beach baby

We are at the beach and lovin' it. Lucy included! September is such a nice time to be here. Cooler weather. No crowds. Less traffic.

 And I think I have a beach buddy on my hands.

Lucy's still pretty timid when it comes to the ocean. But we're moving a little closer to water's edge every day!

I have a feeling that next year, instead of trying to coerce her to put her piggies in the water, we'll be chasing after her.

Andy has a conference here and has been working away, so hasn't spent too much time beachin' it with us. But we'll be taking care of that in just a few hours. It is Friday after all!

My mom was able join us for part of the time. She went home today and we sure miss her. Thanks for being extra hands and feet, Nana!

Last night, the four of us visited a local aquarium. It was so cool to see Lucy's amazement as the sharks floated above our heads and the little fish swam by.

Everything was, "Wooooow!", in a little whisper.

And her little pointer finger was just a goin' in every direction. (so was ours, trying to make sure she didn't miss a thing)

 She was even brave enough to touch a horse shoe crab.

We're enjoying one of our many firsts as a family. Lucy is fitting right in and we're looking forward to more beach trips together.

And if you're wondering how the car ride went, we waited until 7:30 pm to leave. She got her nighttime bath, put her pj's on, hit up McD's for dinner, read Goodnight Moon, drank her milk and nodded off, not waking until we were here! Praise the Lord! We're hoping the trip home is as successful.

our little family

This past weekend, McDorman Photo did a little family shoot for us.

I just love the pics they've posted on Facebook and wanted to give you all a preview of "our little family".

Come on baby Goose...are we really that bad?

 I've been waiting to see the three of us in pictures together for a very long time. Finally.

 Thanks, McDormans for capturing "us" so well.

sunday snapshot {28 months}

Goose is 28-months-old today!

Since I haven't done a lot of picture taking in the last two days, and I've been wanting to enter this picture in the Sunday Snapshot contest, and it was taken of Lucy at 27 months, I thought it would be appropriate to put it back up here. I can't get enough of it!

I'm also nervous and excited to say I've entered an 8 week photography class! You should check out Lisa's blog for some beautiful photography, and to see her adorable children. I really want to improve and am hoping this is just the thing I need to get better. The icing on the cake is that a portion of the proceeds from these classes goes to Half the Sky. Lucy's orphanage was a Half the Sky center! They did such a good job caring for her those first 26 months-and-some-change, so I'm happy to be able to contribute in this way.
 
My camera is a Canon Rebel T3i. My lens for these shots was a 50mm 0.45m/1.5ft. My settings were: ISO 200, aperture f/2.0 and a shutter speed of 1/800. No editing. As always, I'd love suggestions of what I "could have done" better. 

one month together. forever.

Can you believe we met our Lucy one month ago today???

She has filled our hearts and lives with joy, totally living up to the meaning of her name..."bringer of light".

The three of us have traveled many miles to get here - both across the globe and in the heart.

My hope is to post a little something each month for the first year, documenting the progress we're all making, so our little Goose can look back and see just how precious we think she is!

So, here goes. Just a few noteworthy items:
Height: 33.5 in
Weight: 25 lbs

Things she likes to say that probably make sense to her, but just sound awfully cute to us:
"Ay-yo-wah!" (This is one of the first thing she said to me! It sounds kinda like she's saying something along the lines of "ay-yi-yi!" - the expression we make in English)
"Wa-sa." (Sounds kind of like "What's up?!")
"Bi-ta, bi-ta."(kind of like "bitter", but without the "r")
Her Baba's favorite song that she sings: "Ba Ba Bay. Ba Ba Ba Ba Bay." (He says he's really gonna miss it when she stops singing it one of these days! We're trying to catch the whole thing on video.)
"Way!" (Probably spelled differently in Chinese. I think it means "Hey!" but not 100% sure. I just know she says it when my phone rings and also screams it at MaeBelle...poor dog!)
And a wide assortment of other Chinese-sounding phrases. So, so, so cute!

English words she's learned: 
Mama
Baba
Hello
Bye-Bye (which sometimes includes blowing a kiss)
Egg
MaeBelle (which sounds more like "my doll", the way Lucy says it - I personally like her version!)
Outside
Apple
Monkey
No, no! (Universal, right? She especially likes to say it to MaeBelle.)
I love...(we're working on adding the "you", but it's still an accurate statement. She loves hard!)

