Friday, September 21, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Surgery
Well we arrived at the hospital around 10 a.m. and we were exhausted. Charlotte decided to cut a molar the night before her surgery and was up from 1:30 a.m.. It was THE WORST nights sleep we have had since having her...we could tell it was hurting her but, because of her having surgery we
couldn't even give her tylenol or advil. :( Poor baby!
They took us back and we got her in her hospital pajamas and we waited. They were at first reluctant to give us the "silly juice" saying they try not to use it if they don't have to. Once the anethesiologist came in to talk to us, he realized he wasn't going to get her away from us easily so, he actually suggested we use the "silly juice"...I was so relieved! We gave it to her and waited....
About 15 minutes later they came to the door and asked if we thought she was ready. I gave them her little doll (the little doll you sent her Amber! :)) and she wanted it, so, she reluctantly reached for it and the nurse quickly took her in her arms. She started saying "Mama, mama, I want mama!" over and over again. I kept hearing that phrase repeated until she & the nurse were out of sight. :( So, the "silly juice" didn't work as well as I had hoped. The nurses did say because of the silly juice though, that she would have no memory of leaving me.
They had told us the surgery would last an hour. After about an hour though, we got a call from the operating room that they had just finished removing the cutis aplaysia and were now getting started on her lip. About an hour later, they called to say they were still working on her lip and not to worry, that Dr. Kelly is a perfectionist and likes to take his time. After about 2 1/2 hours, I was starting to freak out a bit. FINALLY, after 3 hours, they called to say they were done and that the doctor would be out to talk to us soon.
He said the surgery went well. They had removed some tissue when they had done her lip repair in China so he ended up doing more than he had originally intended to repair her lip. She also had what he called "track marks" on her upper lip. He removed them and made the middle part of her lip not as wide which he thinks will look better.
About 30-45 minutes later we were called back to see her in recovery. We had asked beforehand to go back as soon as we could, because we didn't want her to have any anxiety about not seeing us when she woke up. Thankfully, we got back there before she even woke up. She was in the little crib and just laying there sound asleep. I picked her up and started rocking her. I rocked her about an hour before she really woke up and she was not really agitated at all...just out of sorts. I was so thankful for that!
We were able to come home that day because, she had done so good and because she didn't get naseous after the surgery. If she had, we would have had to stay the night in the hospital but, she was the best patient ever! The nurses said Dr. Kelly NEVER lets anyone go home the same day. :)
Since coming home she has been VERY demanding and GROUCHY but, who wouldn't be given all she has been through this week? We go back Monday to get any stitches out that have not dissolved.
She is still very restless and demanding but, we are weaning her off of the pain meds and replacing it with advil and she seems more like herself, so that is good. She will have to wear the no no's for 3 weeks and soft foods for 3 weeks as well. Surprisingly, neither have been as big of a deal with her as I had imagined. They had the no no's on her before we even got back in recovery. She asked to take them off twice the first day and we just said no and distracted her. So far, she is loving her jello, soup & pudding diet too. :)
Thank you so much for praying for her! Please continue to pray for her in the coming weeks...that she continues to be such a good patient and that we can keep her from falling or hurting her lip while it is healing.
Love,
couldn't even give her tylenol or advil. :( Poor baby!
Waiting to be called back to pre-op.
They took us back and we got her in her hospital pajamas and we waited. They were at first reluctant to give us the "silly juice" saying they try not to use it if they don't have to. Once the anethesiologist came in to talk to us, he realized he wasn't going to get her away from us easily so, he actually suggested we use the "silly juice"...I was so relieved! We gave it to her and waited....
She got those cute little yellow pajamas on.
About 15 minutes later they came to the door and asked if we thought she was ready. I gave them her little doll (the little doll you sent her Amber! :)) and she wanted it, so, she reluctantly reached for it and the nurse quickly took her in her arms. She started saying "Mama, mama, I want mama!" over and over again. I kept hearing that phrase repeated until she & the nurse were out of sight. :( So, the "silly juice" didn't work as well as I had hoped. The nurses did say because of the silly juice though, that she would have no memory of leaving me.
They had told us the surgery would last an hour. After about an hour though, we got a call from the operating room that they had just finished removing the cutis aplaysia and were now getting started on her lip. About an hour later, they called to say they were still working on her lip and not to worry, that Dr. Kelly is a perfectionist and likes to take his time. After about 2 1/2 hours, I was starting to freak out a bit. FINALLY, after 3 hours, they called to say they were done and that the doctor would be out to talk to us soon.
