Happy 1st Birthday Carys!

It's hard to believe our baby is ONE. As I reflect on that hard day last year, it brings about a mix of emotions. Both joy and sorrow. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be your Name. Ironically, that is your favorite song. You try and try to sing that song every time you hear it. I just look at you and can't help but shed a tear. Someday you will truly understand that meaning. We are so happy to be the recipients of God's gift of YOU.

 Although I'm sad to have missed most of your first year Carys, we are so excited to see what this next year together brings! You are one sassy little girl and fit into our family so perfectly. Your Daddy & I often ask ourselves how in the world could we have gotten a child via adoption that is SO much like our biological children. That's because God KNEW what He was doing and He knew you were ours before we ever did. He created you for our family and it is so evident. We are so happy that you are home now and that we could celebrate this special day with YOU. We love you baby C!

Here are a few things that you're up to right now at ONE:
1. You are walking/running all over the place!
2. You LOVE to tease your big brother Becket
3. You have a squeal/high pitched scream that will break anyone's ear drums
4. You LOVE your bottle- you call it "ba-ba"
5. You are saying words like "Mama, Dada, Eye-ya (Aria! go figure!), B, Papa, Ba-ba(bye bye)
6. We put you in nursery at church for the first time last week and when Mommy left, you waved bye bye and said "ba-ba" with a smile. You love people AND new toys.
7. You live and breath music. Mark my words, I think you're going to be the next Beyonce. If that's the case, I'm sure you'll be changing your name back to Tsehay. You will dance and bop your neck, head and shoulders to any tune. You try mouthing the words to every song. It is the cutest thing.
8. Your favorite movies are Praise Baby. You try to sing along.
9. You sleep like a champ! You take 2 nice naps and sleep 12 hrs at night. Praise God!
10. You're not the best eater. You really like salty, spicy, cheesy, greasey foods. Your favorites by far are Mac N Cheese, Pizza & Spaghetti (pretty much anything with red sauce) Your brother despises the nights I make the dinner to your liking(-:
11. You drink from a sippy cup like you had one your whole life. In reality you were just introduced to one a few weeks ago.
12. You are extremely bright! You have met all of your milestones well before you were expected to and you totally understand us crazy English speaking people.
13. Mom is a total believer in Immersion programs....after being home for only ONE month, you understood all of our commands, turn your head when we'd call your new name and get exactly what we say to you. You're even beginning to speak some English!
14. You like to pretend to talk on the phone. You put it up to your ear and say "Hi-yo". So cute.
15. You are in love with your sister Aria and she is in love with you. Still.
16. Pretty sure you are Kai's favorite sister at the moment. He is smitten.
17. You are 50th% for weight, 60th for height and 90th% for your noggin! You weigh 21lbs at age 1.
18. You love anything soft and cuddly-especially your new pillow pet, lovie and owl.
19. You like to get into the cupboards and if Mommy looks at you and says "Naughty!" you smile at me.
20. You are usually sitting in your high chair when Daddy comes home from work. You hear his voice at the door and before you can even see him you are kicking your feet and reaching your little head as far over the high chair as you can with a HUGE smile waiting for him to appear. For sure you are already a Daddy's girl.
21. You haven't quite figured out the stairs yet....all these new things!
22. You don't like your car seat, but seeing as you're in it for around 2hrs a day (carting Aria back and forth to preschool) you are getting a little better about it. Again, Praise Baby is a lifesaver!
23. You are toddling around now as if you have always lived in our home and you love to explore.
24. You love to have something soft over your head while you sleep.
25. We can't imagine our family without you Carys Tsehay!

Here's how we celebrated.....all weekend long....Nieuwenhuis style(-:

You got to see your orphanage BFF, Eden, for the very first time since Ethiopia.

We celebrated with lots of balloons!

You were intrigued by Daddy taking video of you(-:

Our little family party

Help from brothers and sister opening your gifts

Typical screetch- you wanted to open them YOURSELF!

You loved your new Ethiopian dolly

This is the dress that Mommy & Daddy bought you in Ethiopia. You LOVED the sparkly material

Oooooh yes!! More Praise Baby videos!

Every girl needs a stroller to push around

We had your favorite meal......PIZZA!

I'm SO ready to turn ONE!

Little piggy cake for our little chunker!

EEEEWWWW!!!! Cake is the WORST thing I have ever tasted. WHO would do that to me!?

