Family and Trust

Yet another week has passed and I am amazed that our girls have blended in with our family so well. It has been eleven weeks since we first met Selah. Sometimes I forget that we have only been a family for that short time.  

What seems more unreal to us is that we have had Mariah as part of our family for 21 months tomorrow! She is 6 inches taller and 18 pounds heavier!  She has hair long enough for a "nony tail" (rhymes with pony tail). She has more energy than I am sure I ever did. She loves us and I just told Jeremy yesterday that I cannot believe that she could easily be sitting in an orphanage in China still today if we had not taken her file. Thank you Lord for leading us to our youngest daughter was all those months ago!

The above photo was taken at our dentist's office. Jeremy, Ben, and me had dentist appointments and we took her with us. Such a cutie patootie!

Mariah still has speech therapy every Friday. Her speech appointment was at 9am for speech and our dental appointments were at 9:50. We were quite rushed to make it on time but we did. Yeah......no cavities!!!

Right after lunch I took Selah and Rebecca to the Social Security office to apply for Selah's social security number. I would love to say it was easy but it was not. I had to apply without her Certificate of Citizenship. That has not been issued yet and they cannot tell me when we can expect that document. This means her card will be issued in her Chinese name until I can prove her citizenship. I only wish it would have been that easy. I took her Chinese passport, my passport, her Chinese birth certificate, and her Hague Adoption Certificate. They told me that was not enough. I then was told it will take at least six weeks. The problem is we have to file our taxes. We do not have six weeks. It appears we have a few phone calls to make this week.

Selah is doing great in our family. We could not love her more than we do. What a blessing she has added to our family. I will admit that it has not been easy for us or for her. Yes she is doing well. But you cannot simply erase 14 years of neglect.

We have had to learn to parent entirely different. She comes from a very different background. We cannot expect her to know immediately how a family works. 

She is constantly observing how we function. 

We have been on our knees for her praying for her heart not to be broken but we believe it was. More accurately we believe her heart has been torn into thousands of pieces. So instead we pray for the Lord to mend all the hurts of her life in China. Also for us to know how to parent her.  

As I have begun to teach I have discovered that she has excellent math skills. I have started her in Pre-Algebra and it is clear that so far what we are doing is mostly review. She has had very few questions in math. 

This past week was a bit of a realization for me. I have noticed over the past 2 1/2 months that she questions us a lot. Not out of disrespect. She just truly does not believe. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to teach a child that doubts everything? Please pray for her to begin to trust.

As the past several weeks have gone by I began to notice that it is tough parenting a child who has never been parented. Not a single person in her life has invested in her. Not one! As a result she trusts no one about anything. She told me quite simply that she did not believe me when it came to a math question. It truly was not disrespectful It was just honest and abrupt (like her culture). 

While we honestly believe she is adjusting quite well, we also know it will take a lot of time. It will take a lot of love from us and wisdom from the Lord. We spend so much time praying over this sweet child. She deserves it!

An unexpected surprise came tonight as I was getting her papers ready for school this week.  I found a note written by her but not given to us. It was written on a small piece of paper that I had given her with my cell phone number. She wrote, "I'm so happy to have this family!" and she wrote that she loved each of us by name.

She still guards her life before us very closely. I know it is okay. We have a lifetime to catch up. I am certain that there will be many things that will be very difficult to hear. We pray that God gives us the wisdom that we seek each day. We pray that He helps us know how to hold her and protect this sweet child. Oh how we pray that God reveals himself to her in a very real way. 

We smile at how God is doing small things for her. When Jeremy asked her what she has been praying for she told us that she asks God to help make her taller and gain some weight. She has grown two inches since her medical appointment in China and she has also gained five pounds. Of course her response to that was, "I do not believe." 