He said the surgery went well. They had removed some tissue when they had done her lip repair in China so he ended up doing more than he had originally intended to repair her lip. She also had what he called "track marks" on her upper lip. He removed them and made the middle part of her lip not as wide which he thinks will look better.
About 30-45 minutes later we were called back to see her in recovery. We had asked beforehand to go back as soon as we could, because we didn't want her to have any anxiety about not seeing us when she woke up. Thankfully, we got back there before she even woke up. She was in the little crib and just laying there sound asleep. I picked her up and started rocking her. I rocked her about an hour before she really woke up and she was not really agitated at all...just out of sorts. I was so thankful for that!
We were able to come home that day because, she had done so good and because she didn't get naseous after the surgery. If she had, we would have had to stay the night in the hospital but, she was the best patient ever! The nurses said Dr. Kelly NEVER lets anyone go home the same day. :)
Since coming home she has been VERY demanding and GROUCHY but, who wouldn't be given all she has been through this week? We go back Monday to get any stitches out that have not dissolved.
She is still very restless and demanding but, we are weaning her off of the pain meds and replacing it with advil and she seems more like herself, so that is good. She will have to wear the no no's for 3 weeks and soft foods for 3 weeks as well. Surprisingly, neither have been as big of a deal with her as I had imagined. They had the no no's on her before we even got back in recovery. She asked to take them off twice the first day and we just said no and distracted her. So far, she is loving her jello, soup & pudding diet too. :)
Thank you so much for praying for her! Please continue to pray for her in the coming weeks...that she continues to be such a good patient and that we can keep her from falling or hurting her lip while it is healing.
Love,
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Surgery tomorrow
Tomorrow Charlotte will have surgery to remove the cutis aplaysia on the back of her head & a lip revision at Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital in Nashville. Her surgeon Dr Kelly, is an awesome surgeon but, I have mixed feelings about the surgery. I hate to put her through this...she is so confident and happy right now and I look at her and think "oh I can't do this!" I think her lip looks great and I hesitate to put her through that part of the surgery but, he knows how her lip will look in the long run and this is his specialty and ultimately I just have to trust him.
When we saw him back in December 2011, when we had first gotten home with her, he told us we would need to do surgery to remove her actutis aplaysia but, we decided to wait & see until now to combine the 2 surgeries.
What is cutis aplaysia?
http://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/GARD/Disease.aspx?PageID=4&diseaseID=5835
Her surgery is scheduled for noon tomorrow and we expect it to be outpatient surgery. She will have to wear arm no no's and have liquids & soft foods for 3 weeks. When she first came home, she had alot of anxiety about food. So one of my worries is that this will set us back to having some of those issues. Also the no no's are NOT going to be fun for our opinionated & strong willed girl.
So, please keep us all in your prayers tomorrow.
Prayer needs:
1) That Charlotte goes to sleep easily with the "silly juice" & then that we are able to hand her over to the doctors so that she won't have as much anxiety.
2) That pain management would be good.
3) That the surgeon would have a clear mind and be able to focus on her surgery to give her the best possible outcome & surgery possible.
4) That there would be no complications during surgery or after....and no excessive bleeding.
5) That Jason & I would have peace about the surgery and can comfort her quickly after surgery.
Now onto some GREAT news...we are also taking our friends Stacey & Chris Daniels to the Nashville International Airport TOMORROW. They are finally on their way to get their baby girl, Airlie who is 3 years old in China. I am SO EXCITED for them and we cannot wait to meet Miss Airlie. Airlie is 5 months older than Charlotte & we think they are going to be fast friends. Helping them get ready for their trip has really kept my mind off of Charlottes surgery and their family has already been such a blessing to our family. So, please join me in praying for them on their adoption journey... below is a link to their adoption blog.
http://www.awaitingairlie.blogspot.com/
Sincerely,
When we saw him back in December 2011, when we had first gotten home with her, he told us we would need to do surgery to remove her actutis aplaysia but, we decided to wait & see until now to combine the 2 surgeries.
What is cutis aplaysia?
http://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/GARD/Disease.aspx?PageID=4&diseaseID=5835
Her surgery is scheduled for noon tomorrow and we expect it to be outpatient surgery. She will have to wear arm no no's and have liquids & soft foods for 3 weeks. When she first came home, she had alot of anxiety about food. So one of my worries is that this will set us back to having some of those issues. Also the no no's are NOT going to be fun for our opinionated & strong willed girl.
