Do you Speak English?

Yes - she says with a smile on her face. Before that I was answering for her "No, she doesn't. This is our new daughter. She is just learning English and has been home for only 6 weeks." Now Sarah is letting others know "Yes, I speak English!" And wow is she making progress! We tried to count the words she says and we were up to about 150 words. She tells us stories, she tells on her sister and she seems to know what we are saying most of the time EXCEPT when she doesn't want to listen. Hubby Jim and I are often talking about parenting and how we should handle certain situations- we now have to spell most of the words so our sweety doesn't figure out what we are saying. I think we are just about to the point where we need to talk privately over some issues out of her earshot!

With all the words she is learning there is one word we have not taught her- it is the word "old". 

Sarah knows the ages of everyone in the family- we use it to help teach her how to count and familiarize herself with the family. When Sarah gets to the numbers 50 and then 52 her response it WOW, very smart and very strong! Now doesn't that sound much better than very old!! Hey she has already found the aged skin on my neck, the lines and veins on my hands and those darn itty bitty skin tags that pop up here and there- a girl (meaning me) has got to protect her self esteem somehow! Anna doesn't have a clue that her parents are a little bit older but sweet Sarah she notices everything! Maybe we'll never teach her the word "old"!

We're Home!

We arrive home safely on Tuesday. The temperature is only a mere 95 degrees colder here in MN as opposed to Florida. No wonder the plane had some empty seats in it- who on earth wants to come home to weather like this! Actually it is nice to be home and the weather is refreshing! Since I had a little time away it almost feels good!

I am not in the bloggy mood right now- one of our dear bloggy friends Linn from "a place called symplicity" is going through an extremely challenging time and your prayers for them would be so coveted. They have lost their home in a house fire. They just returned home with their 2 children from Uganda about 6 weeks ago and they have a special needs daughter in China they are waiting to bring home- did I forget to mention that they also have 7 other children. 

Please visit their site, pray for them and consider giving them a small donation. 

God's blessing to you-

Jean

Fun with our Girls!

The 6 days with our girls in Florida have been fantastic! I thought we were a little crazy leaving so soon after Sarah came home but it turned out perfect! God has been so kind and this time with our 2 girls has been a huge step in the right direction! It has been so good for bonding! Everyday we swim in the pool together-lots of touching, trust building and fun with swimming! Their are no pics of me in the pool because I am the photographer. I really did get in the pool everyday! The first question our son Johnny asked Sarah was "did Mom go swimming?" I am sure he feels totally jipped- I never do that with him and I didn't need to with Anna- I used that time as a moment to myself but no more. When your a Mom you take what you can get, you do what you need to and you are always evaluating what's the best thing to do!

The park has been fantastic. The girls love to swing! It is so precious to see the joy on their faces doing such simple things together! 

In the late afternoon we went to the beach to play in the sand. It is so lovely there, I feel so close to God- his creation is so magnificent! The kids were as adorable as can be- they played in the sand , they chased the waves and they searched for beautiful shells. It was a perfect bloggy moment- I reached for my camera and ... horrors, I didn't have it. Major dilema- do I go back and get it- it's not too far BUT its not super close either. We could lose the joy of the moment - with this crew that can happen in an instant! SOooooo, I gave it up to God- he knows me, maybe I should just be peaceful, pray in thankfulness and enjoy the present- that's what I did . It was good (but I still wish I had my camera!)!

The girls have been such a hit down here, everybody loves them! Seriously they are like a breathe of fresh air for the old people! I can't help myself - this little Sarah is doing so well- I have said to many people she is "brand new"- she has been with us for 5 weeks- she beams with pride and they are so impressed! Her language is really coming along and they think she is soooo cute. To me, she is my brand new baby! She says Momma and Babba have two babies- Sarah and Anna! We say "yes and we are soooo happy to have our 2 babies"! "We love, love, love our babies!" She talks a lot abut when she was a baby and she was even littler than Anna- God Bless her!

The pics are of our friends at the pool - they are very nice- but I did not have the courage to ask if I could take their pic- next time I will ask, I promise! They were all talking about how one building is suing the other building over a water fountain. Friends Beware- we must protect ourselves from be a cranky old person and complaining as we get older- we need to fill our souls with the love of Jesus and enjoy each day we are blessed with! 

We it's back to reality- tomorrow we fly home. Thank goodness I love our reality!

Sarah Smart!

That is music to my ears! I was so excited when she said that and pointed to her forehead! "Sarah Smart"!  I want to instill in this precious child that she is smart, that she can learn, that she is doing such a good job- She can do it! I want to boost her confidence and comfort level. It is okay to try and get it wrong- the most important thing is that she is trying! 

When she first came to us she made it very clear she did not want to learn english and that she did not like school. Today we sat down for an hour and a half and worked  on the numbers 1-20 and beginning recognition of the alphabet - matching lower case to their capitols and then a little rosetta stone. She converses with me in our chinglish and everyday she is learning new english words. Wow, what an exciting adventure this is! 

