Grace 5 months home

The past five months have zoomed by.  

First hair cut that wasn't a buzz cut.  Miss Jackie is the sweetest and Grace loved getting her hair cut.  

Grace's new snow suit.  She wanted to wear it around the house, I think she enjoyed having all the layers.

Sweet girl selfie - just waking up.  She will often sit with a blanket and her Lambie on the stairs waiting for me to come pick her up.  She loves to stroke the satin tags on things.

Grace has come a long way on the playground equipment.  She can now walk up the tall spiral slide the wrong way ( yeah I know this against the playground rules, but I was so glad she tried it).  She still has difficulty with some of the more challenging things on the equipment, but she is doing so much better.  Pretty amazing for a girl who couldn't raise her foot to put it up on a curb several months ago.  Matthew is awesome to show her how to do things, best physical therapist ever! 

Giving her baby a ride.  When she first came home, she didn't have a lot of interest in her dolls.  She is very loving towards them now.  This is her baby "Piao Liang" (which means beautiful in Mandarin) or Piao Piao as she calls her.  

First day of preschool!  Preschool has been going well so far.  Grace hasn't cried when I have dropped her off, but has cried when I pick her up.  She seemed so overwhelmed that I really did show up. She also cried when the teacher told her she couldn't ride the bus home since her mom picks her up.    Grace loves carry her new back pack.  She is receiving physical therapy services at her school which is nice for me.  I had been taking her to PT this summer to fill in till school started. It was the longest hour ever each week.   Miss Grace wasn't always the willing participant and she enjoyed  being her own one woman show.  She mastered the art of the "limp noodle" when she didn't want to keep going or the "mad dash" when she wanted to go and explore the other equipment in the gym.  The hardest part was to watch all the silly faces she made during therapy and not to laugh.

Best buddies - most of the time 😉. These goobers sure keep me on my toes.

4th of July

Hope you all had a joy filled 4th of July and get a kick out these 2 sweet goofballs who can never sit still for a picture.

They don't quite understand 4th of July yet, but the magnitude blows me away.  It wasn't long ago that Grace and Matt had none of the freedoms they have now.      Three years ago, they both were orphans 8000 miles away with uncertain and very limited futures.  While I love China and the U.S.  is far from perfect, how amazing the opportunities this country has given my two youngest Americans.    I am thankful that our country has allowed us to share our freedom with them so they can be two dearly loved goofballs with a future full of unlimited hope.  

Dream Night at the Zoo

Dream night is celebrated at zoos across the world and we got to go for the first time this year this past June.   Dream Night allows children who have chronic diseases or disabilities to spend time at a special evening with their families at the zoo.  Grace got an invitation to go this year.  Akron Children's Hospital and the Akron Zoo had dinner for us and opened the zoo after hours.  They brought several mascots in from the various sports teams around the area - Grace kept yelling "high five!" to all of the mascots.   They had face painting, crafts and the kids could ride the carousel and the train as much they wanted.  Grace didn't want to linger too long looking at the animals, but she seemed to really enjoy her time at the zoo.   Grace is still at a point where taking her places is sometimes difficult, so this really was a perfect visit for us.  

It turned out to be a very humbling night for me as well -   Humbled by all the volunteers that gave of their time, so we could have such a nice night.  But more humbled by the families that were in attendance, some of the children had very life threatening conditions.    For many of them, this is the only night each year that their family can go out together anywhere.  Sometimes Spina bifida is no picnic and having a child going through some pretty big adjustments to their new life is no picnic either, but seeing all the other children sure gave us a different perspective of our own struggles.  Many thanks to the Akron Zoo and Akron Childrens Hospital for such a wonderful night! 

                                                         

Grace baptized

This past weekend we were able to celebrate having Grace baptized.  I am happy to report little miss cooperated and it went really well.  Thankfully she doesn't mind water at all.  I was thinking ahead and  I bought her this outfit in China before we came home.  The salesperson said it was real silk ;) but I am guessing since it cost me about $7 U.S., it probably isn't silk.  It was beautiful none the less and perfect for today.  We came home and had a small low key party with pizza for lunch with all her grandparents, Uncle Adam, Aunt Jenny and her cousins.  I am happy to report that Grace is finally a big fan of pizza like her mama.  

Gracie joined by her brothers, sister and cousins after church.  

This blanket was made by the sweet ladies from our church's prayer shawl ministry to honor Grace's baptism. She loved it and Matthew got his out from his baptism to show Grace.  

Grace's 3rd Birthday

We celebrated Grace's 3rd birthday at the end of May.  As you can imagine, birthdays are a little overwhelming when you haven't had one before. She enjoyed opening her presents, but I don't think she actually grasped what exactly was going on.   I imagine by next year it will be something that she can even look forward to. She was a big fan of her cupcakes.   We even got to share our 20th wedding anniversary with Grace, what a gift she is!

Show Hope Reunion

At the end of May, we attended a reunion for all the kids who have spent time in a Show Hope Care Center in China.  We got the invitation while we were in China to bring bring Grace home.  We knew we wanted to go, but doubted if Grace could make the car trip to Tennesee.  We went back and forth several times whether we should go.   We also knew with Jeff having hardly any vacation time, it was going to have to be a quick trip - 36 hours to be exact.  It was so worth it, even during the time we were stuck in traffic, Matthew was car sick and I had to straddle the barf bucket to change Grace's  poopy diaper.

We arrived in Franklin, Tn late Friday night and went to the reunion late the next morning.  We got to meet people who knew and loved on Matthew while he stayed at Maria's Big House of Hope.  We also got to thank the Chapmans.    My heart is so full for all of these people.  They loved my boy, when he didn't have us.  They gave him a home.  They advocated for medical care 8000 miles away to make sure every things could be done for him.  All in the name of love... 

 Joanna visited Matthew in 2012

  

This is the picture Joanna took of Matthew.  Someone else saw this picture and helped me to connect the dots that Matthew had spend time at MBHOH

with Melissa at the reunion

then with Melissa in 2012

  

With David in 2012

Matthew and David

  

There were several families there that we had travelled with to China on our past two adoption trips, too.  How awesome to see these kids have grown and absolutely thrive in their families.  These sweet families will  hold a place in our hearts for what we have shared.  

Families from Matthew's adoption trip, so great to see each other for the first time in 2 years!

These three kiddos met their forever families together.  Matthew and Mayli both spent time together at the same orphanage and at Maria's.  

Our sweet friends from Ohio that we travelled together with to bring our girls home this past March.  We have to meet in Ohio together, but hopefully we get to do that soon! 

The whole day was filled with fun - bounce houses, hay rides, food, crafts and a petting farm.  It isn't often enough that we get to hang out with other adoptive families,  it was nice to be in a huge room with families who look just like ours with kids going through the same things.  Most of our kids have medical issues and we have all travelled the roads through adoption and attachment.