How blessed are we to live close to the uncles and aunties and cousins that my father grew up with? How wonderful is it for me to have this continued connection with the Chinese Culture, which will be so important to Catherine as she gets older. I feel extremely blessed that she can also have cousins that share her same culture. I feel truly, truly blessed and grateful to have these people in our lives.

Attachment

doesn’t  mean that just because a child makes good eye contact they are securely attached
doesn’t mean that just because a child smiles a lot or clings to the leg of their parent they are securely attached
doesn’t mean an attached child is a securely attached child
doesn’t mean that a highly personable child is attached
doesn’t mean that once a child is attached they will be permanently attached
doesn’t happen instantaneously and can often take years
isn’t a ‘what you see is what you get’ kind of thing, often problems with attachment are blurred by …

I have been mulling this post over in my mind for a while now.  I have been hesitant about posting it because in some ways I don’t want to dissapoint friends or family with some of the words I want to share.  I have a fear of failure and I don’t always like to share the parts of my life that are difficult on a deep and personal level.  I feel though that I must share my thoughts on this first year of parenting an adopted child because I know …

3/17/08 (Adoption Day)

3/16/09
What a difference a year makes!  I can’t get over how much Catherine has changed in just a short 12 months.  Looking at the two photos above takes my breath away.  I now understand why parents give their toddler’s age by months instead of by years.  She grows by leaps and bounds every single month.  Actually every day she changes bit by bit.  I do have to laugh a little because her expression hasn’t changed too much when we pose for the camera.  I am just happy she …

Seriously?!  Has it been a year? It’s so hard to believe that 12 months ago today we became a forever family with this beautiful, funny and vivacious little girl.  Who knew that a year could be filled with so much emotion and go by so slow some days but yet be gone in the blink of an eye?  Catherine has been a joy and I am so happy and forever grateful to China for letting us have the opportunity to parent this child.  I also think of her birth parents …

It’s hard to believe that a year has gone by!  One year ago, in the early, early  morning hours of the 11th,  we took off for Hong Kong and began a life long adventure in raising and loving Catherine.  I still remember the trip like it was yesterday.  The excitement, the stress, the anticipation, the fear of flying such a long distance, the relief of finally landing, and even more excitement.  It still gives me goosebumps to think about it.  It happened so fast that sometimes it feels like a …