Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Twas the night before the night before Christmas . . .

Yes, I know it's the middle of the night but I can't sleep. I guess this is what Christmas does to a new Mom.  Can I just tell you I'm a little excited.  On a very small scale I can begin to understand how much our God loves us and how happy He is to bless us as His children.  This is the first year to bless our child with Christmas and memories that surround it and I can't wait to do so.

Each night as we go to bed we have been reading a few books in preparation for this special time of year, since to our knowledge Delaney has never experienced Christmas.  We read about waiting for Santa and how he brings gifts to us and places them under the tree in exchange for cookies and milk and we give gifts to others too.  We do this all in celebration of Baby "Jees-a".  We end our readings each night with "The Christmas Story".  She reenacts each scene as Joseph "walk, walk, walks" to Bethlehem and Mary rode "clip clop, clip clop, clip clop".  When they reach Bethlehem there are "so many people" and they "knock, knock, knock" or various doors only to be told each time "no room".  It's precious as she makes the animal sounds for the stable and then lifts her hands in praise when the Baby Jesus is born.  Here's a little glimpse.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

So amazing . . .

God is so good and we are so richly blessed beyond belief.  I knew Delaney would bring us so much joy but I don't think I could have ever fathomed just how much,  She is such an amazing little girl.  Yes, I know everyone thinks that about their children but just delight me for a moment and let me brag.
Her speech and her ability to communicate were one of our greatest concerns, you know, how well she would acclimate and be able to relate to her surroundings, feel comfortable and make her wishes known.  Let's just say this girl can make it very clear!   "No" has become a favorite word but not always in defiance, she mostly says is when we try to help her too much, like putting on socks, shoes, pants, or making selections for pj's or lunch time,  Her persistent "no" lets us offer other choices until we get it right.  She also has a vocabulary of a little over 60 words now, many she will repeat and many she says spontaneously.  Not all are intelligible to others but in the context you can usually figure it out.  If she doesn't know the name of something then she will act it out, pint, or combine a series of actions to let you know what she means.  Sometimes a very dramatic game of charades!  She also reenacts any event in which she stumbles, bumps herself, falls down, or drops something.  We may have an actress in our midst!
 Her Early Intervention specialist comments on a weekly basis of how amazingly she's catching up and is now around the 28-36 month mark, where she should be.  We've had her to the pediatrician now three times and she's up to date on her shots until early spring when we get the third Hep B vaccine.  Her eye exam was good and the hearing exam and dental exam will come after Christmas.  Our little one will likely start a school-based class once a week to help with language aquisition.
She loves fruit, especially clementines, we have to hide them or seriously "cut her off" at three because I believe she'd eat them until she popped.  She also loves "peacha" (peaches).  Aside from soup and noodles her knew loves are deer meat and noodles or deer with barbecue sauce.  She has become a lover of condiments too, especially honey mustard sauce.
She loves her baby dolls and takes very good care of them, dressing, diapering, feeding, kissing and taking their temperature- she also gives them shots from time  to time too.  Along the lines of her babies, she also loves her bear, "goggy" (doggy)  and "pan-a" (panda)  which she pushes around the house in the stroller too.
She loves all things from the movie FROZEN. and screams out Elsa and Anna any time she sees them.  She is totally mesmerized by the movie and will watch every second, especially the scene of Elsa singing "Let it go".  We "let it doe" a lot at our house and in wal-mart and in church whenever she sees the characters or a song is sung.  She reenacts it with the dramatic hand motions and everything.
She also loves music and dancing and I'm sad to say that the most recent season of "Dancing with the Stars" is over for now.  That was my monday night workout!
We just had our Christmas program at church on sunday and this Ma-ma and Da-E could not be more proud!  She imitated the motions form the program  all season when we would read about the Christmas story and she can spot "the baby" and "Jees-a"  most anywhere in pictures, cards or story books.  What a blessing hat she is understanding so much.  Of course we saw "San-a"  at he mall and int eh parade and the park but he still doesn't prompt the enthusiasm of Jesus and Elsa.  The old man is gonna have to step up his game, lol!
I think it goes without saying,  we are truly grateful for Delaney, God knew all along what was best.  Even though it seemed at the time that it was taking forever to get her home and the wait would never end; that time has vanished and it seems hard to recall life before her.  We love our precious angel!
First Snow


Loved eating the snow!

