We are getting so excited….Zoe celebrates her birthday with her friends!!!

Well, time is getting a lot closer now…we are approximately two weeks from traveling to China and to add Zoe to our family.  I have included some recent pictures of Zoe celebrating her birthday. As you can see in the pictures she had a great big cake which looks really good. She also had pizza for dinner as a special treat.  Her birthday in not until the may 21rst, however she will be leaving Beijing to go back to Kiayuan City in the Yunnan province before her actual birthday.  We will meet her in Kaiyuan City.

Now doesn't that birthday cake look great!

Zoe celebrating her birthday just a little early!

Having a "big" peice of her birthday cake!

We also know she received a little photo album that Sonja put together which has pictures of our family she seemed very interested in looking at the pictures.  We hope the album in some small way helps her get a little more comfortable as she is going through yet another very tough transition from what she has become used to and there have been many people who have done an extraordinary job in looking after her, great and caring people she has become to know and love.  So…we have our work cut out for us!!! We are ready!

Zoe looking at the photo album Sonja made for her

All Zoe's friends and caretakers who have cared for ZOE! Great people!

We recently learned some things about Zoe that you might find of interest…

-She loves the color pink

-She likes to wear skirts

-Her favorite fruits are apple, banana, and orange.

-She loves hamburgers and ice cream, and chicken drum sticks and fish nuggets.

-Her favorite videos are Barbie's fairy tales and McDonald's.

-She is very shy meeting strangers and being at a new place, but she warms up soon.

-She speaks everything like a normal 4-year-old, but there are some sounds that she can't pronounce right, "z" for Zoe for example, which is normal for kids who were born with palate defects.

- She is excited about train rides and airplane rides, and the yummy food that she will be served while she rides an airplane.

-Her nick name is “nou nou”

-Zoe says her name more like "joey" than "Zoe." it's very cute. She can say Teitler well!

-Wen Jia" is her official surname, which is named after the prime minister of the nation "Wen Jia Bao," I was told. Only that his surname is "Wen," not "Wen Jia." Double-word surname is rare, but there is no "Wen Jia" for sure, so it's named after the prime minister's last name and part of his first name. Zoe Ann's official first name is "Si Ruo." Si means think/consider and Ruo means seem like/as if. The meanings do not sound meaningful in English, but her name is actually very pretty in Chinese meanings and in pronunciation as well, and it fits her perfectly because she is a cute and pretty little girl.

Both Sonja and I have applied for leaves of absence from work so that we can travel to and from China.  Both companies have been great in working with us on this. The last things we have to do are finish up Zoe’s room and pack.  Otherwise I think we are in pretty good shape.

Anyhow…thanks for following our process…more to come.