Two Weeks Home

Well, as you can see, it has been quite some time since I have posted on the blog. Due to some issues with international adoption laws, we were encouraged to keep our updates private and not post anything until our adoption was final. Of course, we wanted to follow the rules and so we decided to just take the blog down for awhile. However, our adoption is now finalized and we have our sweet girl at home with us-we are officially a family of 7!! And so we decided to go ahead and put the blog back up so that we can keep everybody updated on how things are going!

Well, it has been an amazing two weeks to say the very least! Of course, it has also been an incredibly busy two weeks and that is why the update has taken a little bit of time. Little Miss O is doing absolutely wonderful with all of the transitions and adjustments. She fits so very perfectly into our family and seems to be thriving. I hope that she is happy as she seems because we are seeing lots of smiles and hearing lots of giggles!

So, what have we been up to? Well, first of all, LOTS of appointments! We are on the go quite a bit seeing a variety of specialists and starting the appropriate therapies. It wears both Mommy and OE out and we are definitely ready for bed each night! She sleeps great-about 11 hours per night and also pretty soundly. I don’t get to sleep quite so long, but I am also ready to hit the bed each night!  It takes quite a bit to keep the older four from waking her up too quickly in the morning to play and snuggle, but they are learning that the Mom is not too happy when little miss doesn’t get her sleep, so reluctantly they now let her sleep in, but they come bounding in the door after school to find her and if we aren’t home yet, my phone starts going crazy! Needless to say, they are pretty crazy about her! When we aren’t at doctor appointments, we are playing at home or working. I have been a little slow at getting back into the groove of catching up at work, but thankfully my bosses have been very patient! So blessed with an amazing flexible job! OE has also gone to work with me a little bit-of course going to my boss's house/office is a bit like a day at Chuck E Cheese for her, so I think she enjoyed it as well! They are definitely set for fun with the toys and kiddo equipment!

What are we learning? Well, what isn’t she learning? She is a very determined little love! She is already trying to hold her spoon and feed herself. Of course, she isn’t able to feed herself an entire meal or anything, but she loves to try! She is also working on eating some finger foods-she thinks this is very exciting! We are still working on drinking, but doing pretty well with the straws. She also gets a little bit noisier every day. She has totally figured out that she has six people to respond to her and I LOVE that! She knows that if she wants to keep eating or more to drink, she can fuss and we will get her more. She is learning that she doesn’t have to lie in bed alone. She can cry and we will come to love on her. My very favorite time of the day is when she wakes up-she has the biggest smile on her face and it is as though we have made her whole day just by being there! (She has no idea that it is actually our day that she has made!) She has also learned several sign language words. She knows eat, please, thank you, and more. She uses them quite frequently and in the correct context. She has also learned to point to her eyes, nose, mouth, hair, ears. Physically, she is working on rolling over and trying to crawl. She has a long ways to go, but we are amazed by all that she is trying to do. To us, she is a superstar! And oh, how she LOVES to hear the cheers and excitement when she accomplishes something! We are so thankful we get to watch her progress!

One of my favorite stories from the past two weeks…the other night we went to the Homecoming Game and she was on a lap looking back at the press box. She started smiling and waving-she was so happy. We couldn’t figure out what she was smiling at. We turned around and there was Emily up on top of the press box (getting ready to sing the National Anthem with the Show Choir.) She was waving and smiling at OE and so she was smiling right back! She knows her family…so very thankful for that!

We had a dear friend (thank you for the amazing gift, Mal!) take some family pictures for us this weekend and so I am attaching a few for you to see. Doesn’t she just fit perfectly? In many ways, it feels like she has been with us forever! We love her so very much and just can’t imagine what we did before she was here! How blessed we are to be her family!!

Thanks so much for checking in with us and following our journey now that our sweet girl is home!