Where Does The Time Go?

It's been way too long since I last posted and so much has happened. March 6th marked six months since we first saw Libby in person. Sometimes it's hard to believe how much she's changed during that time. I don't feel like we knew her very well the first few months, but she's really blossomed these last few weeks. This little girl who seemed so shy when we first got her has become quite the social creature. She loves being around people and will talk anyone's ear off. She's been going to the nursery at church the last 4 weeks and enjoys that a lot. Whenever I pick her up someone always tells me how much she talked and enjoyed playing. She certainly talks a lot at home! I still don't understand a lot of what she's saying, but it gets easier everyday.

February 10th we celebrated Libby's 2nd birthday and her first birthday with our family. The party was slightly unusual because we had a photographer from the Pioneer Press here taking pictures of Libby for an article that was going to be in the paper. The article ended up being in the paper the following Sunday and we were very surprised that Libby had made the front page! In addition to that story, our local county paper also ran a front page piece on Libby. Jon and I were talking about how in China a child with "special needs" many times ends up as an orphan because their family either can't afford to treat the problem or because of the stigma attached. This isn't always the case, but seems to happen frequently. Here in America Libby has become quite the little celebrity. She has certainly become the princess in our house and we are bursting with pride to have her as our daughter. Recently God gave Jon and I the opportunity to talk about her adoption on our local Christian radio station. As we talked about the adoption process and the circumstances that led us to pursue this journey I couldn't help reflecting on how it still seems unreal sometimes that God has given us this gift.

Libby is truly to a joy to have in our family. I feel sad when I think about the 19 months of her life that we missed, but we are truly enjoying all the firsts we're experiencing with her. I'm not sure that she's enjoying the firsts as much as we are. She's been out in the snow several times and seems less than enthused about that, but I can't really blame her. We also took the kids to the Wisconsin Dells during Jon's spring break and she wasn't a fan of the water park either. Some things she does enjoy are drawing, climbing up and down our stairs, playing with other children, looking at books, and going anyplace in the car. She also loves helping me out around the house. When I sweep she gets her little broom and works right along beside me. She's very good about helping clean up her toys and seems to find real pleasure in being my little helper. She has even learned to yell at the cat when he/she is on our kitchen table. (there's some confusion right now in regards to the gender:) Speaking of the cat, if anyone has any tips on how to keep a cat off the table and counter I'd love to hear them. I've tried the spray bottle and putting her/him in the laundry every time he/she does it, but so far no success!

Here are a few pictures from the last couple months.