FL cutest baby photo contest

Ok so here's the deal: On/After Feb 1st you can help raise money for breast cancer research and at the same time help Jade win some prizes :>))) Go to www.cutestbabyfl.com and then to the voting section. You will see Jade in her purple Valentine's LOVE shirt. You can vote as much/often as you wish and it is only $7 a vote. The one with the most votes wins, simple!!! It's also for a great cause, I'm sure we all know someone who has been affected by breast cancer. Thankyou!

Referral Anniversary

If your reading this, your going to get tired of hearing about the Anniversary Celebrations coming up! In the adoption community we are celebrating today because it was a year ago that we were all glued to our computer chairs and jumped if the phone rang thinking it was our agency. Mike came home from work at noon, the boys were lingering around, My Mom was here and my sister in law Danielle with Jacob in tow. Our friends Charleen and her daughters were here, bringing a beautiful bouquet of flowers to celebrate. Friends popped in and out hoping to get a peek of the eagerly awaited baby girl. At 5:30 'the call' came with the news that Qian Xue Han in Qianjiang Orpahange awaited her family. We were told of her birthday of May 28, 2005...smack dab in the middle of all her brothers birthdays :>) and that she was found in old cotton clothing at the gate of a cultural park at 3 days old. Shortly after we were sent these beautiful pictures and life began taking on the excitement of our travel to China and our daughter's journey home with us. Looking at this little ray of sunshine now, its hard to imagine that her life started out any way other than perfect. But its the way that led her to us and us to her.

Orphanage Sisters

Today was alot of fun! We met 2 of Jade's Orphanage sisters and their families that we traveled with in China. Keira now lives in Maryland and Anna lives in St. Pete. We met at Myakka state park and spent the afternoon letting the girls play! I like to think they knew each other but its hard to tell. In June our entire travel group and the babes will get together so we cant wait for that!

2007 WOW

Happy New Year! Jade is starting to talk and can say Mama, Dada, Ryan, Luke, Willi, Max, more, hi, peeeshhh(please, and oh so cute) and thankyou, says NOOOOOOOOOO and uhhuh for yes. She gets into everything!!! I love this age but I'm exhausted :>) You can see in the one pic how long her hair is and still has some curl which I WILL NOT cut anytime soon! I'm having a ball with hairbows and even bought a book on how to braid..heehee...yes I know I'm a silly Mama!

Christmas 2006

Merry Christmas to you all! We had a great day and are so thankful for a healthy, sweet and complete family! Jade was a bit under the weather with a sinus thing going on but she enjoyed ripping her gifts open, playing with her brothers toys and taunting Max with her candy. She dawdled a bit, ate a bite or two and napped a few hours then resumed her unwrapping and finished up about 4:00 today! I was saddened for a moment thinking about her last year and how badly we wanted to have her by Christmas day. Please pray for those children who dont have homes and are waiting to be adopted or are left behind for good. I cant imagine our lives without our little Angel!

Jade and Max kissing

EPCOT 12/2

Mike's Christmas party was at EPCOT this year so we went this past weekend and had a great time! It was beautiful all decorated and the weather wasnt too cold or hot. Jade had a great time and brothers had fun showing her the sights! Here are some of the latest pictures.

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween to everyone! Here's some pics of our family...Jadeybug did great and carried her 'purse' around for candy. She is now steadily walking and getting faster!!! Ryan didnt dress up (too uncool), Luke was a rocker dude and Will was a Star Wars stormtrooper. Our neighborhood goes all out and it was alot of fun!!!!!

Sweet girl

Jade loves purses, bears and anything soft! She takes steps but only when SHE wants to. She is still quite wobbly but is getting the hang of it and will clap for herself.

Chinese Moon Festival

We went to the Tampa Bay Families with Chinese Children Moon festival celebration tonight, whew try saying that fast! We met some new families and got to see our "Mrkall friends' that we travelled with. The kids had fun at the playground and Jade enjoyed the cookies! They are special to us because Jade and Micah are Orphanage Sisters. Here are some pictures of our families together.

Happy Labor Day!

Hi everyone, we are all doing just fine here. Jade is recovering from another ear infection, this makes 4!! We are now contemplating tubes, eek! She is almost walking and can stand up from a squatting position. Here are a few recent pics of Jade standing, Will-Jade & Luke in the crib and my Mom's birthday picture with her grandchildren! Dont forget to leave your comments if you get a chance!

More beach

A few more with Ryan and Jade's Grandma Maggie and her Papa...also some on our 'pirate cruise' with friends!

The beach!

We spent a fun week at Madeira Beach with our crew! Ryan doesnt like the beach so he stayed inside and then went to his Grandma's for the rest of the week. Luke and Will loved the waves and building in the sand. Jade didnt want anything to do with the sand but loved the water! I have a picture of each of the boys on my wall all at the age of one and they are on the beach so of course I had a quest of getting one of Jade to add to the collection. Here are a few that I took :>)