Celebrating Nora's Adoption Day ~ Sept 13th-27th

The second week of September, with school starting and the blazing colours of fall, now brings special memories of how three years ago we left on a blue, sunshine-y day to fly to China and meet our daughter. That sense of excitement and literal adventure will always be present, even though we're firmly settled at home now together. We are trying to build into the month a way of celebrating Nora's adoption day, which is still a work in progress. Part of that is watching her China DVD together, discussing how the nannies took care of her until we arrived. Nora loves to talk about this. One day I will make a "Lifebook" for her to read, hopefully before my brain forgets all the details. However, before we celebrated too much, Scott and I did take time for ourselves, as we hadn't really celebrated our 22nd anniversary properly in San Diego, with the whole gang out for dinner with us. :) It's really all about dessert...

September 14th, 2010 is the day our lives all changed forever. A lucky girl? No. Lucky parents? No. We call it blessed (and so undeserved on our part), as to trust God and His plans doesn't really allow for luck. But we understand the sentiment just the same, and either way.. we are thankful for this gem of a daughter. When things aren't always so easy, we can know that God knew we both needed each other, and has things for all of us to learn. (Just as he does for the children he places in our lives biologically.) Part of remembering Nora's adoption is reflecting on how we got here together, as it was a long journey. Also, that her journey started without her consent or involvement, and that our joy came as others experienced loss, especially Nora. So bittersweet, this is. But at this age, Nora only knows of our family and we have no doubt that she loves us, as we love her. Thankfully we aren't at this stage in the game yet! Yikes...

Nora enjoys wearing her "Chinese dress" for special occasions, so we headed out to church like this. Enjoy these photos with us!

 The next Princess Leia

 Could she smile any bigger?

 A spontaneous pose...

 Definitely Mommy's girl~

As we spent almost 2 weeks in China together, we allow ourselves the freedom to celebrate Nora's adoption through that time period, which works well when you're doing shiftwork! The next weekend we celebrated at a more traditional Chinese restaurant locally that we hadn't been to before. As a special gift, I gave Nora a cloth baby carrier. This has sparked many conversations about how Daddy carried her in China, even on the Great Wall. Nora was thrilled to put her baby Calin Yang in it, even wearing it to dinner. Using dolls in play is a great way for us to talk about her early life, and Nora is very nurturing, so it's sweet to see her with her baby. Again, too many photos as I couldn't choose. :)

And when all the special days are past, we return to the everyday ones, which really are the most special because in the end, we are just a family. One who loves, argues, complains, supports, makes messes and spends time together doing nothing. So overall, this is a time to remember what God has done for us with thankful hearts. ~ 1 John 3:1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! Many blessings to you also, for the family God has placed you in, whether related by blood or heartstrings. Hugs, Susan :)

 A glimpse of an everyday moment.