Life has been busy and I haven't posted much during the past year. Emily finished her 3 year old preschool class, played soccer, took ballet, and generally continued to keep us laughing most of the time. She started pre-K in August and describes it as "super fun!" She - and we - are busy all the time it seems.
I will try to do a better job of updating information for any people who come across this blog while investigating adoption. And, I'm always happy to answer questions if anyone has any.
In the meantime, here is a guest post I did to begin "skin conditions" month on the adoption blog "No Hands But Ours."
https://www.nohandsbutours.com/2017/09/04/girl-white-hair/
Monday, September 4, 2017
Saturday, October 1, 2016
TWO YEARS!
We celebrated two years home with Emily this summer. She has changed so much from the 17 month old toddler we met in a hotel lobby in 2014. Now, she is a confident, sassy, and VERY independent 3.5 year old. She attends preschool, takes ballet, is starting soccer this fall, and loves Mickey Mouse, princesses, dress-up clothes, and bossing around (nicely) her brothers. I asked her brothers recently whether they remembered our family before Emily came to us. Even though they were 7 and 5 when we adopted her, they said that they don't really remember waking up or existing without her in our house and in their lives! She has worked her way deep into their - and our - hearts.
We met another China adoptive mom in person (vs. just from online groups) while on a summer beach vacation. This mom lives and works where we were visiting and is a part-time photographer. She took these beautiful pictures of our family and we were thrilled to be able to meet her family and to tell her boys that Emily is from China just like they are!
We met another China adoptive mom in person (vs. just from online groups) while on a summer beach vacation. This mom lives and works where we were visiting and is a part-time photographer. She took these beautiful pictures of our family and we were thrilled to be able to meet her family and to tell her boys that Emily is from China just like they are!
Monday, April 11, 2016
Home
A little more than two years ago - on March 15th - we received this email from our agency:"Your LOI has been officially submitted to CCCWA!
Congratulations!!
In many ways, it's difficult to believe that these things happened years ago. In other ways, it seems like a lifetime ago. As of today, Emily has been our daughter for 22 months!
My computer here at home won't save a copy of your PA as a
pdf and isn't formatting it right so I can email it to you, so I will do that
on Monday from work. In the meantime, I took a screenshot of it for you.
So excited for you guys!!"
It was the day we submitted our "Letter of Intent" (LOI) to adopt Emily and was the day China issued its Preliminary Approval (PA) for us to adopt her. A big day for sure!
On April 11, 2014, we received word that China had issued our LOA. That meant that we were finally in the home stretch and that we would likely travel in a couple of months.
On April 11, 2014, we received word that China had issued our LOA. That meant that we were finally in the home stretch and that we would likely travel in a couple of months.
In many ways, it's difficult to believe that these things happened years ago. In other ways, it seems like a lifetime ago. As of today, Emily has been our daughter for 22 months!
We moved last month to a new house - just under a mile from our old house. It will be (hopefully) a good for our family. It's a house with a little more space for 5 people. Still, it was very difficult for all of us to leave our "old" house. We had been there almost 9 years. When we moved, Jackson was 9 months old. Now, he's nine and a half. This was the house in which my boys learned to walk and talk and run and throw and catch balls and ride bikes. It was the house that saw them through preschool and into elementary school. They grew from infants/babies into the 50 and 70 pounds big kids they are today. It was the house in which we dreamed of a daughter in China and in which we dealt with all of the paperwork and craziness to find her. It was the house in which Jackson asked God (in a family prayer in March 2013) to please send us a sister because we "were ready to love her." It was Emily's first house. It was the house in which she learned to speak English, to run and play, to ride a tricycle. It was the last house my mom ever came to before she passed away. So many memories. We've all shed some tears - even though we hope the "new" house will be just as good for all of us.
Emily, though, has the best perspective on things. A few days after we moved, she and I went back to the "old" house to get a few things. She saw how it looked without furniture and started running and twirling through the big, empty rooms. I asked it made her sad to be there. Her answer: "I miss this house, but it's OK because my FAMILY is at the other house. So, that will be my home."
