and sister. I find myself appreciating all the small things that I think I may have missed when the boys were this age and I think I am a better mother to all 3 of my kids becasue of the lessons I learned through the wait. Although I can't wait to see what the next 6 months will bring us I am content in just enjoying Lily and the boys the way they are right now!

6 Months Ago 10/20/08 and then today

Its been a long time since my last post. My excuse is I picked up a part time consulting job and although its only 8 hours a week I can't seem to get anything done! I am also taking a class on Thursday nights that is a lot of reading! During the past few weeks I was able to get Lily's Easter pics done; and yes its just Lily. I did not include the boys because Lily is changing so quickly and I have portraits of the boys as babies every 3 months and want the same for Lily. They came out very cute.