CNY 2015

I love Chinese New Year.

It makes me super emotional, over-joyed, sappy, teary-eyed, and abundantly thankful.

I think about Mina's birth family and mentally obsess over how they are preparing for the big holiday. Wondering what traditions they honor, who does all the cooking, what they're wearing, conversations they have, and deep down I wonder if they think of Mina and what she's doing on this occasion. I fantasize about us all sharing a meal together one day. 

A few weeks before CNY, I usually pull out the suitcase we bought in China and filled with all our Chinese goodies. The silk dresses and outfits for the girls are by far one of my favorite things...

The girls squeal and beg to try some on, which I never say "no" to...

 

Then the big day of feasting arrives, and we get ready to chow-down and par-tay!

Hey Mina, guess what we're going to have LOTS of for Chinese New Year?
What!?...

DUMPLINGS!!!!!

She gets so insanely excited about dumplings.
A toast, to all the dumplings that will be going in my belly!

(Aubrey, as you can see in this photo, surprised us all by coming to the dining room wearing make-up for the big event. ?!?!)

Oh these girls. They are certainly my favorite dumplings of all! :)

Each year, it is my goal to try and make a Chinese dish with Mina.
The girls both love egg drop soup, and I found the best / easiest recipe here.

It was such a great day of celebration and family traditions!

Happy Year of the Goat!

2 Years Together

I can still remember that day two years ago in the hotel lobby in Nanchang, China.

Waiting for her to arrive after the long 5+ hour drive with the orphanage director and two nannies.

That palpable excitement and nervousness of meeting our daughter for the very first time.

And then there she was.

More precious than I imagined.

Overwhelmed by the love that filled my heart.

She cried, screamed, arched her back, and tried everything she could to bust out of my arms after one of the nannies handed her to me. 

When we took her back to our room, and she began to realize I wasn't going to let her out of my arms, she locked eyes with me. It was a mix of searching for answers and grasping for understanding of who I was. I remember at that moment praying with tears running down my cheeks and nose, "Jesus, let her see You." From that moment on, she never once tried to escape from my arms. In fact, it was the place she preferred to be. 

And, two years later, it still is.

Praise God.
What a joy and blessing it is to be her Mama.

Three Things Thursday

Thing 1: 
A couple of weeks ago, we walked the courthouse steps for an adoption hearing in order to obtain a certificate of foreign birth for Mina. This is an official document in English with her American name. It's the closest thing to a birth certificate, which will be important for things like starting school and when she needs to get a driver's license one day.

The Magistrate who was assigned to our case has a niece who was also adopted from Mina's province! We even stayed at the same hotel in Nanchang. Such a small world.

We celebrated the day with a PF Chang's lunch.
And we all thought this fortune was perfect in describing our little dumpling. :)

Mina is such an amazing blessing. 

Pure sweetness, joy, and preciousness.

Thing 2:

                 (Image and recipe via here)

I have a true passion for all things Caesar Salad.
And this is basically my love language on a slider bun.

So easy. So delicious.
You can eat this warm or the next day after it's spent the evening in the fridge.
I've even put it on a bed of romaine lettuce and drizzled it with more Caesar dressing.
I'm telling you all -- I am obsessed.

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup to 1 cup Caesar Dressing (I use a full cup, and my favorite is Mazretti's Supreme Caesar)
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley or 2 teaspoons of dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 can chicken broth (I've used 1-2 cups of water and it's been fine)

Shredded romaine lettuce
Buns or sliders (which ever you prefer)

1.  Put chicken and broth (or water) in crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

2.  Remove chicken and drain all liquid.  Shred the chicken.

3.  Place the chicken back into the slow cooker and pour the dressing, parmesan cheese, parsley, and pepper over the top.  Stir until chicken is coated well.

4.  Cook for another 30 minutes or until heated through.  Spoon mixture into buns and top with romaine lettuce and extra parmesan cheese if desired.

Thing 3:
Life is so funny sometimes.
It takes turns you never saw coming.
Like getting an email from an old college acquaintance asking if I'd be interested in teaming up with her party company / website. I would be posting just once or twice a month on the We Heart Parties blog -- things I've done with my munchkins like an afternoon craft, a holiday gift idea, or even featuring parties I throw for my friends and family. Basically just posting about everyday life stuff that falls under crafts / parties.

I said yes, by the way.
Gulp.

I won't really be diving into this venture until around August, when life has settled down a bit for me.
Right now I'm pretty consumed with packing and organizing our move to Kentucky, which is less than 4 weeks away!

Christmas, Part 2 / Chinese New Year

Grammy and Pop Pop came to visit exactly one month after Christmas.
So we celebrated again!

To get us all in the mood, we started the first day of their visit by going to The Christmas Story house.
I have been dying to go, but Daniel has had ZERO interest.
Whether you like the movie or not, you have to admit it's a Christmas icon.
I mean, you can't tell me you've never used any of the following:
You'll shoot your eye out!
The Triple Dog Dare...
Fragile (Fra-GEE-lay)
I can't put my arms down!
FUDGE! (the F-Dash-Dash-Dash word)
Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra
And everybody knows about the leg lamp...

The house and tour was everything I hoped it would be. 

It was even snowing, which gave it a nice, nostalgic vibe. 

That evening, the girls shimmied into their jammies and opened up a copious amount of gifts.

No BB guns or pink nightmare bunny pajamas though... ;)

The next day, Mina and I were supposed to have our first Mommy and Me class.
We decided to skip it. (Shhhh!)
We went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame instead.
Totally worth it.

