See how I have grown!

Isabella is growing so quickly its scary! The clothes that I had to roll up in China now fit! As she has grown over 3 cm. Plus her little arms, legs and tummy have all grown as she loves her food! But she is trying to be so independent! On Sunday our baby became 16 months old. I think the following pictures show how quickly she is growing up.

This is Isabella at 7 months when her paperwork went to the CCAA



And at 12 months, when we got our referral




13 months a trip to the park when waiting for Ma Ma and Ba Ba to come and collect me!



14 months in Guangzhou!



15 months spending the day with her cousins!



16 months playing in the park



Every day she truly amazes me and I cant describe how deep my love for this little girl is. One of my favourite moments is when she first sees me if she has been away from me ( when she is with Ba Ba) the moment she spots me she runs towards me, arms outstretched with a big smile on her face. Moments like that are priceless.

We spent the weekend in Newcastle as hubby ran the Great North Run ( Mummy deferred), it didn't quite go according to plan! We met with our friends and their 4 children which Isabella loved. Hubby and our friend Lucy got the train into Newcastle whilst Dave, me and the children were going to drive to the 1/2 marathon finish in South Shields. After two hours in the car! and going no where fast we decided to abandon the car and catch the metro. No joy they were all packed and no one was getting on! So I abandoned seeing hubby finish the run and got the metro to the train station before they got too packed returning to the city, where Isabella and I waited for him over coffee and lunch!! We have just booked a hotel nearer to the finish line for next year! One valuable lesson learnt!

But hubby beat his ( and mine!) personal best and finished in 1 hour and 59 minutes.

We also have our confirmed place in the London Marathon! So I need to start training this week and taking Isabella for at least two runs per week ( she loves the jogging pram and fresh air!). We took some good advise and bought her a very padded snow suit and will put her in this and layer her up for when it gets colder.

We will be fundraising for Hope4China and will let everyone know how they can sponsor us nearer the event! They do an amazing job setting up foster programmes and helping raise the standard of orphanage care. We were also lucky to meet some of the Chinese staff when we were in Guanggxi.