Our Family...: April 2013

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Celebrating the small things...

We made it home safe and sound. We had a perfect trip home with no delays! Hannah was restless on the long flight and had a few meltdowns. Thankfully she was soothed by the nice Chinese ladies on the plane who could explain to her what was going on. She slept 7 of the 12 hours, but not all together. I didn't sleep one bit and sat with my butt hanging off the seat for 4 hours so Hannah could stretch out over both seats and sleep. I was so happy when that flight was over! Hannah has transitioned to this time perfectly! We got in around 9:30 Thursday night. By the time we got home, played with the kids, took a bath... it was 12:30 before we were in bed. She fell right to sleep and slept until 8:00. That was it...totally switched over with no problems! She has slept 12 hours straight through the night for the last 2 nights.

Now that we are home and all my kids are together, it is easy for me to see how behind Hannah is. I knew that in China... but she was so much better than I expected that I didn't see all the little things that she is lacking. Of course the language is a huge part of it. She can't communicate anything to me unless it is through a smile or a temper tantrum. The only thing she can really say is "mommy" which she has said about 800 times today. When I pick her up she points or babbles in Chinese... and then says mommy over and over again. I know that will get better with time, but it is hard! Hannah's stamina is not as strong as my other 3 year olds. Timmy and Emma are so strong and so active. Hannah is not! She has trouble on the stairs... she can get up by crawling but can't get down. We really have to watch her. Her legs aren't strong enough to support her going up and down. I was helping her go into the garage yesterday and she was holding on and her little legs were shaking while she stepped down. Then Emma comes up behind us and jumps to the bottom from the top step. It is little things like that, that really make her delays stick out. She walks fast, almost like a run... but not like a normal 3 year old would run. It has been overwhelming thinking about all the ways she has to catch up... academically, physically and socially. When we add up all the medical issues we still have to face, we have quite a road ahead of us!!

Last night when I went to bed, I was thinking about the last 2 weeks and how Hannah has changed so much already. I made a list in my head so that I could see how far we have come in just 2 weeks. I know that in 2 more weeks it will be even better.... and it will only get better from here on out!
*Hannah sits in the bathtub by herself and has fun playing. She no longer screams, gags, or hits me when we try to give her a bath!
*I can brush her teeth without her screaming and her gums no longer bleed. She can spit and rinse just like my other kids. She learned by watching me and imitating what I do. We had to fight her to brush her teeth in China, but it is no big deal now!
*Hannah has slept in her room by herself for the last 2 nights... and has slept 12 hours!
*Hannah lays down with me without fighting (in her bed!) and falls asleep within 5 minutes. She trusts me. She knows I will be there when she wakes up and she knows everything will be fine if she closes her eyes. Bedtime was a huge battle the first week in China. She didn't want to get in bed and she would sit up and refuse to lay down. She feel asleep sitting up the first few nights we had her.
*She understands basic phrases... put your shoes on, are you thirsty, are you hungry, do you want to go night night.... we are making progress!
* we finally have this colostomy changing/cleaning thing down and we don't have anymore blowouts. I still have to change her once in the middle of the night, but she doesn't wake up and I am getting really fast at it :)
*Hannah learned her first English phrase... "I don't know." Every time she talks to me I say, " I don't know what you are saying." So now she walks around the house saying, "I don't know.... I don't know... I don't know"

I felt so thankful for these small milestones went I went to bed last night. I just need to keep thinking about what we have accomplished and not what we have to do. I remember thinking the same thing about Emma. Timmy ran circles around her when she came home, but now she is way more advanced than him in so many ways. I can't wait to see Hannah grow and change, too.

Hannah had her first doctor appointment on Friday and we laid out her health plan. Dr. Church said, "We have a lot of work to do!" Thankfully, we were prepared for all of it. The only thing that took us by surprise were Hannah's teeth. Her back teeth, top and bottom, are completely rotted out. Her breath is horrible and her gums bled like crazy when we first got her. I don't think she has ever brushed her teeth. He said they will have to be pulled, which is a small procedure. We weren't expecting that one, but agree it needs to be done. We need to make a decision about where to have Hannah's colostomy reversal, Louisville or Cincinnati. Cincinnati Children's has the number one colorectal department in the country, but I know Louisville is pretty good, too. I need to decide quickly! We have some questions about her kidneys, bladder, and of course her large intestine. It is our hope and prayer that Hannah will have the ability to be potty trained one day, but we are prepared for anything with our girl. We go tomorrow for Hannah's heart appointment. I can't wait to find out what is really wrong with her heart. She has a diagnosis, but we aren't sure how accurate it is. It will take a few months, but we will slowly piece together all the parts of our Hannah!

