May Update & Starfish Reunion!

Where on earth does the time go? How did it get to be May 21st already? I see my last post was Easter for goodness sakes! Our girl continues to learn and grow by leaps and bounds. Our life has been busy the last couple of months with Steve starting a new job, me continuing to work 30 hrs/wk and balance home and child care. My mom has been taking Lia 2.5 days/week to help me pack my work hours in, which has been a godsend (thanks mom!)

We are currently searching and hoping to get into a more long-term housing situation in the next few months. We've been moving around a lot due to job changes, but we are ready for some stability for Lia (and ourselves) for the next few years and hope to put down some roots.

Lia loves school and has really blossomed over the past six months since she started. I'm sad to see the school year come to and end. She doesn't really get the concept of "summer break" yet, so I know she is going to miss school over the summer. Here's a short video that her teacher got of her playing at school:



We've been lucky to have some nice weather recently and have been spending some time at the park where Lia has overcome her fears of the slide and play equipment for the most part. She seems to particularly enjoy helping the younger toddlers and making sure they are safe. It's very sweet to watch her play the role of caregiver to the little ones.

Our most exciting news is that we're headed to Nashville this weekend for Lia's reunion with her friends from China. Starfish families from across the U.S. are traveling to meet-up and see our kids reconnect for the first time since they lived at Starfish. There are sure to be some very emotional moments - but we are very excited to be going and feel very blessed to have the opportunity to connect and stay connected with these people from Lia's early life, as we know this is a luxury that most adoptive families never have.