Catching Up!
Wow, has it really been 3 weeks since I posted anything??? What an amazing 3 weeks it has been.
The boys had a fantastic time in NY with their grandma and grandpa. They were busy all the time, I am sure everyone in NY is still recovering:) What wonderful memories they will hold. Sarah missed them desperately and was so happy upon their arrival home.
Sarah had her cochlear implant mapping done on the 17th. It was a bit traumatic at first however, she has adapted amazingly well. The goal for the first couple of weeks is just to get her comfortable wearing it daily and experiencing some noise. She is doing great and actually asks for it to be put on in the morning. As the days progress she seems to be deciphering more noises and responding with delight.
Joseph and David started middle school. They were excited and nervous at the same time. So far so good, of course they love the bus ride home, very social boys. Yesterday they informed me that one of their teachers reminds them of Grandma Jennie. Yeah! It happens to be their English, language arts teacher so that is awesome. They said she looks like her, sounds like her and dresses like her!! I thought I would email her and let her know about the high compliment she was receiving . However, after further thought, what if she is like 30 years old or something?? That would make for a long year:)
Luke is enjoying kindergarten, he loves his sweet teacher. He did have to clip down to light green yesterday. He explained to me it was not his fault, his friend was talking to him and he got in trouble for listening. Memories, I feel his pain because I too always got in trouble for someone else talking to me:) (Hope the sarcasm is coming through) Conduct was not my strong suit!
Sarah had an assessment through our school district for some early childhood intervention. They of course were floored by her brilliance (I am sure you are getting sick of hearing this). They actually asked me if I drew the smiley face that she drew. I explained I would like to take credit but I can't even draw that well! (lol) The good news is she will get some speech services. We meet again next week to figure out the logistics. I explained to them that she really hates being told "no". They laughed at me and said "she is 2, there are not many 2 year olds who like to be told 'no'". So rest assured even though she is very smart she has 2 year old moments that rival the best of them.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support
Ephesians 4:2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love.
Blessings,
Sunday Snapshot
Sarah's big brothers are off to NY for a week of fun with their Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt and Uncles. They also get to meet their new baby cousin:) Sarah was very sad to see them board the plane and take off this morning. They wondered why she couldn't just jump aboard with them! I am amazed at how everyone has adjusted, bonded..whatever you want to call it she is their sister and our daughter. We are a family and it is like she has been here all along, just where she is suppose to be.
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you all with joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Blessings,
Cousin Camp 2010
Many of you know already however for those of you who don't, I have the greatest sister one could ask for:) My brother in law is pretty cool too. For once a year they host "Cousin Camp" at their house. Cousins range in age from 2 (Sarah) to 18 (Noah) and they all take part. It is awesome. All the cousins stay at their house for the week. It happens to coincide with their church's bible school which my sister directs. So yes, mania dose run in the family.
They had a week of fun filled activities and good old family bonding. Sarah and I came and went so that she could participate in many of the good times but not be totally overwhelmed. Of course whenever she was present there was no lack of attention. Some of the activities that took place were: a lemonade stand to benefit Haiti (raised $60), fun at kiddie land (train ride and go karts), putt putt, neighborhood scavenger hunt, swimming, more swimming, Mayborn Museum, Dr. Pepper soda shop, a trip to the library and a Mario Cart tournament. Let me just say I am terrible at Mario Cart!!! Thanks to Aunt Meg and Uncle Matt for an awesome week.
As far as Sarah's recovery from surgery it is going well. She will have her stitches removed on Monday. She will also get a hearing aid for her left ear. Then on August 17th the mapping will be done on her cochlear implant and she will begin to hear. Amazing!!! Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.
1 John 4: 7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves is born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Blessings,
Week Two plus
It is really amazing how much we have done since returning from China. Some of you may be thinking we are absolutely crazy and I have those moments as well. However, as manic as we seem everything has gone smoothly. We are following a divine timeline and He really knows what He is doing. None of the events surrounding Sarah's adoption have occured on my preconceived time line and as difficult as that was for me to initially accept, it is actually a blessing to let go of my false sense of control.
Recap of the last week.... My Dad, children and I loaded up Thursday morning to head off to Kiawah Island, SC for our annual beach trip! Dave had work commitments so was unable to join us. After an amazingly calm and uneventful 20 hour drive we arrived. All of the kids were great on the road trip. We arrived a bit before the rest of the family and introduced Sarah to the beach. She wasn't so sure at first, but she was perfectly happy for Grandpa Bob to carry her around the beach. She did warm up after a while. Of course her brothers jumped right in swimming and digging. Soon the cousins arrived and we all had a fantastic time. Meg and I joked that Sarah's leg muscles were going to atrophy because between all the boys her feet never hit the ground. She loved the attention. At one point she had all 7 boys sitting on the sofa while she stood in front of them shaking her finger and giving them a piece of her mind. Priceless!
My cousins and aunt from North Carolina met us in Kiawah and it was great to spend sometime with all of them as well. We of course missed my Mother as the beach was one of her favorite places to relax.
The original plan was for Sarah to have surgery the first week of August however, that was on my time line not His. As things worked out the last week of July was when the surgeon was available. At first this was disappointing however as it has worked out it was for the best! So, Sarah had her cochlear implant surgery this past Wednesday. It went perfectly, we spent one night in the hospital and now are spending a couple of restful days at home. Sarah has been a trooper. She is hard to slow down and would like to be jumping on the bed and running wild. She is missing her brothers and so am I, they will be back from the beach on Sunday.
