Happy Birthday, Daddy - how old are you anyway?

Mommy:  YiLi, how old do you think Daddy will be on his birthday?
YiLi:         80?
Mommy:  (giggle a tiny bit) Not that many . . .
YiLi:         70?
Mommy:   Daddy will be 53! How old do you think Mommy will be?
YiLi:         something around 40 (that's my girl!)

Today we were talking about when all of our birthdays are. Daddy's is tomorrow, Sam's is May 25 (I wish we were together for his 6th birthday!), Grandma Grace's is May 27. I told YiLi that hers is in March, mine is in January, and Brittany's is next month in June.

Then I couldn't resist . . .

Mommy:  How old do you think Brittany will be?
YiLi:        30?

(Brittany will be 20!)

Yes, folks, I am 40 and my bio daughter is 30! 

Seriously, I am so thankful to be right here, right now, for such a time as this! Yes, I remember my younger days. I was blessed then, also. But I remember being much more preoccupied with things such as looks, clothes, trips, etc. Now we are just so thankful that God has blessed us with the privilege of being parents again (me) or for the first time (Rick).

For years we have planned a trip to London, England. My husband in particular has ALWAYS wanted to go there. But God had another plan, and I am thankful for a husband who releases a dream of a lifetime in exchange for hearing the still small voice of God to make room in our hearts and home for our children in China (number yet undetermined . . .).

So where do we go on "vacation"? Why, China, of course - can't wait!

Mother's Day came early at our house!

So many precious mom relationships . . . there's my mom and I, from my earliest memory on. Then there's Brittany and me for the last nineteen years. Now here comes my first Mother's Day with our beloved YiLi in our family, a special blessing I wouldn't have forecasted five years ago, that's for sure! God has blessed us mightily, and I give Him honor and praise for bringing us together.
And then there are all the mixtures, for lack of a better word, of all these people I love when they come together. Here are some examples of what I mean:

How did my Mother's Day come early? In a million different moments, that's how! Brittany came home from her first year of college today. We had fun cleaning the car together, yep, that's right, just pal-ing around! Then we came inside and I went to the piano so that YiLi could surprise Brittany with her song for her recital on May 21st - Do Re Mi from the Sound of Music. As YiLi finished her first verse and came into the second, all the sudden I heard my two girls singing the song together! It was a special mom moment - more special than any store-bought gift could be.

My mother is becoming quite frail lately. She rarely leaves her house, but last evening was YiLi's first grade concert on the stage at school. At great effort to herself, my Mom was there at that concert. She has always been there for me and she is still trying to be there for YiLi. It just doesn't get much better than this. Well, that is, until Sam comes home . . . so stay tuned for Mother's Day 2013!

"I can't believe I did it! I made a tree . . ."

It's been a while since I've posted! YiLi has really progressed in her talking - let's just say she talks a lot! I know some have mentioned that it's hard for their children to develop their imagination - but I think being an only child in a foster home that cherished her helped out a lot!

For a while we played together - then I slipped over to the piano to play. After a bit Yili exclaimed, over and over . . ."I can't believe I did it, I just can't believe I did it!" I went running over and she showed me that she had made (to the left of her castle) , wait for it . . . A TREE! So here it is:

She was so proud!!!

YiLi has started her voice lessons, and her first recital will be near the end of May. She will sing "Shall We Gather By the River" with the following words:

Shall we gather at the river
where bright angel feet have trod?
With its crstal tide foreever
Flowing by the throne of God . . .

Yes! We'll gather at the river,
the beautiful, the beautiful river!
Gather with the saints at the river,
that flows by the throne of God.

Some day we will gather at the river! We'll see all our loved ones who have gone before us, and most of all Jesus face to face! I thought it was rather an odd first song for her teacher to choose, but I can see now how her grandmothers and many others will appreciate the meaning of the song, and will be so proud of her being able to say and sing all those words!