Couldn't get enough! 

The REAL Santa

Taking in the lights! 

My elf! 

Helping Pa-Paw with the tree


She was a big help!


Very meticulous!

Learning from the Best, . . Nana! 


Our tree in process

Helping . . . 

The finishing touch

Not thrilled

Candy made it better

Oh yeah, candy! 

Tree inspector

FROZEN tree

Elsa, her favorite. 


Monday, November 3, 2014

Our girl . . . 3 months after the day we met, "Gotcha Day"

A few photos I took today of our beautiful girl.  Today marks 3 months since she walked hesitantly into that office in Xi'an, China on August 3rd, 2014.  She had our hearts immediately but we had to win hers.  So many changes for such a little one.  I am overwhelmed by her and the blessing she is in my life.  Hopefully these photos reflect the beauty we see that she has within, such a loving and affectionate child and a very happy little girl. Praises to God!



 






3 months since "Gotcha Day"

Three months ago today on August the 3rd., we got up early and left the airport in Beijing to board a plane for Xi'an, China.  We arrived, gathered our luggage, and  met our new guide, Sherry.  Looking back, she was the best guide we had for our entire trip and by far had the toughest job.  She coordinated everything for us and was such a huge help.  She went to three different banks to exchange our money, went to multiple stores to find Delaney's formula and ordered lunch for us several days.  Small things to some but they meant so much to us in a country with a language barrier and a new child.  We really had very little time to unpack, relax, or clear our minds.  Sherry took us to Burger King where we had our last meal as just a couple of two.  We had a few moments to get some things together, our bag with a few snacks and a sippie cup, a blanket and lovie doll, and a book.  None of it mattered in hindsight since she wasn't interested in anything we brought.  We took our gifts and paperwork, camera and ipad.
We arrived at the building where the civil affairs  office was housed in what seemed like just a few minutes but it was about a half an hour.  We were the only family there and we went in and took a few pictures of the room and sat nervously on a black leather couch.  Another small child walked in and then exited the room as the orphanage workers were told the family adopting her had not arrived yet. We had barely recovered from that "false alarm" when in walked our Delaney.

 Quiet, hesitant, pausing at every step dragging a pillow with our picture on it, she met us and we knelt in the floor with her.  She looked at us with no expression, some subtle swaying, the kind you get from trying hard to stand very still.  The tears came and we just let her cry.  They rolled quickly down her cheeks as one of the nannies kept wiping them away and shaking her arm telling her to stop crying and that we are her "mama" and "baba".  Easier said than done.   I remember touching her shirt and shoes, commenting and then touching her little arm and then her hand.  I was thinking I should be the one wiping her tears as I'm her Mom, but a part of me just knew she needed to cry and I wanted to allow her that- she was brave but so broken-hearted. Her little world was changing and she didn't know what to make of it.  I eventually picked her up and the crying continued.  There are many details here and thoughts but I'll reserve those for Delaney.







Halloween 2014

Our little "kitty" totally enjoyed herself and wasn't the least bit scared or apprehensive.  She kept her "ears" on for most of the time and got lots of sweet compliments.  We were able to see people who we hadn't yet been able to visit and she met lots for the first time.  So happy she enjoyed herself!






Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Yesterday . . . a very busy day.

Early morning conference call and computer time
Potty training her Baby



Clothes dryer inspection
 These are just some of the silly antics she does every day.  Later it warmed up and we fought off the lady bug invasion and stink bugs and played outside.  The sun came out for a photo shoot so we took advantage although we weren't dressed for it.  Memories!


Sharing her joy
Collecting leaves
Making Mama's heart swell


Learning about nature
Thank you God for a beautiful day!