The difference a year makes...

Amelia chose to be Minnie Mouse again this year for our church's Harvest Festival. The first photo was taken last year. The second one was taken this year. It's pretty neat to look back over a year, and see not only how much she has grown physically (look at the difference on the length of that dress!), but how much she has progressed emotionally. She is a smart, funny, beautiful, vivacious little girl, and I love her!

Amy

Pumpkin Patch time

We don't have real pumpkin patches where we live, so we just happily traipse through the man-made ones! Enjoy the photos.

I got TAGGED

My fellow China-single mom blogger friend, Debby, tagged me. I have never been tagged. Ok, I don't know how to add those cool pictures of random things or links to other blogs, but I can attempt to come up with 7 random facts about myself.

OK..so 7 random facts about me.......

1. I have been to 5 of the 7 continents. I am lacking Antartica and Australia. I wanted to go to both before I turned 30, but when I turned 30, I began an adventure of a different kind. She's known as The Chunster. I think Antartica and Australia will have to wait.

2. I don't care for dogs. I know most people love them, but not me. I don't like to be licked or barked at or jumped on. I am a cat person. They are quiet. They are calm. They are regal. They know what they want, and it's not to please YOU. I love them. I think it's cool had God puts people together. Amelia has a serious dog phobia. Good thing she has a mom who thinks a life without a dog is a perfectly lovely thing.

3. Speaking of cats, I love them so much that when I was Africa, I asked my friend if I could pet a lion. She arranged it, and I have photos (but not digital!!!) of me wrestling with 2 large lions. It was so much FUN!!! But hint, hint...if you are allergic to a domestic housecat, you will break out into welps if you wrestle a lion. Here, kitty kitty.

4. I have a serious addition to Pringles Select Szechuan BBQ chips. I picked them up because they said Szechuan, and I really miss my Sichuan hot and spicy food. Now, I need the Pringles 1-800-HELP-ME-STOP number.

5. I love baths. I mean, I really, really, really love baths. Someone told me before I had Amelia that I would have to give up my lengthy bathtime when she arrived. Let me assure you, other things have fallen by the wayside, and my baths no longer exceed one hour, but I still get in my daily bath.

6. I am a lawyer, and I go to court almost every day, but I still get nervous when I stand up to talk to the judge. Will I ever get over that?

7. I look and sound just like my MOM. Our childhood/teenage photos are so similar that if weren't for the date-stamp of the clothing, you would not be able to tell us apart. We are both relieved that our gene pool is not being passed on. A Burch woman with normal sized thighs??? Yes, it will happen in Amelia.


I am going to tag:

Kim from Raising McGees (www.raisingmcgees.blogspot.com)

Becca from In Service of the King (www.paulandbecca.wordpress.com)

Tonni from Hope Has Returned (www.hopehasreturned.blogspot.com)

Barbara from On the Go with Guo (www.wwwgoguo.blogspot.com)

Shelley from Finishing our Family from China (www.finishingourfamilyfromchina.blogspot.com)

Hugs, friends!

Amy & Amelia

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMELIA AICHUN!!!

Today was Amelia AiChun's 4th birthday. We started the day with presents in our hotel room. Amelia chose to wear her Minnie Mouse dress to celebrate the day. The waitstaff at the hotel breakfast came out with cheesecake and a candle for the big morning.




Next, we took the ferry to The Magic Kingdom. We enjoyed seeing the castle, riding the carousel, doing It's a Small World, and lingering around the park.





Amelia loved the "Dreams Come True" afternoon parade. Each time a new character appeared, she would turn around and say, "MOM!!! It's (fill in the blank)!!!" I have to admit to getting very weepy as I stood behind her and listened to the song about dreams coming true and seeing her squeal with delight. It's so hard to imagine that 4 years ago, she was born without much hope of a future. I wonder what her birthfamily thought those first 5 days as they held her close. Did they dream this moment for her? Amelia is SO much more than I could have ever dared to ask for, dream for, hope for or imagine - and yet, here she is, my daughter. I prayed for the family that did not keep her and thanked the LORD that He brought her to me.




