5 minutes in the life of Anna and Carter

So while I was cleaning up from lunch, I looked over and saw this. I thought, how sweet, Anna sharing her princess music player with Carter.
So I went back to cleaning, and in mere minutes, sweet Anna was tackling Carter and trying to grab his flashlight but he was not going to let go.

Apologies and kisses. All in a matter of minutes.

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter this year. Since Easter was in March last year, this was Anna's first easter. She loved every minute of it.

The baby bunnies.

My girlfriend made these for us. We actually didn't eat them until the next day because the kids wanted to keep them "pretty." But they were as super yummy as they were beautiful.

Easter morning going through baskets. The kids got all outdoor things, bubbles, chalk, kites. Which I have to say is not the most fun to get when your in the middle of endless days of rain. It has rained every day for as long as I can think back. I guess the easter bunny hadn't planned on such a wet spring! But, they were thrilled anyway and ate plenty of candy to make up for it.

Three little bunnies. My other one wasn't so willing to put on bunny ears.

Due to the pouring rain and floods outside, we had to hunt for eggs inside. But no one complained and they were as happy as pie.

Happy Easter from our crew!

Less than perfect...

So a dear friend of mine ( i won't name any names Lorna) mentioned to me that things always look perfect on my blog. We'll I'm just writing this post to let everyone know we are far from perfect around here. We have time outs every day, kids in trouble all the time, frustration and arguments, and days of sloppy clothing.
To prove myself, this is what happened when I left the little ones unsupervised with markers for 5 minutes. They were thrilled to color each others arms and hands and were giggling up a storm when I caught them in the act. So off to the bathtub and markers removed for the day. Truly stuff like this happens all the time, I just don't blog about it. So here's a post to all the less than perfect mama's out there!!! I've been a member of this club for a long time.

One year ago today...

So let's pretend it's yesterday, April 12. April 12 is the day we met our daughter. In the 6 months from submitting our petition to adopt her until we got in the van to go to the adoption center, I had no anxiety, no fear. But on the ride to meet her, it finally hit me. I was hyperventilating, shaking, so scared. I will never forgot that van ride. Every question about this little girl swirled around me at once and the fear of the unknown finally caught up with me. And then she walked out....and it all disappeared. She was precious and I knew in an instant we would be just fine.

She had such a sense of independence, confidence, intelligence...all traits that are still strong parts of her personality. And I fell in love.

She was scared, unhappy. I still can't imagine how traumatic this really was for her.

By the end of the night we had smiles, and so began the first step of our journey on getting to know one another and becoming a family.

The following day we went back to the adoption center to finalize the adoption and make Bao Guan Ting officially Anna Francis Ting.

It's been a quick year and we have come so far. Six months ago I was still very worried about attachement but I have seen great strides, even in the past couple of months.

Tonight we will celebrate and watch her adoption video.

Happy Anniversary dear Anna. You are a very special little girl and we love you.

Nearly a year has gone by...

We're coming up on our 1 year anniversery with Anna. I've spent a lot of time thinking about her, the last year and how far we have come. It's gone by extremely fast. With 3 other kids and our already chaotic yet simple life, she just slipped right in and became a part of our family. I have so much to say, so many thoughts, and it's going to be hard to get them all organized and written down. So I'll try my best.

Exactly one year ago Brian and I left in the middle of the night to head to the airport for China. I distinctly remember that I had much more anxiety about flying than getting our daughter. I had much more anxiety about leaving my other children than getting Anna. I can honestly say I felt such peace about this little girl that we knew so little about. But obviously we got there and began the next stage in our incredible journey.

More to come....

My little Monkey

This kid has a smile that can light up your whole day. He loves to be outside and we are enjoying a beautiful weekend. I of course have 3 other little monkeys, but none that are so willing to pose for mama. Hope you had a wonderful weekend too.