And just a few days to go....

Wow, we are at the 6 month anniversary of having Maya. (Jan. 13 was the day!!) I can't believe it. Somehow it seems a lifetime ago that we got her, yet I know during the waiting it seemed a lifetime that we were waiting. And now here she is...settling into family.... Learning new words each day, testing in different ways each day, giggling, smiles, security, coming to me for comfort to give her loves and kisses when she is hurt, etc. It is an amazing journey. Half the time she has been home she has been in a cast and at 1:30 on Wednesday the cast is coming off!! Praise God, we are so excited. Rich and I are still baffled that her foot that was slightly turned in was considered a special need, yet rejoice that it was as we were able to bring her home so quickly from the time of referral to picking her up. What will she do on Wednesday when her cast is off and we leave Children's Hospital without a new one on? Each time we have gone to Children's a new cast has gone on. We talk about it each day and do the countdown, but does she get it? I will have the camera and video camera to document it at the sheer joy of her having that freedom. One of the things I am most excited about is her being able to come home and take a bath. Not for the convenience of not having to give her a 'spit' bath on the counter, but the complete joy she has in baths. She loves them. The picture here of her is her in the bath the night before surgery in November. We went down the 16th and had a pre-op appt. and the doctor let her come home for the night without the cast as surgery was at 6 a.m. and there was no need to recast since surgery was in the morning. Nothing put pure joy for Maya to be in a bath. It shows that it is the little things that matter. She has been a trooper during this whole time of having the cast and I am so happy for her to be free from it and run, hop, skip, climb and jump without the cast!!

A long week............

Tenacious, Spirited, determined, lively, inquisitive, strong willed - anyway you put it, sometimes it is just plain tough being a mom of a spunky 2 year old. She has had a week, that is for sure. I wish I had the answer to the best way to discipline her while she tests the limits, I can only pray for God to guide me as we go down this parenting journey. No one said it was going to be easy and this week is proving that very thing. Parenting is not for the faint of heart. I haven't been the best at doing this verse lately but James 4:8 says Draw near to me and I will draw near to you. That is what I need to do - draw close to God and trust and rely on Him.

The last cast

Yesterday we drove down to Children's Hospital and had Maya's full length leg cast removed, the Dr. checked out the mobility of the foot, a cast was made of her foot to make a brace for when the cast is removed on Jan. 20 and then she will wear the night brace for 2 years. Then the new cast went on... below the knee!!! What an amazing difference it makes in having a short cast. Although the first time Maya tried to walk she fell to the ground. Her poor leg muscles haven't worked in 6 weeks. Today she has been very wobbly and unsteady and trying to figure out the balance of it all. Her leg and foot were also positioned in a different way making things difficult. We had a very rough night last night and as the parents were very slow to clue in to her pain. So tonight she went to bed with Tylenol and Rich and I are praying for a full nights sleep.
Reflecting back on the last year, it is amazing to think of all that has happened. It has been an amazing year, a growing year, and a blessed year. 2009 is a year to remember of many, many blessings.

Joyful moments

This week I have truly begun to see a joyful bond between Sydney and Maya. It has been a rough 5 months for those two. Between Sydney changing from the youngest to having a younger sister and both Maya and her temperment being so similar they have had more disagreements and attitudes towards one another than I could have possibly imagined. I am truly seeing the love. Sydney is seeking Maya out and wanting to play with her. Hearing them play together and laugh and giggle is so much more than my words can express. Through lots of tears, prayer, and frustration it seems we have turned a corner. I have known from the start that all 3 would have a strong sisterly bond.... but there were days I was beginning to doubt it could happen. Mackenzie and Maya have had an easier transition, but I can see a peace in Mackenzie these past few days as she was having a hard time with the fights her sisters had. Ahhh, peaceful, joyful moments.

Tis the season.....

