Happy Birthday...wish you were here!

 Today is Jia Wen's third birthday.  My heart is heavy today thinking of my youngest child spending another birthday away from her family.  I can't even let myself think about what I've already missed in this little one's life.  But at least I can take comfort in the fact that this is the last birthday she will celebrate (or rather, not celebrate) away from us. 

Maimie and I decided to celebrate the occasion with princess cupcakes.  Everyone joined in for the sprinkles.

But what about a gift?  It turns out I've been buying quite a few things for Jia Wen both for the trip to meet her and for once we have her home.  I decided she needed something special.  So I got to work on her backpack for the trip to China.  I started with a small sized hot pink backpack and found some great ribbon.  Mikaela chose the adorable owl iron-on patch.

Adorable, right?  So cute I made a matching one for Maimie.  

But something was missing......

Ah-Ha!, personalization.  

So, What do you think?

The gift of a name.  Actually Saidie was one of the favorite names 5 years ago when choosing Maimie's name.  I swore the kids to secrecy and told them if we ever were blessed with another child from China this might very well be the name.  

Okay, so the whole name is Saidie Beth ShenJiawen (then last name).  Saidie is a form of the name Sarah, meaning God's princess.  (My great grandmother was middle named Sarahbelle.)  Thought that was just a beautiful picture of the christian's standing with our heavenly Father...joint heir with Jesus, adopted into His family.  Beth means house of God, and it is my middle name as well as one of the middle names of each of my three girls (I was middle named for my Grammie, Elizabeth).  ShenJiawen is the Chinese name our daughter was given by the orphanage, and we felt it only fitting to keep this gift that connects her to her past in China. 

Happy birthday, sweet Saidie!