MALIA TURNS TWO!!

Today we celebrate the birth of our most precious daughter! Happy Birthday, sweet Malia! We had a great start to the day. Our friend, Nicole, stopped by first thing to give Malia a beautiful, soft red poncho she had crocheted herself. A short while later, our friend, Gay, stopped by to give Malia a birthday balloon hat that she made. It was a little big, but Malia had fun with it anyway. Here she is showing it off.

Today was also a special day because our friends, Brian, Tonya and Isaac were returning home from China with Chloe (yippee!!), so our evening was a little rushed. Unfortunately, this made it feel like we didn't get a decent chance to celebrate Malia's birthday as a family. But that didn't stop us from making time to give Malia her birthday present. Here is her expression as we brought it out to the kitchen after eating a quick supper.


This year's present was a castle playset.

After supper we made a quick stop to visit Grandpa and Grandma Wagoner and then it was off to the airport to meet our friends!

When we got to the airport, there were LOTS of people waiting to meet Chloe and her family. But in the midst of all that, our friends, Brad, Carmen, Braylen and Alea didn't forget that it was Malia's birthday. They came with a birthday balloon, which was anchored down by a box of M&M's!!

It was a busy day, but a special one. We are so blessed to have this sweet girl in our lives and thank God for bringing us together through the miracle of adoption!

Here are a few tidbits about Malia at two...
* She has grown five inches in the last year!
* She is starting to sing.
* She'll say "one" and "two", but has to say "tee" for "three".
* She has started to say "Oh, my!" and "Oh, my goodness!"
* She says "pretty" and gasps in awe when she sees something new.
* She is a good jumper and climber.
* She loves to tackle the cat.
* She has an iron grip, especially when tackling the cat.
* She likes to snuggle, even though she is so active.
* She loves candy and will ask for it by name - every day!
* She also loves slices of apple and orange.
* She pronounces orange as "onge".
* She still sucks her thumb and plays with her hair when tired.
* She is ticklish and has such a sweet laugh.
* She likes it when I sing and will say "again" when I stop.
* She likes dancing and twirling.
* She loves broccoli and cheese and will eat tons of it at dinner.
* She gets along fairly well with other kids, but is assertive.
* She has started to squeal, much to the chagrin of our eardrums.
* She loves playing with her cousins, especially Luke and Kollin, who she likes to tackle!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Malia! We love you SO much!