So, please keep us all in your prayers tomorrow.
Prayer needs:
1) That Charlotte goes to sleep easily with the "silly juice" & then that we are able to hand her over to the doctors so that she won't have as much anxiety.
2) That pain management would be good.
3) That the surgeon would have a clear mind and be able to focus on her surgery to give her the best possible outcome & surgery possible.
4) That there would be no complications during surgery or after....and no excessive bleeding.
5) That Jason & I would have peace about the surgery and can comfort her quickly after surgery.
Now onto some GREAT news...we are also taking our friends Stacey & Chris Daniels to the Nashville International Airport TOMORROW. They are finally on their way to get their baby girl, Airlie who is 3 years old in China. I am SO EXCITED for them and we cannot wait to meet Miss Airlie. Airlie is 5 months older than Charlotte & we think they are going to be fast friends. Helping them get ready for their trip has really kept my mind off of Charlottes surgery and their family has already been such a blessing to our family. So, please join me in praying for them on their adoption journey... below is a link to their adoption blog.
http://www.awaitingairlie.blogspot.com/
Sincerely,
Friday, August 03, 2012
A package all the way from China
We received a package from Charlottes foster family in China this week! :) I knew it was coming but, honestly I wasn't sure if it would make it here, given the inpredictable mail in China. Plus they had said it could take up to 3 months to arrive. I was so excited to open it. They had sent some of her favorite clothing, some of which were cute split pants. :) They included some of her favorite snacks-strawberry cakes and 2 cute stuffed animals. One of the animals is from a popular China cartoon named "The Pleasant Goat" and the pink bunny we had sent her in a care package back in April of 2011. We have several photos of her with it so, this is very special and we are very thankful that sent it to us. She hugged them tight after we opened the package. :)
What was one of my favorite things in the box? The photo below. I had been told that her foster family is so poor that they didn't have a camera so, they had no photos of Charlotte besides the ones I had sent. This photo means the world to me..just to have a photo with the 2 of them together. :) And the phot album Charlotte is holding in her hand in the photo, is a photo album we sent her back in April 2011 along with the bunny. To be able to see this woman holding our girl. This woman in rural China, who didn't have much, had given SO MUCH of herself to a little girl who had no one and would one day become our daughter....well the photo just brought me to tears. I will never be able to portray in words just how thankful I am for her. One day I hope to be able to tell her in person just how thankful I am for her.
I thought I had gone through everything in the box but, then I found a disc so I put it into my computer. There were 75 photos of her foster mom & brother AND a 6 minute video of them talking to us & Charlotte. I had no idea we would ever get a video. This was the most emotional part for me. I won't post it here because I want it to be special for Charlotte and it has some very personal information for Charlotte to hear one day. But, her foster brother was so cute and positive and her foster mom too. She broke down in one part of the video and went on to explain that she loved and missed Xia Xia very much but, that she was so thankful to Xia Xia's Mama and Baba and that she would love to meet us one day. It was so obvious that she was very loved! And I pray we can save our money and take Charlotte back in the next several years. Something I wouldn't have thought we would be doing so soon but, I want us to go back within the next 5 years, if at all possible, so, we can meet and talk with them. Shoot, if I was a millionaire I would go back next month! :) But God's timing is perfect.
Miss Charlotte is doing so good these days. She used to be right.by.my.side. like ALL OF THE TIME! She still is most of the time BUT, she has started going to her brothers rooms to play with them and not having to be with me everywhere. This is big for her.
She also took a great photo of the kids together. Will 14, Drew 11, Ben 8 & Charlotte 2
We've bene blessed with some wonderful friends that have also adopted from China. Vicki & her husband, Roger live in Benton, Kentucky (about 45 minutes from us) and they have 3 grown sons and adopted Molly Kate in 2011 & just got home with Callie Beth. We really enjoy getting the girls together as they are are just a few months apart in age and they LOVE each other. So thankful for their friendship!
What was one of my favorite things in the box? The photo below. I had been told that her foster family is so poor that they didn't have a camera so, they had no photos of Charlotte besides the ones I had sent. This photo means the world to me..just to have a photo with the 2 of them together. :) And the phot album Charlotte is holding in her hand in the photo, is a photo album we sent her back in April 2011 along with the bunny. To be able to see this woman holding our girl. This woman in rural China, who didn't have much, had given SO MUCH of herself to a little girl who had no one and would one day become our daughter....well the photo just brought me to tears. I will never be able to portray in words just how thankful I am for her. One day I hope to be able to tell her in person just how thankful I am for her.
