5 Months Since Gotcha & Happy New Year 2008

On December 30, we will have had Briana in our lives for 5 whole months, and it keeps getting better and better...

I honestly cannot say that I am happy to see the year 2007 come to an end. Usually, I am ready to just get on to the next year with a fresh new perspective - always hoping that the new year will bring me a child. Well, 2007 was our year. Finally our year. After celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary, Doug and I received our referral for Jiang Ai Juan and flew to the other side of the world to become first time parents. Talk about wonderful and scary stuff! Briana is our dream that finally came true...

But the year 2007 does have to come to an end, and I will look back on it as a very happy and fulfilling year for Doug, Briana and me. I am looking so forward to seeing what 2008 will bring!

One very sad note for 2007 was that so many of my blog buddies and friends did not bring their daughters home this year. Just know that my heart is heavy for you, and I hope and pray each day that 2008 will be YOUR year. Happy New Year everyone!

This video pretty much sums up what Briana has brought to Doug's and my life. Get ready 2008 - here we come!

Daddy's Little Girl

Doug and Briana have the best time together. She is definitely daddy's little girl! This clip from Christmas Day just makes me smile!

Merry Christmas!

Today was so amazing. I hope all of you had a wonderful and magical day too. Merry Christmas!

Briana and Chani Meet For The First Time

Doug, Briana and I got a wonderful Christmas present yesterday! We got to meet Miss Chani! Chani is so amazingly adorable and such a beauty (and she let me hold her which I am so excited about!). Don't Briana and Chani look like they could be sisters in the first picture?

I wasn't sure if Matt and Kathy would be up to having us come over to visit this soon, but Kathy said they were ready when we were! So we brought over some food and spent a fun evening together. Chani was fascinated with Briana and vice versa, and Briana once again proceeded to take out, play with, and then scatter every toy that Kathy owns on the floor (Hurricane Briana strikes again!). It was wonderful seeing the girls together finally, and the proud parents were beaming! What a beautiful family they are!

Here is a slide show of our evening and directly under that, Doug put together a video of the girls pretending to be Taz (from Looney Toons). Oh - and make sure you check out the end of the video, Kathy's tree spins and Briana is sitting under it.

Joy and Appreciation

Christmas is going to be at my house this year, and my parents brought over a few gifts on Thursday in advance so they wouldn't have to bring everything over on Christmas Day (just remember my parents are first time grandparents!). While they were visiting, we decided to do the traditional "standing in front of the tree" pictures!

I have to say that I sometimes can't believe Briana is actually here with us at Christmas. It feels so surreal. There were so many times I thought it would never happen for us - having a child. But it has happened. It is the most amazing experience, and I am enjoying and appreciating every single second of it.

UGA Christmas Shirt

These pics are for Aunt Amy and Uncle Andy - they bought this shirt for Briana (Andy is a UGA alumnus). Doug is a Notre Dame fan (even though they royally stunk this year), so there was a slight protest on his part (Ha!). But cuteness won out!

Thanks Amy and Andy!

Busy Few Days With Friends

Boy, we have been busy! Thursday, my friend Miranda and her two sons, Jacob and Dylan, came over to my house to meet Briana for the first time! It was so great seeing her and seeing her boys - I cannot believe how much they have grown!

Then Thursday night, we met Amy & Kevin and their son Garrett (friends, neighbors and fellow China adopters) for some yummy Mexican food and good company. Garrett gave Briana the cutest little butterfly book for Christmas. Briana loves it - thanks Garrett!

Friday, I actually got my hair cut. Nothing drastic, but enough to get the layers back in my hair. (I don't think letting my hair grow down to my rear is a good look for me.) Doug was working from home, so I took advantage of the situation. I can't tell you how good it felt to get an actual haircut! Nice!

Saturday, we met Georgia and Jeff (friends and fellow China adopters) for dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse. Gosh, those steaks were yummy!!! We had a great time! Georgia and Jeff are going to get their referral in about three weeks. I am SO excited for them! I will be stalking their blog come January!

Here are a few pictures of the visit with Jacob and Dylan...

Briana and Her Yarmulke

Here are some pictures taken the night we celebrated Hanukkah with my dad. First we ate at a delicious Italian restaurant and then headed back to the house to light the candles. And yes - my mom found a small yarmulke for Briana to wear that night. Isn't it so cute?

Christmas Challenge

I finally took pictures of my tree to post! Catherine sent out the challenge a few weeks ago to take pictures of our Christmas trees (I am slightly behind). I decided to post pictures of Briana's stocking and stocking holder too. I think it is so darn cute!

My cherished Briana ornament.

Picture of my tree. Sorry it is a little blurry...my camera has been giving me a fit!

Tree up close so you can see all the branches.

Our stockings...Asia's, Doug's, mine and now Briana's.

Merry Christmas everybody!

All Smiles

I love these two people so much. I just have to say it...

Gotcha!

They have her! Congrats Matt and Kathy on Gotcha Day! Welcome beautiful Chani!

Friendships Come and Friendships Go

With the year 2007 coming to a close soon and now that Briana is home with me, I have been doing a lot of reflecting on my journey to Briana. And one of the things I have reflected on is my friendships. My dear friend Debra (who I have been friends with since the 4th grade and got to chat on the phone with today) forwarded this e-mail to me the other day. It really touched me.

"You might be best friends one year,
Pretty good friends the next year,
Don't talk that often the next year,
And don't want to talk at all the year after that.
So, I just wanted to say,
You are special to me
and you have made a difference in my life.

