Beautiful obsidian eyes that tilt upwards.  Long, silken black hair that is thick and straight.  A tiny snub of a nose.  Twin dimples residing in chubby, round rose-tinged cheeks.  A big belly laugh when happy or tears of rage, sadness when angry or upset. 

All of this adds up to make up one beautiful little two-year-old girl who came to our family recently from China.  She is our beautiful little girl, Qaio-Qaio (pronounced "Chow-Chow") Alizabeth-Grace, who is the light of our world.

Actually, her journey began over a  year ago, when she was a few months old.  We had wanted to add to our family;  having another child was out of the question for us because I had developed sudden, severe female problems, and it affected my chance of ever having another baby.  This was when we'd turned to adoption once the shock had worn off.

We decided to adopt a child from China, a little girl.  We already had a three-year-old son, Emery Thomas; we wanted Emery to have a little sister.  We knew that little girls were being abandoned in China; many of them were left at orphanages or hospitals, for others to take care of them.  We wanted to give one of them the love and security that they never had.

We applied to adopt, filling out the necessary paperwork, undergoing extensive background checks, having the necessary home studies, interviews, to make sure we were qualified.  When we were approved, we cried with joy; however, we knew the real work had just begun.  We then had to choose a child we could call our own.  That was when we first saw little Qaio-Qaio's picture.

We instantly fell in love.  It wasn't long before we started referring her as "our child, our daughter".  Even little Emery called her "his little sister".  We told our adoption provider that this was the one we'd wanted; steps were then taken to get her to America, to us.

We didn't think it would take as long as it did; for a while, we didn't think we'd ever get her, or that she went to another family or the adoption plans had been cancelled.  It was a time of endless waiting, speculation, even tears.  We were so afraid for little Qaio-Qaio:  we didn't think we'd ever get to hold her in our arms.

Eventually, that happy day came when we got The Call.  The call that was to tell us that Qaio-Qaio was to be ours, that she would be coming to America as soon as the rest of the paperwork had been completed (and that she'd been cleared by her doctors once the medical tests, exams had been finished).  We cried again, only this time, these tears were happy tears.  We cried with joy.

Our dreams of having another child (even if only by adoption) was about to come true .  We would now have a little girl; our family would be complete.

Just last month, we went to the airport to pick up our new baby.  She was now two years old.  It was a joyous celebration; many tears were shed as we finally took our baby girl into our arms for the first time.  She was beautiful.  And she was now ours, forever and ever; nothing could ever separate us. 

We were now a family.

Now, just a month later, Qaio-Qaio is learning English by bits and pieces, and everything is still so new, fresh for her.  Every little thing causes her to stop and stare wide-eyed in astonishment as her little mind struggles to comprehend the scheme of things.  The purr of a cat.  The sound of running water, the flush of a toilet.  The wild, crazy colors of a television cartoon.  The sounds of our voices reading to her, singing to her at night.  The taste of unfamiliar foods on her tongue.  Everything is still an adventure for her, and she delights in each new experience.

It is adorable to watch her staring at the cat as she hisses at her (she'd pulled the cat's tail), or trying to figure out the words of a language still unfamiliar to her.  She is on a neverending trip of self-discovery, and we delight at what the future holds for her.  She is proving to be a very intelligent little girl, and we couldn't be any happier to have Qaio-Qaio in our lives than we are right now!

We are indeed blessed!