I thought I had gone through everything in the box but, then I found a disc so I put it into my computer. There were 75 photos of her foster mom & brother AND a 6 minute video of them talking to us & Charlotte. I had no idea we would ever get a video. This was the most emotional part for me. I won't post it here because I want it to be special for Charlotte and it has some very personal information for Charlotte to hear one day. But, her foster brother was so cute and positive and her foster mom too. She broke down in one part of the video and went on to explain that she loved and missed Xia Xia very much but, that she was so thankful to Xia Xia's Mama and Baba and that she would love to meet us one day. It was so obvious that she was very loved! And I pray we can save our money and take Charlotte back in the next several years. Something I wouldn't have thought we would be doing so soon but, I want us to go back within the next 5 years, if at all possible, so, we can meet and talk with them. Shoot, if I was a millionaire I would go back next month! :) But God's timing is perfect.
Miss Charlotte is doing so good these days. She used to be right.by.my.side. like ALL OF THE TIME! She still is most of the time BUT, she has started going to her brothers rooms to play with them and not having to be with me everywhere. This is big for her.
Charlotte with her Ge Ge's...she has on her "Made in China" shirt! too cute!
We had a sweet friend of ours take some professional photos of Charlotte
and I think they turned out beautiful and that she captured her personality so well.
This is a photo of Charlotte in her baby dedication outfit. It looked so beautiful on her.
She also took a great photo of the kids together. Will 14, Drew 11, Ben 8 & Charlotte 2
We've bene blessed with some wonderful friends that have also adopted from China. Vicki & her husband, Roger live in Benton, Kentucky (about 45 minutes from us) and they have 3 grown sons and adopted Molly Kate in 2011 & just got home with Callie Beth. We really enjoy getting the girls together as they are are just a few months apart in age and they LOVE each other. So thankful for their friendship!
Callie Beth, Charlotte & Molly Kate
Things I want to remember:
-Charlottes English has really come a long way.. I think she is probably not far behind kids her age that have spoken English since birth yet, she still holds on to some of her Mandarin. Of course there are just a few words I for sure recognize..Nay Nay (Grandma), Mei Mei (little sister), Guo Guo (big brother) and one I haven't heard her use until just recently is Ni Hao (hello!)
-She has a love/hate relationship with Will. LOL! They can pick on each other and then the next second they are so loving to each other. A few nights recently she has wanted to sleep with him in his bed. She made this clear over and over again at bed time saying "I want Will!" )
-She and Ben are the most loving to each other. I think because he more gentle with her, she is really affectionate with him and she definitely likes to be in the same room with her Ben at all times.
-She and Drew well...he picks on her and she does not like it and boy does she let him know.
-She still ADORES her Baba and has figured out how to call him all by herself on my phone. LOL!
-Charlotte will say "bad Drew" or "bad Ben" when she gets mad at them. LOL!
-She calls her foster mom "mama China" right now. I started trying to get her to say "China mama" but she just keeps reversing it. I think its cute!
-She is so outgoing. My niece Laura was practicing for a pageant yesterday and after she got done, she asked if Charlotte wanted to practice. She said "yes, but mama camera!" She wanted to do it but, she wanted to make sure I would take a photo! LOL! She pretended to walk out like Laura had but, she was waving and blowing kisses...it was so funny, yet cute! LOL!
Please pray for us this next week. On Wednesday, Charlotte will have a lip revision surgery & a surgery to remove the acutis aplaysia from the back of her head. I am nervous about the surgery and her recovery. She will be on liquids, then soft foods for 3 weeks as well as having to wear her arm no no's. This should be very intersting but, our girl is so strong and brave and I know God has been with her each step of the way.
Much Love,
Sunday, July 01, 2012
An unexpected blessing!
Charlotte has been home 7 months now and wow, how she has changed in just the last 2 months!
-She is talking so well now! Those that know me, know I tell my kids a 1,000 times a day that I love them...well, now she can clearly say "I love you too!" which is music to this mamas ears!
-She is potty trained again! YIPPEE! (she was potty trained when we got her but she regressed when we got home)
-She made her 1st trip to the ocean and she LOVED it! She was just the right amount afraid of the ocean but, when we went out with her she was ok and she loved playing in the sand.
