Getting Tian

What an amazing year we've had together as a family! Exactly one year ago today, Stephen and I met our beautiful baby girl in an orange furry shirt... this girl who has become the apple of our eyes and has us wrapped tightly around each finger and toe! Tian is a gift of God's grace to us, a gift that we are thankful for every moment of the day.

Tian loves to watch the two minute snippet of the "Gotcha Day" moment that Stephen has saved for us on a DVD. She watches and says, "Ti!" and then as we meet she says, "Mama!" Little does she know how sacred that moment was - the moment a life-long tapestry flipped over and we saw the beauty of the other side. Seldom do we witness the amazing artistry of God's providence in a moment! But that was it for me!

Tonight I was reading with Tian before she went to sleep. We read the usual three books: Papa Get the Moon for Me, Mama Mama Papa Papa, and Elmo Loves Me. We prayed together and then Tian was unusually giddy instead of winding down. So we sang silly songs I've made up using some of her favorite words like "pop" or "Ti" or "ZIZI". She just laughed and sang for a few minutes after I had zoned out with her in my lap. Then she said, "Nigh-night" and went to sleep in my lap. And that is how it is to live with the sweetest little creature in our world.

We plan to celebrate our year as a family this weekend with a trip to an Asian restaurant in town. Stephen has started Mandarin classes and had class tonight. (We're hoping he learns a new line of Chinese during the semester instead of just, "May I have a Coke please?") Our gift to Tian will be some groceries for her kitchen, including some Chinese food of course.

And Happy Chinese New Year, January 29th!