Happy 1st Birthday!

Ooohhh! Just look at those cheeks! I just want to pinch them right now! We were fortunate enough to receive some photos taken of Daisy on her birthday! The orphanage had forwarded the photos to Red Thread China, and Ann sent them to me this morning!

Daisy (I know...we have to decide on her 'real' name at some point) looks both bewildered and amused. I just love the grin on her face!

Wish we could have been there to help celebrate with her, but these photos will have to suffice for now. Just a few more weeks until we can actually hold her! (...and no, we still don't know when we're travelling).

Care Packages

Daisy's 1st birthday is TODAY(!), and we won't be there to celebrate this milestone with her. Of course, there are so many milestones during those first few years of life, and we've already missed out on so many of them. With Larissa, we can tell you when she first rolled over, held her head up, laughed, babbled, stood up, walked, etc. We either have it all on videotape or in photographs. We threw Larissa a first birthday party with a Hawaiian luau theme, and had our tiny house brimming with friends and family.


It makes me sad that we weren't there for many of those 'firsts' for Daisy. And while Larissa will have volumes of photo albums to flip through that documented her first year of life, Daisy will only have her referral photos. If we're lucky, we may be able to get some photos of her on her first birthday. But it still won't be the same without us being there.



I contacted Ann at Red Thread China, (http://www.redthreadchina.com/) and ordered a birthday care package to be sent to Daisy's orphanage. I figured if we couldn't be there, then at least allow her to receive something from us. Ann forwarded a picture of the gifts that we sent. (The candies and tea are for the orphanage director and the nannies). We also enclosed a letter which expressed our deep appreciation for all that the orphanage does in caring for these children.



I also made our own care package for Daisy, which we will be sending ourselves later this week. It includes a photo album of our family, so that we won't be complete strangers on the day we meet. We've heard all sorts of stories about kids that won't stop crying for days, because of the unfamiliarity of the "new people". We hope that Daisy will realize that we will be her 'forever family', and the sooner she sees our faces, the better.

I've spent the better part of this weekend looking up airline fares and hotel rates. We still have no idea when we'll be travelling, but if we can somehow plan it so that we avoid the Canton Trade Fair (from April 16 to April 30), then that would be great. Apparently, Guangzhou (an overcrowded city to begin with) becomes even more crowded at trade show time. (Not to mention that hotel rates double or triple!)