-She is counting to 5 with a show of her fingers.
-She can give high fives and fist bumps thanks to her brothers!
-She is becoming even more vocal about getting her way when the boys get on her nerves! :)
-She learned to sing "Happy Birthday" to me on my birthday all on her own and sings it to us quite often now. :)
Now onto some very exciting news...
Several months ago I was on the yahoogroup for the province our Charlotte is from. There was a post saying that a family was taking their daughter back to China for a heritage tour and that the guide they had hired, wanted to see if other families might want her to help them while she was in Gansu province. I immediately thought this would be an awesome opportunity for us to look for Charlotte's foster family. My husband on the other hand was leary....He just wasn't sure he wanted to know. I think it just scared him. So, I emailed the guide to first of all, see if we could afford to do this and secondly, to see what the specifics would be. The good news was that because 4 families were wanting her help we would all split the cost and our portion would only be a couple hundred dollars. So reluctantly, hubby agreed we would see what information she could find.
I was really scared to be optimistic because, I didn't want to get disappointed. I did send about 30 pictures of our family to the guide so she could share them with the foster family IF she was able to locate them. The week before she was to leave for Wuwei, she emailed me saying she might not be able to find out much info because the contact she had talked to several months agoe was not going to be there when she traveled. :( I put it out of my mind and figured we wouldn't find anything out.
Imagine my surprise, when I woke up to an email a week later, that said she had not only found Charlotte's foster family but, that she was sitting with them at that very moment! She said our baby girl was LOVED! The worry you have before you travel of not knowing what your child has gone through and knowing our girl now, I just knew she had to be cherished by someone there. The email said "they gave me much more information than I expect. they love Xia Xia more than you can image. the foster mom cried a lot when she talked about your daughter, she is so sweet mom. Xia Xia is their favorite child." ;) Baby girl you ARE loved and you WERE LOVED all along! ;) ;) What a gift to know this!
We have received 3 photos so far of the foster family. Jason and I were very anxious to see how Charlotte would respond to seeing their photos. That night, Jason and I sat on the couch with Charlotte in my lap and pulled up a photo of them on my computer. I asked her "who is that?" She got her shy/embarrassed look on her face and buried her head in my leg. I kept asking her but, she would never respond. She would just sit there looking at the photo with a shy smile on her face. I finally said "Is that mama?" She pointed to the photo and said "yes, mama!" She had this content smile on her face and it just made me happy to be able to put the pieces together for her.
I've had the chance to talk to Charlotte several times this week about seeing "China mama's" photo and a few times she has come to the computer and motioned that she wanted to see the photo. :) Being able to see a more complete picture of where she came from has been such an eye opener for me. This family obviously loved/love her very much. They are VERY VERY poor but, they were able to show our daughter love and what a family is when we couldn't. Because they loved & cared for her, we have this amazing little girl in our family! We will be forever grateful!
Foster mom crying when seeing Charlotte in the photos I had sent.
Foster mom & brother
I am so happy and thankful for this opportunity to give her as much history & info as we can about her time in China. I think this all happened at the perfect time for us as well....God's timing IS always perfect! If we had found them earlier, I think it would have been harder for Charlotte to see their picture...but, at this point, she is bonded pretty well to us. And if we had waited any longer, I am afraid Charlotte would not have had any recollection of them.
So what does this mean for us? Well, we are doing our absolutely best to communicate frequently right now but, it is difficult. They don't understand English and I don't understand Mandarin so every email has to be translated and that takes time. Plus they are 14 hours ahead of us so, that makes things harder too. They do not have a computer so, the emails go to their foster sons phone and during the week he is at school. Please pray that our communication gets easier and that I am able to find someone long term that I can trust to translate their emails.
There is some information that was given to us through them, about Charlotte surgery that has me slightly worried. In a recent email I had mentioned that she was getting ready to have a minor surgery on her lip. This was their response through the guide... "by the way, since you mentioned Xia Xia is going to have another surgery on aug/08. Foster mom escorted xiaxia for her both surgery before. One surgery reall scared her--after surgery, Xia Xia was in big bleeding!! she also died with such bleeding. that is why they worry about her so much when you mentioned about another surgery."
So I ask that you join me in praying for clarification on this soon..... and that God would keep the line of communication open between us and the foster family. This has been such an unexpected blessing... connecting 2 families half way around the world, through our love for 1 little girl!