I look up to you, respect you, and truly cherish you."

Through my fertility/adoption/post adoption-new mommy journey, I found out who my friends were. Those people who would stick by me through thick and thin. I also made so many new, wonderful friends. Many of those friendships I believe will last a lifetime. I felt lonely during my fertility struggle (often times limiting my contact with those who had young children because it was just so hard on me), and though I had some amazing friends, most of them had not gone through what I had been going through. When I chose to adopt, my whole life changed. I found people with a common goal and similar experiences - a major support system. I also found blogland! And when I got my referral and finally brought Briana home, I felt so much love - from everyone. It was actually overwhelming. And lo and behold, now I can finally relate to my friends who have children. It has been a wonderful experience.

Unfortunately during my long journey, I have had a few friendships dwindle as well. Due to different circumstances and situations, the friendships just...changed. And though some of these relationships are not completely gone, they are different/strained - not the same or as easy as they used to be. I have learned (and am still learning) that friendship can fade - sometimes you know the reasons why and many times you don't. No matter what, it hurts. A blog buddy of mine said on her blog a while back, "There are people that come into your life for a reason. We may never know why - and I don't think I will question it. I will cherish memories that will forever make me smile and giggle." Perfectly said...

I don't like to lose friendships, but it happens - whether it is my choice or not or whether I understand it or not. It is sad when you share very special moments in your life with someone, and then turn around one day and feel like you are talking to a stranger. My opinion is that friendship should come fairly easily. If you find you are working too hard to keep a friendship going or find you are getting hurt by it, then maybe it isn't meant to be. I am the type of person to dwell and fret (and I mean dwell and fret) on what I could have done differently to keep a friendship from ending. But deep down, I know both sides have to want to make it work. Gosh I have the hardest time letting go. When I make a friend, I want that friendship to last forever. I love my friends. I honestly do. Losing friends sucks. Period.

That is why I liked the e-mail so much. I could really relate to it. So to my friends (whether you are a past friend or present friend) and to everyone who follows my blog, thank you for all of your support, encouragement and kinds words during this entire process. Thank you for touching my life.

Friday Bullets

So much to say, so I thought I would try this bullet thing today!

*Tonight, Doug, Briana and I are going over to my parents' house for dinner tonight to celebrate Chanukah with my dad. Briana will be watching Grandpa light the menorah for the first time tonight! Happy Chanukah!

*Kathy and Matt made it to China! They get Chani on December 10th and I am so excited for them!

*I still have so much to do for Christmas. From decorating the house to shopping to wrapping gifts - I have so much to do. How am I supposed to get it all done with an active 16 month old under foot? Any suggestions?! :)

*Wednesday, my mom, my sister, Briana and I headed to the mall for a ladies day out. We had tons of fun. I did manage to get a few gifts, but I still have work to do. The mall has a carousel, and for years I would look at that carousel and dream of the day I could take my child on it. Well, Wednesday I did...

*My friend Miranda and her two boys are coming over to my house next week to visit and meet Briana. I can't wait!

*And finally, I just want to say I love being a mom. It is the toughest job I have ever had in my whole life and I am pretty dang tired. Really dang tired. There are days when Briana just wears me out. But when she hugs and kisses me and just smiles at me, everything is right with the world. It's true love...

Visit With Santa Claus

I have to admit I was nervous about the visit with Santa today. Was Briana going to scream? Cry? Zone out? Well, none of the above! She was great! Now, I am not saying she loved the whole experience. I would say she tolerated it. As Doug and my parents looked on, I slowly walked Briana over to see Santa, and she grabbed on to me so tight. Basically she was letting me know that she was not thrilled about this. I sat her on his lap and she reached for me a couple of times but sat long enough for this shot. It is a half smile, but it is a smile! I'll take it!

16 Months Old

My baby girl is 16 months old today...

Chattanooga - Aquarium and Parade

Saturday, Doug, Briana and I headed up to Chattanooga, TN to meet my friend Carole, her husband Jim and son Guy for the annual Christmas parade. Carole has asked me for years to join her for this, and unfortunately, Doug and I have not been able to go until now. Gosh I am so glad we went! It was so much fun!

We got to Chattanooga about 3PM and we were meeting Carole around 5:30, so we decided to check out the aquarium for a little while. I don't know what was going on, but the place was empty! We had the place to ourselves pretty much! I think everyone was watching the Tennessee/LSU game! What was neat was Doug and I just visited the aquarium back in June when we first got our referral and now we were able to Briana with us.

Here is a picture of me at the aquarium back in June and one from now. Pretty neat, huh?

Thank you so much Carole for inviting us to join you, Jim and Guy. We had a blast! Can't wait for next year!

Here are a couple of slide shows!

Cookie Decorating

Yep - this was pretty much what Briana did the whole time Friday morning at Debbie's cookie decorating get together. Eat. This girl can eat. And she especially LOVES cookies. While all the other girls (Maisie, Li Li, Anna and Emma) were frosting, decorating and making beautiful cookies, Briana was simply eating.

Debbie, thank you so much for hosting such a fun morning. All of your treats were delicious!

Here are a few pictures from the day...

Picking Out Our Christmas Tree

Thursday morning, Doug, Briana and I headed down to the tree lot to pick out our Christmas tree. Briana had a ball running all over the lot and touching the trees. Because it was a weekday morning, we pretty much had the place to ourselves!

I am so behind on blogging. Can't do it all right now, so coming up this week...cookie decorating at Deb's, Briana's first parade with my friend Carole and her family, and our decorated Christmas tree!