One Year - I can't believe it!

I really just can't believe that it has been a year already. One year ago today Malia and I met for the first time and became a family. In celebration of this moment we enjoyed a special day together - just the two of us.





First, I gave Malia her special Forever Family gifts. The first item was a silver toddler bell bracelet that I bought on the adoption trip. The other item was a new outfit for her Bitty Baby. Her first reaction to the presents was to say that "it isn't my birthday". So I explained that this is a special Malia day. Her next question was "can I open"? It was so cute.



Then we went a place we both enjoy... the Mall of America. It was Toddler Tuesday so we got to meet Curious George, go on about 20 rides, and had a wonderful lunch at American Girl. Tonight we had a nice dinner at home, read Curious George books, and are watching Ni Hao, Kai Lan. We were excited today to see that the Nick stores at MOA now carry Ni Hao tee shirts. It is the first item we have seen based on this show. It was great to spend quality time together without the rush and stress of everyday life.















On Saturday morning we had some quiet time so I pulled out the video from forever family day. Malia was funny watching it. Her first question was where is Malia (it was before she was brought into the room). Once she came in a year ago, she cried for a minute or two. She asked me why she was crying and why the other kids were crying so I explained how she was probably a little scared since she didn't really know Mommy yet. Then she noticed the stuffed dog that I send her and brought the second one with me on that day. When she realized it was her dog she had to stop the video and go get her dog. She was called out that Grandma was there and asked where Grandpa is. I told her he was taking the video and laughed because he talked on the video about then and she told me "see there is Grandpa" like I was the one confused. It was nice to watch part of it with her to see her reaction and help talk about the adoption. It is hard to know that I took her away from China but we were definitely meant to be together. Happy Forever Family Malia!!!!