Four years ago!

Four years ago today we saw this face for the first time in an email that said congratulations you have a daughter...

 

It still brings tears to my eyes when I think of that phone call from Beth at our agency!  So much pain and hurt from the years we had waited just washed away when I saw her sweet face!  For the next month I looked at this picture constantly until we finally traveled to China to get our daughter.  She is everything we dreamed of and more.

 Jaden you were so worth the wait!  Mommy loves you to China and back!

Catch up with Jaden

So most of my posts lately have been just pictures of both the kids.  I want to do a post of just Jaden and how and what she is doing now.  It has almost been four years since we saw the picture that we had waited on forever!  The picture that made us parents.  I cant believe that she has been here that long and that she will be 5 on her next birthday. 
She is everything that I had prayed for and more.  She is funny, feisty, caring and very affectionate!  She is a MAJOR mommy's girl but loves her daddy too.  She is a wonderful big sister and Warren's idol!  Last year she was all dinosaurs but this year she has taken a turn into the land of princesses!  Her favorite princess is Cinderella of course.  Her favorite colors are pink and blue!  She is obsessed with the Ipad and is living for the day she gets her own!  She is super smart(I may be biased), she loves learning and has asked me to teach her to read.  That is a work in progress.  She has been writing her name and the alphabet for about a year now.  She draws pictures of the planets and I have no idea where she learned that.  She loves to color and paint and I must say she is pretty good at it.  I can give her a box with colors, markers, scissors, tape and paper and she will "work" for hours!  She loves dance and is getting ready for her first recital.  This year she is taking ballet but next year she is signed up for two classes, ballet and tap.  Lucky momma will be at dance all day! 
She is a social butterfly and loves her friends!  She loves Warren and has been trying to teach him English!  She has been so great the last few months while we have been running to doctors and therapy appointments.  As long as she has the Ipad we are all good! 
She loves anything to do with China and points it out everytime it is shown on the TV.  She has become very curious since we went to China to bring Warren home.  We have had many interesting conversations and she loves to talk about when she was a baby.  She is determined that she is going back to China to get a baby sister!  She has decided that we can hide the baby in her closet because she has so many clothes her daddy will never find the baby!  She thinks of everything!
 She loves to help in the kitchen but is not a big fan of cleaning up her toys!  She is a girly girl, and loves to have her nails done!  She is 36 pounds and 41 inches.  She is not a short Chinese girl!  She is ready to start school but not ready to leave her mommy!  Luckily we have one more year before she starts school.  She is getting ready to start a summer camp where she will be away from mommy once a week.  Small steps for both of us.  She is constantly telling jokes that really make no since but we have to laugh!  She still sleeps with her puppy and her momma everynight!  Once again small steps!  She has decided she is too big for naps but I still get her to take one about once a week!  Mommy still needs naps.  She is a drama queen and can really turn on the waterworks when something does not go her way! 
I still cant believe that we were chosen to be her parents!  We are so lucky!

Easter and beyond!

Once again the time and the blog got away from me!  Blame it on Doctor appointments, therapy and life!  So here is my half attempt at catching up! 
We will start with Easter festivities!  Once again we went to the local Easter egg drop! This is our favorite Easter hunt and it was extra special this year because Warren was celebrating his first Easter!

 

And what better thing to do after an egg hunt than playing at the park(AKA wearing out the kids!)

We also spent some time at the zoo! 

 

Of course we took some time out of our busy schedule to dye Easter eggs!  Another first for Warren!

 

Finally the day came!  Easter morning!  For some reason this year it looked more like Christmas.  But it did make for two happy kiddoes!

Finally after Easter we had a few more warm days!  This winter has been long and cold.  We are so excited to finally get outside again!

 

Since the weather has been so nice we decided to go to the zoo with Sophie Su!

Yesterday we headed downtown to a birthday party on a pirate ship!  The kids were thrilled about it and had been looking forward to it since we got the invitation!

And finally today we were back at the park soaking in some rays with Grayce and Jack!

The kids also had a photo shoot done in the last two weeks!   We had to go on two different days because it was a "rainy day shoot"!  The kids loved it and I love the way they turned out!

Kinda scary to see my two behind the driver's wheel!  Of course Jaden is all serious with both hands on the wheel while Warren is doing it one handed!  Definitely a look into my future!