referral anniversary - five years ago today

Every time I blink, time just seems to disappear.

Wow. It's been five years since the day we got the call. FIVE YEARS! How on earth did that happen? In another month I will have a 6 year old. SIX YEARS OLD! How on earth did that happen?

It is scary how life just seems to pass by all too quickly. Our little girl is turning out to be the most inquisitive and intelligent big girl. I'm so proud of her in so many ways.

You are one of the greatest gifts God ever gave me, Lilah Grace. But then again you know that. Just a couple of nights ago, in your bedtime prayer, you thanked God for Mama's greatest joys and blessings in life. You even told God them in the exact order I'd told you...

1) For saving Mama when she was 15 years old.
2) The day she married Baba.
3) For giving her precious Lilah.
4) For giving her precious Phebe.

For 5 years Lilah, I've thanked God for you every single day.

referral anniversary - four years ago today

I'll remember the moment for the rest of my life. The moment we got that incredible call and I saw my daughter, Lilah Grace Xiao Tong's face for the first time. "Cloud 9" were only words I'd heard and even said before - but I'd never really experienced them, not until this moment. I could hardly sleep, going over every little detail of her pictures, I would excitedly squeal every time I talked about her with friends. I had a perma grin for many many days!

It was an incredible day. What followed, the 9 months of waiting, it was a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions... but gosh, it was so worth it! Our beautiful girl, 4 years later, has brought us so much joy. Every day is a pleasure to spend with her. We feel blessed in an incredible way, to be a forever family.

I have to laugh, this past 2 years she been really tickled about her (very cute) sticky up hair! ...as I'm taking pictures or her, she's pointing at it and having a big old giggle about it! I just adore her joy and her sense of humor!

Our daughters are the most precious of our treasures, the dearest
possessions of our homes and the objects of our most watchful love.
~ Margaret E. Sangster

referral anniversary - three years ago today

3 years ago, we saw this perfect little face (with the sticky up hair!) for the first time.

We couldn't love her more.

You'll notice from the smaller photos below that she's laughing, that's because she thinks her sticky up hair is pretty hilarious! But then again, she thinks just about everything is pretty hilarious at the moment. She continiously makes me laugh and grin. Here's an example of her witty little personality: This morning when I asked her what dress she wanted to wear, she pulled one out of the wardrobe (actually, it's the one she's wearing in these pictures!) and said "Well, this one would be nice, but not really my colour!" - and then she fell into fits of laughing.

Thank you Lord for this beautiful child. The love I have for her constantly reminds me of the love You've shown, and continue to show toward me, Your child.

[ the flickr set is here ]

referral anniversary - two years ago today

It was one pretty amazing day and I'll never forget the joy and excitement we felt when we first heard we were to be parents to a baby girl. We knew her name, we knew which province she was from and we knew her birthday. Unfortunately we had to wait until the following day to see her, in pictures of course. She has changed our lives in a truly remarkable way.

We are so blessed.

Psalm 107:1 - Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good: His love endures forever.

[ more pictures here ]

referral anniversary - one year ago today

It's been one year since we got the call that changed our lives. One year since we saw, for the first time, our beautiful daughter. One year since we fell in love with a little baby girl we didn't even know. Now we do know you Lilah, and we've fallen in love with you oh so much more, our hearts are bursting with love for you. You are such a wonderful little girl, you've come through so much in the past year and we want you to know just how proud we are. We love you so very very much. You've made all our hopes and dreams come true.

Ephesians 5:20
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

[ a few more pictures here ]

our little guangdong girl

Our referral has arrived and we are absolutely elated!

Our little baby girl, Dong Xiao Tong was born May 29th, 2007 in Guangdong Province, China. According to the information provided, she likes to play with dolls and listen to music! We just think she is the most beautiful baby we've ever set eyes on!

We're so in love with her.

These pictures were taken November 2007; she would have been around 6 months old.