Out of the mouths of babes - as my mom would have said. What perspective from a just-turned three-year-old little girl who came from an orphanage on the other side of the world.
She's absolutely correct. What really matters is family and love. Wherever we are together, that's our home.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Longer in our Family than in China...
Yesterday - December 29th - marked the 18 month anniversary of Emily's "gotcha" day. We met her in a hotel lobby on June 29, 2014. She was almost 18 months old.
Now, she is almost 3 years old.
As of today, she has lived one more day as a part of our family than she ever lived in China. She has been our daughter/sister/granddaughter/cousin, etc... longer than she ever was an orphan.
Our lives before she joined our family seem so distant now. It's becoming more difficult to remember how our lives were before there was a little white-haired silly girl in our lives. She wakes up and runs for her brothers' rooms, she continues to crack us up with her jokes and antics at meals, she loves/loves/loves her school (and especially her teacher and her friends), she tells us stories, she cuddles her stuffed animals, she loves to do artwork, she wants to learn and to absorb everything, and she is fearless and confident.
We had no idea really what to expect of adoption or of Emily specifically. She has been and is everything we could have ever hoped for - and more. We've had an unusually good experience and she has transitioned so easily and happily into our lives and has accepted and loved us in a way we didn't really think was possible. We are so grateful for her and for how well she has done and for the opportunity we have to have her as part of our family.
Emily has grown up so much during the past 18 months. She is almost 8 pounds heavier and is almost 8 inches taller. Her hair grew so long that we finally had to cut it last week (a far cry from the shaved 'do she had when we met her). In so many ways, she is such a big, mature girl now. There is hardly a day that passes that someone - teacher, parent, church member, store clerk, etc... doesn't tell me how lovely she is.
She is a treasure (with some comic relief on the side) that we could have missed if we didn't finally step out in faith toward adoption. She has changed all of our lives for the better. If our last 18 months has taught us anything, it is that this great risk (adoption, big life change, a leap into the unknown) has brought us the greatest possible reward.
A look at now and then...
Same grin back then...
Becoming a family back then...
How we LOVE this face and this girl!
Now, she is almost 3 years old.
As of today, she has lived one more day as a part of our family than she ever lived in China. She has been our daughter/sister/granddaughter/cousin, etc... longer than she ever was an orphan.
Our lives before she joined our family seem so distant now. It's becoming more difficult to remember how our lives were before there was a little white-haired silly girl in our lives. She wakes up and runs for her brothers' rooms, she continues to crack us up with her jokes and antics at meals, she loves/loves/loves her school (and especially her teacher and her friends), she tells us stories, she cuddles her stuffed animals, she loves to do artwork, she wants to learn and to absorb everything, and she is fearless and confident.
We had no idea really what to expect of adoption or of Emily specifically. She has been and is everything we could have ever hoped for - and more. We've had an unusually good experience and she has transitioned so easily and happily into our lives and has accepted and loved us in a way we didn't really think was possible. We are so grateful for her and for how well she has done and for the opportunity we have to have her as part of our family.
Emily has grown up so much during the past 18 months. She is almost 8 pounds heavier and is almost 8 inches taller. Her hair grew so long that we finally had to cut it last week (a far cry from the shaved 'do she had when we met her). In so many ways, she is such a big, mature girl now. There is hardly a day that passes that someone - teacher, parent, church member, store clerk, etc... doesn't tell me how lovely she is.
She is a treasure (with some comic relief on the side) that we could have missed if we didn't finally step out in faith toward adoption. She has changed all of our lives for the better. If our last 18 months has taught us anything, it is that this great risk (adoption, big life change, a leap into the unknown) has brought us the greatest possible reward.
A look at now and then...
Big grin today...
18 months ago...
Longer with her family than without...
