Dora Dominos Anyone?

Watch out Nanny Darling, the defending Dora Dominos champ is ready for a challenge! Today was her first day to actually play by “the rules.” Previously, the dominos were used mostly for lining up and watching them domino, but today, we got serious…well sort of.

Just-A-Swingin'

It was a great day for having fun at the park! The girls really loved the swings. As you can see, some enjoyed twirling around and around and around. Another enjoyed the challenge of swinging as high as possible, while one little sweetie just enjoyed relaxing in the nice fall weather. We had a great time, but we missed you Spicy Girl.

KIDFEST 2006

Desheng Darling really enjoyed spending time with her good friends, Panda Girl and Spicey Girl, at the annual Kidfest presented by one of our local churches. She played games, got candy, jumped uncontrollably in the Alligator Bounce House, and rode the same carnival rides that we would have never let her ride if they had been set up in a grocery store parking lot...go figure. What’s the old saying, “Location is everything?” Actually, the ones she rode were harmless, I think.
For the night, she traded her princess attire for her favorite Dora overalls—cute and practical! There’s just something about Alligator Bounce Houses and wild elephant carnival rides that don’t go too well with a floor length princess dress and high heels. I have no doubt that she will become a princess again on Tuesday night at our church Fallfest event, if not sooner.

TWO OF A KIND...

DD talked Daddy Darling into playing Candy Land with her this morning. Since this was Daddy D’s first time to play, I think DD just made up the rules as she went along (something Daddy D does on a regular basis). It looks like he may have met his match. There’s just something mischievous about the look in her eyes! Oh, and notice her matching mustache….white donuts for breakfast!

Just a note: She didn’t actually sleep in the crown, but she wasted no time finding it and putting it on this morning.

The Queen Has Spoken

Desheng Darling’s imagination has been very active lately. Yesterday she dressed herself as a queen with her favorite crown, favorite scepter, and yes…her royal robe, creatively fastened with a hair clip. The robe (also known as her favorite blanket) was carefully chosen. I am so glad that Nanny Darling’s friend gave her this handmade blanket. It has allowed DD to be everything from a super hero to an elegant queen, not to mention the many hours of comfort she has enjoyed just snuggling with it.

Normally, Desheng Darling is very helpful, but yesterday when I asked if she wanted to help me wash the dishes, she informed me that queens didn’t do dishes…..hmmm….She may be taking this royalty issue a little too far.

Oh well, she’s still our little princess and we love her dearly, but dishes will be done during her reign.

Who Needs Superman? I've Got Daddy!

Desheng Darling has really become a Daddy’s Girl. She begs him to stay at home instead of going to work. It sure makes it hard for him to leave. Once he is gone, she begins to make plans about what they will do when he gets home. Today she was pretending to be a queen with a magic royal scepter. She kept waving her magic wand pretending to turn me into Daddy Darling (of all things.) I was really glad when he got home!

Gotcha Day Fun

For Gotcha Day we took Desheng Darling to a mall. She had a blast! She had unlimited rides on the carousel, had Chinese food for lunch, shopped at the Disney store and the Build A Bear store. The thing that she enjoyed the most, however, was jumping over the white tiles on the mall floor and challenging Daddy Darling to do the same. Of course, he did, but the picture was too blurry to post.

Gotcha Day 2006

Gotcha Day is one of the most special days of the year for us. On this day in 2004 we held Desheng Darling in our arms for the first time. We celebrate this day every year with great thankfulness. We had no idea what a blessing DD would be. She has come a long way in 2 years. It’s hard to believe that when we first got her, she didn’t even know how to kiss. It breaks my heart when I think of all the little things in life she might have missed. Without hesitation, I can say that she’s not missing anything now (except for maybe a little discipline.)

Adoption is a wonderful thing! Unless you’ve experienced all of the expenses, paperwork, doctor visits, home study visits, fingerprinting experiences, visits to the notary public, secretary of state, and consulate’s offices, the eternal wait for the I-171H, and referral, along with the challenge of traveling internationally and returning on a 15 hour flight with a baby who cried for 14 of those hours….it’s hard to imagine everything we went through just to get her here. It ranks right up there with 9 months of pregnancy and 14 hours of labor! (Been there too.)

Most importantly God has shown me an important lesson through all of this:
Everything we went through to make DD a part of our family is minute in comparison to what He went through to adopt us into His.

Here are pictures of Gotcha Days 2004 and 2006. It's amazing what a little love will do. I wanted to post a picture from 2005 too, but I just couldn't get them lined up like I wanted. I'll get better at this!

Pumpkin Patch Pals

God works in amazing ways. When we adopted Desheng Darling (DD) we knew of only one family in our area who had adopted a daughter from China, and she was quite a bit older than DD. Within 3 months of returning from China, we had met 4 other families with daughters from China, and their ages were within a few months of each other. We immediately formed a weekly play group for our daughters and have added a few more (IA) families along the way. This group has been a tremendous blessing to us.

This week the girls enjoyed playing in a local pumpkin patch. They’ve got to be the cutest little pumpkins in the patch!

O.K. I DID IT!

For several months, I have contemplated creating a blog. Today I decided to go for it! What better way is there to share "day to day" happenings with our family and friends? So here goes!

Approximately 2 years ago we adopted our little Desheng Darling from China. I know many of our friends and family members thought we were absolutely crazy! I must confess that I sometimes questioned the idea myself. At the time of the adoption we had 2 wonderful children, well-established careers, a new home and life was good. What more could we want? Yet, when God places something on your heart you know what you must do... no matter how crazy it seems. I am soooo thankful that God didn't allow us to chicken out. He just kept tugging on my heart. Every time I prayed for direction in this matter, He gave it to me. Our lives have changed considerably during the last two years...What a blessing our Desheng Darling has been!