Shower-Celebration!

We really needed this stroller!

This ladybug towel was adorable!

My friends Dudley and Rachel made a lovely quilt for Michelle and another for her dolly!

Sisters!

MinHee and Monica gave us such a beautiful shower!

Two of my sweet friends from our Lifegroup at our church gave us a shower last night. It was wonderful! Michelle had a great time and charmed everyone with her cute outfit and "squeaky shoes". She ate cake, ran around laughing, and had a lot of fun opening presents. I think everyone was surprised by how well she is adjusting to life as a Cole!

We felt so loved - we got some great books, puzzles, toys, and even a ballerina tu-tu with a fairy princess wand. I couldn't believe how many people gave Michelle a gift, and then "one for her doll". And I won't have to buy her clothes until she's in kindergarden! We also collected donations for her orphanage, and we are delighted to give back to the Lily Room at Luohe.

Thank you so much Monica and MinHee, and to all my sweet friends.

Snow Day

I am pretty sure Michelle has seen snow before in Luohe, but I don't think she ever played in snow. She thought it was fun, although she didn't seem to like being cold. She liked the snowballs. She also liked having her sib's home from school.

At the Park

We were so glad to finally have a day above freezing here in Virginia. Michelle had a lot of fun playing at the park.

A Whole, Wonderful Month!

Josh reading to Michelle.

Today we celebrate having Michelle with us for a month! I can hardly believe that it was just a month ago I saw those beautiful, scared little eyes for the first time. I can hardly believe all the things we have done in a month - all the paperwork, traveling home, celebrating Christmas and New Years, recovering from jet lag, lots of Dr.'s visits, getting everyone back to school and finding a new normal in our house! WOW!


It also amazes me when I look at Michelle to realize it's only been a month. This child was so meant to be a part of our family that sometimes it still takes my breath away. She seems so at home with us now. She's crazy about her brothers and her sister, and she is absolutely in love with her Daddy! She likes to be my helper around the house, loading dishes or folding laundry. She tells the dog off when he won't leave her alone, and yet she pets him softly when he comes close to her. She loves to get in the car and go "bye-bye", although she is still afraid of the garage door opener. She sleeps so sweetly in her little bed, she eats well but not so much that it scares me anymore, and she plays and laughs and cries when she is tired. She even says a few things in English, and she is picking up more each day. All the things she is supposed to do! Isn't that incredible, how in one short month she has realized we are her family and this is her home.


I always heard everyone say no matter how long or how hard the wait, once we had her it would all seem like a distant memory. It's so true, and she was so worth the wait! We love you Michelle, and we are so glad you are home.

ABC's and SAT's

My sweet friend Mary brought over a leapfrog ABC learning system for Michelle. She absolutely loves it and plays with it all the time. I have to say it drives me a little crazy when she plays the ABC song at the same time she plays the Frosty the Snowman from Hallmark, but I guess it's a good thing she likes music, especially in this house. This morning my husband and I were looking over our kids PSAT scores, and discussing college for my oldest daughter Elizabeth. It suddenly struck me how very bizarre it is to be parenting on such opposite ends of the spectrum. Life is certainly not boring!

On a positive note, I started back teaching yesterday and things went very well. I teach piano and voice 3 afternoons a week, with my longest day on Mondays. (1:30 - 5:30 p.m.) Michelle slept through some of the lessons, then played with the big kids in the other room for the rest of the day! Another huge thanks to my sweet friend Laura for all the toys - they made my first day of teaching a breeze. This means so much to me on a personal level to know I will be able to continue teaching! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a mom and staying home with my children. I consider it a privilege to be the one to be with them all day. But I also love my students and music, and it's nice to have a little something other than laundry in my life.

Michelle had her first dentist appointment today. She was fine, until the Dr. put the mask on her face, then she got this look on her face that sort of read, "I've been tricked!" She did not open her mouth easily, although Dr. Wooddell is very good at what she does and managed to get a good look inside. She told me as far as cleft kids go, Michelle seems to be in very good shape. No cavities, and she has all her teeth. (very unusual for cleft kids!) So we were happy with the good report. We have a date to meet with the cleft team at Walter Reed on February 4.

I have a few new pictures, but I'll have to put those up later.

First (of many) visits to the Dr.

We went to the pediatrician's this morning. This was the first time I had seen Dr. West, and she was incredible! Very sweet with Michelle, very thorough, very knowledgeable about "orphan issues". We had sent her an email describing Michelle's medical history and some of our concerns, but she never received it. However, she spend a lot of time examining her and talking with us. She is planning to look over the information we had from the orphanage, and then order lots of tests and referrals. We are so grateful to be in what seems to be very good hands.

Michelle was a little wary of her at first, then really started squirming when she looked at her ears. When she tried to look into her mouth to examine her cleft palate, Michelle clamped her mouth shut tight! Oh boy, I think we are in for a fun few weeks!

On the home front, she is doing so great! Every day she seems to pick up a new English word - she can already say Uh-Oh, bye-bye, light, night-night, Ma-ma, Joshua (although this sounds more like O-wuh) and the phrase "I don't know!" (with a funny little expression on her face and her hands turned upwards). She seems to understand a lot as well, and is responding well to her name.

She is very sweet and loves to play with us. She lets me hold her a lot and loves to have her Daddy hold her now, as well as her siblings. The one things she still won't do is give me kisses. She gives ALL her dolls and stuffed animals kisses, but is very tight lipped when it comes to Mommy. Yesterday I asked her for a kiss, and she kissed her teddy bear. When I touched my cheek and said, "Give Mommy a kiss" she leaned her bear over and let him kiss me on the cheek, even making the kissy sound. Oh well, I know it will be even sweeter when she finally gives it up for Mom. She will at least say "Wo ai ni" (I love you in Chinese.)

I can't even begin to tell you how glad I am to have this sweet child home!

Pictures at Home

Michelle is becoming quite the American girl, dunking her cookies in milk and talking on her sister's cell phone.

Dancing with Daddy.

Happy New Year

As I was walking this morning, I couldn't help but notice the headline for the local newspaper read, "Thank God it's over!" (referring to 2008). I know for many people this was probably a tough year - finances, deployements, loss of loved ones. But, I have to say, I will always remember 2008 as the year God richly poured out His blessings on the Cole family.

We began the year praying for 3 specific things ~ stability for our military family, an affordable house that met our family's needs, and a new family member from China. God answered all 3 of these requests with a Yes that blew us away.

Eleven moves in nineteen years was beginning to take a toll on our family, and with both of our older kids in high school, we so longed for the chance to get them through high school in one place. In April of this year, we found out Bill would have a good follow on assignment at Ft. Belvoir, getting both of our kids through their high school years.

In July we closed on a house - the same house we had been renting for the past 2 years. We looked at so many houses in this area and found nothing we liked as much as this one. While we were sad for our landlords that they were divorcing, we were so glad for our family to get to stay in this home and neighborhood that we liked so much.

And then in August, when we saw Michelle's referral photo, we knew she was meant to be ours. Bringing her home on Christmas was just icing on the cake! She is more wonderful than we could have ever imagined and so meant to be a part of our family.

So, I want to say thank you to my Abba God, who loves to give good gifts to His children. We are blessed beyond measure.

I wish you all a wonderful 2009!