Maya has enjoyed more 'firsts'...Thanksgiving, first snow, hot cocoa, baking Christmas cookes, Christmas lighted parade and painting. She definately enjoyed Thanksgiving and her big turkey dinner and the pie. Having moved into the Christmas season it is so fun to see the joy of it all in her. She loves the lights, the joining us for 'bible time' as we do our Advent tree, and loves the nativity scene and sings Happy Birthday Jesus everyday. We have two nativity sets and one is for the kids to set up and be 'hands on' with. Thus baby Jesus is often in Maya's hands. Very precious.

We are so happy to be celebrating the birth of Jesus this December as a family of 5. So hard to imagine that last year at this time we didn't even have a picture of Maya. We are truly blessed to have our beautiful daughter home with us and are so grateful for all three of our girls. God is good.

Sydney lost her 7th tooth and the excitement was overwhelming as this was the fist one she pulled out. Elated and overjoyed are vast understatements to her reaction to pulling it out. The other 6 teeth stayed in until they fell out on their own, so this was a huge event!!!

1st time seeing Christmas Lights

Seeing the way Maya's eyes lit up with seeing decorations, lights, Christmas trees was so amazing and emotional to see. Just to think this time last year she had just newly moved from the orphanage to her foster home. I don't have any knowledge of what took place and how they celebrated, if they even did. She was enthralled with the lights and overjoyed everytime we pointed out lights on the way to church. Teaching her the meaning of Christmas and having her here is such an amazing blessing. Last year it felt as if our family wasn't all together as we felt called to adopt and knew our daughter was out there somewhere and now a year later to have our bundle of energy here with us is so amazing.

No slowin' down

We are now almost 2 weeks out from surgery. Maya is doing very well and has even learned how to walk, run, climb, and jump with the full leg cast. We had a rough first week with pain management but that seems to be behind us. Keeping her down and her foot elevated wasn't exactly easy to do with her activity level. Now we only hope and pray the cast lasts until the 14th when they put on the new cast. Her activity level is such that the bottom of her cast is falling apart. I think I have had a harder time adjusting to the full leg cast than her. It is difficult to carry her and it is difficult to dress her and bathe her. Jan. 20th is the date she gets the final cast off!!! Oh, what a day that will be!!!! I am not sure who will be more excited her or me?!?!?

I added a few pics we took when we first got her out of recovery. Sleeping peacefully with pain meds and an epidural still in effect.

Surgery

Surgery is tomorrow morning at 7:30. We have to check in at Children's at 6:15 so we will be leaving at 4:20 to head to Seattle. I am hoping Maya stays asleep so she is a bit rested. I am fighting a bit of anxiety of the whole surgery thing, but ultimately know God is in control. We went to Children's today for an appt., removal of the cast and x-rays. Maya was so elated to have her cast off - very proud and showing everyone. The first thing she asked for when we got home was a bath. So she had a very long bath and played and was so overjoyed. A reminder that it is the simple things in life that bring joy. Seeing her laughing and so full of joy - what a blessing for such a beautiful daughter. 3 beautiful daughters we have - wow I am in awe of what God has given us.

Psalm 57:10 - For great is your love, reaching to the heavens, your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Psalm 126:3 - The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

Surgery is scheduled

Next week Maya will have surgery to lengthen her achilles tendon. This will allow the final correction of her foot. We have almost 10 weeks of casting left and then 2 years of night bracing. We are glad to have Dr. Mosca as the surgeon as we completely trust him in the care of our daughter.

Our precious Maya

I have wondered since we found out Maya was in foster care what the situation was like. I knew very little of the foster care system and China and had very little information given while in China due to keeping the families privacy. But I did find out that the children in foster care are placed most of the time with families that they call "model" families. They foster 4-5 children & that is considered their job. They have no other employment. They treat their children as their own--feed, care & love them. I believe that the foster family was hand picked by God for our precious Maya and that they loved her so amazingly for the 7 months they had her in their home. I will be thinking of them and say a prayer for them as I am so grateful for all the love they must have shown to her and how hard that must have been to say goodbye to her. I was also reflecting back and looking at pictures as I was scrapbooking our trip to China and reminded of how difficult it was for the two orphanage employees who brought Maya to us to say good bye to her. She is such a special girl and I can see that they had bonded with her and her with them. She has changed so much in the 3 months we have had her from how much her hair has grown, to talking so much, and changed from the scared little girl that was thrust into our arms to a very secure, energetic, determined and fearless little girl.
Next Monday, October 26th we will be driving to Children's Hospital to have Maya's foot casted. We were very optimistic that this wouldn't have to happen as they corrected her foot in China, but her foot has regressed and we are so pleased to have a great doctor to work with. After 4 weeks in a cast we will know if we are progressing with 4 more weeks in a cast or surgery.

