Selah's First Snow!

This past week has been quite busy. I think I need to accept that it will be this way for a long time. We had an orthodontist appointment on Monday and that is when the snow began. By Tuesday morning there was a nice blanket of snow on the ground. I decided to brave the conditions and take Selah to her echo. Forgive the filter on this photo. Mariah confiscated my phone and I didn't realize the change until I tried to take a photo at this stop light.

It would be an understatement to say the roads were not clear. After I got off our hill I knew it would be silly to turn back. That hill is the worst part of my trip. 

Selah had her echo and the tech was so sweet. She realized how Selah has no "insulation" and she went and got her two blankets that had been warmed. She was in heaven!

The great news is they believe the suspicious murmur is nothing more than an extra tendon. I have since learned that yes, your heart has tendons. The valves operate using tendons. We still will have her EKG and other testing but it seems all is well.

We came home from this appointment after sliding all over the road and pulled in the garage. I watched Selah doing this.....

Writing her name in the snow! 

Enjoying the snow! 

Enjoying the cold!

I was thrilled that we convinced her to go out and sled ride. I think she also was happy with her decision.  

And a few more shots that we caught...

This just looks like trouble. 

We have some great neighbors. The house they are standing in front of has a pretty awesome hill in the back yard. This sweet neighbor told me that the kids never have to ask to sled ride in her yard. I still told them to ask but they had a blast!

While the kids were out sledding, I decided to decorate for Chinese New Year. I know Selah is fully aware of the date. So I surprised her with this....

She really did like it. She also laughed when I had to ask her if the banners were correct. I had no idea if they were right-side-up or not!

We have had a nice amount of snow this week. Personally I love it! Our neighborhood even still has snow covered roads even today. 

Mariah woke up Monday morning with a temp of 104.5......It certainly explained how she was acting for the past week. I let it go as she woke up Friday fever-free. However her disposition didn't change much.

I began to notice she was wheezing.

We got more snow then I decided she needed to go to urgent care on Sunday. She has bronchitis! I feel terrible and should have taken her sooner.

Saturday was my birthday. I removed it from Facebook but somehow people remembered and then it snowballed from there. Thank you all for your sweet words and wishes. I did have an awesome day!

Jeremy always makes this day special for me. He gets the kids all excited for me too.

While I was folding a load of clothes Selah pops around the corner and sat diagonal from me. Not only was she the first one of our kids to wish me a happy birthday, she handed me a bracelet she made.

Now let me share the significance of this bracelet. Notice my ring on my finger? It is my Mother's Ring. It is outdated and missing two stones. Honestly we just haven't spent the money on a new one. Selah took an interest in that ring this past week and I sat down and explained birthstones to her. Evidently China does not recognize birthstones. She wrote our birthdays on the white board in the basement and I now know that she got to work. 

She explained to me that the colors of the bracelet alternate the entire circumference. She said, "You see.......Red! January. Purple! February. Pink! June. and Blue! December." Those cover the birthstones for all six kids. I really did get tears in my eyes. This sweet girl is working so hard at being a family. I love her heart! I reached over to hug her and she wrapped her arms around me and quickly jumped up and left the room. 

That evening, since we were snowed in, Jeremy got the stuffed shells out of the freezer that Becca and I made then froze it before we left for China. Selah baked her first cake with my help. 

I was taken into the living room to open my gifts and Selah grabbed the video camera. Normally we only tape the kids but we let her have fun. She went around the room while taping and asked each person to say Happy Birthday. Then she said, "To who?" and they would respond...."To Mommy." 

Jeremy grabbed the camera from her and asked her the same questions. When he asked, "Whose birthday?" Selah simply responded, "Mommy's"!  Again......I'll take it!

She is doing great. We notice she struggles with eye contact. She is getting a little better but it certainly is not something she is comfortable doing.

Her English is phenomenal! She loves photos. I did get copies of some recent photos made for her and she seemed to like that.

I think she was shocked to hear/see me play the piano this week too. She just stood and stared at me then got Jeremy's iPad and video taped me playing. I am so rusty!!!!! 

I am a blessed wife to Jeremy and mom to six great kids! None of this is easy and the transition to our family is far from complete. Selah struggles every single day. But we also know she comes from a very broken past. We are trying to mend that heart and build trust. Honestly we don't even know if she understands the concept of the word trust. 

We are building a relationship with her and also being the parents to her at the same time. It is a tricky balance. We are being very patient as she figures things out. 

Still it has been such a blessing and we desperately pray for her heart. We pray for her salvation. We ask that you pray for us as well. Adopting is not easy. We don't adopt because it is trendy. We adopt because God planted that seed in our hearts many years ago. It is hard to be obedient. It is hard to bring a 14 year old into your home and try to create a new family. But she is worth every single tear,heartache, and penny.

Thank you all for reading and following our journey. Stay tuned as I can only imagine what God has planned next for our lives!