Happy Birthday, Tim!

First of all, let me wish my precious husband a big Happy Birthday!!! He is my best friend and I can't imagine life without him. He is an amazing Daddy too, and even Kate is warming back up to him. We had ice cream cake to celebrate. In the first photo, Kate is reaching to be held by her Daddy! Yea!!! (Can you tell that she is adored by the men in her life?)

I love celebrating birthdays. In our family, we let the birthday girl/boy choose whatever and wherever they want to eat, and nobody is allowed to complain. My sweet husband chose the Japanese restaurant (can you believe our little town has a Japanese restaurant?), so we all pigged out on rice and shrimp and teriyaki chicken and steak and... well, you get the picture. The boys love to go to a hibachi places like this so that they can watch the food be cooked right in front of them. This time, Will decided that when he grows up he wants to be a "cooker" but he doesn't think he will throw all of those knives around because he is afraid he will get cut. Ben spent half of the meal under the table because he was afraid the chef was going to light something on fire. Kate just laughed and clapped the whole time.

As is usual, most of the staff at the restaurant were international folks. Our chef was from Bali (How do you like that J?). The hostess was from China, and came over and talked to us for awhile about Kate. Chinese people usually have lots of questions for us, and some of them are very apologetic about families who prefer boys over girls. This lady was no exception, but she pointed out how much this has changed in the past few years, and how many families today want girls too. I saw many happy families in China with girls, so I have no reason to doubt this from my own experiences. (One of my traveling companions was in a very rural area and didn't see any baby girls, so I guess it varies by province?) Anyway, we also talked about Kate's name. When I say her Chinese name to an English speaker, I say it with pride. I think it is beautiful and unique. But, when I say her name to a native Mandarin speaker I always cringe because I know that I am butchering it.

I loved our time in China, and I have so much respect for the Chinese people. I hope that I can raise my daughter to be proud of her birth culture and heritage. I would love for her to learn to speak Mandarin. I hope and pray that she will have good female Asian role models who she can look up to. Yes, I know that I will be one of her role models, but she needs to see positive examples of Asian women too.

Anyway, back to the nice lady... She repeatedly told me that Kate was lucky to have us and how nice we are to give a home to a homeless child. She was super sweet, but these type of comments always makes me feel a little weird for several reasons. First, I feel incredibly thankful to China for allowing us to raise this amazing child. I feel like the lucky one here. Second, at some point she is going to start understanding these comments. Basically, I don't want my daughter to grow up feeling like a charity case. I don't believe that children should be taught to feel self-pity. She is loved because of who she is (my daughter), not because I feel sorry for her. Third, people act like I have made some kind of sacrifice, when I have wanted this my whole life. I didn't give up my dream. THIS is my dream! God has been gracious enough to bless me abundantly. I could say a lot more (I know you are shocked), but I will leave it at that.

Oh, and changing the subject completely....a random Will-funny. Today we were in the car, listening to K-Love and there was a story about a Santa getting attacked by a cat that was half bobcat. I know. Random. Anyway, Will heard it and said, "Well now they are just making stuff up!" I laughed so hard I didn't know if I could drive.