Xin Means Happy

Meet Xin

Xin (pronounced Shin) is her middle name.
Xin means happy, joyful.
Doesn't she look happy in this picture?

She is developing normally.
Weighs 17.6 lbs and is 27.56 inches tall which is in the 3rd percentile, so she's tiny. Even though she is almost 16 months old, she's probably about the size of a 10-12 month old. Actually I know 12 month olds that are bigger than she is.
She has a good appetite. Primary food is milk-based formula and rice-based formula. Supplemental foods: noodles, rice, eggs, cakes, fruit, crackers, meat cake soup (yummy!)...
Favorite food: steamed eggs
Favorite activity: sitting in little car
Favorite toy: cell phone
(can't you just picture her sitting in the little car talking on the cell phone?)
She's a moderate sleeper.
("we may not all sleep but we will all be changed... 1 Cor. 15:51)
She crawls on hands and knees, walks holding onto handrail or with one hand held, uses thumbs & index fingers to pick things up, imitates words, responds to others, cooperative when getting dressed, active, restless, fond of imitating, fond of music, plays with toys, fond of singing, talkative, has a ready smile, gets along with others, quick to react, fairly extroverted, obstinate sometimes, and impatient sometimes.

In other words... SHE'S PERFECT!!!

Oops...I almost forgot to say that we have been calling her Mei Mei (pron. may may) which means little sister. We are still considering naming her Kimberly Mei Ling (pron. May Ling)

Oh, and we may get her July or August. Pray!

(In hindsight I deleted some info for privacy reasons and to protect our agency.)

Camping with Friends

We had a great time camping at Henry Horton State Park
with friends this Memorial Day weekend.

The kids goofed around on the playground.

I got some sweet and silly pics of them both.

The next day the squirt wars began.

Then we played "sponge cup..."

...and made up some Survivor-type challenges for the kids.

Don't let your feet touch the ground.

Water flowed freely.

S'mores fueled the fun.

Found this cool vine to sit on while on a hike.

Discovered there were horses near the primitive camp sites.

Sweet times.

SCE Field Day 2010

Sounds Reading Club

Sounds Reading Club!
Cate read 40 books and earned a ticket to the Nashville Sounds AAA baseball game. There were lots of kids from middle TN and KY there to celebrate reading.

Notice the sign says Stewart's Creek Elementary

On parade around the field.

Ozzie

Loving this picture.

The Sounds played a good game.

I just thought this was sweet.

Sounds Win!

And they always have a great fireworks display.

Mother's Day 2010

We had a blast making Mother's Day gifts for the grandmothers.

I got some really sweet homemade gifts from the kids. Reed made me a "sea monkey" out of fusion beads and Cate made me a I "heart" You magnet. Reed made some artwork at school and Cate wrote a story. We went to church where we had 3 baptisms and several baby dedications. Then fish tacos at Blue Coast Burritos. It was a great day.

SKATES!

God sets the lonely in families...

As I was working on some adoption paperwork this morning and pondering our reasons for wanting to add to our family through adoption, I came across this passage in Psalm 68:

⁵ A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.

⁶ God sets the lonely in families...


The part, "God sets the lonely in families..." really hit home with me. It struck me that the "lonely" might not just refer to the child. I believe that God has already given us our daughter from China, even though we have not met her yet. My heart longs for her. My arms long to hold her. I know that without her in our lives we would be "lonely."