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Friday, November 23, 2012

postheadericon Thankful

3:03 PM | | Edit Post
I just love Thanksgiving!  I have so much to be thankful for...

Here are four of them....

Really??!!  How did we get so lucky?? 


We had a great time putting up our Christmas tree.  We usually put our tree up after Thanksgiving but since we were having family at our house this year, it went up early.  Harper jumped right in and could not wait to put ornaments on the tree.  Of course, the majority of the ornaments hung about 36" from the floor!  Glad to have a couple taller children now who can help spread them out.  









It was a great Thanksgiving and it had a lot to do with having our family, that moved to Florida over a year ago, stay with us several days.  We miss them so much, so it was wonderful to have them in our home, no rushing around, just much needed time.  And they were able to meet Harper!  
To no surprise, she loved them!



Elon and Ella have always been two pea's in a pod - now we have three pea's in a pod!!!



Ella made Harper a scrapbook with all of their pictures in it so Harper could always see them and remember her cousins and Aunt & Uncle who love her so much!  I know Ella spent a lot of time on this book.  It was so sweet, which is just like Ella!


Now for Thanksgiving day - it was delightful and amazingly easy!  I loved how it went from filling our tummy's, to birthday party for Ella, to a reunion!

Grahm with just a couple of her girls!

Silliness!


 Case loves his sisters!  I love how Harper reached up to hold his hand :)


 Now for the birthday girl...





And then the small reunion with a few of Cole's cousins.  It was so good to see them :)

I realize how old I am getting when I see these beautiful young ladies!  Hayden (holding Harper) was one of our flower girls in our wedding over 14 years ago!  Catherine (holding Elon) was just a toddler and Lizzy (in the middle) was not even born!  Wow, where does the time go???

There is nothing like family :)

Thankful, thankful, thankful for the one I was blessed with - ALL of them - even the one's I did not get to see today!
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Saturday, November 10, 2012

postheadericon Oh my goodness! We have been home 2 weeks...

6:36 PM | | Edit Post
Wow!  We have been home for 2 weeks!  I can not believe it has only been two weeks.  Things are really going so well.  Here are the things that we consider such a blessing...

1.  She is going to bed with no crying, and has not since the first night she was with us.  She does not wake up in the middle of the night!  She is sleeping 10-11 hours.  Ummm - wow!!  This was not the case with our sweet little Elon when she came home, so we had prepared for a similar situation but no sleeping issues :)  Woo Hoo!!

2.   Everyone is getting along!!  The girls really do like each other.  The boys are thrilled with their new sister, too!  With the girls (of course) we do hear the occasional "mine" but they are also quickly eager to share.  I know it is still early, the newness will wear off.  But we know things could be difficult NOW, and they are not.  

3.  She is not refusing me or Cole.  She will give us hugs and kisses all of her own.  Especially at bedtime and when she wakes up.  We had prepared for the fact that she may not want one of us - Elon pushed me away in China and she pushed Cole away once we were home.  It is good to be accepted!!  We know Harper did not love us immediately the way we loved her (she may not love us even now), but we can see her heart changing towards us.  It is beautiful to watch and I can not wait till the day that she fully accepts, and loves, me and Cole.

4.  She does not have any fears.  She like's baby dolls, blankets, costumes, baths, doesn't mind having the door closed, doesn't mind loud noises, doesn't mind seat belts, does not mind if Cole or I have to leave, does not mind that the kid's go to school - she really seems to understand that this is her home and her family.  I believe (maybe because of her age) that she fully understood what was happening and she knows this is her new life.

5.  She is a smart cookie!  She is already counting to 10 on her own (in English), and counting out items on her own in English too.  Already learning her color's in English.  Her fine motor skills rock!  She is starting to sing the alphabet song. So many things I could write to elaborate but she is doing great!  Harper will begin working with a teacher friend of mine next week, we are hoping to get her caught up to hopefully start in the 1st grade next year!   

OK, and here are the things that we need to work on...

1.  She does not like to be told "no"
2.  She needs to eat more.

That's it!  Yes, it is very difficult to parent without the word no (and obviously, with her communication still developing, I can not explain things to her in her own language.   So she does hear that word because it is one of the only words that she knows what it means!).  

It can be extremely exhausting because of the way she is handling being told no.  
But when I step back and really take in our situation - it is amazing!  
During the bad days, I have to really remember how difficult all of this is for her.  

How her entire world has changed.  

How she can not communicate with me & tell me what she wants.  

How she is still grieving and this is probably effecting how she is reacting.  

We will work through this.  But it is good for me to remind myself that this is a process and she is doing incredibly amazing!  I am so proud of my newest little pumpkin.   