The Blessings of our Children

The blessings of our children seem endless. Even the tough days can teach us so much about our selves and perserverance and complete reliance on God. Through this season of adjusting to a new blessing of little Maya our family is growing together and learning to be completely united. Maya is adjusting wonderfully - of course we still have the 2 year old tantrums, but she seems to daily get more and more comfortable. Sydney and Mackenzie are enjoying being a part of teaching Maya how to play Ring around the Rosy, The wheels on the Bus and more. Maya loves to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Some of her favorite things to play with are a stuffed dog named Giger and a tea set. She is so silly and full of funny faces. And to listen to her giggle is priceless. Rich and I seem to be giggling at her giggling. The girls love to make her laugh as well as they chase her around the house.

We are enjoying the last days of summer and have picked lots of berries and are preparing our garden for a fall crop. Maya likes to wash the weeds in a bucket of water after we pull them from the garden.

Mackenzie is getting ready to start up in Fall Soccer and Sydney is enjoying photography. Maya is getting used to BaBa going to work each day and has accepted it a bit better than when he first went back. She is also accepting the cats a bit more. Each day we go out for a walk and Maya loves to ride in the stroller and look around for birds and other animals.

The Joy of the Lord is our strength. We rejoice at our growing family.

Maya has been with us a month!!!!

Today marks the one month anniversary. Hmm, has me thinking I should do some special sort of celebration to mark her with her forever family. I will be pondering what I will be doing. Maya is adjusting well with typical regression. She is taking control in a few areas of her life - eating, sleeping and potty. She came fully potty trained and now is not. She isn't resisting it, she will sit on the potty, she will also just go in her pants and not care about it. She has opted to not take naps which creates some mighty fine tantrums due to exhaustion, and she is very selective what she will eat - fruit and veggies are very rare for her to eat. I imagine this will all work itself back out as she realizes this is the real deal. We are a family - HER family and will never ever abandon her. She is here to stay, we just have to get through this phase and let her come to believe and trust in her time that this is indeed for real. We love her so much and the girls are great with her. Not to say that Mackenzie and Sydney haven't had their own adjustments as well. Maya is definately a daddy's girl and is his little shadow whenever he is home. He is beaming over having 3 daddy's girls!!!! We are slowly getting settled at home and rearranging to accomodate another family memeber. Mackenzie has requested to move into her own room for some space and alone time. We will be making that happen in the next few days. Mackenzie and Sydney have shared a room for quite a few years and the extra room was a play room. Eventually when Maya is ready to move out of our room she will share a room with Sydney.
My mom and dad have been an amazing asset to us with helping and supporting us. She has taken Mackenzie by herself (yesterday) and they had great one on one time sitting and talking, soaking their feet, foot massages, making and painting a birdhouse, etc. She was able to spend the night and be spoiled by mamaw and Papa. Sydney's turn is next. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!!

Happy one month anniversary Maya!!! We love you so much and are in awe that you are really here. The amount of energy you have is amazing, the giggles and smiles make us laugh and smile and the hugs and kisses melt our hearts!!!

Home and almost settled

We have been home for over a week and are getting settled. Each day Maya is more and more comfortable. She seems to take most things in stride and has adapted quite well. We still experience some great tantrums from her, but overall she is an energetic happy toddler. Both Mackenzie and Sydney love having her around and playing with her. Today is the 3 week mark of having her!!! She is still extremely afraid of our cats and chickens still and is loving them from a distance. She is sleeping much better, which makes for much happier parents!!! For the most part we seem to be over the jet lag and enjoying the hot summer days with evening strolls, trips to the park and swimming in the pool!!