Things she likes to eat or drink:
Eggs
Bananas
Meat. Meat. And more meat.
Rice (although this seems to be fading some)
Milk
Juice (I'm working on cutting a lot of this OUT!)
Some sweets (still not crazy about ice cream - too cold!)
Goldfish
Cherry tomatoes (but not the skin)
Grapes (but not the skin)
Apples (but not the skin)...Noticing a theme here?
Raisins

Favorite things to do:
Play with her kitchen set
Boss MaeBelle around
Feed her stuffed animals pretend food (she takes awfully good care of them)
Sing and dance (not on command, however)
Hold Mama's hand while going to sleep :)
Pull on the back of her Baba's shirt collar (makes him do some funny faces/sounds that she thinks are hysterical)
Laugh, laugh, laugh
Be held, cuddled, kissed and loved on with all our might! (we're happy to oblige)

Lucy is such a happy, loving, hilariously funny little girl. What a gift she's already been.

Happy one month baby Goose! A lifetime to go. We love....YOU!

sunday snapshot {critter}

It's not too often lately that Lucy has been out of my arms and I have my camera ready. But, thankfully both happened today.

She has a repertoire of expressions and I caught just a few today...also hard to do.

 These aren't her silly faces, my favorite, but they're still pretty cute.

 This critter was at my parents' house today. Very cool little guy!

I haven't had a chance to look him up, so if anyone knows exactly what he is, please share!

I also haven't played "Sunday Snapshot" for awhile, but hope to try a little harder now that I have a decent subject.

My camera is a Canon Rebel T3i. My lens for these shots was a 50mm 0.45m/1.5ft. My settings for the first photo were: ISO 160, aperture f/5.0 and a shutter speed of 1/80. No editing. As always, I'd love suggestions of what I "could have done" better.

Check out Stefanie's blog for others' Sunday Snapshots.

Li Jun Ke

...has a FAMILY!!!

It was confirmed for me this morning that Lucy's little buddy, Jun Ke, has been matched with a family. This is SUCH good news! He's in a lot of photos we have of her, including her birthday party, so we can only assume they were sweet friends! That and she gets really excited when she sees his pictures :) It was such a joy to meet him at her orphanage visit.

Now, to try and find out who this blessed family is so we can keep these two connected over the years. I love how the Lord works in the lives of these orphans. He is so faithful to the "set the lonely in families"!

our first week at home

Yesterday marked one week home with our sweet Goose.

From the moment we walked in the back porch door, she seems to have felt right at home. After all that weary travel last Thursday, she managed to eek out a precious smile when we arrived. I swear, I think she knows more than we give her credit for sometimes.

Her first breakfast the following morning was like she'd been eating here for two years.

She owned her little kitchen/washer/dryer set I had purchased just three days before we saw her face for the very first time. That was a rough day - I was tired of the waiting. Seeing her play with these things is quite sweet for me.

She's been giving us big, big smiles and hearty laughs.

Her visitors have loved us by being gracious enough to love on her carefully, while we continue to foster this thing called attachment that began less than three weeks ago.

Lucy is doing so, so, so very well.

She's exploring her new surroundings. Because they are hers now, after all.

That's the neat thing about adoption. What was ours is now hers. Done. End of story.

And it's a delight to give it to her.

We're looking forward to many more weeks at home with our girl. It just gets sweeter and sweeter.

4 suckers and a small fry later...

...Lucy has left the house.

For the first time in a week.

Second time for me. McDonald's never looked so good.

And yes, I think I've worn this shirt at least once every day this week.

The fog is starting to lift around here.

So glad this girl is liking her new home, her new dog, her new toys. And tonight, she kind of, sort of tolerated the car seat. We're getting the hang of things. Little by little.

*I have pictures uploaded to post from this first week home together. If I can ever find the time to fill in some text!

home sweet home

We've been home just over 24 hours and, what a sweet 24 hours it has been.

Riding up the escalator at RDU last night and seeing a crowd of people we know and love off in the distance brought back a rush of familiar feelings I had not anticipated.

Immediately, I was brought back to the experience of running my first marathon almost 2 years ago, right before we officially began the adoption process.

The hard, hard work and exhaustion, not just of travel but of the entire process, was weighing on me.

But then, the faces of our biggest fans, waiting and looking for us, watching for our new daughter (their granddaughter, neice, cousin and friend)  - Indescribable.

We see them and they see us. They cheered us on to the finish line, giving the extra bit of wind in our sails we needed to cover those painful last few steps.

 Instantly, the payoff was big and the toughness started to fade away.

And joy and gratitude filled our hearts. We'd made it.

 She'd made it.

Lucy Hope, I pray you realize someday just how sought after, prayed for and anticipated you truly were.

 There's a mass of people pulling for you.

Some of the best you'll ever meet.

More importantly, there's a Savior who wants call you His child.

Finish strong, my love. Even when it's tough. It will be worth it.

You are worth it to us.

(A special thanks to Nathan Mah for these priceless photos! You are so talented!)