Love always,
Xia Xia's 2nd mama!
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Things NOT to say to adoptive parents...
I thought it might be helpful to talk about some things that have bene said to us in the last 5 months, since bringing Charlotte home, that we felt were not handled in the best way. These are things NOT to say to adoptive parents. And the reason I bring them up, is to educate everyone on what IS appropriate to say and to ask.
1) "Wow, she doesn't look like you! Does she look like her daddy?"
Now clearly Charlotte IS adopted and this question totally caught me off guard. I think the Walmart checker that asked this knew that Charlotte was adopted but, this was her way of verifying that. Please, we would rather you just come on out and ask "Is your daughter adopted?" Talking about adoption is something we talk about all of the time in front of her.
2) "Oh, she is so cute.....I want one of those!" Please do not refer to my child as an object to "get"....like you could "get" her at the store. There is SO MUCH to the adoption process and lots of paperwork...it is not a simple thing.
3) "Where'd you get 'er? An older man walked up to us in a restaurant and this was the first thing out of his mouth. Now I understand wanting to know where she is adopted from but, this is NOT the way to ask it. I wanted to tell him the stork brought her, but I refrained. :) He went on to say "My cousin got one from Vietnam." UGH! I understand his intentions were probably nice so, I took it the way it was intended but, his wording was not the best.
4) "Wow, I would never take on anything like what you have in store with her teeth & cleft." REALLY? That's ok...but to us, her dental work & cleft issues have been really minor and most of the time, we forget all about them. She is not definded by them...she is just a precious child to love!
5) "She is just so blessed to be in America & have you as a family.." Yes she is...but, lets not forget this came with a price as well. She left everyone and every thing she knew. She left China not understanding English at all and that makes for a hard transition for any child. And, trust me, WE ARE THE BLESSED ONES....we get to love her. So try to understand that we believe we are both equally blessed....us to have her and her to have us.
I really don't think most of these people were meaning to be rude, they were probably just curious. I don't want to discourage anyone from approaching adoptive families. I simply want to educate on the best way to do that. The nicest way I have been asked about Charlotte was when I was in a local restaurant. An older lady approached me and said "Tell me about your beautiful daughter." This opened the door in a positive way to tell her what I felt appropriate and then she could ask any questions.
I love talking to people about Charlotte and about how we have been blessed through adoption so, I do not mind questions at all. And if you know someone that is thinking about adoption, or has questions, please tell them to contact me.
How could we not be blessed, seeing this sweet smile every day?!?!
1) "Wow, she doesn't look like you! Does she look like her daddy?"
Now clearly Charlotte IS adopted and this question totally caught me off guard. I think the Walmart checker that asked this knew that Charlotte was adopted but, this was her way of verifying that. Please, we would rather you just come on out and ask "Is your daughter adopted?" Talking about adoption is something we talk about all of the time in front of her.
2) "Oh, she is so cute.....I want one of those!" Please do not refer to my child as an object to "get"....like you could "get" her at the store. There is SO MUCH to the adoption process and lots of paperwork...it is not a simple thing.
3) "Where'd you get 'er? An older man walked up to us in a restaurant and this was the first thing out of his mouth. Now I understand wanting to know where she is adopted from but, this is NOT the way to ask it. I wanted to tell him the stork brought her, but I refrained. :) He went on to say "My cousin got one from Vietnam." UGH! I understand his intentions were probably nice so, I took it the way it was intended but, his wording was not the best.
4) "Wow, I would never take on anything like what you have in store with her teeth & cleft." REALLY? That's ok...but to us, her dental work & cleft issues have been really minor and most of the time, we forget all about them. She is not definded by them...she is just a precious child to love!
5) "She is just so blessed to be in America & have you as a family.." Yes she is...but, lets not forget this came with a price as well. She left everyone and every thing she knew. She left China not understanding English at all and that makes for a hard transition for any child. And, trust me, WE ARE THE BLESSED ONES....we get to love her. So try to understand that we believe we are both equally blessed....us to have her and her to have us.
I really don't think most of these people were meaning to be rude, they were probably just curious. I don't want to discourage anyone from approaching adoptive families. I simply want to educate on the best way to do that. The nicest way I have been asked about Charlotte was when I was in a local restaurant. An older lady approached me and said "Tell me about your beautiful daughter." This opened the door in a positive way to tell her what I felt appropriate and then she could ask any questions.
