Anya's First Smile:) Wed., Sept. 22, 2010

Anya was a pretty good night again last night:) We were up with her until midnight (she had slept from 8:30-10:45 though) but the rest of the night was sheer quietness - sigh!
After breakfast, the three of us walked over to Starbucks to Skype the kids at home. Nathan and Annalise were the only ones up this time, so they had fun seeing and talking with Anya. My mom flew in from N.D. yesterday, so it was her first time to see Anya. The question the kids kept asking was, "Now that you have Anya, can you come home?" It's hard for them to understand all of the legal things that need to take place before we can bring their baby home:) Soon though we'll be on our way home and we'll be a family of seven!
Today we didn't have any appointments or places we needed to be, so it was just a lazy, laid back day:) Very Nice! We decided the pool would be a nice place to spend our time, so we joined our new friends Jeremy, Alicia, and their new, Chinese daughter, Zoe at the pool. Anya really watched Zoe and she had a good time in Daddy's arms. We can't wait for Anya to fully open up. Jeremy and Alicia have had their daughter a little longer than we have had Anya and she is just full of life and energy - such fun to watch!
I think Anya really liked staying at the hotel all day (the car rides really stress her out). After the pool and our showers, I had Anya by the mirror and was moving her forwards and backwards while making funny sounds when.....a crack of a smile appeared on her face:) "Could it really be" I wondered. I did it again - Another smile:) I rushed to get Nate! Little smiles began to spread across her face! Nate and I began laughing and laughing. It did our hearts so good to see our little Anya Mei smiling! It was such a special, precious thing to see your child's first smile. What a precious, precious, little girl! How we love her!
For supper, we got together with our friends Jeremy, Alicia, and Zoe at Lucy's restaurant. The food was very good (they serve American food) and it was such fun to see our two girls together, sitting side by side in their highchairs. Little Zoe is so animated and such a clown! Anya watched her cloesly and the two of their spoons together - it was like a mini sword fight between the two:) After our meal, both families walked back to the hotel and took our girls to the Mattel kids room to play. Anya is still very reserved, but little by little we see her coming out of her shell. She really watches and takes in all that is going on around her. Each day is a new adventure and we see a new girl witrh each new day. Right now she is sitting on Daddy's lap playing with her monkey keychain:) What an amazing blessing - such a gift from God!