Thursday, April 30, 2009

Happy Birthday Presley!!

Presley

Our sweet baby is TWO years old today! It was exactly 11 months ago today that she came into our lives. Her adoption and transition has been so much better than expected. She has fit right into our family. We love her so much!

Her are some things that we love (and some we don't love so much) about our sweet Presley:

1. She is very BIG!! She is on the 95th percentile for both height and weight. This morning on our bathroom scale she was 30 pounds! I take her to the doctor tomorrow for her "official" measurements and will let everyone know what they say.

2. She loves to eat. She is definitely our best eater.

3. She loves dresses, nightgowns, hats, and sunglasses. She is very much a girly girl!!

4. She LOVES her bath and going swimming. We she first came home she was terrified of the bath. She has only been swimming twice, but her favorite thing is to wear her arm floaties and just float there and doesn't want anybody to touch her! We joined the YMCA and won't be surprised at all if she is swimming this summer.

5. She has very good fine motor skills. She has been an expert with silverware for at least 6 months. And now she refuses to eat with toddler silverware and has to eat with the big ones.

6. She has the best laugh EVER!!

7. She loves to mother her dolls, feed them, put them in bed, cover them up, and give them lots of kisses!

8. Though she is very coordinated, she is also clumsy! People tell me that toddlers that are tall trip a lot. We wouldn't know, our biggest biological child is only on the 15th percentile for height!!

9. She is a daddy's girl! It is great to see because when she came home she wouldn't even look at her daddy for 6 weeks without screaming!

10. She mimics everything people do. She studies them and does the exact arm motions, stance, everything. It is really funny!

11. She has a very strong personality. She will let you know when she isn't happy with what is going on. But I have also learned that once you lay down the law and enforce it, she is VERY good at following the rules. She is quite cooperative once she knows that you aren't going to back down. But until she is done testing your limits, better grab some ear plugs!!

12. I LOVE giving her a time out. Sounds crazy I know. I have only given her about 4 of them and she is so good at them. It is so cute to see her sit in that big chair quietly without complaining. And then when the buzzer goes off she gives the biggest hugs ever!

As all adoptive parents, our thoughts on this day also turn to her birth mother and family. Her birth mom has no way of knowing what has happened to her. I wish I could let her know that she is happy and healthy with a mom, dad, 2 brothers, and a sister that love and cherish her very much. That she will be given every opportunity that she wouldn't have had in China. That she has excellent medical care and her cleft lip has been fixed and will be revised in a few years and won't even be noticeable. I can't even imagine the pain her birth mom feels about not knowing what has happened to her precious girl. I hope that somehow she can just "know" that she is having a wonderful life. I know her birth mother would be so happy that she is in America. The Chinese people consider those babies going to America as very blessed. Her birth mother made the absolute best choice for her daughter. That action of abandoning her (I HATE that word) shows the amount of unconditional love they have for her.

I haven't taken a lot of picture the last couple of weeks (I know it's a shock to most of you)!! But here are a few snapshots of our big 2-year-old!!! Happy Birthday Presley Claire Xue!!! We love you very, very much!!!

Wild pigtails

Carson and Presley
Sisters

11 comments:

DawnS said...

Happy Birthday Presley!!!! I can't believe that she is 30 lbs! Rylee is 35 at almost 6 years old! It's crazy reading through here how many similiarities in personality she has with Rylee. I hope Presley has a super fun birthday day!!!

Gwen said...

Happy Birthday, Presley!!! What a sweet girl and these are such great pictures!! I can't believe she's been home 11 months! Wow, time flies!
I also can't believe she weighs 30 lbs-- to me, she looks tiny! Sarah is still tipping the scales at about 22 lbs!
Sarah is also pretty fiesty, and lately has been going thru a biting phase. :( She knows about time out, too!
Best wishes on this special day!!

Sarah said...

Happy Birthday, Presley! She soundslike an incredible little girl.
Blessings,
Sarah

Sandra said...

Happy Birthday to your girl. She is so precious!

Waitingfaithfully said...

Happy Birthday to your two year old big girl!!

Love the new blog look. Beautiful . . . especially your four precious babes at the top!!

Birthday blessings to Presley ~

Tina

Lisa Hawk said...

Happy Birthday Presley!!

No, I can't believe it's been 11 months either. It really doesn't seem that long at all!

She looks so beautiful. How much bigger than her twin do you think she'll be? hee hee Andrew is 31 pounds at 3.5 years, but he's a peanut.

You new blog looks great.

ellieshine said...

Happy Birthday Presley! I cannot believe it has been 11 months! What an incredible blessing she is - this beautiful girl with the brightest smile I have ever seen :)

Midway Cottage said...

Gosh, time has gone by so fast!! We better get working on those one year homestudies/China updates!!

Happy, Happy Birthday to your beautiful girl!! She looks like such a gem!
xoxo

Jill said...

I loved that you listed the traits of Presley in honor of her birthday (I think it is funny that I just blogged about ear plugs too!)
I can't believe it has been 11 months either... A blessing in all of our lives!!
Happy Birthday Presley!
+JillM

Jodi said...

Happy Birthday Presley!
She has gotten so big!!! (Jorja is only 28 lbs - soaking wet!)

Her smile says it all!

Love the knew blog look!
Good job girl!

Jennifer said...

Happy Birthday Presley! Her pig tails are perfect!

Presley's Adoption Timeline

  • 8/15/2007 - Received referral for Geneva!
  • 9/13/2007 - Sent LOI (letter of intent) to our agency
  • 9/29/2007 - LOI was sent to China!
  • 10/08/2007 - LOI was delivered to the CCAA in China
  • 10/29/2007 - PA (pre-approval) was issued!!
  • 1/15/2008 - DTC (dossier to China)
  • 1/18/2008 - Dossier delivered to CCAA
  • 1/25/2008 - LID (log-in date)
  • 4/1/2008 - LOA (letter of acceptance)
  • 4/25/2008 - CCAA issues TA (travel approval)
  • 5/22/2008 - Leave for China!!!
  • 5/25/2008 - Met our sweet Lexi!
  • 5/26/2008 - Discovered Lexi had brain damage
  • 5/30/2008 - Met precious Presley!
  • 6/7/2008 - Arrived home

My Family

My Family
My favorite people!!