Moving to a New Location...

We have some family news that you can read at our NEW BLOG (Click here) to go to "Cupcakes and Hairbows"... If you want to continue following our family, bookmark this new blog!

"A" is for Ally

I mentioned in a previous post that ANY words or letters that Ally sees, she thinks they spell ALLY. She will say "A L L L L L Y ... Ally!" to ANY words! She has learned to spot a capital A and pick it out when she sees it. Well, just last week, she was out in our garage "helping" me do some work. She had a marker and I was letting her draw on a cardboard box. She, predictably, started saying "ALLY" and pointing. I looked, expecting to see her pointing to an A on the box. She was pointing to an A, but it was one that she drew herself! Since then, she has been an "A fanatic" and writes A's on EVERYTHING! This past Sunday, when we went to pick her up from SS, we noticed all of the kids' art work lined up outside the classroom. We looked down the line to see some scribbles and lines and "drawing", and there was Ally's paper - covered in A's! We just cracked up! She even "A'd" her tummy -- it's upside down, so she can read it!

Strawberries!

Can I just say how happy we are that Ally "visits" Miss Sheryl ("Mi Garal", as Ally says) each week. Today, she picked strawberries with Linzi! How fun is that? Sheryl got some great pics too. Ally has not been fond of eating much fruit, except the occasional bananna, since we got home from China. Today was not much different, but Miss Sheryl said she did take a few bites. She, of course, did eat all of the cool whip that was on the strawberries when they got back to the house!

Wrapping up 8th Grade

Sara was so excited on Saturday night. Her friend, Brittani, hosted a "formal dinner" party to celebrate finishing 8th grade (well, almost). All of the girls got dressed up, ate dinner, did a photo shoot, and ended the night with sweets and a movie. They were all so cute and dressed up! Sara had so much fun and had looked forward to the party for weeks!

That Sweet Little Face

It's been one year since we first saw the picture of the little girl that would become our Ally. On April 30 of last year, Hope posted a new waiting child list. We were hesitant to even look, but we did! When we got to #8 (little Rui Yun with a heart condition) on the list, there she was! With such tiny lips, porcelain skin, black hair, and big, serious eyes, there was our Ally! We had to wait another 2 L*O*N*G weeks to get the official call that we had been selected to be her family. Here is the little face we saw! Our prayers that night became very specific.




It was the first time we (and their parents) saw Frannie and Shelby and Danielle, too!

Enjoying Life!

This morning as we were getting ready, I told Ally, "I love you, Ally" and she replied "I wub you, Mamma". That is the first time she has tried to say that. Isn't that what this is all about? How fun!

Officially Official

We had our court day to re-adopt Ally here in the US. Don't worry, the adoption was not in jeopardy or unofficial. Sara and Lauren were daring each other to say, "I have the right to remain silent," if the judge asked them anything! It really seemed to be a technicality; and insurance policy, as our attorney put it. This will allow Ally to have a US birth certificate with our names on it; as opposed to the one written in Chinese. I can only imagine taking that to the school when she registers for Kindergarten in a few years! I should take it just for a laugh!

I'm bummed that "Biggest Loser" is over - Tuesday night was our only night of "planned" TV watching. We still have "Boston Legal", though!

Looking forward to a fun time tomorrow at 3rd Friday! I'm so glad to be affiliated with these groups - we have made so many friends that have adoption as a part of their lives. I'm glad to have these new friends that "get" what we are doing and will "lend an ear" when I need to talk!

More Catching Up

Linzi sharing her drink with Ally - they really do adore each other!

Ella Kate and Ally get ready to "bathe" their bears at Build-a-Bear.

Our girls romping in the rain.


Ally has just cracked us up lately - in addition to her shouting "unknown" everytime the phone rings, she has recently learned the phrase, "I don't know!" It comes out more like, "ah doe noh"! It is so funny. Anyway, here are a few more pics...

BYW, 9 months ago, we first met our little girl!