Here's a cute little story: Last weekend YiLi and I drove up to Edinboro to see Brittany at college. We went out to dinner with Brittany and her boyfriend Dominic, and when we came out, right outside was French Creek, flowing pretty briskly. We walked right down to the edge and I asked YiLi if she would sing her song for Britt and Dom, and she did! It was just a little moment!

I'll close with some pics:

Sisters being goofy!

New jammies, new glasses, a "Beauty" day!

What a great day we had!

We went to YiLi's first movie ever! Beauty and the Beast ! She talked and talked and talked (I mean to say this girl talked) right up until the movie started. I wasn't sure she knew she had to be quiet during the film. I didn't want to stifle her laugh, just her words! Anyway, I think people were touched by her innocent and sweet sounding giggle! We shared a giant popcorn and she loved it! She is usually very restrained regarding snacks, but she definitely kept up with us!

Then we shopped for a few things YiLi "needed" - sandals and jammies:

On the way home, we sang songs to each other, and this time YiLi could tell us what the Chinese songs were about! Of course, Daddy sang Beatles songs, YiLi sang what we think was the Chinese National Anthem, so, yeah, Rick and I had to follow with "The Star Spangled Banner". Let's just say that I'm sure glad nobody else was in the car!
Halfway home we saw what appeared to be pink stars in the sky - about 15 of them. Just when I was starting to ask myself if there really are UFO's, we approached the launching site. They looked to be some kind of lanterns that were being set off. YiLi could not see all of them but as we got closer, she saw at least one!

Nobody got spit on at this birthday party!

Here are some shots of YiLi's birthday party. The weather was unseasonably warm! I apologize if I missed anyone in these pictures - I did my best! Look at this alpaca's teeth! Did you know alpacas only have lower teeth, and they have a type of paws rather than hooves, so they really are defenseless animals. They are guarded by Anatolian Shepherd dogs from Turkey.

These are very gentle animals. They are all girls, and the family has named every single one, and they are filled with personality! The sure did like to eat grass!

I don't know which was cuter, the kids or the baby alpacas!

Yes, it's true, when God decided to brighten our world, he brought our daughter YiLi to us. Happy eighth birthday, YiLi Rebecca Smedley! We love ya!

Our budding artist . . .

Happy Birthday, YiLi!

Pictures to follow, but exciting news can't wait! YiLi will turn 8 on Sunday. We have been home a little over 3 months already! Big sister Brittany, home for spring break, surprised YiLi in her classroom yesterday with her bitrhday treat of cookies and milk. She was so excited to see her walk in. The teacher, Mrs. Funk, is one of YiLi's favorite people EVER, and when Brittany had her it was the same way. I know Mrs. Funk had a lot of fun yesterday, too!

YiLi got to choose 8 friends who got to say something nice about her and give her a hug! Someone said that she worked very quietly and was a hard worker. Joanna and Xuelian Dell - this is for you - someone said that she dresses really cute! (All we do is that she picks her own shirt color, we pair it with jeans (matching flowers if possible) and then we add all the hair bows that also match). Joanna gave us all of Xuelian's clothes that she had outgrown, and we remain thankful for that!

More awesome news is that YiLi actually passed the PSSA test! I wish I had details of that but that's about all I know. I promise to post pictures as soon as Brittany gives me her camera!

YiLi's views on church and Christmas . . .

So YiLi told Gramma last week that once upon a time there was a little baby. His name Jesus. Then Christmas came.  Yep, she's starting to get it . . .

Here is her creation of church (with no help from us):

You can see the pews, right? The orange crayon is "Mr. Bubbles".  The three at the front are the musicians. Strawberry Shortcake. that would be me on piano! Just to let you know the two birds near the back (behind the dinosaur) got in trouble for sleeping at church! And thing one and thing two at the front - I didn't understand what their role was, something about raising their one hand and then their two hand.

And I know this is off subject, but here are some pictures of our week:

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess from Mrs. Funk (YiLi's teacher) and YiLi, a lazy Saturday morning at the Smedley's, and YiLi being her usual goofy self trying to put my jacket on while she was sitting in her chair!