Sunday Snapshot: Birthday Celebration

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of you who wished me a Happy 27th Birthday!

I received birthday wishes and blessings from friends all over the world and I felt so loved and special.

Thank you for helping to make my 27th birthday such a memorable one.

 This past Thursday was my actual birthday and was also the day that we celebrated our "March birthdays" in the foster home. 

Therefore, I got to share my special day with two precious kiddos as well as our Director's wife (her birthday was the day after mine)! 

So much more special when you get so share your birthday with others!

What did we do? 

We ate LOT'S of cake of course!

 And Chinese cakes are absolutely gorgeous as you can tell.

Very elaborate (like most things in China) and decorated with fruit. 

Southern China cakes are much better than northern China cakes in my opinion.

This little Sweetheart will celebrate her 1st birthday on the 23rd of this month. 

Since I will just miss it,we wanted to make sure we celebrated before I went home for a 2 month stay since well.... we all know she is near and dear to my heart. 

 What do you think? Do these boys like cake?!

 Little Man could not get enough!

Gem celebrated her 2nd birthday on the 11th. 

Such a sweet girl who will be such a blessing to a family one day!

 Sweetheart had enough partying for one day and went into hiding. 

Thank you again for the birthday blessings!

Looking forward to all that the Lord has in store for me in this upcoming year!

nihaoyall.com

Birthday Girl

Yesterday was Gem's 2nd birthday.

How is it that she is 2 years old already?! 

But it's true, she is.

Gem began attending morning preschool classes several months ago and she love it.

In the last few weeks she has really started picking up English and quickly.

 When one of our little ones celebrate a birthday, it always makes me a little sad.

I start thinking of their birth parents and the circumstances behind their abandonment.

Do Gem's birth parents have any idea that their little girl is not only alive but thriving?

 Do they have any idea that she is such a joy and a blessing to those around her and all over the world?

That she is smart, funny, and beautiful?

 These are questions that we will never have the answers too.

And it's a hard thing to grasp sometimes. 

So many unknowns.

So many missing pieces to her past.

 One things our kids DO know is how much they are loved.

As I listen to their giggles at this very moment in the other room,

they know.

They know that they are loved and wanted and cherished.

And I know they are going to be such a huge blessing to their forever families someday.

Happy 2nd Birthday sweet girl.
I am so blessed to play a part in your life.

If you haven't joined in on the fun yet, make sure you check out the China scarf give-a-way! Check out the link on the sidebar or visit here for more information.

Sunday Snapshot

On the move. 

That is the best way to describe my kiddos around here!

Take Sweetheart for example. 

Ever since she started crawling she is a "girl on the go!"

 Thankfully she still likes to cuddle with this mama!

 And then there is Miracle.

He began taking steps in the last two weeks and will be walking all around (and getting into everything!) before I know it!

 He is still perfectly content playing by himself (at least for now!).

 Gem and Little Man are becoming good friends. 

This is their favorite toys and would most likely rock on it for hours if we would let them (and we would except that they need to eat, go outside, go to preschool, take a bath, etc.). 

Wordless Wednesday

The Quilt

One of the blessings about the work that we do is being able to see first hand how God provides.

And not only how He provides our needs but our wants as well.

It is so cool to see donation after donation come in from people all over the world who love our kids.

A few weeks ago, we received this gorgeous quilt from someone in the states. 

Gem decided right away that it was hers and proceeded to plop herself down and try it out!

 Miracle also decided he wanted a turn but Gem quickly put a stop to that!

 "This really IS soft, I could lay here for hours..."

This quilt can now be found in Gem's crib.... guess we know who won that argument!

Blocks

Nothing warms your heart like watching a little one learn.

Watching them "figure it out" and how very proud of themselves they are.

This little Gem is one smart cookie.

It takes her no time to figure out how to do a puzzle or sort shapes.

No matter how many times she does this task (pretty much every day), she always has the most precious smile on her face when she is done.

It warms my heart greatly to see how confident she is in herself.

The Lord has big plans in store for this little one, that I am sure of!

Keep up the good work, little Gem! I am so proud of you!

Jie Jie

"Jie jie" means "big sister" in Chinese.

Gem is such a good big sister to all of our little ones.

Up until a few weeks ago, she was one of the little ones, but now that her "big siblings" have been adopted, she is one of the big kids now!

And she is doing an excellent job at it! She LOVES her little brothers and sisters.

She is patient and king (for the most part!) and loving towards them.

And they just love her!

Sweetheart has become quite a fan and it is adorable to see these two together. 

One of the most amazing things to watch is the bond between the foster brothers and sisters here. They really do love each other.

When one is adopted, the children miss them greatly.

They truly are a family.

Of course our goal for all of our children is to join their forever families as soon as possible.

But in the meantime, we will love them with everything we have.