I love talking to people about Charlotte and about how we have been blessed through adoption so, I do not mind questions at all. And if you know someone that is thinking about adoption, or has questions, please tell them to contact me.
How could we not be blessed, seeing this sweet smile every day?!?!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Happy 4 months home!
She definitely had had some insecurities in the last 4 months but, I would say after about 2 1/2 -3 months we saw some big progress. That is why we haven't done professional pictures of her until just recently. We tried earlier and we were able to get a decent picture for the adoption announcement but it was HARD! She was just still so insecure when going somewhere new & wanted me to hold her & not put her down. The picture in the top right corner was taken of her while I was holding her & I was cropped out thankfully. :)
She is now talking in English and putting 4-5 words together sometimes and it amazes me...she uses her manners and says "thank you mommy" every single time she needs to (without being reminded at all) and that is something I am still constantly working on with the boys even. She is just so thankful and sweet most of the time.
For any of you reading this and contemplating adoption....pray about it for your family but, I will tell you hands down it is one of the best things we have EVER DONE! Our lives are forever changed, for the better, by our Charlotte.
I am sitting here typing this with her asleep in my arms....yes I am spoiling her rotten! :) and I just can't get over how great our God is... to see how this 1 little girl out of thousands of orphans in China could not only have a loving home here in our little family but, that she would impact our lives and so many others for adoption ...I feel so blessed to be her mother.
Like I read somewhere recently...she might have been labeled "special needs" in China but, we just think she is "special!"
Sending you all much love!
Kendra
You can click on any of these photos to see them larger.
We went in search of buttercups but, didn't find many; they bloomed so early this year.
We have had fun introducing Charlotte to extended family members. This is mom & Charlotte with Uncle Leon & Aunt Alivene in Jackson, TN.
Charlotte & Drew
Charlotte met Aunt Ronnie (my moms sister)& just loved her & immediately felt comfortable
with her. I think the feeling was mutual. :)
The following are some of the first professional pictures we just had done of Charlotte. She did so well for the photographer! The photographer is Tammy Byars Holtman who lives in Florence, KY (Cincinnatti area) she grew up here (TN) and was coming back to visit family so it was a special treat for her to photograph Charlotte.
About Charlottes clothes: I may have gone a tad crazy over her clothes but, I am LOVING it! Alot of her clothes I get at consignment sales (my sister has a large local sale twice a year) and then Gymboree and Zulilly are favorites as well. Some of the brands I like (like Persnickety) are expensive but, I usually wait until the end of the season sale and purchase then. :)
My Favorite Brands for Girl Clothes:
For cute casual clothes:
Gymboree & Mis Tee V Us
For adorable outfits & dresses:
Swanky Baby Vintage
Red Thread Stitches Clothing
Persnikety
Flit & Flitter
Strasburg
Biscotti
What are YOUR favorite brands of clothing for girls?
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Our journey to Charlotte
1 year ago today, we found out a little girl in Wuwei, China would become our daughter. This video shows our journey over the last year. Please stop the music player at the bottom before watching the video.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
2 Months Home! :)
Well it's been a fabulous 2 months home with our baby girl! She has come so far in the time we have had together. She has fit so easily into our family it seems like she has been here much longer. She is THE HAPPIEST little girl I have ever met. She continues to amaze us and everyone that has met her. It is almost like she knew what she didn't have and now that she does have these things, she is loving it and so appreciative and excited about everything! We all agree that adopting has definitely been one of the best decision we have EVER made! Seeing new things through her eyes has been so amazing and has made us appreciate each other and just life even more. She has brought our whole family together in a way I never imagined. :)
We have had a couple of play dates with some of our new friends that are also adopted from China. Adoption is such a special thing and sharing that with 2 new friends I have met has been awesome! It is so nice to hear from someone that is a little further along & experienced in the adoption journey. Ms Macy (on the left) lives in McKenzie, about 20 mins away, with her parents & 2 brothers & Ms Molly Kate (on the right of Charlotte) lives in Benton, KY, about 45 minutes away, with her mom & dad & she has 3 grown brothers & a sister that is waiting China to come home probably in June of this year! :) And the cute boy in the photo is Macy's little brother Brody. :)
She has this sweet, serious look on her face sometimes....love it! Sometimes I just wonder what you are thinking baby girl!
