forever sisters: Two Years

Two years ago, on St Patrick's Day, we became a complete family of 5.

Since Neil didn't travel with me to China, "Melaina Day" is the day we became a family of 5 in the USA.

Hu Hua Xiang was born on July 2, 2010 in Chengdu, Sichuan, China with a serious heart defect.
She had open heart surgery at the age of 5 months old.
She went into to foster care from 6 months old until the day we met her in March.

Pictures while in China

Thank God for Grandmas! This adoption would not have happened with out the love & support of my mom.

Xiang was placed in my arms on March 5, 2012.

Melaina & her foster mom

After traveling over 24 hours, Melaina & I were finally reunited with our family.

Melaina has easily fit into our family as the youngest child.

When I met her, she was very timid & scared ( do you blame her?)

It took some time for her to like us & even more time for her to love us.

IT WAS HARD.

She was very attached with her foster family & had a difficult time transitioning to her new family.

Watching your child grieve for the life & family they used to have is heartbreaking.

With time, she began to trust us & eventually let us see her big personality.

When we brought her home, she was very much a baby. She didn't walk on her own yet, didn't feed herself, still took a bottle & had no muscle tone.

With great nutrition, occupational therapy, speech therapy, play therapy with big sis & ALOT of love, she has caught up in most areas. She quickly graduated from OT & still receives speech services.

Here's a few of my favorites from the last year.