The museum was awesome -- stage / performance costumes, handwritten song lyrics, album covers, band members signature guitars/pianos/drums/ etc., memorabilia from groups ranging from Nirvana, The Supremes, The Beatles, ZZ Top, ELVIS, the Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and more. It was all pretty impressive.

The last couple of days it snowed non-stop so we stayed snuggled up indoors enjoying all the new Christmas loot:

Playing Guess Who, watching 3D movies, and reading books...

On the last night, we celebrated Chinese New Year!

Dumplings are Mina's favorite. Fried Rice is Aubrey's favorite.

And these two are MY favorite. I could seriously eat them up...

Each year I plan on making a new Chinese dish with Mina. This year she wasn't too interested in helping, but I hope as she grows older she'll like doing it. Wonton Soup was the dish this year. It was even featured in my friend, Brandi's, Soup virtual potluck!

I am trying to learn all I can about things like Chinese New Year traditions, but more often than not I feel like I am doing it all wrong. For instance, I couldn't find my other gold napkin so I used a black one. Apparently black is the biggest no-no color on CNY (Chinese New Year) because it represents death. I also got Mina some silk Chinese shoes as a CNY gift, but apparently that's one gift you shouldn't give. Oh well, I'll keep trying and learning and maybe one year I'll get it right!

I know some adoptive families choose not to acknowledge their child's birth country, and that's completely their choice. I find that I think about Mina's birth family even more when we celebrate Chinese holidays. Perhaps that's another reason adoptive families shy away from things like this? It bubbles up lots of emotions, and I'm sure as Mina grows up things like this will spur some hard questions. It gets us all wondering about things we don't have answers to.

So even though we are separated by thousands of miles, anonymity, and unanswered questions -- I take comfort in knowing that (for at least one day) we're all celebrating together.

Oh the Places She'll Go!

Sweet little Mina has traveled to more places in her first two years than most people do in their entire lives.

She was born in Jiangxi, China.
At just one month old an orphanage became her home.
Six months later, she was placed with a foster family in a very rural part of China.
One year after that she was taken back to the orphanage for two days before she would meet us.
She would then, at just 18 months of age, be handed over to two people she had never met.
Two people who looked very different than her.
Who smelled different.
Talked different.
Did everything different.
After a week in her Province, seeing the sights of her homeland, she would fly with us to Guangzhou.
After another week spent exploring new areas of her birth country together / medical evaluations / paperwork appointments, we would then fly halfway around the world to America.
She would live in Oklahoma for just four months before uprooting again and moving to Ohio.

That's a lot in just 2 years.

Her little life has been so full of changes and transitions
She has every right to be a sad, timid, unsure little girl.
But this sweet child is absolutely full of love, joy, and happiness.

For her 2nd birthday, our first birthday together, I wanted to celebrate all of her.
The part of her that will always be rooted in China.
The part of her that will grow and bloom in America.
And the wonder and excitement of future journeys God has in store for her life.

So, we had an Oh the Places She'll Go! party and incorporated all of Mina's most favorite things:
Hot air balloons (and regular balloons), pandas, sweets galore, Chinese food, flowers, and books.

We had our own little Chinese buffet!

 

Shortly after we returned home from China, I made a little board book to read to Mina about how she joined our family. From her finding ad to our airport homecoming, I want her to always know the story of how she joined our family.

I also made a book of her 1st Birthday parties: the one in America and the one in China.

  

Some of you might remember my post about Daisy, I wanted to include a little memento for her too.

This may be a bit stereotypical / politically incorrect, but I made "Chinese" party hats. Hehe.

  

Mina's Panda dress had the line "Babies are hopes and dreams wrapped in love" all over it, which I loved.

 

For the meal, some of us used chopsticks while some just shoveled in the yummy-ness as quickly and as easily as possible...

 

The entire day, Mina's birthmom was on my heart even more than most days.

When Mina was "found" there was only one thing with her: a torn piece of paper with her birthdate on it.

There is a Mama in China who knows the significance of July 26th, 2011.

I cannot begin to imagine how hard that date must be for her each year.

On every birthday, I want to find some way to incorporate her.

I had a white heart put on the basket of the hot balloon banner and on the invitation to represent her and her love for Mina. (The banner is going in Mina's room after the party.) 

And for our birthday meal, everyone was given a black plate, but I set a special clear glass plate out in honor of Mina's birthmom. Once everyone was seated at the table, and Daniel prayed for our meal and thanked God for Mina's life, I went into the party room and saw the place-setting sitting there. I couldn't help but wipe away the tears. I waited awhile to join the rest of the family. I wanted there be an empty seat at the table, next to our Mina. 

I will be forever thankful to God for His many blessings.
For Mina's birthmom -- the woman who knows more about sacrificial love than I ever will.
For the Holy Spirit stirring in my heart and Daniel's heart to follow God's beautiful plan of adoption.
For our baby girl who I pray will one day know her true Father and follow Him all the days of her life.

________________________________________________________________________________

For those who are interested in the party details...

Invitations: Simplicity Papers

Hot Air Balloon Banner: The Little Canopy

Hot Air Balloon Paper Goods Cake & Cupcake Toppers: Blubel Studio

Cake, cupcakes, treats, and flowers: Whole Foods

Giant Panda: Amazon

Jumbo Balloons, Polka Dot Cups, Plates, Paper Straws: Sweet Lulu

Panda Paper Plates: DollarTree

Mini Pink Chinese Take-Out Boxes, Hot Air Balloon Lanterns, Paper fans: Oriental Trading

Ribbon, Ribbon Poms, Polka Dot paper: Hobby Lobby

Panda Bento Picks: All Things For Sale

Meiji Hello Panda Chocolate Cookies: World Market