November is Adoption Awareness Month

In case you weren't aware....November is National Adoption Awareness Month. We are fortunate to live in a community that embraces adoption and we are able to participate in several events.

One organization that we are honored to support and be a small, small part of is Show Hope. This organization was started by Steven Curtis & Mary Beth Chapman, who adopted 3 daughters from China. Most in the Christian community are familiar with SCC's music. There are several of his songs playing on my blog : )

SCC has released his new CD and the first track is simply amazing. Its called "Heaven is the Face of a Little Girl". Here are the lyrics:

Heaven is the face of a little girl 
With dark brown eyes 
That disappear when she smiles. 
Heaven is the place 
Where she calls my name 
Says, “Daddy please come play with me for awhile.” 

Chorus: 

God, I know, it’s all of this and so much more, 
But God, You know, that this is what I’m aching for. 
God, you know, I just can’t see beyond the door. 
So right now... 

Heaven is the sound of her breathing deep, 
Lying on my chest, falling fast asleep while I sing. 
And Heaven is the weight of her in my arms, 
Being there to keep her safe from harm while she dreams 

And God, I know, it’s all of this and so much more, 
But God, You know, that this is what I’m longing for 
God, you know, I just can’t see beyond the door. 

Bridge: 
But in my mind’s eye I can see a place 
Where Your glory fills every empty space. 
All the cancer is gone, 
Every mouth is fed, 
And there’s no one left in the orphans’ bed. 
Every lonely heart finds their one true love, 
And there’s no more goodbye, 
And no more not enough, 
And there’s no more enemy (no more). 

Heaven is a sweet, maple syrup kiss 
And a thousand other little things I miss with her gone. 
Heaven is the place where she takes my hand 
And leads me to You, 
And we both run into Your arms. 

Oh God, I know, it’s so much more than I can dream. 
It’s far beyond anything I can conceive. 
So God, You know, I’m trusting You until I see 
Heaven in the face of my little girl, 
Heaven in the face of my little girl.

Most of you know the story of the Chapman's and their daughter Maria, who died tragically May 2008. So these lyrics are just so powerful knowing their story.

When I first heard and then read these lyrics my heart paused and pondered on the "bridge" section. I know that place of longing for heaven and the weariness of this world's suffering. Several times, in the face of suffering I have prayed "Jesus come quickly". 

When I sat in the orphanage in Hohhot and saw the hopelessness, lonliness, hunger, and disregard for human life...Jesus come quickly.

When I visit adoption and waiting children websites and daily encounter more and more and more children who spend another day alone, with no family, no love, no future....Jesus come quickly.

When I hear of another friend, another parent, another child dying of disease and pain...Jesus come quickly.

When I think of my baby girl left alone at a hospital gate in the cold night of New Year's eve and then lying in a crib, belonging to no one...Jesus come quickly.

I do long for that day when Jesus returns and we are with our Lord forever and He will "wipe every tear". But as I have sat in prayer about "Jesus come quickly"...He has revealed something to me.  I am to "go quickly" into the these sufferings of His beloved. I can take with me His story of Hope, Love, Peace, Salvation and tell the story through serving, feeding, clothing, befriending, speaking Truth, and adopting His beloved. 

This is Adoption Awareness month. Go quickly! Love His Beloved! He calls YOU Beloved!

Halloween

We have conquered the first "major" holiday! Whew!! 

Elizabeth was a trooper as always. She has gotten so much more comfortable with so much of life in the past month.

She allowed me to put the costume on her as I told her it was a "hat" and a "dress". She likes to dress up and likes accessories....definitely a girly girl. So she went along with the costume. She did not like seeing Langley greenified as Elphaba (aka Wicked Witch) from the musical Wicked. She also does not like people in mask or just "scary" looking in general. I've shown her some of the Christmas stuff and she's not crazy about Santa or anything animated.....can't really blame her when you think about it!

Here is Elizabeth the Pink Poodle, Langley as Elphaba, Mac is Batman, Gray is Spiderman, John is the Wizard, and I'm Dorothy.

We had our "small" group from church over for a pre-trick or treating party. Elizabeth did great with the crowd in the house and had a great time running in the backyard with the big kids. We then went trick or treating. It was really fun "introducing" this odd little tradition but as soon as Elizabeth figured out that something to EAT was going into her pumpkin she really got into it! She happily approached each door and held up her little pumpkin. And she has learned to say thank you "sank ooo". What a sweet girl!

When we got home we barely got her out of her costume and she was sound asleep as we sat her in her bed! I think she had a great time!

Fall Fun

Alot of different updates and alot of photos......