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Funny girl
I don't often travel for work, but Emily is very interested when I do go somewhere. She watches me pack and she asks all kinds of questions and she will often pack her own bag and then tell us she is off somewhere. I love her imagination and confidence!
Late to add this Halloween song, but there weren't many dull moments that night...
And a funny Christmas tune...
Fall/Winter Catch Up
Life is busier than ever and I've failed to post any pictures of some other things that are still "firsts" - or "seconds" (but the first time really participating) for Emily. This month, she had a Christmas performance at school, a County/IEP evaluation, Christmas, one last quick family get-away, a move to a big-girl bed, and an early family birthday celebration.
Emily continues to do so well and when I have a chance to step back from the daily chaos, I'm reminded again and again how very lucky we are to be a part of her life. She is amazing us right and left and she fits in so well to our family. People sometimes ask her how her English is coming along and we have to laugh because she NEVER STOPS TALKING! My Dad calls her "radio" because she talks non-stop. Nobody who met her would believe that she didn't hear a word of English until she met us at 18 months old. She speaks in compound, 10+ word sentences, uses pronouns and other complex parts of speech correctly, and "gets" things far beyond her years. I thought my boys were bright (biased mom), but Emily is really much more ahead of things than they were at 2 years old. I think they are a big reason for this as she greatly benefits from being around older children at home and at school. As the sister of two big brothers, her vocabulary also includes a lot of "poop" related words. She is also obsessed with porta-potties and spots them everywhere. The boys wanted to count Christmas lights on the way home from a restaurant the other night and she wanted to count porta-potties (lots of construction going on along our typical routes). She wants to be just like her big brothers. Mostly, this is a positive thing. But, the poop-related conversation and general loudness are probably slight negatives. :)
She is the youngest in a 3 year old class at her preschool (I pushed for that) and she is doing great. She has learned to identify some capital letters and calls herself the "letter spotter" because she can find the letters E and A (her initials) all over the place: on Exit signs, toys, bulletin boards in class, catalogs and magazines, books, etc... She has also learned to write a few capital letters. We started with "her letters" to get her interested and, for now, she is into it and is wanting to know more.
Video of her first effort at writing a capital E:
She really looked forward to Christmas this year and considered herself the monitor for Santa's "naughty list." At breakfast one morning, I overheard her tell her brother that since he "tooted on the sofa" (yes - such is our life), he was going to the naughty list and "losing all electronic privileges." (you'd think she had heard that before...) She wanted Santa to bring her a toy cat that wears glasses and a pink scooter. She must have been good because Santa followed through with her wishes!
She had her first Christmas performance at school in mid-December and she did so well! She was the line leader for her class and went up the steps with no problem. She sang the songs and smiled and was so mature. We were so very proud of her! She memorized words and motions to several songs and was so confident. She walked right up the steps with no rails and looked out at the crowd. Nobody would have ever known that she has any vision issues. It's sometimes so crazy to think that little things that we take for granted - like our children's ability to sing about Jesus' birthday in a Christmas show -- are not even in the realm of possibilities for children in orphanages.
We had a family party (early) for her 3rd birthday and iced lots of cupcakes (the orphanage reports before we went to China said that she liked sweets. That's still the case!) She keeps saying that when she "grows huge" and "turns 3," that she can do all sorts of "big girl" things. I guess we'll see.
She had an evaluation by the County to see which services she qualifies for at age 3 in January. Not surprisingly, she qualified only for vision services. She will begin working with a TVI (teacher of the visually impaired) in January for 30 minutes each week. The current goals are for her to work on tracking from left to right (pre-reading). (People with albinism have a difficult time getting their eyes to work together (binocular vision).) She will also work on finding details in pictures with a lot of "visual clutter" (lots of drawing and details and colors, etc...). The TVI who did her evaluation told us that she believes Emily's vision to be in the better range for someone with albinism. We should be able to find out for sure (with an acuity number) when we see the ophthalmologist in January. For now, we're so pleased (really astounded!) by her progress and we are really glad that we had her evaluated early and got her "in the system" so that she can begin work with a TVI as soon as she turns 3. We want her to have all the tools that she'll need so that she can excel at anything/everything she may choose to do and so that she is not frustrated by reading and other school endeavors that are more difficult for someone with a visual impairment.