Isaiah 46:11 I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
Blessings!
Week One
Wow! We have been home one week, officially tonight, and things are going really great! We had 3 days of doctors appointments and lots of family bonding. Sarah absolutely loves her brothers and they think she is pretty cool too. Sarah is such a joy, smiling and laughing through out the day we have only had a few melt downs. One giant hurdle was bath time. Recap, Sarah hated the bath and most especially washing her hair. We decide to let her watch Luke in bath on Tuesday night and she enjoyed that. Last night we ran her bath and she hesitantly got in. Then she pointed at Luke and the bath and let us know she wanted him in there with her. So he happily obliged her and they had a blast in the tub! Hair washing was done with no tears, amazing. I am not going to say she was thrilled but she sucked it up. After she got out of the tub, which she did not want to do, she was so proud of herself running around and pointing to her head! Too cute!
As far as all the info form the doctors... Sarah is a perfectly healthy and very bright young lady who is profoundly deaf. This is not a surprise to us just needed confirming. Everyone was amazed at her ability to communicate and her incredible curiosity. The doctor wanted to rule out any issues with inner ear development etc, and he did. With all that said Sarah is an ideal candidate for a cochlear implant. She has been scheduled for surgery on the 28th! Amazingly it is one month to day from when she was placed in our arms. Dave was just commenting it is absolutely surreal, she is here, she is perfect and things are progressing beautifully.
Times like these are when you (I) should really start a gratitude journal. So much to be grateful for. My mother was so wonderful and she kept gratitude journals, which have been an amazing gift and comfort to all my family. Speaking of my mother, I know that she is smiling down on all of us right now. I wish she could be here to meet Sarah however, I know that she knows her.
I Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Blessings,
Home Again Home Again
Alleluia! We are back int he good ole USA! The trip home was long and rather uneventful, thankfully. The only real stress on the trip was whether or not we would make our connection in San Francisco and with about 10 minutes to spare we made it. When that little plane took off to head to Austin, although I was extremely tired I was so happy to be on the last leg home to my boys and family. Sarah was a great traveler and slept for about 6 hours of the trip. We were greeted by my Dad, Joseph, David and Luke at the airport, it was so good to see them all. We headed straight to The Range to eat and introduce Sarah to her cousins. She was not a big fan of the car seat. She has been accustom to riding around in the car with no restraints at all, so who can blame her. She did warm right up to all her family members and ate really well, obviously she has great taste:)
We took it easy on Saturday. Sarah met a few of the neighbors and played outside. We are trying to get her on Texas time and that has been a challenge. No worse than waking every few hours with an infant. Sunday we headed to church where she acted like she had always been going. After running in the front doors and charming everyone she went to the nursery and hung out no problem. She played with more of the neighbors last night and fit right in. She is amazing us at every turn. She has also managed to wrap all of her brothers right around her little finger. I don't know if her feet have hit the ground yet:)
We have an appointment today with Uncle Matt to get clearance for all the tests Sarah will have on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please keep her in your prayers over the next few days.
I need to give a huge shout out to everyone who held down the home front while we were gone. What a comfort to know that we are surrounded by such a wonderful supportive group of family and friends. We have been truly blessed and through this process we have been continually amazed by God's awesomeness.
Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Blessings!
Day 4 & 5 GZ
Day 4
We had a big day on day 4 here in Gaungzhou. WE decided since we actually had a free day we would go to the Zoo Safari. It was really cool, they probably had 100 tigers of all kinds and many other animals for viewing. Definitely one of the most impressive zoos we have ever seen.
However, it was a bit of stimulation over load for little Sarah. The heat index was 116, it was very loud with music, people and animals and she was a bit tired already from blowing and going all week. We experienced our first major meltdown when I told her we could not go back to one of the shops. She pulled her hearing aids out and proceeded to literally kick and scream. I tried to put her down thinking that was what she wanted but not so. She wanted me to hold her but not really. I felt bad for her and truth be told I wanted to join her in her tantrum. We were quite a spectacle and drew even more stares than usual. After a bit she wore herself out and fell asleep in my arms while we went through the safari on wheels. When she woke up she was back to her charming self.
When we returned to the hotel we decided to see if she would like to pool. The resounding answer to that was "No!" Since she was mad already I decided to go ahead and give her a bath and wash her hair, one of her least favorite activities. After she was cleaned up it was only about 6:30 but we decided to stay in and take it easy. We ordered pizza and watched the only English channel we could find, HBO. The movie "Seventeen Again" was on and Sarah really seemed to like Zac Efron, at least she has good taste :) We all turned in early and got a good nights rest.
Day 5
The big event for the day was going to the American Consulate and taking our oath. It was really cool. There were about 50 families with us all adopting. 57% of families were adopting special needs kiddos. It was fun to see all of the children interacting with one another in the play area. It took a little while to get everyone checked in before we all stood and took our oath together. We were then informed that upon arrival into the US the immigration officer will open an envelope that they gave us and Sarah will instantly become an American citizen. So cool!
After we were finished we went out to eat with the families that we spent time with in Beijing. We had Italian and it was great. Sarah really enjoyed what my brother Andrew would call "naked" penne pasta. We came home and skyped with the boys back home and hit the sack. We really can't wait to head home soon!
Thanks for all of your prayers and support!
Ephesians 2:8 It is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Blessings,
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