Regan's First Thanksgiving!

Regan loved her first Thanksgiving! My grandparents and my aunt, uncle, and cousin came down and we had a blast! I have to back track a little and tell a story that happened at a Chinese restaurant.

We went on Tuesday night, because my mom and I just couldn't bear the thought of cooking. We went in and ate and then while we waited for Konnor to finish my ice cream, we played with Regan and her doll. My back was to the door, but my mom said there were several of the employees who were laughing at Regan and her make believe with her doll. We have gone to this particular Chinese restaurant a couple of times before and they have never reacted to Regan being Chinese (unlike the other restaurant where they all try to hold her). So, we ate our meal and on they way out there were four or five workers sitting at a table. They stopped and wanted to chit chat, asking about Regan, how old she is, how long she has been in the US, where she was born, etc, etc. After a couple of minutes, several more employees came out to talk with Regan. In the end, the boss had picked out a toy for her and one of the men presented her with a stuffed Santa. It was just so thoughtful! My mom had seen the man pick out the Santa, but didn't realize they were waiting for us to walk by to give it to Regan. How nice, and this particular man is always so strict looking, I didn't know he had such a soft inside! It was a nice start to the holiday!

Wednesday night, we had to hand bell in our church's Thanksgiving Eve service and my grandparents and Konnor watched Regan. They all had a great time! She is so loved and she reciprocates all that love!

On Thanksgiving, we ate lots of food! Regan wasn't that into the turkey, but she doesn't eat alot of meat anyway. She prefers fruits and vegetables and will eat her weight in cauliflower, green beans, corn on the cob, and cantaloupe. We then did lots of shopping, although we went late on Friday because I can not bear the thought of fighting crowds! My grandparents left on Saturday morning and we went Christmas tree shopping today.

Regan was not sure of the tree picking and when she is in a new situation, she has this very stoic look on her face and will not smile for anything. She also does this when she meets new people, and I have to swear that she really does know how to smile! The chainsaw kind of threw her for a loop and she didn't really care what tree we picked out!

Regan's First "Official" Hair Cut

For some time Regan's hair has been driving me bonkers. It was very uneven on the back of her head where she had alot of short hair from where the orphanage had shaved her head. You could tell that right over the back she rubbed her head back and forth and caused alot of hair loss. When she first came home she would rub her head back and forth on the bed or carseat when she was upset. Her hair was thicker on top then it was on the bottom. Her hair was looking "poozly" as I call it. My problem was, "who in the world would be able to give her a hair cut when she doesn't sit still for more than one minute"? I figured she would freak out sitting in a salon chair. Today, I sat and looked at her hair and couldn't deal with it anymore. So, I had the brilliant (said sarcastically) idea that I would just cut it myself. Now, why did I think this? I'm not a hair dresser. I have never cut a head of hair in my life, if you don't count her bang trims that I do as she runs past me. I removed the back of her high chair and created a salon in the living room.

My plan was just to trim a little bit and then if it was an absolute disaster I would call my hairdresser (who I haven't seen since before China, but then we'll tackle my hair another day). Problem number one was that she turned her head during one of my first cuts and about two inches of hair fell off. So my brilliant plan just went down the toilet because now she doesn't have enough hair to salvage a hair cut unless we give her a buzz cut. Oh, well I thought, it will grow back and I proceeded to do the best I could.

The good news is that her hair already looks healthier. The bad news is that I had to take off about two inches and it is WAY shorter than I would have liked. I thought she would look cute with a bob, but she looks like a little boy! Luckily, I can dress it up with hairbows and her hair grows pretty quick. I'll let it grow a little and next time probably not push my luck and I'll let a hairdresser cut her hair!

Another Fun Week!

Referral Day Anniversary

One year ago today, I got the most wonderful phone call of my life. At 6 in the morning, I half heartedly checked the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs website and saw that my log in date had been included in the batch of matched children. I was elated. I remember screaming and calling my mom and yelling, "I'm in, I'm in!!!". I then anxiously carried my phone around with me all day and at 1 o'clock in the afternoon my caller id said "Lifelink". I answered the phone giddy with excitement and my social worker, Jennifer said, "Are you ready for me to change your life?". I was so excited I couldn't stop giggling as I quickly pulled over the car into some stranger's yard in order to take notes and concentrate on the phone call.

I found out that there was a little girl named Nan Zi Yun who was waiting for me at the Maoming Social Welfare Institute (orphanage) in Guangdong Pronvince, People's Republic of China. I knew she was born on January 16, 2006. That was about all I found out that day. I was so thrilled! I ran into my next school and told one of the teachers, "I'm a mommy!". It was amazing.

The following day, on the third of November, I drove with my mom and Konnor up to Sarasota to Lifelink's office to see pictures of my baby girl. She was and is so beautiful. It is amazing to look at a picture and know that that is your daugther. To know that she is halfway around the world and has no idea how her life is going to change. To then know that there is a little baby who is your daughter, whom you have never met, not knowing how loved she is by people who have never seen her.

So, this is the anniversay of one of the best days of my life. I look at her now (as she is trying to fit into her plastic toy shopping cart, not successfully, I must say) and am so amazed I am so blessed to be her mommy.