Too many words. Pictures are better!
Emily continues to do so well and when I have a chance to step back from the daily chaos, I'm reminded again and again how very lucky we are to be a part of her life. She is amazing us right and left and she fits in so well to our family. People sometimes ask her how her English is coming along and we have to laugh because she NEVER STOPS TALKING! My Dad calls her "radio" because she talks non-stop. Nobody who met her would believe that she didn't hear a word of English until she met us at 18 months old. She speaks in compound, 10+ word sentences, uses pronouns and other complex parts of speech correctly, and "gets" things far beyond her years. I thought my boys were bright (biased mom), but Emily is really much more ahead of things than they were at 2 years old. I think they are a big reason for this as she greatly benefits from being around older children at home and at school. As the sister of two big brothers, her vocabulary also includes a lot of "poop" related words. She is also obsessed with porta-potties and spots them everywhere. The boys wanted to count Christmas lights on the way home from a restaurant the other night and she wanted to count porta-potties (lots of construction going on along our typical routes). She wants to be just like her big brothers. Mostly, this is a positive thing. But, the poop-related conversation and general loudness are probably slight negatives. :)
She is the youngest in a 3 year old class at her preschool (I pushed for that) and she is doing great. She has learned to identify some capital letters and calls herself the "letter spotter" because she can find the letters E and A (her initials) all over the place: on Exit signs, toys, bulletin boards in class, catalogs and magazines, books, etc... She has also learned to write a few capital letters. We started with "her letters" to get her interested and, for now, she is into it and is wanting to know more.
Video of her first effort at writing a capital E:
She really looked forward to Christmas this year and considered herself the monitor for Santa's "naughty list." At breakfast one morning, I overheard her tell her brother that since he "tooted on the sofa" (yes - such is our life), he was going to the naughty list and "losing all electronic privileges." (you'd think she had heard that before...) She wanted Santa to bring her a toy cat that wears glasses and a pink scooter. She must have been good because Santa followed through with her wishes!
She had her first Christmas performance at school in mid-December and she did so well! She was the line leader for her class and went up the steps with no problem. She sang the songs and smiled and was so mature. We were so very proud of her! She memorized words and motions to several songs and was so confident. She walked right up the steps with no rails and looked out at the crowd. Nobody would have ever known that she has any vision issues. It's sometimes so crazy to think that little things that we take for granted - like our children's ability to sing about Jesus' birthday in a Christmas show -- are not even in the realm of possibilities for children in orphanages.
We had a family party (early) for her 3rd birthday and iced lots of cupcakes (the orphanage reports before we went to China said that she liked sweets. That's still the case!) She keeps saying that when she "grows huge" and "turns 3," that she can do all sorts of "big girl" things. I guess we'll see.
She had an evaluation by the County to see which services she qualifies for at age 3 in January. Not surprisingly, she qualified only for vision services. She will begin working with a TVI (teacher of the visually impaired) in January for 30 minutes each week. The current goals are for her to work on tracking from left to right (pre-reading). (People with albinism have a difficult time getting their eyes to work together (binocular vision).) She will also work on finding details in pictures with a lot of "visual clutter" (lots of drawing and details and colors, etc...). The TVI who did her evaluation told us that she believes Emily's vision to be in the better range for someone with albinism. We should be able to find out for sure (with an acuity number) when we see the ophthalmologist in January. For now, we're so pleased (really astounded!) by her progress and we are really glad that we had her evaluated early and got her "in the system" so that she can begin work with a TVI as soon as she turns 3. We want her to have all the tools that she'll need so that she can excel at anything/everything she may choose to do and so that she is not frustrated by reading and other school endeavors that are more difficult for someone with a visual impairment.
Too many words. Pictures are better!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)