The Girls are Going to Have a New Sister!

Yes, we are in the process of bringing home another daughter from China and Mia and Anna are both so excited. They saw her picture and Anna said, "We have to get her!" She is turning 14 on November 24, 2012 and will no longer be adoptable by China law so we will need to have the adoption finalized before then. We were DTC on April 22, 2012. We are now waiting on the next approval called LOA. This takes 2 or 3 months from DTC. I have included a picture of Lin Xiuyong (see below). We are thinking of calling her Karli but the girls like the name Macy.

This is a recent picture of Xiuyong.

Mia Turns 13!

We can't believe how much Mia has grown over the last year and a half. She had a milestone birthday on April 12th. She turned 13. We explained to her that she is now a teenager. Oh yea, I also had to explain what to expect as she becomes a young lady. Since both Mia and Anna talk to each other so much I knew I better tell them both. Anna sat in horror as I explained just the part about needing a pad. Not sure if I will ever tell them about having little ones of their own until they are at least thirty. Doesn't that sound about right to you?
When we were still in China we had met some friends who are missionaries. Their family had lived in China for the past 10 years and so they new Mandarin Chinese. One of their daughters, Joy, who was in her twenties had sat the girls down to ask them a question that I wanted to know. That was if Mia had started yet. Once Joy was finished talking to them, she concluded with certainty that Mia hadn't and also didn't know what it was. She said Anna piped in and said that she new what a period was and went on to explain, "first you go in the bathroom, then you get a band-aid, then you put it on your arm where you are bleeding. Then you shut off the light and close the bathroom door." Joy was right about then not knowing anything. Now we wait for that shining moment.
Here is a pic of Mia when she was just a baby. She is with a caregiver.