A special little friend

While Kerry was still in the orphanage and we were waiting, not so patiently, to be able to travel to China, we sent her a care package. We included the typical things, some toys, an outfit, some treats for her Ayi's, a photo album, and and a little disposable camera. We were so happy when they gave it back to us on the day that changed our lives forever. We had the photos developed as soon as we got home and I can not tell you what a treasure it is to have this little glimpse into Kerry's life before us. To see her smiling and playing, and to know that she must have been loved, taken care of, played with. At least it appears to be the case....and I really like to think so. I thought I'd finally get around to sharing a few of them.

Our girl waiting, probably none too patiently, knowing her, for a bite to eat.

Smiles and split-pants

Playing with a toy that we sent her, she still likes this toy. We gave her a duplicate the day we met her and she seemed very familiar with. We wanted to give her something she'd been familiar with for the 3 months it took until travel time, to break the ice and bring some bit of comfort, and it did seem to help =).

And now for the whole reason why I finally posted these photos.

See this little darlin' with Kerry? She's been on my mind since I first laid eyes on these photos seven months ago. Reason # 1, well, just look at her, she's adorable! And she looks like such a sweetheart. Reason # 2, and more importantly, she seems to have been special to Kerry. It looks like they really enjoyed each others company. I think even the Ayi(s) understood this because she/they took the opportunity to take so many of the two of them together, maybe to give Kerry something to remember her by...who really knows. Anyway, I've been wondering about this little beauty for months, hoping and praying that she would find a wonderful forever family. Well a little over am week ago... it happened =). See, I'm part of a Yahoo group for people who've adopted from Kerry's orphanage, and I'd been meaning to post these photos there, too, I just hadn't gotten around to it. I guess I've just been wanting to hang on to them for a while before "sharing them with the world" so to speak. Then Tuesday night, the 19th, something just told me it was time. So I drug the laptop down to the basement and scanned them in and uploaded them to the website. Little did I know that, at the same time, this little girl was being matched with her new family.

A day or so later, her new parents visited the site , found the photos, and we've been e-mailing back and forth since. We plan on getting the girls together after they're home and settled in. I can hardly wait! It never ceases to amaze me how just like in the big things, like adoption as a whole, and bringing a family together, God also works in the little things, like a handful of photos at just the right time. I'm so happy I got to share these with her new parents.

They had apparently just opened our care package in this one. I recognize some of it's contents spread out, and Kerry is holding the photo album we sent with our pictures in it.

So, soon "Nan Nan" will be called Hannah Grace, and will make her home in Georgia with her new Mama and Daddy. This little one will always hold a special place in my heart for providing joy and companionship to Kerry while she spent her days in a small orphanage in southern China.

The love affair continues..

Ker-Bear is still firmly attached to "the robe", especially when she's sleepy. If we want her to fall asleep in the car, or if we know we will be out during naptime, the robe goes with us. Otherwise, it can get ugly. A nap deprived Kerry is a nuclear accident waiting to happen, we're talking meltdown of near Ch*rnobyl proportions. But as long as "obe" is in her clutches, it's smooth sailing into dreamland.

She still makes the little suck-y lips when she cuddles with her "obe". It's so sweet.

And Mama has a new addiction, too. It's called Picnik,....and it's awesome. I've spent the last couple of hours playing with some of my favorite photos of the past 7 months.

Like this one, taken day's after we brought Kerry home. I used the 1960's effect, complete with rounded corners.

This is the "Orton-ish" effect, I believe. She looked like such a "baby" in these. I can't believe how much she's grown and since these photos.

I just added a vignette around this one.

I can't remember which effect I used on this one, but I love it!

two different effects on the same photo

A recent photo, with the "Lomo-ish" effect, I think.