The next big adventure was the Minnie character dinner. We arrived a little early and were thrilled when the Disney host bestowed a "Magical Moment" on Amelia. Amelia got to go to the back and meet the characters privately and visit with them and then have her photo made with all of them. What a treat!!! Then, the characters accompanied Amelia to the top of the restaurant, where she rang the dinner bell to welcome the diners to dinner. We had a great meal and a chocolate cake.






We decided we were too tired to stay for fireworks, so we headed back to the hotel just before dusk. Amelia cracked us up by pulling her own "Titanic" moment on the ferry boat. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.



My daughter is my greatest gift, a treasure from the Lord. I thank Him every day that I get the honor and delight of being her mother. My heart is so full because of the joy she has brought. Happy Birthday, my little Chun-bug!

A Day with New and Old Friends

Today was a day of visiting new and old friends in Florida. Amelia has been asking me for months to take her to the beach. I always tell her that we live too far away. Every day, she would pretend to go to the beach. She would tell me what she would do at the beach (build a sandcastle, pick up shells, see a whale, etc.) A couple of weeks ago, she kindly suggested that if I didn't know where the beach was, we could ask Papa, and he would take her. I can take a hint! So, while in Florida, we made plans to visit the beach. We were lucky enough to get to meet some new friends there. One of the moms on my chat group for single moms with kids from China brought her two girls to the beach to meet us. Amelia enjoyed meeting and playing with her new friends, and it was fun to finally meet in person someone whose story I have followed for some time. We had a great time together.




After the beach, we headed back to Orlando, where we had dinner with 2 other families who used my same adoption agency to bring their children home. One was another single mom who has 4 - yes, FOUR - beautiful daughters from China. The other family was one that I was supposed to travel with to China, but we missed each other because of the delay with my TA. Anyway, they came to visit us in Texas about 6 months after we got home. Now it has been almost two years, so it was neatto see how much our kids have grown and how much more comfortable they are in their families now. All 3 families had a terrific time visiting about the joys and blessings of adoption. We especially enjoyed showing off our 6 great kids!

First Disney Day!

Today was our first day at Disney. We started at the Animal Kingdom. We loved The Festival of the Lion King show. I asked Amelia what her favorite ride was, and she said the tram in the parking lot. So glad to know we paid the park entrance fee when we could have just ridden the tram around all day. She was so tired, she fell asleep in the car on the way to dinner and didn't stir a bit when I lifted her out of her carseat. I rarely get to hold my sleeping girl - even when she was tiny, she would always wake up if I tried to hold her. She would only sleep if left alone, so this was a treat for the Mama! After dinner, we headed for EPCOT, where rain delayed our park enjoyment. The last thing we did was stop by the China pavilion, where a sweet young lady greeted Amelia so graciously, and wrote "Happy Birthday Ai Chun" in Chinese on her mask. All in all, a long but good day.

Chunie as Strawberry Shortcake

We celebrated The Chunster's birthday a little early with a Strawberry Shortcake party at the park. Before the party, Mom and Amelia (both in our SS costumes, of course!) stopped for some dogs at The Weinerschnitzel. We then went out to the park where the strong West Texas winds were surely sweeping down the plains. She had a great time and oooohed and aaaahed over every gift. It was so cute! Her favorite gift was this mermaid barbie thing that she has asked me for every time we have entered WalMart since July. When she opened it, she kept saying "I was wanting this!!! Mommy, you got me this, and I was wanting it!!!" Yes dear, you have only told me that 12,000 times. I try to oblige when possible.

Keep your eye on the blog - - our next posts will be from FLORIDA! We will be celebrating The Chunster's real birthday from the House of the Mouse. Chunie will also get her long-awaited and much wanted trip to the BEACH! She has a long list of all the things she wants to do at the beach, although I already warned her that the closest thing to a whale she will see is her Mama sunning herself on the sand.

Hugs,
Amy