Although her adjustment has been terrific we have not shared some of these difficulties. She is a precious gem. Our hearts overflow with love for her. We knew this would not be a simple adjustment. It never is. We still struggle with some orphanage behaviors with Mariah. The years Selah spent in China were very formative years. She was told how to act, how to think, and what to do with every moment of every day. That was a comfort to her. Now we begin to teach her what freedom means. We pray that she finds true freedom in God.




I wanted to take a moment to ask that you lift another family before the Lord. If you remember I have asked for prayer a few times before for Lily. She is a little girl with a severe heart defect. She has had several surgeries and is in desperate need of a miracle. Will you pray for the Rancourt family as they struggle each day with a child who is very ill? My heart has been broken by Emily's cries to the Lord for His guidance and wisdom as they watch their four year old daughter fight for her life.




Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us

Pennsylvania

We headed to Pennsylvania this past week. We got up Thursday morning around 7am and left the house at 9. This was Selah's first trip to PA to visit our families. She was pretty quiet. We loaded all six kids and some luggage into our van and made the trip to the parking lot of Pittsburgh Zoo. We met my parents there and they gave us my mom's red Chevy Impala and Jeremy, Selah, and I headed to PCH. My parents took our van with other five kids and headed home for lunch around noon. We got lunch at Wendy's and headed to a doctor appointment. We waiting for a very long time.

Selah was absolutely loving my mom's car. It is a red Impala and Selah was so impressed with it. She loved riding in it! 

After her appointment she did not want to go back to my parent's house for supper. She was so nervous. She wanted to go home. However, she LOVED the city! For now it is obvious we have a city girl. She loved the tall buildings.

I explained that our parents live in the country. She explained how confused she was. She mentioned that America is a country but I keep telling her that our parents live in the country. It completely confused her. I tried to explain that country also means farmland but that also was not entirely accurate. I will have to try again.

We arrived at my parents in time for me to help with the last of dinner preparations. Selah has met our parents before. They were at the airport when we arrived from China. That was after Selah's shock of a 32 hour flight plan and sheer exhaustion. I was praying she would love it at our parents' as much as we do.

She was so great. She hugged my parents and was amazed with my parents house. She investigated every cabinet, door, drawer, counter top, closet and whatever else she could find. She helped in the kitchen and enjoyed supper with my parents.

Friday morning we got up and made our way to Jeremy's parent's home. Our plan was to spend most of the day with them then go back to my parent's to meet my sister and her family and my brother and his son. 

Friday was fun for us. We finally had Christmas with Jeremy's parent's. We had hoped to do it sooner but since they help take care of Jeremy's grandma, and the weather has been so bad....it hasn't worked out. 

We went up to Grandma's house first. Grandma (Claire) is 92 years old and has good days and bad. Friday was a good day! Grandma is a little forgetful so the note at the light switch is for her benefit. Selah found a rotary phone and was amazed!

Selah was a little shy at first but soon relaxed. Personally, I love this photo of Selah and one of her great-grandmothers.

Then I saw Mariah and Jeremy with Grandmas as well.

Mariah found the kitty toys there as well.

Great-Grandma Leard with six of her eight great-grandchildren.

We then headed over to Uncle George's and Aunt Mary's house for a few minutes. It was lunchtime so we headed back to Jeremy's parent's.

For one afternoon it was Christmas again! 

Selah enjoyed opening gifts again. It was fun! Selah and Rebecca also received a special gift from friends. Those bracelets were worn to church today!

We then headed back to my parent's in time to have supper at 6:30 and have Selah meet my brother-in-law Daryl and my sister Tina and their boys. Then my brother came as well with his son, Dan. We managed to get this photo of 10 of my parent's 18 grandchildren.

How else do you gather 18 people together? Well....you spoil the little ones! Notice the time on the clock reads 9:15pm? Aunt Tina........I forgive you!

Then of course it is Grandma's turn.

Aunt Patty came over on Friday and Mariah sat on her lap for at least 45 minutes coloring.

But really......who can resist three-year-olds as cute as this?

 Even Rebecca got in on the spoiling!

