Gotcha 2008~ Daddy and Gwen

This morning Gwen and Daddy looked at pictures from our first Gotcha Day, three years ago!

Daddy and his girl... can't imagine life without her!

Gotcha Days... Number Four and Counting!

Today is the third anniversary of the day we met Gwen, December 12, 2005. Our fourth Gotcha Day celebration!


Here is a familiar picture, the first one we took of her, at the Civil Affairs office in Chengdu. These two photos were taken on the first Gotcha Day anniversary, December 12, 2006. And these two are last year, December 12, 2007. She is wearing the same outfit as the year before!

Gwen and Madelyn look out our 48th floor window on the Huangpu River and Shanghai! Next post... this year's Gotcha Day pictures!

Gotcha Outfit... Family Fun Foto Challenge

Here are all of the clothes Gwen was wearing the day we met her, minus the fish hair clip. I had laid them all out to take this picture sometime about a year ago, and had them saved with other special things from her adoption. I didn't imagine that I would be putting them on her again... but that's what we did tonight! Not all the layers, just the top one, which is fine corderoy, quite thick and puffy, like a comforter.

Interestingly, when our friends we met in China (whose daughter Kate came from the same orphanage as Gwen) visited us earlier this year, they brought pictures of Kate from a camera that they had sent ahead to the orphanage. This disposable camera with pictures of Kate in the orphanage contained several photos of her wearing this exact outfit Gwen wore on Gotcha Day! I was leafing through the pictures and recognized it at once! I guess the clothes are all shared around among the children there. Whatever is on top of the stack of laundry...

This week's Foto Challenge was to try the Gotcha Day outfit on again! I had not had Gwen's on her since the day we met her... when she was ten pounds lighter and six inches shorter... but look how well it fits! On Gotcha Day (sixteen-plus months ago) both the legs and the arms were cuffed up. Tonight I still cuffed the sleeves, but the pants fit just fine without cuffing. It was neat to get the outfit out and show it to Gwen, to tell her about the day we met her. She tried very hard to fit her foot into the adorable Gotcha Day panda squeaker shoes, and to my surprise we got them on and she was even able to wear them for a few minutes. I even put the little pink fish clip she was wearing when when we met her in her hair tonight, and then showed her a picture of what she looked like that day. I love being able to tell her about this amazing story in pieces... thanks, Donna,(2happy.typepad) for the incentive to do this with Gwen tonight!