2 months ago...

...this beautiful little girl became officially and legally our daughter. If you want to look back to that day you can go here . To keep things simple we decided to "celebrate" our official adoption date, and not "Nina Day", which would have been yesterday. As I get older and more forgetful (after all, the big 4 - 0 is only a couple of years away.... yikes!) it's just easier to remember one date only *ha*.
Anyways... last night, after the kids were asleep, I watched our "Nina Day" video footage for the first time. That was pretty emotional. Now that I know her so much better and I'm more familiar with her various facial expressions, watching her before and during our "receiving ceremony" was just heartbreaking. The uncertainty and fear in her eyes is so evident to me now. They are expressions that I don't see anymore. Now she is much more relaxed and trusting and full of joy. She has changed so much! And for that I'm grateful!
Today we invited my parents-in-law over to watch all our China video with us. Nina seemed okay with it, and my mother-in-law stated how she didn't think Nina remembered the emotions of that day. I was wondering whether she did or not. Well guess what? It may have been to early.... Mike and her took a nap after the videos were over, and during her nap she developed what sounded like Asthma. She was coughing and wheezing, and it got better after a breathing treatment once she was awake again. Coincidence? I think not. She has done this several times now that she developed some "mystery illness" in moments of stress.
It's such a fine line to walk.
On one hand, everything is still so new, and obviously fragile.
On the other hand I see more and more how she is becoming "one of the five". The kids have their sibling squabbles, she tattles on the other kids, they laugh and play together, and I feel like our relationship is moving onto solid ground. To find the balance between the two though is such a guessing game. I'm so thankful that the Lord fills those gaps and our inadequacies!
Something interesting happened a week ago, when we ate a local chinese restaurant. Our waiter tried to speak in Chinese to Nina, and she immediately grabbed my arm, ducked down shyly and just gave him a tiny little grin. It seemed like it caught her off guard, that someone would speak her "old" language in her "new" environment. I so know the feeling. Every so often I run into people from Switzerland, and sometimes I cannot even utter an intelligent sentence in Swiss German - just because I don't expect that language in my Wild West environment. In a way I found this little episode encouraging. Obviously she has somewhat moved on and is comfortable where she is at.

Later on today, after a MEAN waterfight that left everyone SOAKING wet (including Grandma and Grandpa - in fact, they STARTED it!!) Anya and Nina dressed up. They looked so cute together! "The pirate and her gypsy sidekick" is what Mike called the two sisters :-)) I love the way Nina looks up at Anya. She thinks the world of her big sister!

And yes, I DID make some applesauce. Not as much as I would have liked, but I got a good start!
I know you all have been wondering *ha*..