We are quickly approaching our 4 month mark since we met Elizabeth. She is still doing so well. She continues to fully bond with her family and we enjoy getting to know more and more her fun, easy going personality. Here's a quick flashback. We got an updated photo of her right after we received her referral in March. We stared at this photo for many hours while we waited to travel & met her. We think this photo was taken sometime early last spring. She was about 17 months old.  We noticed how bundled up she was in this cute red coat. When we were in China we came across a coat that was very similar. We recently had an early cold snap and I took a few photos of Elizabeth in the cute red coat. Its not exactly the same but pretty close. Doesn't she look different!?!?

We have a really fun backyard. Since we just moved in we are still discovering new things. We have a big cornfield behind our yard and one day Gray's was coloring on the backporch enjoying the fall weather. Suddenly some REALLY BIG tractors came through the field and started cutting the corn. At first Gray was upset yelling "hey, don't take my corn". But I explained to him that it wasn't our corn and the farmer was harvesting it. So he was enthralled watching them cut & shuck the corn....it really was neat. 

Grand & Papou made fall visit and this is Papou playing football with the boys in the backyard. We love having them visit and enjoyed making smores with them at the firepit after dinner.

Fall colors starting to burst through the green on our tree.

As I've mentioned...I'm homeschooling my 4th grader. It has been challenging and rewarding. I've learned ALOT about my child and her education to say the least. One of the pros to homeschooling is taking advantage of community events. Recently we went to a historical home's fall/pioneer festival. My kids LOVED visiting the Colonial Doctor. They asked lots of questions about all the instruments and cutting people open.....hmmmm wonder where they get that from??? It was really cold that day...can't you tell!

And today we did one of my favorite fall activites and also one of my favorite photo opportunities.....The Gentry Farms Pumpkin Patch!!!

First we played inside the barn. We went with alot of homeschool friends, most significantly cousins Graham, Davis, & Corinne.

Corinne "weaving"

Gray emerging from the Corn Maze

Pumpkin Portraits

Tire Swing Time

I love this low angle photos of the boys on the Tire swing!!!

Corinne is getting bigger!

Langley is over the 4 ft mark!

Little Squirt

My Big Boy Gray. Mac was busy and I didn't get his photo...dang it!

Go Dawgs!!!

Now we are getting down to business around here....the serious stuff in becoming a member of this family....kisses, hugs, saying our names.....good stuff. But where we really brainwash, uh... I mean bond as a family is on Saturdays cheering on the University of Georgia Bulldogs!

Elizabeth wears the Red & Black and cheered for the Dawgs! I'd say she fits in pretty good around here : )

Now here's a picture of the cutest UGA Cheerleader you'll ever see.....

2 month Anniversary

Friday it was 2 months since Gotcha Day. Her she is just one day after meeting us. She doesn't even look like Elizabeth we know now. Grief is just as physical as it is emotional.

It was a much different day than June 28th.......

We took Mac to school and came home and just had a nice day at home. Langley and I did homeschooling while Gray and Elizabeth played in the playroom. We actually got most of our lessons done before lunch! Elizabeth had her usual lunch of PB&J's, yogurt, banana, and pretzels. Then she took a nice long nap while Langley and I organized her room.

I had to wake her up to go pick Mac up from his first full day of school. We then went to my sister's house and played for a little while. And my nephew came home with us for a sleepover. We had dinner, read stories, bath and then bedtime.

Much, much different than June 28th. That day was precious, but that day was HARD, especially for Elizabeth. I'm so glad to be at this stage....settled in and enjoying life as a family.

Elizabeth loves playing outside with her siblings. She gets upset if they are outside and she's not. She'll go find her shoes, bring them to me and say "sh, sh, sh", trying to say "shoe" to convince me to take her outside. Its pretty cute. 

And over the past few days we've had a major milestone.....Elizabeth is walking in grass!!! She couldn't stand not be able to keep up with the big kids in the backyard. So she had to give up her grass avoidance and leave the patio! She especially loves riding in the John Deere motorized car. She loves it when her brothers drive.....they drive "wildly".

Health wise she is also doing great. She gained 1 lb 12 oz in only 5 weeks! She grew 1/4 inch. Our pediatrician was kind of "giddy" with joy that she was doing so well. We have an appt with a neurologist this week to start discussing treatment for her BPI. I'm very excited to see how we can help improve her function....at least therapy will help her contractures.

Tonight we had an early fall type weather. It was cool & crisp so we had a fire in our patio firepit. After dinner we made smores by the fire. Elizabeth wanted to sit in a chair in front of the fire like the big kids. We roasted marshmellows and really enjoyed our family time. It does seem like Elizabeth has been with us so much longer than 2 months. She has blessed us all.

Making Smores!

Attachment

Just a quick story from Sunday at church......

Elizabeth has been going to church with us....meaning worship service....and usually by the time the sermon starts John or I have to step out with her. She isn't fussy, just a regular toddler and is distracting in the service.