Mom and dad heat their house with a coal furnace. As anyone in my family can testify....the house is usually a balmy 80 degrees or more in the winter. My dad loves to see how hot he can keep the house. Ninety plus degrees is not uncommon.

For this very reason the screens never are taken out of the windows. In fact if you happen to visit my parent's house even when it is below zero...it would not be uncommon to see open windows. 

Because my dad does not read my blog it is safe to admit that we sleep with open windows and prop open the front and back doors more often than he knows. Mom has had some wildlife attempt to come in the doors to warm up when they are propped open. (Again, my dad does not read this.) And dad, if you happen to stumble upon this please know that I love you! We are just hot at your house. 

We are blessed to have such great families who love us. We love to go home and visit and pray that our kids always have the same excitement to go visit their grandparents and our families. 

I hope that our next visit includes a visit to my grandmother. She is 93 years old, lives alone, and still drives. She has 15 living grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren! What a legacy! 

We feel so blessed to be a part of such a large family. Obviously Jeremy and I are creating our own large family. We have confirmed that love truly multiplies.


1 Corinthians 13:13  So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three but the greatest of these is love.

Rare Disease Day!

Friday was Rare Disease Awareness Day and I would  be remiss if I did not dedicate this post to my sweet girl, Mariah. 

We were fully aware of Mariah's Adrenal Insufficiency before we committed to her file. Quite honestly it really didn't matter. We knew she needed a family and we were called to adopt. 

We thought we knew a lot about this disease before traveling. We were wrong! In fact, we are still learning. I dedicate many evenings researching this rare disease. In short, Mariah's adrenal glands do not produce the life-saving stress hormone, cortisol. As a result any illness or trauma put Mariah's life at risk of an adrenal crisis. 

Here is a different logo made by a friend recognizing Rare Disease Awareness. Thanks Laura, for making these for me.

After much research and priceless friendships with a few other mom's of children with adrenal insufficiencies we decided our first endocrinologist was not a good fit. We tried. We begged. He was adamant that his treatment plan for Mariah correct and we should just listen to his recommendations. After calling other endocrinologists in-state, we gave up. Another mom, Kimberly, got of hold of her endocrinologist who is the head of the Pediatric Endocrine Society.  He came back with one recommendation. We emailed this doctor and she returned our email within 20 minutes. Pittsburgh Children's Hospital was our new place!

Our insurance has denied her coverage. We appealed their decision three times and have been denied each time. We even wrote a very strongly worded letter to the medical director. We explained that we have tried the doctors here. We are not interested in our daughter being a doctor's guinea pig while he/she at some point attempts to treat our daughter with inadequate or outdated information. 

We decided that Circadian Rhythm dosing made the most sense. This dosing schedule mimics how healthy bodies naturally produce cortisol. We dose her 4 times daily. It has become a way of life for us. As a result of tweaking those doses and checking labs every few months we have continued to successfully lower her dose of glucocorticoid medication. When she is sick, we have to double or triple her dose and give her medication every 3 hours. This while praying she does not go into an adrenal crisis. We witnessed a crisis last June. We are not interested in watching our daughter suffer through a crisis again. She became listless and mostly unresponsive in our arms. It was scary. We had to give her an intramuscular injection of Solu-Cortef in her thigh. She barely flinched. It was not fun.

We would love for others to become a little more aware of the seriousness of this disease. It truly is life-threatening. Since it is a deletion in her DNA, there is no cure. She will always be dependent on hydrocortisone. This is why she wears a medical bracelet. 

Please pray for us as we navigate the whole process of insurance and education. As a result of Mariah's poor medical treatment from our first doctor, she had hypertension, a voracious appetite, and weight gain. She is now managed beautifully and has normal blood pressure, is a healthy weight, and is a healthy eater. 



On Monday I also got a very special package from FedEx. My Mother's Ring came! We ordered it online and I have to admit that I do like it. (Just ignore the dry hands.)

