*note to self-Lullaby,My Wish, What a Wonderful WorldOne year ago today we were in Wuhan, Hubei, The People's Republic of China meeting our little girl for the very first time. She had already captured our hearts...we were madly in love with this little girl we had read about and stared at through photos. It was a foggy, rainy and cool day. She had on her traditional clothing, she had three cute little pigtails and a hard pink pacifier in her mouth. She was wild and crazy. She looked us over and decided with Hope things would be ok. She identified with Hope very quickly. She was accepting food from us, allowing us to hold her and love on her. She liked to be bounced and loved to throw her self backwards while we were holding her. She would sweetly stare into our eyes, lean her head back and give the most powerful headbutt known to a child her size. It caught us off guard and we learned quickly to take cover when that look appeared. We believe it was all out of love...she wasn't doing it to be mean or to be hurtful, she would smile and laugh and we couldn't help to think...God is sooo good! She is a Harris through and through :)She had a ready smile and eyes that would dance as she tested the water with us. Just to finally hold her precious little face in my hands after only holding her pictures for almost 8 months. My heart had ached to squeeze her, kiss her, hug her, tell her how much we loved her and longed for her. We were instantly smitten. It was just such a sweet, sweet day.
Our time in China was priceless. To see her province, to enjoy her foods, to hear her language, to be immersed in her culture...time that we needed as a family. But soon enough we were on our way back home to the US with our newest addition. We were so proud to have her in our arms :) That adorable 20 month old daughter of ours was finally home. Her transition was so much easier than we had hoped and prayed for. We had figured her being almost 2 she may have had more of an opinion and might have preferred her life as she knew it. She bonded beautifully and not one of us can fathom life without her in it.
I can not believe Love has been home with us for one year now...it is unreal how quickly time flies. It has been one of the most amazing years of our lives. There is just no greater gift than the gift of a child. We are truly appreciating every moment with each of them. I am so thankful that the plan I had once laid before us was not the plan the Lord had in store for us. How much greater are His ways than our ways...living proof right here in the Harris home :)
My Sweetest Love,
Our lives were changed forever the moment we laid eyes on you. You had us immediately in your sweet little hand. You are such a blessing! You are incredible joy, you are beautiful both in features and spirit. You are such a delightful and outgoing child. You can light an entire room with your smile. You are bright and active and amazing. You are the cutest little shadow. You are my love bug, my heart, my Love...my precious little baby girl.
How I managed life without you in it I will never know.
I love you more than all the stars in the sky!
Mommy
Hope at her soccer game Saturday. I missed all but about 10 seconds of it due to conflicting pictures with Faith. But, I was told by the family that she did very well. She scored four goals in the freezing cold and high winds. Pretty impressive :)
Big Daddy and the little girls
Love
Hope
Crazy Faith
Love
Dimples
Seriously Mom...enough already. 
Mr. Sleepy
Mr. Serious...showing his curls
Mr. Smiley...always happy
This one...Mr. Sensitive 
"Which way are WE GOING?" 
Grumpy snuck off with Love for a trip to the concessions stand for a bribe, uh-hum...I mean snack ;)
Just the sweetest little faces and hands...playing pat-a-cake while waiting for their turn to score!
Hope had a fantastic game today. She scored 5 or 6 times..not really sure. She is a mad woman when it comes to the game. She is also a very generous teammate :) She wanted so badly to take the ball away from her team but she would stay a few feet from them until the ball got out of their control and she would take over. It would either be her or the opposite team...may as well be her. She has improved in her ball hogging tendencies. She is just a natural athlete. She is pretty incredible to watch and she even anticipates where the ball is headed next. I am so proud of her...she tries her hardest every practice and game and she just looks so stinkin' cute doing it :)
Poor Thing! She has such a time with allergies. I couldn't help but take a photo. Her little hands look so sweet. Her gaping mouth...well, it shows how much trouble she is having breathing, especially while sleeping. We have gone through bottles of the stinkin' allergy meds. It just doesn't let up. She's been sleeping on the "love couch" for the past few nights, it helps her prop up more so she can breathe better. She's been a bit irritable lately but she's missing out on her beauty sleep...who can blame a girl?
Needless to say the two older ones, they weren't sold on the idea of going. Lesson learned...if they say they don't want to go - don't waste your funds or fun on trying to make them enjoy it. Hunter about had a coronary going through the exhibits. Of course, it was a full house, walking among tons of people, hot, and needing a lunch break. But we were trying to make it through so we could leave the zoo. His biggest concern was a hair cut appt. he could have had at 3 that we knew we wouldn't make so we had changed it...it totally robbed him of a good day. So concerned with the hair prior to a few days camping among my dad and nephews...what is up with that?! So, Big Daddy and I finally accepted - He's just not that into zoo....get it? Oh, you know, the movie that is out...He's just not that into you...oh...it was funny to me :)
The little girls had a blast! The weather was perfect, the view was good. They both managed fairly equal time upon Big Daddy's shoulders. I would say Hope is at the most fantastic age for the zoo...she could have stayed all day and never had a thought about being bored, tired or hungry. She was making comments and asking all kinds of questions. We will be taking her back soon...solo or with Love. She wasn't thrilled about touching anything just yet. She most liked the giraffes. Interesting. Love enjoyed the snacks far more than the animals but she did like to watch the animals in movement. She could have passed on watching the lion and lioness sleep or the pig or the deer, well, they were all pretty well napping. Faith, she had to have her cell phone out...snapping photos of the animals and sending them to friends...or maybe she was texting the elephants. She and the friends always manage to text as they stand 5 feet away from one another. That drives me nuts...but that is a whole different subject.
That evening we went to dinner for Chinese food...Love loves Panda E*press so we had dinner there to celebrate one year of LOVE! Have I told y'all lately how much we treasure this beautiful blessing of ours? Oh, I have? Good, then we are all caught up :)
One Year Ago Today
Faith with her BFF Brooke after the game Sunday
See those two lovely white bags of trash? Well, they are ours. And yes, I normally put them inside another stronger black bag. But, we are out and I haven't visited WM this week. Do you see the birds...there was an entire swarm of them overhead.
Terrific coffee, delicious food, excellent company...