We are staying in a condo in Florida. On the flight here I felt like we were on the geriatric flight traveling to the land of wheelchairs and walkers. Not that there is anything wrong with that- I am right behind these lovely people! Tomorrow I will have to take a pic of Sarah and Anna and their pool friends! The crew at the pool love the girls! They are a little older like maybe by 70 yrs. but hey are a nice group of people and they are amazed by our little girls!!! Our place is on the 18th floor so we are getting some good counting in everytime we take the elevator- which is a  lot! So focusing on numbers 1-20 is working very well!! Then we go through the ages of the older sibs- 3 of them fall into the 1-20 range! Most importantly we talk about how old is Sarah- I think she's got it- she is 8 yrs old! She has no idea what a birthday is so we will be talking about that soon! The Lord has so richly blessed us with these children and for that I am soooooo grateful! Thank you Jesus! 

One year ago!

I feel like my heart is swelling with thankfulness to the Lord! Seriously, these little girls are breathtaking and a dream come true! It is so awesome to experience this at this point in our lives- today was bubbles by the beach and a sunset. I am on my knees thanking our dear Lord!

One year ago today- our family came to Florida. We had a referral of a 7 yr old girl. Before we could be approved to adopt an older child we had to finish some paperwork/reading and questions. Both Jim and I were drawn to this little girl but older child adoption was new territory for us. We had heard a few horror stories that concerned us but for some reason unknown to us we kept moving forward. When I was down at the swimming pool with Anna- there was another family there with a daughter from China- she was about a year older than Anna and of course the Mom and I connected right away! Yeah, adoptive families! She told me to check out JTM and look for ____, another family that adopted an older child. I read their whole journey and after that I knew this was our daughter and with God's help we could do this! As soon as we were accepted by the older child committee we accepted SARAH'S referral. It is so amazing to me how God  works miracles!  How did he know our daughter was half way around the world- waiting for us! 

A Day filled With Many "Firsts"!

We are having a wonderful time with the girls in Florida! We got coffee in the morning and went to the park. Sarah had never been on a swing.  We taught her how to pump- so the swing goes higher - she is afraid to go too high. She laughed and giggled the whole time! Anna loves to swing, too. It is beautiful here, the weather is 70's and sunny. Thank you Jesus!

Then it was off to the grocery store with 2 hungry kids! Riding in the cart was a big highlight- again a first! Sarah had to ride in the larger part of the grocery cart- we used a second cart for the food. Once we got home we used the cart at the condo to bring the groceries up to our unit . Since she has never had a chance to ride in the baby/toddler spot we decided to give it a try! She loved it! It is challenging going to the grocery store with 2 kids but 2 hungry kids  can be really challenging. They made it through the grocery store just fine - 3 pouts and one bathroom break later we were out the door. We have to monitor Sarah's potato chip intake- we stopped her half way through the pringles, okay she did share a few chips with Anna. Thank goodness Anna is still oblivious as to how many she gets compared to how many Sarah gets. The good thing about pringles is - they are sure to bring on a smile! 

After lunch we got ready for a swim. Sarah has been sooooo excited to swim! She has been talking about it and motioning diving into the pool and so on- our dear sweet child got her swimsuit on and put the tube around her and ... was scared to death of the water. If you know me - you know I NEVER get in the water. I put on my swimsuit, grab a towel and a good book and let everyone else get all cold and wet. Every once in a while a mom has to step out of her comfort zone and earn the respect of her kids- yep- I walked right in that water with a smile on my face and swam with Jim and the girls! Once I went in Sarah did much better- we were there for an hour and she improved steadily! I am looking forward to tomorrow!

After showers and a short rest we went and played on the beach. I love this beach- we have been coming here for 24 years. I feel so close to God when I am here. It is my favorite place to pray! The girls played in the sand.  Jim and I relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful sight of our two incredible daughters playing!

The evening consisted of a grouper dinner - which we all enjoyed! Sarah loved the grouper and Anna loves catsup... and occasionally a french fry, too! The sign they have posted says-

"UNATTENDED CHILDREN WILL BE GIVEN AN EXPRESSO AND A PUPPY!" I think that is so funny- even now I have to chuckle!!

All the pics are in the wrong order- oops- oh well!

Dance and Sing with Mei Mei!

The girls love this video! Sarah was so happy when she saw it for the first time! She loves singing and dancing! I think in China she would watch older kids sing and dance- more MTV like- when she was with older girls. This video is actually supposed to help you earn Chinese,  the dancers are adorable 5 yr olds! Just our speed! Anna has grown to love it too- and they are so cute doing the dances!! Sarah will sometimes want to watch this if she is a little stressed. I enjoy it too and the songs are catchy!!

BTW we went to the endodontist yesterday morning- no root canals for Sarah. He is conservative and doesn't feel it is necessary. I think they will just fill the cavities as best they can- but who knows?