We have six kids but have birthdays in four only months.......January (2), February (1), June (1), and December (2). If we decided on a Family ring that would add another January and December stone. We did not plan that very well!

Friday included a trip to the hospital for Ben's echocardiogram. It is more than safe to say he had a tough time lying still for the echo.

Hopefully those results come early this week and we can scratch cardiology off of Ben's list of doctors he needs to visit.

This is definitely worthy of a blog mention.....

They were actually getting along! She was wearing Ben's robe as well.

One evening at dinner Selah decided to jot down a few things in Chinese. I thought it was so sweet that I kept the napkin. She wrote Jeremy's name and mine in Chinese. Then she drew an arrow and wrote the initials of all of our kids.....K.M.B.B.M. Then she wrote her name in cursive.

I also discovered that she prints beautifully but never learned cursive as there really was no need.

Selah has managed to figure out her own name in cursive by looking at the adhesive writing strips on the kids' desks. She is one determined girl!

I will be dedicating the next few weeks to teaching her cursive handwriting.

This weekend we also saw the first tears from our girl. We had a conversation with her about a few of our concerns. She cried. Parenting a hurt child is a completely different experience. I can throw out everything I have learned raising all of our biological kids over 15 years. Grace, compassion, consistency, and patience are a must.

We also decided it was time for her to attend Sunday School class. Selah did not want to go into the classroom. However, after a few minutes she relented and attended Rebecca's class. She returned to the church service all smiles.

Tonight as I hugged her goodnight and told her how much I loved her she hugged back. Then as I turned to walk away she grabbed me by my shoulders and hugged me with the biggest heartfelt hug I have every received from our sweet girl! She said she loved me!!!!!!!!! I've seen it in type before but never heard her say it.

She also has more often referred to us as "mom" and "dad". It really is music to our ears. 

Jeremy and I are amazed that our daughter is not bitter. She has every right to be considering all she has endured. However, she has begun to open her heart and allow us in a little at a time. She is sweet and compassionate. She can love! She is beautiful! She is ours!

A verse that seems to stand out to me right now is this:

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.



 

Ear Piercing!

I am taking a breather after a hectic week last week. We had a birthday, two orthodontist appointments (which took forever), and two kids had physicals on Friday. 

Selah insisted I take a photo of my flowers from Jeremy. They are beautiful!

In one year Micah grew 4 1/2 inches and gained 10 pounds! He is thirteen and a whopping 5' 6" tall. He is on target to be right around six feet tall. That is quite tall for our family! He just began his third phase of orthodontic treatment. He has had a palate expander and a set of traditional braces. This past week he began the final phase.

Ben also had his physical on Friday. He also grew beautifully! His growth hormone injections are working so well. He grew 4 inches since last year. We left the appointment only to get a phone call later. They are concerned about Ben's heart. He has a very unique murmur. We were made aware of this when Ben was a few months old. We are scheduled for an echocardiogram this week. I fully expect the results to be fine but they are not comfortable with not investigating further.

Mariah should have had speech this past Friday however, our speech therapist called and cancelled. It was a very difficult situation. The principal of our middle school passed away last weekend. The funeral for him was on Friday and our speech therapist was filling in for teachers who were attending his funeral. He was only 48 years old. My prayers go out to his wife and children. 

Our weeks here have fallen into a nice routine. I think we have figured out somewhat of a schedule for all six kiddos. As long as I can keep Mariah out of the glitter in our school room, we can manage.

Selah has begun school. I would love to tell you how thrilled she is but I'm not sure exactly how she feels. She breezes through math but is not thrilled to be learning botany or early American History. She is working with negative numbers right now in Pre-Algebra. I imagine she will breeze through the first several lessons easily.

I snapped a photo of the girls in their matching jammies. Sorry for the poor quality but I do not believe they would have volunteered on their own.

