Happy Gotcha Day, Ellie!!

WOW! A year ago today in China, we were handed our second daughter, and Katie became a big sister! Ning RongRong (aka Ellie) came to us in a big red and yellow snowsuit. She had a buzz cut, and very red cheeks! She cried and cried when she was handed to her new family.
We can't believe it's been a year already! So many changes! When Ellie came to us, she was 13 months old, and weighed only 16 lbs.! She could only sit up if we put her in that position, no crawling or even rolling. She couldn't hold her own bottle, but she could feed herself.
Now, she's your typical 2 year old! She's into everything, can speak in 3 word phrases, loves to color and play with play dough...
We feel so blessed to have these two wonderful daughters! Sometimes we just stare at them in amazement that they're ours!
Here are pictures of Ellie on Gotcha Day and today!

One year ago today...

On this date one year ago, Scott, Katie, Scott's mom and I were on our way to China to meet our new daughter, Ellie. We were very fortunate to be on the same flight as the Cryer family. Katie loved sitting with their girls on the plane, and didn't give us an
"I'm bored" or "are we there yet?" too often! We didn't actually get Ellie until the 17th, so that will be another post!

A date with Daddy!

Scott and Katie attended the Girl Scout Father/Daughter dance on Saturday night. It was a princess theme, so Katie had to borrow a gown from a friend (all of our princess clothes were a size 4)! Thank you Isabelle! Katie had a great time, and her dad didn't even embarrass her!

Happy 7th birthday, Katie!!

We can hardly believe that our baby is 7! Where does the time go?? We celebrated Katie's big day by taking her and 6 friends to her favorite restaurant, Ninja. After that, the girls came over to decorate their own very large piece of cake. We had frosting, sprinkles, pink sparkles... they had a great time! Well, the fun wasn't quite over! Some of the girls went home around 9, and the others stayed for a sleep-over. They watched a movie, ate popcorn, and went to bed really late! Then, at 6:30 am, they ALL came in our room to see if they could watch the rest of the movie from the night before! We politely kicked them out!

HAPPY TO YOU!

That's how Ellie sings Happy Birthday! We celebrated her second birthday today. We had some of her (and our) friends over for pizza, cupcakes and ice cream. We had a lot of fun! Ellie didn't quite understand that you're supposed to blow out the candles with your mouth, not your hands! Hence, the picture with my hands grabbing Ellie! For some reason, the pictures came out backwards, but you get the idea!

First lost tooth!

Katie finally lost her first tooth! (we don't count the one that had to be pulled!)
She was sooooooooooo excited! Can't wait to see what the tooth fairy brings!

Merry Christmas!

Ellie just loved her first Christmas! She was the last one up, and Katie was just dying to get downstairs! She woke up at 3:00, but we convinced her it was way too early! Katie helped Ellie open her presents, but she got the hang of it pretty quickly! Some favorite gifts included dolls for Ellie and Wii for Katie. My parents were here for Christmas, and Scott's parents came on the 27th. We had one day with everyone here, too.