A Day of Celebrations

 Thursday after PTolemy's very last day of preschool, I took him to Dylan's for a special lunch.  He had a sack full of treasures from school, and we didn't want to just go through them in the car.  We wanted to savor them.

 Smarties for a smartie...

 ...and a scrapbook of all the fun times those cute little people had this year with Miss Sharla.  Look how much Ptolemy has grown!  Lunch was short because Ptolemy had pre-ballet.  He loves his class with his friend Camden, Liby from Shelter, and the other gwills.  His teacher, Miss Lisa loves him, too.  It was just an all-around great day for the kid!

 And it was a great day for Xanthe, too!  May 22 was Gotcha Day, or as most people call it now, Family Day.  Eight years ago on May 22, Scott and I walked into a beautiful room at the city offices in Changsha, China, and there was Xanthe, sitting on the orphanage director's lap, drinking water out of a cup.  All the girls were dressed in bright pink outfits with little shirts and split pants.  We were afraid we wouldn't recognize our daughter from the two pictures we had, but we knew right away who she was.

Xanthe is the one on the far left, with the man in black.  There were three other babies, too.  We were surprised that they were already there!  In fact, I think it was a mistake.  I think we were supposed to wait and have the babies brought in and presented to us, but we all accidentally ended up together, and what a happy accident!  I love the way it all played out.  None of us dared rush over to the babies.  We were in a foreign country, after all, and we had jumped through some very mysterious hoops to get to this point.  We didn't want to do anything to jeopardize our being able to hold our long-awaited children, and finally take them home!

 Scott brought Xanthe this huge cupcake when he came home.  It was so pretty, it warranted its own photo shoot.  Xanthe is such a beautiful girl!  I love these photos.  She got the candy necklace from Mrs. Glissmeyer at reading tutoring.  Sadly, it was her last session.  She absolutely loves Mrs. Glissmeyer and the time she spends at her home reading.

That night, we took Xanthe and Tizzy to Settebello at Farmington Station for their special $2 pizza margarita night.  There was also $2 gelato, so of course, we took advantage of both specials!  Xanthe loved being the center of attention...as much as she could with Tziporah's antics adding to the festive atmosphere!  Scott and I both forgot our phones, which never happens, and led to some discomfort as things started going haywire due to phone calls I was waiting for.  Oh well!  It was a bummer that we couldn't take pictures of Xanthe, though.  Scott told her, "This night never happened because there are no pictures to share on social media!"  :)

 This was moments after the kind man in the black shirt handed us our baby.  One baby was screaming uncontrollably, but the rest were eerily silent.  Libby adapted quickly.  Abby was a koala bear, clinging heavily to whomever held her.  Xanthe was sick, tugging at her ear.  The orphanage people gave us some medicine, but we had brought antibiotics with us, and administered the first dose right away.  I'm so glad we had been advised to do that.  I love this picture because it shows the determination that I had felt in finding Xanthe and bringing her home, and the peace at having her.  It shows the fear and confusion in Xanthe's face, and the physical discomfort she must have been in, with her lungs and ears infected.  I lvoe it because I have Xanthe's favorite "Panda" blankie over my shoulder.  She still sleeps with it.  One just like it, its twin, was given to Xanthe's special nanny at the orphanage.  I love this picture too because Scott took it, through teary eyes, still in marvelous shock over having a child in this way!

We recreated the picture when we got home from Settebello.  I just adore how Xanthe is still looking up with those brown eyes, but this time with more confidence.  She is where she belongs and she knows it.  We love you, Yi Ai You!