Sneak peek at Faith's birthday outfit!

Rainbow theme going  on here, isn't she the cutest thing you have every seen!!! 

~Chinese New Year~ PaRtY~ 2012

It's the YeaR of the DraGon and we are throwing a paRtY!  We are busy prepping to entertain and feed between 60-80 people...  I can't wait :)

Faith's 1st day of school

leaving for school!

perfection!

watching another student arriving.

My little girl is growing up!  I had such a hard time yesterday morning getting her ready for school. Enrolling her into pre-school was a huge emotional hurdle I had to overcome because I just loved every moment of having her home with me.  But she was soooo excited.  Fortunately she is in afternoon classes, so we had all morning long  to talk about school, about meeting new friends, and about her teacher Mrs. Peggy, which Faith calls Mrs. Piggy.  When we got out of the car to walk Faith to her class room she told me how she just loves her teacher Mrs. Piggy sooo much ( she hadn't met her yet.) After school was over Faith gave me the "down low" on how her first day went.  I  asked if she hit anybody and her answer was, " Just a little bit"  Well I guess that's better than a whole lot!  At least she wasn't in tears and is excited to go back today and I didn't get a phone call!  Plus isn't she just so beautiful!  I love taking  pictures of her. 

Pink Princess Party ~ The Decorations~

Faith wanted a pink princess cake,  we like to call her Faitherella.  Mama made this cake!

Photo opportunities for the mamarazzi!

Tea Party complete with heart sandwiches, lemon tea cookies, grapes, watermelon and chocolate.

Cinderella's Room

Belle's Room

The Rose

Tiana's Room

Belle, Tiana & Cinderella

The Princes arrive to dance with the girls!

One sweet prince  even came after breaking his nose fighting a dragon!
 ( really it was surgery.) 

Big brother Dallin gets to be a prince too!

Boating/Camping for Faith's 4th Birthday :)

Seesters!

Jensen and his friend Blake

Dallin and Hunter Fishing...Dallin Loves Fishing!!



Our little "Spicy Gymnist"

Faith is ready for a party!

New NEWS part 5 Faith

Faith aka the peanut, or SiSi.  It's been a year since our journey to China and she is doing so very well.  She has outgrown much of her clothing, and her health is fantastic.   The first 5 months home Faith was constantly on antibiodics for one infection or another, but since June we have not seen the doctor for illness.  Whoot!  She didn't qualify for early intervention pre school, and has enjoyed many vacations with her family. We have gone camping, rented a cabin  on a lake, and visited family in Utah.  We had her sealed to us in the Seattle temple in September and she loves temples.  On of her favorite books is about temples.   She will tell you how huge her family is.  With 3 gugu's and 1 jiejie and mama and a baba.  She loves taking baths and will pretend to cook noodles with her toys and the water.  She actually plays more kitchen in the bath than she does with her little kitchen...I think because there is real water to pour to her hearts desires.  She get rides on her brothers backs around the house, and also gets to play scary monster, where they all chase each other around the house.  If you were a fly on the wall in our house you would hear many I love you's from us to her and from her to us.  It is probably said at least 50 times a day.  Wo ai ni, is the Chinese version.

She has started to transition to her own bed by occasionally asking to sleep there on her own.  She will fall asleep without us in her bedroom and will usually sleep until about 5 am.  At 5 am you can hear her yell, ",Mama!  Where aur yu?"  Then I will call back and tell her, then a few moments later you can hear her little steps toward our room where she will climb into bed with us.  She sleeps until 7 am every morning.  Once up; she has to get out of bed...no cuddle time.  She is ready for her day!  We usually make hashybrowns for breakfast.  She is getting more independant.  She will say, "sisi do it by herself."  She has gone potty by herself, and is wanting to walk more instead of being held everywhere we go.  She is also into pushing shopping carts.  "By herself" is sometimes not easy on mama, because I am in a hurry.  But I am really enjoying these moments and try very hard to let her do things, "by herself." 

Once home from China we were required to have post placement adoptions studies by a qualified social worker.  Faith's first study at 6 months and her second at 1 year home.  We just finished her second post placement visit.  Our social worker told us that compared to other children she has seen from China, Faith is doing exceptionally  well.  We are now finished with all of the requirements from China for her adoption and have met all the Hague guidelines.  We have one final step that is not necessary but we have been told it will make life easier for Faith, and that is to readopt her in the USA.  This way she will get an American birth certificate.  We are told this is helpful for enrolling in school...etc.  So now we will look into hiring an attorney to complete that step of her adoption. 

Faith has been such a blessing and a joy in her first year home,  we are all looking forward to watching her continue to progress and grow.  She is so darn funny.  We are so grateful to be part of the bigger picture in this sometimes unkind world.  Faith will start preschool and gymnastics next week.  I am looking forward to seeing how she does with both of these new adventures, as she has been home with me 24/7 for the last year.