Anxious to travel

We had our travel meeting with our agency today and were filled with a lot of paperwork to take with us as well as great information. We have our itinerary and are excited to go and experience China. While in Beijing we will get to see the Olympic 2008 grounds, take in an acrobatic show, walk the great wall, see the Forbidden City and more. Then while in Guangzhou we will go to the zoo, have a city tour, check out the sites and of course, the highlight of the trip - picking up our daughter on July 13, 2009.

We are hoping to update everyone along the way. Maybe even be able to send a picture or two!!! Thanks for all the love, prayers and support. We can't wait for you all to meet our newest family member!!

The tickets have been purchased

We are very excited to have been able to purchase the tickets. We are leaving on July 8th!! We will be coming home on the 23rd. With each step of this process it becomes more and more real. Please pray for Maya as we pick her up and bring her home. Please pray for bonding and attachment to us and acceptance of us as her family. We have been loving her and wanting to bring her home for so long and for her this will all be thrust upon her.

Travel date - July 8th,2009

One of the days we have been waiting for is here. We got the call from our agency and the Travel Approval is here and our re-fingerprinting is back. We are now scheduled to leave the 8th and pick up our daughter on the following Monday. There is a lot of travel prep to do between now and then, but that will help pass the time!! The girls are so exited to finally get to meet Maya.

Waiting on paperwork

On May 22 we went and were fingerprinted and went to the adoption agency to sign paperwork to be sent to the CCAA to submit for travel approval. It takes 2-4 weeks to get the paperwork back on our fingerprinting and approx. the same time for Travel Approval from China on the documents we signed and submitted on the 22nd. As of today no paperwork is back yet. Our adoption agency will check on the status of the fingerprinting documents on Friday (June 12th) if it hasn't shown up yet. We can't get our Consulate appt. for when we are in China until these fingerprinting documents come back to us and we can submit them to China. As far as Travel Approval that will be here anytime. Our tentative travel dates are July 1st or the 8th. I am tending to believe we will leave the 8th.

In the meantime we are preparing our home for Maya, getting so excited to travel, picking up last minute items and gifts to take to China and waiting.

Our verse for Maya is Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.

The wait is nearing an end!!!!!

We have our re-fingerprinting done, papers signed and are just waiting a last document from China. Our tentative travel dates are July 1 or 8th. We are so excited and getting all the prep work done for travel. It is almost a surreal feeling that in a month we will be holding our precious daughter in our arms and bringing her home to her 'forever family'.

A bit of a downer, perhaps a pity party

Well, we went from a serious high to some downs. With the swine flu causing havoc amongst the different countries, international adoptions are being affected. Although the CCAA hasn't announced the halting of paperwork, our adoption agency isn't receiving anything. Our letter was expected about 2 weeks ago and they still haven't received it. It could be days, weeks, or months. Oh, so hard to wait. And to think we thought we were so close. And of course, we could be - we are just having to trust and rely on God's perfect timing.

Prep work, paper work, and anticipation

We have just received pictures of Maya. She is getting so big and it makes us all the more anxious to go and get her. If only it was that easy and we didn't have to wait on paperwork. Hopefully that will be coming in the next week or so. The travel date has been moved up to June (no official date, just the month ) and we are all prepping for the trip. Typhoid oral vaccination is starting this week. This is a 4 pill series that you take one pill every other day. The vaccination lasts for 5 years. We have also filled out visa paperwork and begun the process of gathering what clothing we will take for us as well as Maya. It is so exciting to think she will be home so very soon. Later this month we go down to Tukwila for a scheduled appointment to be re-fingerprinted as our old fingerprints expire. We are taking a 3 day tour in Beijing before heading down to meet Maya. Walking the Great Wall, seeing the forbidden City as well as a few other things will happen before getting Maya. The girls are so excited to take this adventure of a lifetime!!!