The night of the 12th we realized that Selah wanted something. She was hanging around when the other kids went to bed. But she just kept saying, "No! Nothing!" We just sent her to bed. The next night she was doing the same but finally came to me and gave me my goodnight hug and gave an extra squeeze. Then this was our chat.

Selah: "Goodnight, Mom."

Secretly I wanted to jump and scream but I did not. I smiled and made a big deal about it as she walked out of the room. I was on cloud nine!

I could not wait to tell Jeremy. Then I saw him come into the living room and he was smiling. I knew she also had done the same with him. But.....she called me "mom" before she called Jeremy "dad". This was very intentional on her part. She knew it made us so happy! She still mostly doesn't call us anything but she often refers to us as "mom" and "dad". I'll take it!

The next night the following was our conversation:


Selah: "Will you listen to me?" 

Me: "Well, of course I will! What is it honey?"

Selah: "I just needed to thank you for teaching me my math. I really need to thank you for things you do for me."

Me: "Selah, I love teaching you! You are such a smart girl and you make it easy. I love you."

Selah: "Okay! I go now!" 

Off she went to bed! I realized again that we have lived such a pampered life in comparison. I did have tears in my eyes as I realized the significance of what just happened. I keep telling Jeremy that it is all about the perspective.

Then on Saturday morning I stayed in bed just a little later than the rest of the family. I had a terribly sore muscle in my back. Specifically, the muscle that runs from my shoulder down around my right shoulder blade. Ugh! It was so sore. I texted Jeremy a simple, "I love you!" He replied the same.

Then I got a text from his iPad that sounded a little strange for Jeremy. I immediately recognized it was Selah.  Highlighted is Selah's text. Mine is the other.

I

Love

You

I love you too!

Thank you for your love

You and dad

Thank very much

I cannot begin to tell you how much this means and how huge this is! We definitely did not expect this from her. 

She has such a great disposition! She knows that this coming week is my mom's birthday and she felt that we needed to make a trip to Pittsburgh to visit mom for her birthday.

We had taken her the evening before to get her ears pierced.

Almost......

And go!

She seems to really like having them pierced. She chose a pair of star-shaped earrings. They sale was for 2 pair. The second pair she really wanted was a pair that was a cross. Obviously she understands what is important to us. Now she can admire her very own earrings!

Perspective!

This past weekend we had some great friends make jambalaya! They are originally from Louisana and make the best jambalaya. They knew that Selah likes spicy food. Oh this was yummy! Robert and Billie......Thank you!

We are blessed beyond what we could ever imagine!

She shared with us tonight that her last orphanage in China was home to 801 orphans. If we were independently wealthy........

Please pray for the Lord to reveal His will and for more people to step forward and commit to adopt. We cannot begin to express how blessed we are to be chosen twice now to go down this path.

 

Thirteen........really?

Monday officially marked the day that we now have three teenagers in the house.  Micah has reached that special day. He is so proud that he is almost as tall as Daddy! He sure is tall. Keep in mind this is coming from a 5' 2" tall mom. I am a little amazed at the difference in just one year. Check out last year's birthday picture below!

As is our tradition (credit given to my sister for the idea), Jeremy took Micah to his birthday breakfast while I took Mariah to the hospital for her routine labs. 

I left the house before 7am. I guess I do not understand why there was only one person to register everyone. I withheld Mariah's morning meds in order to get an accurate result. I almost had to leave before her labs were drawn. We had about 12 minutes left before I would have no choice but give her the meds. We waited for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Mariah never even cried. they drew four tubes of blood. They missed her vein and had to move the needle around and she was a trooper. She never cried and I only heard an ever so slight whimper.

We have spent a lot of time playing in the snow this winter. Well, not me but the kids. Mariah gets so excited at the prospect of going out.I love this photo that Jeremy shot of her. I wish I knew what she was thinking. So sweet!

More fun in the snow with a couple of new sleds.

Micah enjoys being outside as well. He would probably shovel driveways all day long. He truly loves to shovel.

