Monday, July 04, 2011

Happy Birthday Hannah! (Continued)

We started telling you about Hannah's birthday in the last post, but the celebration didn't end there.  This was our first birthday with Hannah; so, we wanted it to be special.  Circumstances didn't allow us to do one big party; so, we celebrated several times over the whole month.  Our friend Linda Bidez always says that you shouldn’t just celebrate your birthday for only a day, you should celebrate for the whole month!  Hannah came close to doing just that.  It has been a special time for a special little girl who is a special gift from God to brighten our lives with smiles and laughter and fill our hearts with love and joy.   It has been a joy to watch Hannah grow over the past year.  We know that she is fearfully and wonderfully made and that all the days ordained for her were written in God's book before one of them came to be.  We thank God for her life and for ordaining that she should spend her days and years with us.

Here are some of the hightlights of the month with photos.

Below is a picture of Hannah opening her gift from Grandma.  It was a big hit with a cute dress and a “Pollybook,” Hannah’s name for Polly Pocket.  (I guess she is associating it with the word pocketbook?) 




On May 30, which was also the first anniversary of Gotcha Day, we celebrated with David’s family, and had some of Hannah’s favorite foods: hamburgers, chips, and cup cakes! Thanks Papa and Grandy for grilling the hamburgers. When I had asked Hannah what kind of cake she wanted, she was very specific: chocolate cupcakes with flowers on them in the colors of yellow, pink, and green with sprinkles on top. Circumstances did not allow Mama to have time to make them; so, Lisa Watson made them for us, and they were beautiful and delicious. Thank you Lisa! They were perfect and you are an angel. As usual, Hannah said, “I just want to eat the frosting,” and so she did. She was adventurous and tried eating ice cream, but decided that she still doesn’t like it. It’s too cold, and it had “things” in it. (We personally really like having chunks of chocolate in our ice cream, but it was too much for Hannah.)


Hannah enjoyed opening all of her gifts. Here she is sitting in her new rocking chair holding her new “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See” book and wearing her new pink squeaky shoes. She has enjoyed them and the other items she got, but nothing has pleased her more than the squeaky shoes. She would wear them everywhere if we let her. Papa let her wear them to church one Wednesday night, but Mama drew the line there so that Hannah’s teachers don’t go crazy. Thank you Tammy and Jim for going to so much trouble to find them and bring them home from China!


Duchess enjoyed the birthday too. She got to chase and shred balls of wrapping paper. (You can see her in the background in the picture below.)  She also had great fun stalking Hannah’s shoes because she thinks that anything that squeaks must be her toy.  Hannah doesn't really like it though.


Finally, Aunt Hazel, Aunt Harriet and Cousin Jodi came to visit and bring more gifts. We often hear the book singing off in another room as Hannah “reads” it, and she loves dressing the dolls over and over. Since Hannah still likes dressing up, she enjoys wearing the lady bug dress Aunt Hazel gave her (which is pictured below).



A few days after this, Hannah got a package in the mail from her friend Maya Lulu.  Maya and Hannah were freinds and lived in the same room in the orphanage in China.  Now she lives with her new family in Michigan.  Thank you, Maya, for the Olivia doll and a Forever Friends Olivia T-shirt!


What a great birthday month!  Thank you to everyone who made it such a special time for Hannah!

2 comments:

Pruiksma's Progress said...

Hey Lois!!
My friend Debbie from church said she ran into you at a store!! How wild!! She says you are adopting again!! I need details!!! We are just waiting!! Our paperwork is with CIS right now so waiting waiting we will do!! Look forward to hearing from you!!!
LeighAnn

Pruiksma's Progress said...

hey I have a new email davidandleighann@gmail.com!