Ready or not... our big flight home.

Hannah became a US citizen when we landed in Detroit.

This is Hannah's buddy Nathan. We spent the week with his family in Guangzhou and traveled all the way back to Louisville with them. His family lives in southern Indiana. We are glad we will get to see this sweet family again! Hannah was not happy that he was touching her.

Welcome home! Hannah got to see all her siblings at the airport. Emma pushed the stroller all the way to the car. Hannah now has a little mommy and a big mommy to take care of her!

My 2 China angels, both from SFCV

We have baseball boys at our house... so Hannah wanted to wear a baseball hat like the rest of them!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Signing Off!

This is my last post from China- hooray! It was a long and boring day but now we have travel to look forward to in the morning. We ate breakfast with some friends, went on a walk in the park, played in the hotel room, had a late lunch with friends, picked up her visa... and went to bed! Sound exciting? We kept checking the time to see how much longer we had until bed. We are just a little excited to get out of here and see our family again!

We are incredibly grateful to SFCV and their ministry. They sacrifice and do so much to care for the children. What a blessing they are to those children! Hannah would not be alive if it were not for them. We are also grateful to the country of China for allowing us to adopt Internationally. So many countries are closing their doors and the children will suffer. We are thankful for the opportunity to parent this little blessing.

Although I am jumping up and down to get home, a part of me will be sad. I know the Chinese babble will be gone in a few weeks. I know her English will come so fast that we will have a hard time remembering that Mandarin was her only language for 3.5 years. I know all of her mannerisms will change and I will probably forget them. The way she talks on the phone imitating her ayis, or the way she motions for us to come with her, or the way she does her hand to show us what she wants. These things will be gone so soon and it makes me sad. We are taking her away from the only home, food, language, and people she has ever known. She will never remember. It is amazing to me that someone who understands Mandarin so well will forget in such a short time.

Thanks for reading along on our journey. We know the fun is just beginning!

Always happy during the day!

We went on a walk in the park and there was an area to feed the fish. There were tons of them!

Hannah had fun throwing the fish food and watching them swim to the surface.

Our walk in the park. It was really pretty!

We have her sealed brown envelope, passport and visa. Hannah is now a free woman! As soon as we land on US soil, Hannah will become a US citizen.

Look who spent 30 minutes in the tub tonight. I won't share our secret on here, but we finally found a way to make her happy in the tub!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Tuesday- US Consulate Appt.

We had our US Consulate appt. this morning and that is our last piece of official business. We took our oath that all information we provided was true and accurate. We signed the last document needed to get Hannah's visa. The United States requires that all kids be current on their immunizations before entering the US. Since Hannah has a heart condition, she has not received any immunizations. The US passed a new law that if parents sign a waiver (and get it notarized) adopted kids can enter the US without getting shots in China. We just need to get them done within the first 30 days of entering the States. The night before we left I had a panic attack because I forgot to get the form signed and notarized!! I prayed that something would work out and it did!!! The people at the consulate were super nice and notarized the form for me so Hannah can have her immunizations at home. It is amazing how God has provided every last detail to get Hannah home!

I was a little emotional during the Consulate appt. Hannah had such a long jurney to get to this point. She finally has a family. She finally has a real chance at life. To think that she will be a US citizen as soon as she lands on US soil is an overwhelming feeling. I can't wait!

We went back to the Island to spend the rest of our money :) One lady remembered us from 2010... we bought a lot of squeaky shoes from her. When she saw us, she said, "I remember you from a few years ago, you bought a lot of shoes!" Ha! Then she asked where Hannah was from. When we told her Inner Mongolia she said, "oh, a Mongolian... she will be big like you!" Leave it to the Chinese to be completely honest!

We are now counting down the hours until we leave. We miss our kids so much. I also miss my washing machine and hot iron for my hair :) I will do one more post from China tonight!

Cameras are not allowed in the consulate, so we had to snap this one quickly.

Kissing her mommy!

She loves french fries!

We had Hannah's name painted for her room. This man did it for us. He was really nice! A lot of the store owners on the Island are having a hard time. Now that adoptive families don't stay there, their business has really dropped.

My pretty girl! None of the clothes I brought for her fit well (and the ones that do are really dirty!) I bought her a lot of cute, comfortable dresses to wear. She looks darling in all of them!

Monday, April 22, 2013

Hannah through the years...

Shepherd's Field gave us close to 900 pictures of Hannah from the 3 years she lived there. I shared in a previous post that I have videos and pictures from the day she arrived in July 2010. Here are pictures from each month of her life at SFCV.