Ahhhh, much better if Mommy is feeding it to me and there is no frosting. (See, I told ya she prefers spicy over sweet)

Couldn't wait to watch my new Praise Baby DVD- even brothers & sister joined me

Princess Carys celebrating in her Ethiopian gown at Grammy & Papas

How CUTE are you!?

Grammy & Papa put on a cute little family party.

Of course everyone needed to get in on the action of blowing out the candle

This is me....being real....she is such a ham.

Loving all of her new pillow pets and stuffed animals....she wants them all in her bed.
LOVE YOU CARYS TSEHAY! HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!

The Beloved Sisters (aka: BS Girls)

Last night, my sweet sisters in Christ (bible study group) gave me a gift for Carys. An adorable little personalized owl (which she just ADORES and is carrying all over the place) and a precious personalized Princess bible with bling on it. You girls sure know me well(-: Inside the bible they wrote words that touched my heart so deeply that I just had to share:

"We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life.  But those who make their journey home across time and miles, growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them, are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us by God's very own hands."

You girls are truly a blessing from God. Your love and support over these past several months have been a true gift. I'm so happy to do life with you and look forward to continuing our journey as we all grow in Christ together. Love you girls!

oh my goodness, how sweet is this owl!?

Blingy Princess Bible....right up her alley

Pretty sure this will bring me to tears every time we open this bible.

And last but not least, a little smile and thank you from Carys!

A surprise shower!

Luke's staff decided to surprise him with a shower on Friday morning. Here he walks into what he thought was his "Friday morning staff meeting" only to see a room decked out with a beautiful array of decorations, delicious food, loads of special gifts and adorable cakes. I was invited as a "surprise guest" and could kick myself for forgetting my camera. These people went ALL OUT! We are so thankful for the support and love our Amway family has shown to us over these past several months. They truly are a special group of people and we are so blessed to be a part of this wonderful company.  I took a few photos when we got home....(don't mind all the other junk on my counters....there is an array of things that have been sitting there for weeks waiting to go to their homes(-:)

2 weeks home...11 months old!

I still would LOVE to journal about our last trip to Ethiopia to bring Carys home, but I will start that when I have a little more time! In the meantime, its hard to believe we have been home for 2 weeks now. It is really starting to feel like Carys has always been a part of our family. Overall, she is adjusting very well. We certainly have our moments where all she wants to do is be held. That gets wearing, especially when I have 3 other ones to look after. I'm working on learning to use a Moby and do everything with one hand. However, Kai, Becket and Aria have been WONDERFUL big brothers and sister. They are such a big help and they all love to try to keep Carys entertained.

And can I just say how thrilled we are that she is an AWESOME sleeper!?! She has slept through the night since the day we brought her home and takes 2 nice long naps. God knew what He was doing when he placed her with us(-: So thankful for that! She is an "ok" eater and prefers salty over sweet....give her a few weeks and I'm sure she'll love sugar just as much as the other 3. She loves her bottle! The first week, we had some problems putting her down to sleep. She would scream and cry. The first few nights it last about 15 minutes, then each night it got shorter. Now, we give her a bottle, rock her a little, sing her a song and lay her in her crib awake. She looks up at me and doesn't even make a peep, I leave the room and she goes to sleep. What a blessing!

Carys has a fun personality. She's very friendly, smiley and loves to dance....as long as she has some sleep and food in her belly.

Last week we took her down to the DeVos Children's Hospital for all of her labs. They also did a skull xray to check out the shape of her head. The skull xray looked good and we will meet with a Pediatric Neurosurgeon on the 14th. Her lab work was a bit challenging to get. Apparently her veins are super duper tiny. We got barely enough blood to check the "main" things. Everything looked great, except for the fact that she has Giardia. (parasites in the small intestine) Poor baby....explains all of her gas/bloating. We are working to get rid of that.

Here are a few things we have been up to since we have been home:

Carys LOVES the bath tub

Happy as a clam

Big sister helping Mommy by feeding Carys a bottle

Enjoying a movie at our new cottage (she LOVES Praise Baby!)

Getting in on all of the action(-:

Oh yes, she had to be a part of the smores making. One of the kids shared their chocolate graham cracker with her.

She really likes the swing. Her eyes will even roll back into her head and she'll lay her head down on the side. So soothing.

Her favorite and first toy. We brought one to ET (in which we left) and had one waiting for us at home. (Don't mind Aria in her undies....4 kids are a lot of work!(-:)

Oh, and might I add....SHE IS WALKING!! ALL OVER!!!

Love you Carys Tsehay! So glad you are home!