One Year Ago Today!

One year ago today, the most precious face appeared in our inbox and has now changed our lives forever. I never imagined how this one decision would so dramatically change everything. This little girl has changed us, all of us, for the better!

I watch the boys with her and I see their love, their patience, their tenderness. I watch Ben and I see gentleness and love. She has added a JOY that I cannot explain but am so, so thankful for.

I know that God chose her for us and that we are blessed beyond belief. We love you Josie! Thank you for being our precious little Peanut!!

Our Little Girl is 5!

It's hard to believe this sweet little girl has only been with us for 3 months. She is such a huge part of our family and acts as though she's always been here. Her English is wonderful. She understands almost everything we say and is putting together sentences on her own. She also LOVES to sing and can be found singing her ABC's or Twinkle, Twinkle or various other "kid" tunes throughout the day. She absolutely LOVES preschool and can't wait to get there.

Our biggest event to date was her 5th Birthday on September 10th! She was SOOOOO excited for weeks leading up to it and hopefully we did not disappoint. We had a true DORA birthday party for her. She was bouncing off the walls and was more wound up than I've ever seen her. Pure Joy coming from this child! She could hardly contain herself.

We had a beautiful day for the party and she was surrounded by family that loves her tons. Of course, she was spoiled with lots of presents but the reward was a "thank you" and hug from Josie. She was very polite and willing. She is a very special little "peanut" and we LOVE her more than we ever thought possible. Happy Birthday!

Home 8 Weeks!

We have been home for 8 weeks with Josie and she is adjusting so well! She is sleeping better except for the occasional night terror. She is eating better although we are still trying to put some more weight on her. She really is an incredible little girl and we feel so lucky that God chose us to be her family!

Last weekend we went to Ben's parents cabin and Josie was able to tube for the first time. She LOVED it!

Next week the boys go back to school and we are also planning for Josie to start preschool. We will see how she does. If she doesn't want to go, we won't force it so we'll see. Either way, Josie and I will be having more mommy/daughter alone time!

I am including a variety of pictures. Some of them will show her newly discovered LOVE of ice cream! Some of them show the beautiful outfits my niece Michenzie had made for her and cousin Teya in Africa and some of them show our time at the cabin. Enjoy!

Life with a GIRL!

Josie and I are both experiencing new things. Everything is new to Josie and having a girl around is new to me. I LOVED having boys and never even longed for a girl. People would always ask......."are you going for a girl?". I honestly never thought I was missing out on anything. I just wanted one of our children to have their dad's beautiful black hair and brown eyes. Well, guess what? Josie gave us that beautiful black hair and brown eyes but she also given us the joy of having a girl.

See, what I didn't realize is that girls are very different to raise. She LOVES shopping, she LOVES cooking, she even LOVES cleaning! She really is the opposite of what I remember about our boys at this age. She likes to color, cut, draw and use her fine motor skills. The boys just wanted to run, kick, shoot, and use their gross motor skills. It really is different but it's a lot of fun!

Now for the fun stuff, I am including our first family pic! I can't believe it took us more than a month to take a pic with our new, larger family! We took Josie to Oceans of Fun with our friends the Millers and we had an AWESOME time. I am also including some of Josie cooking and feeding the chickens. Is she the sweetest little cowgirl ever?

Almost One Month Home!

Well, I can't believe we've been home almost a month already. It has gone by fast but it also seems like Josie has been a part of our lives forever. Someone asked me the other day if it feels like she's my daughter or if it still feels like we're babysitting. Well guys, this little girl is our daughter! I know it doesn't always happen this quickly but I can honestly say that she is 100% our daughter and part of this Borgmann family. We love her with all our heart and are settling in nicely!

I do want to be realistic about the challenges we've been facing. The entire time we were in China, Josie slept like an angel and really behaved like an angel in every way. Since we've been home, this has changed a little. She is still a joy but is definitely testing the limits. She is strong willed and does have an opinion about things. She has decided that she will not take a nap most days and will go to bed when everyone else does.......no sooner. Her eating has also changed. We are struggling with this daily and trying to find things she will eat. She has lost 1 1/2 lbs in the last couple weeks so we are really trying to push the food. She likes to pout and refuse to answer if she doesn't get her way but overall, she is pretty easy.

Her English is coming along and she understands a lot of what we say. She doesn't freely use her own words but will repeat what we say or name things if we work with her. She is pretty quiet in general so I'm sure that will all change soon. Tonight she was working at something until she finally got it. She then said "there we go". It was so cute!

She experienced her first trip to the cabin and LOVED the boat. She was sporting her new sunglasses and looked so stinkin' cute!

Her favorite "American" thing so far is Dora. She LOVES Dora. She also likes Diego. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that she now LOVES Griffey. Most of the time when she talks on her own, it's because she's talking to or about Griffey.

I should also mention that I am SO proud of the boys. They are all wonderful with Josie and love her to pieces. I love watching their relationships blossom.

I need to download some more wonderful pictures and post them. She has met so many friends and family members and loves them all. Those pictures will be coming soon.

Every day a new adventure!

We are just short of being home two weeks and Josie has met a lot of new people and tried a lot of new things. She is such a joy and continues to make everyone fall in love with her. She is very affectionate and full of hugs and kisses once she gets comfortable.

She is also showing a little bit of the behavior we were expecting during the transition......some sadness, some tears and some withdrawal. We cannot imagine all she is feeling and trying to process. She is having a little more trouble at bedtime and sometimes wakes up scared. She has also had a couple incidents of withdrawal and tears during the day. We give her some reassurance and space and after a little bit of time she is back to her old self again. She really is an amazing little girl! We will never know all that she endured before God placed her in our family but we do know that she is a strong, loving, very special daughter and we cannot wait to see all that God has planned for her.

Her brothers are helping out so much and are patient with her when she is trying new things. They set up a "water slide" and also helped her at the playground. She LOVES her big brothers!

Please continue to keep Josie in your prayers as she adjusts to her new family and life. She is learning new English words every day but is still pretty quiet a lot of the time. I am excited for her to be able to tell us what's going through her mind.

One Week Home and LOVIN' IT!

I know, I know, I've been neglecting the blog but I can honestly say I haven't had time. We've had family and friends in town, a lot of baseball, basketball camps, etc, etc. I don't know where the time goes........

One week ago today we arrived home with Josie. She is an amazing little girl and has blessed us more than we ever thought possible. She has met a lot of family and friends and gives plenty of hugs and kisses. She went to the doctor and dentist, her first baseball game, some garage sales and has been learning what a busy family life is all about. She amazes me with how loving and adapting she is. She is learning more English every day and today she was singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". It was about half English, half Chinese I think but it was definitely familiar!!

I am including some pictures of our first week home. There are some of her in her first ballerina outfit from Grandma Beth. She just loved it!!! You could tell she felt like a princess. We have a TON of adorable pictures but I haven't downloaded them yet. More to come, I promise!!