A Few Pics From Briana Day

Sadly Doug had to work all day yesterday, so it was just me and Bri hanging out until dinner time. We had a wonderful "girls shopping day". When Bri woke up in the morning, I gave her an extra large Princess Ariel beach towel as her gift for our gotcha/forever family day. Unconventional - probably. Absolutely loved by an almost three year old - most definitely. I have a couple of items that I bought in China that I am holding on to for future family day anniversaries. Ones I think Briana will appreciate more when she is older. For now, she was thrilled with her extra large Princess Ariel beach towel.

Here is my happy girl hugging "pink baby." We were ready to head out for the day.

After some shopping, we stopped at Atl Bread Co for sandwiches and soup. Briana was very happy with her PB&J and cookie.


After Briana's nap (yay she napped!), we met Doug for dinner at one of our favorite steakhouses. I tried to get a nice pic of Daddy and Bri but she wasn't having it.

Sometimes I can't believe Briana has been in our lives for two whole years. She's awesome.

Two Years Ago Today...

...our beautiful daughter was placed in our arms.

Briana was so tiny, hot and terrified that day. I was terrified too. Sadly, I didn't recognize Briana when they first handed her to me. From across the room, I actually thought another little girl in the group was Briana because she looked more like Briana's referral photo than Briana did on that day. Bri had pale white skin in her photo but it was more brown in person. Her hair looked so dark in her referral photo but was a lighter brown in person. She was covered in mosquito bites and sweat. And she was so unbelievably small for an almost twelve month old child.

When the woman handed Bri to me, Bri looked at me puzzled. Then she started to scream. Through the screams, I looked at her and saw that this was the beautiful baby girl in the photo that I had been clinging on to for weeks. Her nose, her eyes, her eyebrows, her mouth. She was definitely my baby. She screamed on and off for a half and hour at the registration office. Doug and I passed her back and forth to try to comfort her. We finally walked Briana into an empty conference room and let her look out a large window. It was the only thing that stopped her crying. She needed to be removed from all the commotion and activity going on in order to calm down. Not until we got back in the bus and I gave her a bottle did we realize how hungry she was on top of being hot, terrified and exhausted.

Here are a few pictures from that wonderful, terrifying day...



Though our "gotcha" moment was not exactly how we envisioned it, it was still one of the most wonderful, joyous moments of our lives. Briana truly is our miracle.

Over these last two years, she has brought more sunshine, giggles and happiness into our lives than we could ever have imagined.

The Gift of Life

I didn't give you the gift of life,
But in my heart I know.
The love I feel is deep and real,
As if it had been so.

For us to have each other
Is like a dream come true.
No, I didn't give you the gift of life,
Life gave me the gift of you!

-unknown

This is our family today...




And, today is also the 3rd anniversary of my blog. Waiting For/Life With Briana has been in blogland for 3 years. Briana Day occurred exactly one year after I started it!

Quilt Square Update!

Yippee! I have eight more quilt squares for Briana's quilt! I'm on a roll people!

This fabric is from Briana's 1 year old cousin Noah (with a little help from his mama/my sister). He is the little monkey in our family!

And this beautiful, special fabric is from my sister and brother-in-law. This fabric will remind Briana to always reach for the stars.

This fun heart fabric was picked out by my grandmother. She has Alzheimer's Disease, but she still picked out this fabric and wrote a beautiful wish for Briana on her own. It is very special.

This super cute koala bear fabric is from the one and only and soon-to-be mama Miss Fliss!

And here is another adorable monkey fabric! This is from my friend Becky and her family. Her daughter Charis (also born in China) was born in the year of the monkey. Becky and I "met" through the same adoption agency. I really hope to meet her in person one day!

This sweet ladybug and dragonfly fabric is from my friend and bloggy bash pal Special K! Also a waiting mama!

This shiny red fabric is from a blog follower of mine Tracey and her family. We have sent a few e-mails back and forth now and she is such a sweet person!

Lastly, this adorable butterfly fabric is from Briana's Dianjiang SWI sister, Leah. Her mom Amy helped her pick out the fabric.

I have 38 squares in hand now, and I have one that will be contributed by the person that is going to put Bri's quilt together for me. It will be a secret until I get the quilt back! So I have a total of 39 squares!

Farewell To Princess Camp

It started out a little rough, but it was worth every penny. Briana had the best time at princess camp, and I enjoyed getting to see two short recitals at the end of each week. Briana had a great time with friends Katherine, Emily Grace and Elizabeth.

"We are princesses, we are princesses, yes we are!"

Below, you will see Ms. Cathy asking Briana what she wants to be when she grows up. Bri starts to giggle because Briana is just silly like that . Ms. Cathy asks if Bri wants to be a teacher. She says "no." Ms. Cathy lists a few more professions to which Briana also says "no." Finally Briana looks at all the mommies and says, "I'm gonna be Briana." Heh - that's my kid. You know how some people can just go by one name in their careers...Cher, Madonna, Mariah, etc. I have a feeling we are going to add "Briana" to that list one day.

All this dance prep is so exhausting...

They are ready for their "Bibbity Bobbity Bo" number.





My princess...



The Beauty and the Beast Dance



We Are Princesses



I'm so proud of my baby girl.

And these are the crafts Bri made this week. The flower was a gift from Gramma who joined me for Briana's recital.

Farewell Dance Camp. It's been fun!

China Bound - Two Years Ago Today

Two years ago today, Doug and I boarded a plane that took us to the other side of the world to meet our daughter. It was a trip that changed our lives forever.

For anyone that has not seen our China Travel Video including Briana's Gotcha Day, visit www.gotchadayvideo.com. Clicking "Medium" is the best way to view it.

She's Come A Long Way

Briana has come such a long way in gymnastics this year. We started in the "Mommy & Me" class and now she has moved up two more levels into the 3 year old class that starts the first week in August.

Remember this face last August?

What a stinker. Do you remember that she tried to kill me that first class? If you don't remember, click here to refresh your memory.

Today, Briana's teacher Ms. Jennifer was on vacation and the two other little girls in her class didn't show, so Briana had her own private lesson. This was Briana's last class of the summer. She starts with a new teacher Ms. Pam in two weeks. Briana's fill-in teacher today was Ms. Ann, and Bri took to her instantly. I watched Briana closely and was amazed at how much she has improved in just one year. Below is the infamous foam pit Briana loved her very first class. Yeah, the one she jump into over and over again. It was fitting that Ms. Ann told her to cross it a few times today.

Look at my girl. She loves gymnastics so much. I swear she smiles the entire class every week. She smiles all the time doing just about everything in life really. Her smile makes me smile. It makes the whole world smile...

A Few More "Firsts"

What a beautiful, lazy Sunday we are having here in sunny GA. The high today is 83! In July! Amazing. It was too pretty to sit inside this morning, so we headed outside.

Here is Briana drawing her very first hopscotch.

Looks pretty good to me...

And she enjoyed the one mommy made too.

She had another first too. Her first ice cream from the ice cream truck! We heard the jingles in the distance, I ran and grabbed the last few bucks from my wallet, and we headed outside.

Where is that truck already?

Here it comes!

I remember so many of these treats from my childhood. I don't remember those prices though. ;)

Hmmm, it is so hard to pick.

So excited!!!

And what did she pick??? Spongebob. All those treats and she picks Spongebob. We don't even watch that cartoon. I took one lick of it to sample and it was so sweet. Yikes!!!

She loved it though.

Of course Bri also rode her bike today...

And did her diva thing.

Now Miss B is napping. I love lazy Sundays!