Charlotte has a LOVE for my camera. She wants to hold it which I don't want her to do! Now she comes up when she sees me with my camera and starts grunting and pointing which means she wants it. :) So cute but, not gonna happen Charlotte. I need to get her a play camera.
DeeDee could hardly wait for a nice day to take Charlotte on her 1st gator ride! :) He thought it might gain him some popularity from her....well not so much. She did like the gator ride alot though. Poor DeeDee wants her to sit in his lap so badly but, she just won't have it yet. She does really well bonding with anyone that can get down in the floor and play with her but, he just physically can't. In time I know she will let him hold her.
r
Some new things about Charlotte:
1) She loves all of her clothes. She is such a girly girl! When she puts on her clothes each day, she looks & calls for "Baba" to clap and smile and tell her she looks pretty. Then she is off to search for her brothers and wants them to clap too. It is so sweet!
2) She also loves shoes. Sit her in the floor with a pile of shoes and she will be busy trying on all the different shoes. :)
3) She is able to communicate very well. LOL! 1 night she was fussy and Ben and I were trying to sing her to sleep. She kept crying softly and we kept singing determined to get her to settle into sleep. Then she had had enough....she put her finger to her lip and loudly said "SHHHHH!" LOL!
4) I have gotten her to start saying "mama girl" and we all clap! She thinks it is fun so she says it often but, it comes out more like "mama, gul, gul"
5) She loves all food we have given her except grapes...it's like she doesn't like the texture and she spits them out after chewing them. She also is picky about her bananas...she only likes them if they are really ripe.
6) We haven't even attempted to get her to go to the potty again like she did when we were in China. We hope to try to re-introduce that in about a month. But now, sometimes she will just bust out in tears when she poops. It is like she thinks she might be in trouble for pooping in her diaper. I just tell her "it's ok, it's ok" and give her a hug. Makes me wonder if she had gotten spanked or disciplined for not going in the potty. :(
7) When asked she will point out her hair, feet, ears, nose, hands, & belly. We are working on her mouth & eyes. :)
8) She is facinated by any family pictures of us. She will hold them and take them every where with her. She especially likes the first family photo a friend of mine took on the night we arrived back in the U.S.
9) She does continue to have night terrors occassionally. Mainly when she is overly tired or if she is somewhere unfamiliar to her. She had one of the worst nights ever (3 night terrors in 1 night) when we went to visit my sister in St Louis. This was our first trip with her and the first time for her to sleep anywhere besides our house.
10) She loves music and jewelry! :) She happily dances any time she hears music and she loves her bracelet that Meemaw (my mom) got her, pointing it out to everyone! :)
Right after Christmas, Jason's parents & sister were able to come for a visit. Charlotte took up with them fairly quickly. Letting Shelby & Riley paint her nails and helping Grammy feed Sadie (their dog). I think it was unanimous that they too thought Charlotte was doing really well adjusting to her new family who loves her very much! :)
L-R Drew, Grammy, Charlotte, Riley, Granddaddy, Ben & in the back are Shelby & Will
Charlotte LOVES her brothers! When we drop them off in the mornings at school they start pointing to the school and them and saying goodbye to her. She has now started pointing to herself and then the school....she wants to go to Lakewood too! :) She cries for just a few seconds every day when they get out but, then its mommy & Charlotte time.
She LOVES to play peekaboo!
We have had a couple of play dates with some of our new friends that are also adopted from China. Adoption is such a special thing and sharing that with 2 new friends I have met has been awesome! It is so nice to hear from someone that is a little further along & experienced in the adoption journey. Ms Macy (on the left) lives in McKenzie, about 20 mins away, with her parents & 2 brothers & Ms Molly Kate (on the right of Charlotte) lives in Benton, KY, about 45 minutes away, with her mom & dad & she has 3 grown brothers & a sister that is waiting China to come home probably in June of this year! :) And the cute boy in the photo is Macy's little brother Brody. :)
She has this sweet, serious look on her face sometimes....love it! Sometimes I just wonder what you are thinking baby girl!
Charlotte has a LOVE for my camera. She wants to hold it which I don't want her to do! Now she comes up when she sees me with my camera and starts grunting and pointing which means she wants it. :) So cute but, not gonna happen Charlotte. I need to get her a play camera.
This is her excited/laughing look. She normally gets big eyes with a look like "oh my goodness" and then she covers her mouth as she starts her giggles. :) So cute!
Sweet baby girl we love you so much and can't imagine life without you! This is her smirk! :)
r