This is Kerry's "thing" now. She likes to line things up in a nice neat row, or sometimes she "builds" things with household items. Don't get me wrong, she can make her fair share of messes, but she seems to like to "organize" things, too. She takes my spices and stacks them and builds little towers, or she lines them all up in a row. In fact, she'll do this if she finds any bunch of items that are similar in size, shape, function, whatever. So this is what I find a lot of around the house. And these were all taken within a one hour period.

in her play kitchen's oven

Makes me wonder if we have a future architect, accountant, or professional organizer on our hands. Or maybe just an extremely organized gymnast/ stunt woman/musician (her other talents).

For now, though, she's just my silly, spicy, stubborn, love-able Jiangxi girl.

forgot to add "cute-as-heck" to that list.

We had a little break in the cold, gray weather over the weekend so yesterday we were able to go out for a nice long walk. Kerry was so excited to get outside and stretch her legs. She got used to daily walks and playing outside , sometimes 2 or three times a day, over the summer and fall since coming home, so I think she's had a little bit of cabin fever. I know I have.

Looking for her squirrel friends. She still calls them "curls".

She spotted this giant ball at the store last night, so it came home with us.

We tossed it around the living room all evening. She had a blast. Judging by that smile, it was the best $2.86 I've spent in a while. I love watching her have fun, and listening to her laugh and squeal. This girl plays hard and laughs hard.

Her love of music has not faded, either. She loves listening to all types of music, from nursery rhymes to bands like Flyleaf. She loves making music, too, and we're more than happy to provide her with every opportunity to do so. We were at Mamaw's earlier today, where she found a guitar and a pink keyboard to rock out on. =)

I haven't yet shared on this blog that I've been out of work since the week before Christmass. Luckily, I started a new part time job yesterday, and I think I'm going to like it. It's going to be a bit of and adjustment. I worked at the previous office for 11 years, and it was pediatrics. AND my duties at the new office, it appears, are going to be quite different. I've really enjoyed all of the extra time I've been able to spend with my girl these past few weeks, though. And I think she's enjoyed having me with her 24-7. Doug and I did take advantage, though, of a couple of gift cards we received for Christmas, and for the very first time in the 6 months since becoming a family, we wen't out, alone, to a movie and dinner last week. Kerry stayed with Dougs parents and did fine. It was nice to have some couple time.

sometimes a girl's just gotta bounce around for no particular reason, right?

and spray herself in the face with water... on purpose...repeatedly..for no apparent reason.

and this is what happens when you let her feed herself butterscotch pudding

We had a few inches of snow fall recently, so I couln't wait to take Ker-Bear out to play in it yesterday after her nap. This was most likely the first time she's ever been in the snow. We had a few flurries that she got to experience a couple of weeks ago, but this is our first snowfall with actual accumulation.

She seemed to like it, in fact I had a hard time getting to go back inside. She looks unsure about it in these pictures, but I think she was just so intrigued and was concentrating on trying to figure out what all of this cold, white stuff on the ground was.







She just wanted to shuffle along in it and would have walked and walked if I hadn't finally forced her inside. Her cheeks were getting cherry-red and it was starting to get dark

Once inside, she played with her new tea set that Nana got her for Christmas, but I guess she decided she wanted to actually use real tea this time. I came in to the kitchen to find this little mess...

Oh well, just comes with having a toddler in the house I suppose =).

The morning in pictures

It's been pretty cold here, at least, too cold for us southern types. So we spent the entire morning indoors just hanging out. I took lots of pictures as Ker-Bear was looking extra cute in her pigtails.

She found the M&M's that were in her stocking. She calls them "N-N's"

Then she played with her Color me a song toy the she got for Christmas from Uncle Dale and Aunt Stephanie.

Here, she's doing her best to sing along to the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song




I just can't get enough of this girl

And as you can see here, she's climbed up into her highchair so she can play with the light switch. And as any good bloggin' Mama would do, I grabbed the camera before taking her down from her precarious perch. Looks pretty pleased with herself, wouldn't you say?



taking a ride on her pony

and, finally, down for the count at naptime..with her robe, of course.