Wow, has it been a month already? Time sure has flown by. Savannah has been home with us for about 2 months now. It seems like we have had her forever. She is getting settled in at our house, and her personality is really starting to show. She likes to do things her way, and she doesn't want any help from us. She is starting to walk around pretty good and can stand up in the middle of the floor and take off on her own. She can move pretty fast while crawling and will disappear if we don't watch her carefully. She knows some things she can and shouldn't do, but it doesn't matter to her on the things she shouldn't do, she will look at us with her cute little grin and do it anyway.
This month we celebrated our first Thanksgiving with Savannah, and big sis Haleigh made her a special Turkey Day hat to wear, She didn't wear it long, so the pictures had to be taken fast. It was good to have all of the chairs full at the table for our dinner.
Friday, the 28th, was Savannah's first birthday. There were several family and friends that came to wish her happy birthday. We started the evening out with some pizza, chips and dip. Then it was time for her to enjoy her first birthday cake, and boy, did she ever. There wasn't much left of the cake after Ma Ma showed her she could play in it and eat it. Then it was time to light the candle on her big cake. We bought 5 candles while we were in Chongqing (our guide Marie recommended no more than 5 due to security at the airports). This candle is in the shape of a folded up flower, China's national flower I believe. When the center is lit a flame about 10 inches high shoots out of the flower lighting 16 candles. The petals drop with the lit candles, spin around, and play happy birthday. Everyone there thought it was pretty neat how it worked. We took Savannah to our local mall for the first time the day after her birthday and she got her ears pierced and some bling bling (a gift from Ma Ma and Ba Ba), and she saw Santa!! I (Ma Ma) had thought about Savannah's birth mother in China all week of the 28th, of what she must have gone through a year ago when having to leave this precious little one, for whom we are so grateful to have as our daughter. I took a moment to pray that God will watch over Savannah's birth mom and keep her safe and to somehow give her comfort in knowing that her little angel is loved more than life itself and is always going to be well taken care of. I will always let Savannah know of how she came to be ours and that she has two mothers that love her so. One that sacrificed everything in giving her up to make sure she had a better life, and one that will do everything in my power to make sure she has that life. We will always find a special way to remember Her other mother on Savannah's birthday and say a special prayer for her.
Well, that is all for this update. Christmas is right around the corner. We are trying to get everything ready. We will put our tree up in a few days, and hopefully it will stay in one piece. Savannah is already in the Christmas spirit (see pictures below). Until next time...
