One Year Ago Today

It's really hard to believe that one year ago today at this very moment we were getting ready to go into the Bethany Christian Services, our adoption agency to see a picture of our daughter's face for the first time. Here it is a year later on this same date.... and my beautiful little daughter came over and crawled in my bed to say good morning. Truly amazing! In many ways it feels as if she has always been a part of our family, when it's only been 9 months. We have so much to be thankful!

Zhu Zhen Quan

Alissa's referral picture

Some pictures I took this weekend in

our backyard

Alissa continues to amaze us with her ability to adapt and learn our language. She uses only a few Chinese words anymore. Sometimes I think it's because we will use the Chinese words. It makes me sad to think that is just another part of her life that she is losing. Who knows, some day maybe she will want to learn Mandarin. Alissa can write her name and my name (Mommy). She can spell her name out loud. She sings her ABCs and counts to 15. She is recognizing some of her letters as well as numbers. I have to remind myself she is still 3. She has this drive to learn that amazes us. I had to laugh the other day... we drove through a park and there were a whole bunch of outside potties for July 4th and Alissa says..."Those are nasty potties". She had us all laughing at that.

Some of Alissa's favorite things to do... play outside, swing, ride her scooter, ride her bike, pick on her brother (and love on him too!), play with her friends, play with her cousins, she loves playdoh, paint with water, and playing in her little kitchen. She is quite the little social butterfly.

We have so much to be thankful for in our family! God's timing was perfect! So worth the wait! We love you Alissa!