Update Photos 16-17 months!

We received 3 update photos of Kate in Nov. She looks wonderful; so healthy, and full of smiles. She is approx. 17 months in these pictures (possible a bit younger). I love that her skin is so perfect, the light is shining off her cheeks! The orphanage has said she is just over 24 lbs.
Someone has also learned to stand on her own, and take some (unsteady) steps!

Photos of Kate - 13 months!

Again, on Yahoo, I get lucky as I read someone's email on the list saying that they had been in Changchun with a large missionary group working at the orphanage only 3 months earlier, and they had lots of pictures of the kids living there! (Of course, I cannot resist emailing her and asking if possibly she remembers seeing our daughter.) The next morning, there are 11 emails, 10 of which have a picture attached of Qiu Lu...our little Kate at 13 months! Here she is in the middle with a couple of her buddies, posing for pictures. I only wish it were Mommy holding her, but I was grateful for this little piece of her history, and to know what she looked like. I was not surprised to find they had shaved her little baby head in the summer heat.


Kate, being held by a young girl from the same orphanage.

Kate, 13 mo., (on right) being held by teenage volunteer-workers from the states. They affectionately called her "Lu-Lu", and rumor has it she was one of the favorites with them, so was often carried around. She is in at least a dozen pictures with them!

I found a baby picture of Kate - 6 mo.!

Here is a picture of Kate in her crib at 6 1/2 months. I was lucky enough to stumble across this picture of her (on a Yahoo site for people in the process of adopting from this orphanage)! I emailed the lady who had taken the picture 10 months earlier, and sure enough, it was Kate! What luck!! The people who took it were there to adopt another child from the SWI, and they said that when they walked in the room, Kate popped her head up, and didn't take her eyes off them the entire time. :)

Referral Photos of our new baby girl!

On Sept. 22nd, we accepted a referral of a 'baby' girl in China. Her name is Chang Qiu Lu. Her "last" name of Chang, because she is from the capital city of Changchun. Her first name is Qiu (Chee-oo), which means Autumn, and Lu meaning path. We later realized that Sept. 22nd was the day of the Autumnal Equinox....the first day of Autumn.

This is my favorite picture of Qiu Lu (Kate). It's the first picture I ever saw of her, and I could not stop looking at her eyes. I just wanted to reach out, pick her up, and nuzzle and kiss her chubby little cheeks and neck. She is so precious, this picture still captivates me.

This is one of "Baby Kate"s referral pictures that were emailed to us. The pictures were taken when she was 9 months old, in the orphanage in Changchun. She is sitting with one of the "aunties" who cares for the babies, and work in shifts at the SWI (social welfare instititute).