Our sweet boy! My special name for him is Mikey. We all used to call him that but a few years ago he told everyone that I was the only one allowed to use that name. I love it!

Why can we not just press the slow motion button and live life that way sometimes? We are on our knees for our boys as they approach these difficult years. We pray that we seek God's face every single day and pray for wisdom.  We want to always be the parents that love unconditionally but with wisdom. We want to raise boys of courage with a God-fearing love for Him. When I jokingly told him he had to move next door when he gets married he smiled and said, "I don't know mom. I'll move wherever God wants me to go." Ahhhhh.....that is exactly what I pray for!

Micah has such a sweet heart. He loves to please. Micah certainly has a special place in his heart for Mommy and I am not ashamed to admit that. He is quick to give me a hug, or several, every single day. He loves that he is so much taller than me. He is a fierce competitor and hates to lose....ever!

While opening his gifts he had a little "helper".

We always take a photo of all of the kids together. You'll notice that our youngest was missing for this photo. She was having a tough time.

I love being mom to all of these kids and the one missing in this photo! 

We pretty much constitute a party with just our family alone. I told Jeremy that shopping at the grocery store is funny now. We buy the largest size of everything! It is good to know that Doritos come in a party size bag now! I am that lady at the grocery store that no one wants to stand behind in the check out. My cart is always overflowing and each week I find it a challenge to try and fit everything back into the same cart. Usually I amaze myself and make it work! I can pack a mean grocery cart and car trunk!

Micah was thrilled to get a new pair of snow bibs and two new pair of jeans since he will not stop growing! He got a Lego set and wallet as well.

I love sharing these special days with the kids. Each of the kids choose their birthday dinner. Micah chose my baked chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and rolls. Selah and Rebecca baked his cake. Selah and I made the frosting and iced it. It was a pretty great day together celebrating Micah's 13 years!


Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.  
Psalms 127:3

Joy Unspeakable!

It has been a couple of weeks since I blogged and I have desperately wanted to make the time but I simply have not.

We have had such a beautiful snowy winter. On Monday, February 3rd, we woke up to a very unexpected 9 inches of snow! It was beautiful but that makes our WV roads very dangerous. Jeremy braved the weather and went in to work. The kids earned a snow day and spent hours outside playing. Ben would live out there if we allowed.

He then was so happy to finally be Mariah's "favorite". She desperately wanted to go out and play. Ben was her ticket!

After all, he is so much fun!

Micah was playing then decided a few neighbors needed shoveled out.

And or course.....Kyle wanted to help as well.

We convinced Selah to go ahead out. We have to remind her that she will stay warm in her snow gear.

Becca also loves to be outside. And it suits her well.

Our past two weeks have consisted of more tests and labs for our Selah. I took her down to the hospital for her labs. She needed and EKG, several x-rays, and blood work. 

We started with the blood work.......and it stopped there. On the 15th tube of blood poor Selah passed out. She was out for quite some time. They actually asked me to call my husband in to help with her. Twenty-five minutes later she was awake and we headed out the door with only her blood work completed. Every ounce of color drained from her sweet face. She came home and slept for a good part of the day. We did return the next morning for the remaining tests.

As school began for the week I noticed Selah seemed bored. This is quite common for kids from orphanages. They are not used to "free-time". These kiddos enjoy a very busy schedule. I decided that we needed to have some schooling for her. It is pretty safe to say that she will do just fine. She is excellent in math. I did notice that the only things I have found so far that she is confused with is writing of a quotient as a remainder. She uses decimals. The other confusion is with some of the Roman Numerals. Other than that her addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are stellar!

She participates in Science as we are learning about Botany. We plan to dissect a flower this week after learning about germination, angiosperms, and gymnosperms. I love how she picks up on so much. We are not fooled! 

