The Beach!

Today, Kristi, Kenna, and Michal came to spend the day with us. We had a couple of minutes to visit DiDi (Maya's grandma) at her elementary school, and then we headed to the beach. The girls had a great time playing in the sand together. We ended the day with jumping on the trampoline, which the girls LOVED! Thank you Kristi, Kenna, and Michal for making the long trip to come and see us. We had a blast.

Our LOI Arrives in Beijing!

I just tracked our LOI package on the DHL website. It's official... at 9:58 a.m. on 8/27/07 (that's actually tomorrow morning, but China is 13 hours ahead of us), our package was hand delivered to the CCAA Office via a courier. Horray! Just one step closer to holding Kai in our arms.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!

Today, we were hanging out in the driveway drawing with sidewalk chalk when we heard the echo of the ice cream truck a few streets away. Maya knew right away what was coming and jumped to her feet to ask for ice cream. I don't know what was more fun...the anticipation of the truck's arrival or the ice cream itself.

Kai Bear!

Today, Maya made a bear for Kai at Build-a Bear. For those of you who do not know, we think we have finally decided on a name for Shao and it's going to be Kai. Maya has called him Kai since we first suggested the name and now, everyone in the family is referring to him as Kai. She hugged and squeezed all of the stuffed animals at the store and finally decided on a very soft, lovely bear. She has named him Kai Bear and even picked dinosaur jammies for him to wear. When we got home from the mall, she wanted to take a picture with Kai Bear and of course "the boys".

Maya Moments!

The pictures say it all. The first pic is of Maya experiencing shaving cream. The second captures Princess Maya with her best friend, Princess Kenzie. The third I like to call "Rainbow Explosion". Maya is now picking her own clothes and dressing herself and this combination was one of my favorites. The last pics are of Maya on her bike. She is so quick and confident on her big girl bike and rides laps around our block.

LOI is on the way to Beijing!

We just got word from our agency that our LOI (letter of intent) to adopt Shao is on the way to Beijing. Our count down officially begins. Today marks day one!

Maya and "the Boys"!

Maya loves her dogs, who are referred to in our house as "the boys". Today, she wanted her picture taken with both Benson and Hunter on her new big girl bed. As you can see, "the boys" were absolutely thrilled to take part in this photo shoot.

Maya and Kayleigh at the Beach!

Today, Kayleigh, Lois, and Grandmama came to visit from Indianapolis. Maya and Kayleigh had a great time playing at the beach. They filled buckets with sand, splashed in the water, and blew bubbles.

Ann's Wedding Reception

After a night of very little sleep, Maya and I headed south to Terre Haute to attend Ann's wedding reception. Ann and I used to share an office and became good friends while we lived in Terre Haute. The reception was great. It was so nice seeing all of the wonderful people that I used to work with. Maya had a blast. Our table was right next to the dance floor and she kept asking when she could start dancing. She had a hard time understanding why she couldn't dance during the bride/groom and father/bride dance. As soon as they left the dance floor, Maya stood solo in the middle of the dance stage and began twirling, jumping, and moving to the beat the second the music started. She didn't leave the dance floor until we left the reception 4 hours later (I'm not exaggerating!). She even told me to stay in my seat so that she could dance all by herself with the other kids. Maya fell in love with my friend Sheryl and her girls Arianna and Emily (also adopted from China).

Kenzie's Birthday Party!

Today, Maya had a great time at her friend Kenzie's birthday party. The kids ate pizza and yummy chocolate cake, then ran wild in the indoor climbing maze. I don't know what was in the lemonade, but Maya didn't go to sleep until 11:30p.m. She tried and tried, but just wasn't tired.