Our Adoption Journey: December 2007

And what a wonderful 2007 it has been!

First, we want to apologize for not keeping up our blog with updates and pictures over these last few months. We know how much everyone has enjoyed following our journey to China and back, and especially to our family and friends who live so far away and don't get the chance to see Michael. During this past few months, we have spent our time living our dream with Michael in our lives. It has been an amazing time, and although there have been some challenging days, overall, we could not be happier than we are today.

I won't bore you with all the details of the last four months. But Michael has grown taller and has gained almost 5 pounds since coming home. He is very healthy, except for a few colds, which we can thank daycare for. Oh yes, he started daycare in October and loves being there. He only goes three days per week, and he already has a girlfriend! (Brian says "that's my boy!"). He has been to the doctor only a few times, mainly to update his shots (which were just as painful for Mommy to watch as it was for Michael to get!). We traveled out to Pennsylvania in early October to see family and friends which was a wonderful trip, thanks to the heartfelt reception we got when we arrived. He was a great looking Dracula for Halloween, enjoyed his first Thanksgiving, got his first haircut, and has now met Santa and has seen snow for the first time.

He is adding daily to his vocabulary, and can now say "hot", "wow", "how are you", "thank you", and the best of all...."I love you".

And with Christmas only a couple days away, we realize that we have THE best gift in the entire world. Nothing that could be wrapped in a box or delivered by Santa could be better than the gift we were given. Not a day has gone by since Michael joined our family on July 30th that we have not said "wow, are we so lucky to have him". And, we cannot believe how perfect he is for our family. A perfect match! Just his sense of humor alone and wonderful, funny facial expressions has kept us laughing each and every day.

And as we approach the end of 2007, we cannot believe how much our lives have changed. Not only for us, but for our entire family.

So to all of you from our family, Merry Christmas and Happy, Happy New Year! We hope all of YOUR wishes come true! And thanks for being patient......here are some new photos.