I went grocery shopping last Friday and Selah wanted to come. I think she does not like me going places alone. On the way there she began talking. She asked me if I remembered our conversation from the evening before. Of course I did! She said to me, "You remember last night? How we talked?" I said I did. She then said,"What can I call you?" 

Oh my! She is really trying to see what feels right. She still does not address us as anything. But I do believe it is coming soon! There is so much confusion in her little heart. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for her to call me "Mom" or "Momma". Rebecca also tries to get her to call me that. In fact, I guess Selah has called me that when speaking to Rebecca about me on three occasions. It has never been loud enough for me to even hear. But it is coming!

Our trip home from church this past Sunday also proved interesting. Once again we got unexpected snow. The roads were beyond horrible.

We made it home safely even though the road were not touched in many places. As I posted on Facebook this past week I am so thankful that my dad taught me to drive on bad roads. He took me out countless times and taught me when to put the car in neutral, D2, or to pump the brakes on vehicles without anti-lock brakes. He actually taught me to drive on my mom's Oldsmobile Omega, which was a stick shift. I drove that car for several years!

I have noticed something happening in our home. I believe that Jeremy does not like this at all. Take a look for yourselves!

 

This actually happened a few months ago. I don't believe Micah is far behind.

This, however, may take some time!

Life in our house is quite interesting. There is a very heavy male influence. Our poor Frozen Infinity figures are being attacked by some dinosaurs.

Selah seems to really enjoy cooking. She loves to watch Food Network. So I have decided to work with her in the kitchen. I love that she is like a sponge. Tonight I was reminded what her life has been like. As she was mixing the ingredients for our salmon rub, she asked me who taught me to cook. I felt sad yet honored that God chose me to be her mom. I get to teach her to cook and clean among many other things. She loves to help set the table. Tonight I watched her teach Mariah where the silverware goes and how to fold the napkins. It is humbling for sure.

She and Rebecca wanted to help bake some chocolate chip cookies. Again, this was the first time that Selah ever baked anything in the kitchen.

The cookies were yummy!

We have such an amazing new daughter. She seems to be loving life. She is opening up with us and sharing a little about her life. One interesting tidbit we learned is that her middle school in China was school to 3,000 students! She was in boarding school there and had 6 roommates. It seems that these girls liked to stay up past "lights out" and use a flashlight to complete their Chinese homework. She giggles about it.

She did her own laundry. She is quite amazed that I fold all the laundry here. The kids sort and wash and dry laundry but I fold. She has asked many times why they don't take care of their own. She has grown up too fast.

Selah also does not understand why American women take their husband's last name as their own. In China the woman keeps her last name and the couple's children take the father's last name.

We have also learned that many words are difficult for her to differentiate. For instance shirt, short and shot all sound the same to her. Also, kids sounds like cats. And boss sounds like box. We laugh a lot! 

She is an amazing speller. When in trouble, we spell things out in English. Just today we were talking about the stars in the night sky. I had to spell it because she was unsure what I meant.

Mariah was promoted to her own bedroom this weekend. She now sleeps in a big bed. She had absolutely no trouble! I was a little hurt that she was so great about it. However, it really speaks volumes how far she has come. 

Here is just one more example of the heavy male influence in our home.

This photo was taken today. Mariah insisted on wearing that helmet outside over her tossle hat (notice my Pittsburgh influence in that word) in the snow!

I am amazed that God chose for us to parent each of our kids. Selah has brought a perspective to our home that was foreign to us. We are watching God work in Selah's heart.

Just last week we were studying about seeds in Science. Selah later asked me how a seed got everything it needed already inside. I simply told her that is how God created it. She looked at me strangely and asked again. I explained yet again how God created plants and seeds. She just took it all in. Honestly I think she was a bit annoyed with my answer.

Our sweet newest daughter truly is perfect for our family. She and Rebecca are best friends. It is so sweet to watch them together. We look at our life and are amazed to see how our obedience to God's direction has brought us such joy. It is pure joy! Joy unspeakable!!!!