And now for some pictures of our past two weeks!!!  There were several sicks days so I think we had a pretty eventful two weeks considering...

Our first family photo as a family of six!!!

learning how to bowl and learning from a pro...


This girl so has her own sense of style.  I have no control...

 Sister love!!!

 They are so silly together....

I do not know what she was doing but it is so funny seeing her personality come alive...

These girls's had a date with their daddy.  First the serious pose....

And then the reality...

 They were twirling together holding hands, I made them stop to take a picture.  They really do love each other :)

Uncle Jake (from Florida) was able to come this week to meet his newest neice.  He is the one who was responsible for the "Girls Rule" sign that helped Elon get over her "Man Cave" sadness.  So sweet!!!
6 comments
Tuesday, November 6, 2012

postheadericon National Adoption Month

6:55 AM | | Edit Post
Our sweet cousin, Eryn, had shared this song with us while we were in China.  I was not able to watch it until we got back home.  Can't believe I had never heard it before.  Love what it says!  November is National Adoption Month so you may be seeing a lot on adoption from me...

My life has been blessed through adoption!    





"On their own, on the run, when their lives have only just begun. 
These could be our daughters and our sons. 
Just like a drum, I could hear their hearts beating. 
I know my God wont let them be defeated. 
Every child has a dream to be longed and be loved."



Our girls are loved and are longed for - not just by us, but from our Heavenly Father!  


And this is what they have looked like the past couple days - two little sick girls.  Lot's of sniffles :(

2 comments
Friday, November 2, 2012

postheadericon Eyes Open

6:33 PM | | Edit Post

MY EYES ARE OPEN

Proverbs 24:12 tells us, “Once our eyes are opened, we can’t pretend we don’t know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know and holds us responsible to act.” 



Reading the below quote is amazing to me.  There is so much that could & can be done.
"If only 7 percent of the 2 billion Christians in the world would care for a single orphan in distress, there would effectively be no more orphans. If everybody would be willing to simply do something to care for one of these precious treasures, I think we would be amazed by just how much we could change the world. We can each do something, whether it is donating, adopting, fostering, mentoring, visiting orphans or supporting families that have taken in orphans." -(Stephen Curtis Chapman).

I 
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Thursday, November 1, 2012

postheadericon Getting into the swing of things...

7:44 PM | | Edit Post
Did I mention that it is wonderful to be home??  Well it is.

Jet lag is not as bad this time - so thankful for that!

Harper has slept through the night every night since we have been home!  No issue's with the time difference, no sleeping issue's what so ever - we are so very thankful for that!

She fits right into our family.  Yes, it is a bit louder (she is not loud, but the excitement of the other 3 are making for a loud home AND car).  Things will settle down soon enough (I hope)!

She did fine with the kid's going to school on Monday, but I did keep her busy.  Tuesday was a little tougher.  I tried to put her down for a nap (big mistake).  We are figuring each other out, she is figuring out her new life here, I am figuring her out too.  Like I said before, she does not like to be told no.  What 5 year old does???  I don't like to be told no either :)  She is such a good girl, so we are not dealing with this a lot but when she pouts, she pouts!

Here is a quick snap shot of our first week home!


 Still bud's...

Love my biggest brother so much!


We visited daddy at work and rode my Big Pop's motorcycle!


One of her silly face's she makes for pictures...


And another one...


We also visited Elon, Case, and Camden at school and had lunch with each of them!


OK - I had asked the boys about Halloween before we left for China - no interest.  Elon is terrified of mask's and we did not want to scare the mess out of Harper right after coming home so we were not planning on doing anything this year.  So I had not put any thought in costume's.  Last minute Cole and I decide to walk to our neighbor's home to let Harper experience something new.  We made the boys go too.  Last minute costume's were hilarious!  Elon was suppose to be Snow White - well that changed.  The girls wanted to wear the plastic, loud, too big for their feet, dress up shoe's too - that did not last.  They made their own rules.  Harper took a purse for her candy.  They wore their sunglasses at night.  Three wands each.  Camden ended up with Captain America and Case had a dog mask for something for school.  With the awesome costume's that my mom always had for us as kid's, I am sure I really disappointed her tonight.  But we had a lot of fun in a short amount of time.



Harper loved it!!  People just handing candy to her - what could be better???  This girl LOVES candy.  It may be a problem :)  Poor Elon was absolutely terrified and screamed every time she saw anyone with a mask on.  My poor baby girl, we did not stay out long.


My sweet sister also came for a visit.  It was great for my niece's and nephew to meet their newest cousin that they have prayed for so much this past year.  They hit it off immediately!  I just love these kiddo's.

 
With this many kid's, you know we could not get everyone to look at the camera - this was the best we could do...


Love it!!!
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