Happy Referral Day

One year ago today, we received the phone call that would change our lives forever.  The phone call that we had waited over three long years to receive.  The one that would lead to us seeing pictures of our beautiful girl for the first time and learning about her life before us.

I will never forget the waiting.  We expected Amelia's file in July, but it never arrived.  We continued to wait.  We hoped for August but nothing came.  September ticked by, and we began to lose hope that it would be the month that we saw our daughter's face.  The morning of September 26, 2012, my cell phone rang at school.  I saw that it was Karla's number, and I knew that it was THE phone call.  My co-workers and I had a plan in case the big moment happened at school, and the plan went into action.  I ran out of the room to the counselor's empty room to talk to Karla.  She got David on the line with a conference call, and we heard what we had waited so long to hear.  The file was here.  Her American name was Ruby!  She lived in an orphanage in Chongqing.  She was 15 months old but tiny with some delays.  Karla was sending us the file to review, and we should let her know if we had questions or made a decision.  We had 2 weeks to decide.

David and I made plans to meet at home to review the file together.  We read the file before looking at pictures.  We did some yard work.  We looked at pictures.  We did more yard work.  We looked at more pictures.  We finally discussed concerns and made plans for dinner.  We decided to take Bailey to Stone's Throw for his birthday.  Over dinner, we knew she was ours, but we wanted some doctors to review her file just to be sure.  Once the doctors gave us the okay, we officially accepted "Ruby", aka "Yao Yao", soon to be "Amelia Mae Howard" as our own.

I can hardly believe that a year has passed since we got our first glimpse at our daughter.  God definitely knew what he was doing!  It was a long wait to this moment, but it was worth every bit!  It would be three more months until we were able to actually hold her in our arms, but we knew that Amelia was in China and that we were headed to get her.

Referral Photo from Lifeline's Paperwork

Referral Photo from Chinese Paperwork

This morning we took Amelia's photo with her referral photo.  Can you believe how much she has changed in a year?!

A Teenager in the House

You actually get two posts in one day, because it is a day of celebration for the Howard Family.  We are celebrating Bailey's 13th Birthday, and we are celebrating Amelia's Referral Day!

2002

Thirteen years ago, our precious boy made his arrival into the world.  He would not join our family for 10 months, but we celebrate Bailey's birth today.  I can hardly believe that he is 13!  I refer to him as "My Little Old Man", but he truly is getting old.  His doctor says he is in great condition for his age.  He has cataracts and a bad back, but there are no signs of major health issues or a heart murmur, which is common in Pekingese at this age.

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Bailey really seems to enjoy his new house.  I know he misses his old yard, but he loves to lay on the back porch for hours.  He likes to watch the neighbors and go on walks through the neighborhood and on the nature trail.  Bailey and Amelia have come to love each other.  They want to be everywhere together.  Bailey continues to love to ride in the car and goes with me to take and pick up Amelia from school.  He is still VERY protective of his home and will bark and sometimes attack feet of visitors that do not acknowledge him.  Bailey continues to be afraid of storms and is now showing signs of fear for the tone David's phone makes when he receives a text.  I have no idea where that came from, but Bailey runs to hide in the closet when he hears it.  He continues to love soft toys and soft treats.

2010

2011

2011

2012

2013

If you asked me when David and I married if I thought we would have two Chinese children, I would probably have laughed at you.  I can hardly believe how God has put our family together!  Bailey, I hope you have a very Happy Birthday!

Fun on the Mini Trampoline

Amelia has been enjoying her mini trampoline.  Despite the allergy issues we have all been having, we have played outside every afternoon.

I love this sweet face!

Bailey smiled, too. :)

Amelia even decided to jump with her Hello Kitty chair.

An Update

We are now pretty much settled into our new house.  Moving is terrible.  The last of the boxes has now been unpacked, but I still find myself reorganizing different rooms or closets in the house.  Here is an update of what we have been up to since the move:

We moved into the new house.  Shutters and a fence have been ordered, but here is a sneak peak at the outside of the house.

Amelia got a big girl bed when she moved into the new house.  We put the toddler rail up on her crib.  She has only fallen out once.  Amelia's second morning in the new bed, she decided to run around it in circles.  She didn't realize the railing wasn't up on all sides anymore, and she fell out backwards.  She learned her lesson and hasn't done that again.

Amelia's hair now fits into pig tails!  The back of her hair is not long enough for complete pig tails, but it's a start!

Amelia and Bailey have become best friends.  They hang out together and love each other.

Camp Winnataska celebrated their 95th birthday with a big party.  We were able to see lots of friends and spend a day at camp.  Amelia's favorite parts were eating cake, seeing "Mike Mike" (Micah), and swimming in the pool.

Amelia had a play date with Ella.  They played in Ella's new baby pool and had a fantastic time.  I love that they are such good friends!

Even Baby Elijah came to the play date.  Isn't he the cutest!!

 Amelia had so much fun in Ella's pool that we decided to get her one when Target put them on clearance.

Amelia wears sunglasses now.

Bailey keeps watch from a distance so he won't get wet.

Can you believe that they are so close????!!!!