June

This has been a busy month. We've celebrated Lilah's homecoming with family, visited with our travelmates Carla, Darryl and Tasia in Stirling, finished the MotherGoose program at the library, spent lots of time at the beach with friends, and just yesterday celebrated Lilah's first birthday and Naomi's halfway day (she turned 2.5 yrs old on Lilah's birthday). This weekend we are also planning to celebrate Lilah's citzenship, that arrived on the 22nd - just in time for Canada Day! Citizenship timelines are normally 12-15 months, but hers was a mere 5 weeks and one day (much to the envy of many of our fellow adoptive parents). Joel has this theory that the government is learning not to mess with me! Ha ha!

It's hard to believe that three months ago we were just heading to China. Both Joel and I often feel homesick for China as we had such an amazing time on both our trips. Neither of us can wait to take the girls back and share the wonders of their homeland with them. That won't be for another 5 or 6 years though -- so we will have to live vicariously through others who make the journey ahead of us! One thing I do look forward to on that trip will be the fact that there won't be any paperwork to complete! Now that Lilah's citizenship is final, we only have two reports left to submit to China at 6 and 12 months post adoption and then NO MORE PAPERWORK! YEAH!
While it's hard to believe that we've come this far, it's even harder to believe that yesterday our baby turned one year old! Lilah is really starting to show her true personality these days. This little gal is a real charmer with her big smiles; a comedian who offers a kiss and then turns her head when you get close; quite smart progressing through milestones rapidly; and an AMAZING little eater! She is now crawling on all fours and loves to dance to music. Her determination is admirable and I won't be suprised if she's walking soon. I think she'd do anything to keep up with everyone. She has four teeth now, and I suspect she's working on several more.

Naomi graduated from her first year at Nursery school and received her first report card. She's well liked at school by her teachers and classmates alike. Their last day involved a trip to a local farm, complete with sheep, donkeys, turkeys, goats, a wallaby and a goose with babies. She is a real animal lover and enjoyed feeding the critters!

Hope you are all enjoying this warm weather. As the temperatures continue to rise, we are thankful that we have air conditioning and a pool (compliments of the Quemby family). Both girls are having fun in the water - as you can see from the photos. Joel and I also built a super deluxe sandbox (complete with a roof) for Lilah's birthday this past month. Lilah loves the sand, I love the fact that Joel and I built something TOGETHER!

July promises to be another busy month. We have plans to meet friends at the Zoo again next week and to visit more friends at their cottage in Sauble on the weekend. The following weekend we're hosting our 2005 China Travelgroup and are looking forward to catching up with each of the families. We are also eager to see how Lilah's "sisters" are doing.

Best wishes for a safe and happy CANADA DAY!