I have a few meetings coming up and childcare is provided at those. But we haven't tried any childcare expect leaving Elizabeth with her grandparents for a very short period of time.

So this past Sunday we thought we'd see how it would go taking her to the church nursery. She is very well attached to us so I felt she was ready in that sense. But she is WELL attached to us and expected her to not do so well in being left.

I filled out the enrollment paperwork....I hadn't even "enrolled" her at church yet : ) And I was so blessed that the lady working that table had a daughter adopted from Korea. So I didn't have to do much explaining at all. I asked her to page me immediately if Elizabeth cried b/c I wanted her to know I would return. This mom completely understood where I was coming from!

So I took Elizabeth to her room and the children were having lots of fun. She hesitantly let me hand her off to the nursery worker (with pacifier & blankie in full use!) She whimpered a bit but was interested in looking at the other children. So I headed off to church. The tears welled up in my eyes and heart. Oh my goodness......it hurt to leave her....it really, really did. I was so afraid she would feel "left". Then God calmed my heart and told me it was a new opportunity to show her I WOULD come back. That helped me keep walking away from the nursery wing.

I enjoyed a few worship songs and then on the monitor FLASHED her number.

Honestly......I was relieved to see it! I was wondering how she was doing. Also I still need to feel reassured knowing she is attached strongly to me. Attachment is so important for these kiddos and it can be so complicated and challenging. It is very, very serious. God has performed a miracle in her heart in her ability to connect to us. We are so grateful.

I quickly got to her room. I scooped her up and said over and over "momma always comes back".  After that she wouldn't let me out of her sight. So we sat in the nursery together. I was hoping to show her that it was a nice, fun place to hang out. Not sure she was really buying into that idea! We'll keep trying the nursery and see if she gets more comfortable.

But I would say that Sunday's experience was a HUGE success. Elizabeth showed me that she is progressing well with normal toddler attachment & separation anxiety. And I got the opportunity to show her that "momma always comes back". 

Starting the school year

We have "officially" started our school year for Langley. She is my 4th grader whom I am homeschooling. This is a first for me! It has taken about a week to figure out our system....well I had a plan but then had to readjust as dictated by how Elizabeth responded. So as for now we are doing most of our actual one on one teaching time during naptime. Elizabeth doesn't really play independently. She LOVES her siblings, especially Langley and wants to be with her or me at all times. That doesn't really work when Langley and I both need to concentrate on a lesson.

So Langley does her independent work in the morning. I think as Elizabeth settles a little more I can get a lesson or two done during the morning hours as well. Then we have lunch and E takes a nap. That is when Langley and I both can really concentrate on the more intense work.

Mac starts school next week and I'm excited to see how much he's going to learn in 1st grade. What a fun grade! We are working on his summer reading project still. Its due next Thursday so we are finishing that.

Gray heads to preschool in early September and Langley will go to "homeschool school" the two days Gray is at preschool. So that gives Elizabeth some undivided time with me twice a week.

We also started back our music lessons this week and the sports start next week. Elizabeth is about to experience her family in a new pace now. Thankfully her personality is pretty laid back and I think she enjoys the activity (chaos) of a busy family.

Elizabeth is still doing really well in all areas. She still SCREAMS at me when she is in her highchair as I'm frantically gathering a thanksgiving meal worth of food for her at EACH meal! Its great that she is a good eater but jeesh its alot of pressure to keep her satisfied! She eats breakfast at 8:30, snack at 10 and she is screaming for lunch by 10:30! And you BETTER be feeding her dinner by 5:00pm! Her thighs and belly are OBVIOUSLY bigger.....maybe she'll show up on the growth chart soon. We go back to the pediatrician next week and she has her assessment this week for physical therapy. I bet she has gained at least a pound in a month!

I also wanted to post the quilt squares that have arrived. We still need more!!! We are over 1/2 way there but would love for friends and family to still send them if you haven't already.

#54 From my dear friend Kirsten and her family. We have been friends since we were 15 yrs old! PHOTO COMING

#55 This is from my sweet friend Elizabeth who I always share my dreams with! She has always supported me and shared a heart for adoption. PHOTO COMING

#56 This square is from my nieces, Charlotte & Caroline's grandparents, Fred & Carol. It is fabric that has been in both the girls nurseries....isn't that sweet! PHOTO COMING

We are so loving being in our new house. Elizabeth enjoys being outside, going for walks, and just watching her siblings. She still has huge aversion to grass....she just hates the feel of it and cries when we stand her in it....sorry but it kind of make me laugh watching her face :) 

We had some family portaits done this week. I'll see if I can upload a few of those. They were done by Joe Hendricks at joehindricks.com  He and his wife Rhonda are awesome to work with!