Anyway, every day I am amazed at our little angel. I often forget that just a few short months ago she was in an orphanage and not with our family! In that short amount of time, she's learned to walk (more than just a few steps - she's so close to walking exclusively!), sign a handful of words ("milk" being her favorite), eat solids (she loves goldfish crackers and can feed them to herself), and to just love and be loved. When we first went to the orphanage, she didn't even know how to be held on the hip or how to play with toys. It just brings me so much joy to watch her blossom before our very eyes. It makes me sad to think of how much she missed out in those first years of her life. But I thank God that she is with a family now and for the rest of her life!
A couple of days ago, we had the privilege of having the Hollis family over for lunch. It was Lydia's Christmas wish to meet Darya! How sweet is that? It was wonderful to finally meet their beautiful family in person, and I just loved seeing Lydia with Darya! They truly are a wonderful family and we are so grateful to them and everyone who helped us to bring Darya home with our family. I have to brag on their kids for a moment - they were all super polite and sweet, and Hope and Charlie are absolutely adorable! Hopey gave Joel and me the best bear hugs! And the boys were excited they got to play a little football with Caleb :-)
Now for some pics and short videos (once again, pardon the poor photo quality - they're still a bit fuzzy from the pool incident :-/ ):
Our Christmas gift this year! Remember the name "Darya" is similar to the Greek word for "gift"? That's our sweet little girl!
Lydia and Darya!
The Hollis and Fick kids - good lookin' bunch of kids, if I may say so!
Look what I'm wearing!
Dancing to Christmas tunes
"Playing" Legos with her brothers
"Leaf me alone Mom, I'm busy!"
Walkabout the house (she's a bit raspy sounding due to a slight cold) - look at her go!
She is so cute! When do I get to meet her?!
ReplyDeleteShe looks WONDERFUL! Thank you for posting some pictures. She is truly blossoming.
ReplyDeleteYay, I got my Darya fix today :-). She is so pretty Marianne and her walking is fantastic! Good girl!! Loved all of the pictures and videos.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at Nick's party. When you were getting some food and I was watching Darya play, she was putting leaves on the deck. Tyler, was then taking them and putting them back on the grass. "No Darya," he would say in his sweet little voice. Cathy said they pick up leaves off the deck and put them in the grass and so Tyler couldn't understand why Darya was putting them onto the deck. It was precious. She loved it and thought it was a fun game!
Merry Christmas!!
That is so wonderful that you got to meet the Hollis family!! That is another family that I would love to meet someday. I can't imagine how great it felt for Lydia to see the product of all of her hard work to raise that money for Darya. And Darya is doing great with her walking. I simply cannot wait to get Ella and Darya together next month...I hope it will still work out :)
ReplyDeleteAdorable! God bless you all. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteTruly the best Christmas gift ever! She is really looking healthy and great!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness!! I never keep up with blogs anymore, and I really should!! Look at Darya walking!! How special!!!! :) I remember seeing her in your first videos home struggling to stay in a sitting position, and now look at her!! Brings tears to my eyes! :) In one month, Sosie is already sitting up on her own, feeding herself her own bottle, and trying to pull herself up on her legs. A month ago, she was just a floppy baby with no trunk muscles or coordination. Isn't it SO special?!
ReplyDeleteSo happy for your family!!!!!! :)
Look at that big girl walking! Go Darya!! I love how she checks the camera to make sure you are still filming...so cute! What a wonderful blessing she is!
ReplyDeleteOh man. She is gorgeous! What a honey and she looks like she is so darn full of life! I love her walking video...and that legos video looks pretty familiar to our house.
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