05/23/2010 Five years ago today . . .

Five years ago today I went to work in the morning, as usual, expecting just an ordinary day. My phone rang. I picked up the phone and it was Christa at A Helping Hand adoption agency and she said, "Vonda, I am looking at a picture of your beautiful daughter." My heart started pounding. My mind started racing. Where was the list of questions I was supposed to ask? Her age. Her name. Her province. It all seemed so irrelevant then. I had a daughter. She was in China. Her name was Gong SuMan. She was 7 months old. She apparently loved to smile. My last question before I hung up the phone so I could leave and go strait to the agency was, "well, one more thing . . . Are you sure she is a girl?" Christa laughed at me. If she really knew me. My whole life all I wanted was a baby girl from the time I could hold a baby doll.

I met John. We headed for Lexington to get her referral information and see her picture. When we got there, we were speechless! Ohhh, she was beautiful. I never dreamed in my life that my sweet angel would be brought to me through the miracle of adoption and she was at that time in China waiting for us to come get her. What an amazing journey we began! Here is what we saw when we arrived at the agency in Lexington:




Just three pictures! That is it. My daughter - bundled up in clothing so thick she obviously could not move. I fell in love!

Here is a picture of John and me on referral day holding our referral of Lacie next to the map of China and next to her province.


Our life has never been the same since. We have been blessed tremendously by our beautiful daughter. Everyday with Lacie and Paul is a gift.

Here is our beautiful daughter now, graduating from PreK:


More about Lacie:
She is smart! She is already reading some and doing simple math. She LOVES letters. She loves doing word seek and finds. She loves to read books. Lacie also loves geography. One of her favorite pass-times is to look at our interactive globe and find new places that matter to her, including China, Korea, United States, Kentucky, Indiana (we have friends and family there), Florida (our pending vacation), Madagascar (one of her favorite movies), and many other places of interest.

Lacie's favorites:
Color - yellow
Foods: Milk, broccoli, mexican rice, fish, cream of wheat, candy, ice cream
Clothing: dresses and flip flops. Even skirts won't do.
Activities: swinging, riding bikes, swimming (although she is still afraid of the water, she loves it and loves her lessons), reading, writing, homework
Possessions: lipstick, dresses, head bands, bows, blankies

She is growing up so fast, right before my eyes.

05/17/2010 Reading to Lacie

It was Sunday and nap time in our home, and the kids wanted to read books. Paul decided he would read the books to Lacie and me. After one book, I ran to get my camera. Catch the end of this book, Paul ends with "Amen" instead of "the End."



In the following video clip watch how Lacie gets tickled with Paul. And then their reaction when Paul rips a page in the book.




Lacie's pre-K class had an art show today. There was a lot of very good and artistic work on the walls in Ms. Jennifer's class. They served muffins and juice/milk/coffee to the kids and parents. Afterward, Lacie and I had to leave for a kindergarten orientation at her new school. Lacie was terrified. While the parents attended a meeting, they asked if the kids would go to the library for story time AND to get a school tattoo. Lacie was terrified, but came back smiling. Then the kids got to go through the snack line and get some juice and a cookie. She was scared again but at the end of the day after I picked her up from Pre-K, she was so excited and talked about how wonderful her day was. It began with mommy visiting her school. She loves it when I spend time with her at her school. It literally makes her day. It does not take much to make a little 5 year old girl happy.

Yesterday I braided her hair. After braiding Lacie's hair, she went and looked in the mirror and then said, "Mommy, you made me look Chinese. Why did you do that?"
Surprised by her remark, I responded: Uh, well, I can't take credit for how beautiful you are Lacie! I love that you look Chinese. And I do. I love both of my kids and that they are Asian. Sometimes I forget they are Asian - in that I just see them as my beautiful children, but I love everything about them.

Tonight while Lacie was in her swimming lesson, Paul heard a noise on the level above us and said, "Daa Town? heurt my eeyor." What he said was, "what is that sound? It is hurting my ear." It took me forever to figure out "Daa town."

My boy is talking more every day and I understand him more every day. I love it that he has verbal communication skills now!

05/09/2010 Happy Mother's Day!

I am a very very blessed woman! I have the most wonderful children in the world! I would never have guessed 5 years ago that my life would be so full and so awesome. I mean, ok, I thought it might be, but really - God is amazing. He knew what He was doing when He closed my womb and filled my heart with my OWN children through adoption.

On this day I also want to recognize and remember that my children have birthmothers and they have a foster mother and an Ayi (nanny) who loved them and cared for them before we were brought together. On this mothers day I will pray for the mothers who came before me, and actually provided the lives of my children so that I could be their forever mommy.



Happy Mothers day to my special mom, John's mom, our step-mothers, and all the women who at some time along the way or our lives, have loved us and/or mentored us.

Happy mother's day to all kinds of moms: bio, adopted, foster, aunts, grandmother's, and friends. Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother!