Chatty Girl Gift Exchange

Last night we had our 2nd Annual Chatty Girl Gift Exchange. For those of you who don't know, I have the blessing of being apart of a close group of mom's who have all adopted daughters and son's from China. We connected through our adoption agency prior to traveling to China and the bond we all developed was incredible. Throughout these 2 1/2 years we have maintained intimate connections online and are eager to get together as often as possible. I love these women like sisters and am constantly in awe of how special each of them and their children are to me. This year we did a book exchange and Emily received a book from her friend Kate. She had waited patiently for weeks to open it and was delighted to receive The Perfect Christmas Tree. It is such a special book in that it is Kate's big sister, Emily's favorite Christmas story and takes place in the state where Kate lives. Emily was so eager for me to read it but had to wait until bed time when daddy read it to her. Here are a few pictures of Emily opening her book. Her long hair is a mess which brings up another topic that has been flowing around our house. To cut or not to cut. I have been wanting to grow Emily's hair but she wants a "pretty haircut". Right now, as you can see from the photo's her hair can get rather stringy and she HAS to have a bow otherwise it hangs in her eyes and looks scraggly. So we will see. Emily is very eager to go see Miss Tina and get a haircut but is so afraid to disappoint me as I have expressed how I love it long. And her nightgown in these pictures is a Grace hand-me-down. Emily has been waiting to fit into some of Grace's night gowns and finally after almost 2 years they finally fit and she couldn't have been happier.

We have been super busy getting ready for Christmas. I finished up my shopping yesterday and will spend today wrapping, cooking and cleaning. We treated the girls to the Nutcracker Ballet over the weekend and much to my disappointment they didn't like it. I LOVE the Nutcracker but my girls don't. Mike and I laughed and said that they probably would enjoy a Colorado Rodeo more....go figure. I have some deeper thoughts that I would love to share regarding expectations that parents often have of their children's likes and dislikes and how God sometimes gifts us with children who are very different than we are in order to expand our horizons but I will have to share later as the clock is ticking and I need to get going.

Once again, wishing you all memorable celebrations of Christmas!

Love and Hugs,

Nichole