Just eating her cereal...

This time last year I impatiently waited to be matched to our new child.    Late on November 11th the day before Jeff's birthday, I sat on the couch and pulled up our agency's list for the 546,890th time that week.   Funny enough a new child's profile popped without any pictures.  I read her profile and my heart started to beat like crazy.  We did not have her particular medical needs (Spina Bifida) listed in our paperwork, but something told me to look into her anyway.

The next day her pictures also appeared and this little one had my heart.  We had requested her file and received the sweetest video of a  little girl walking around picking up stuffed animals.  Not only did we receive her file on Jeff's birthday, but her birthday was also our anniversary date.  We poured over the information in her file and even though we had more information than with Matthew's adoption, there was still a lot of medical information we didn't have answers to.    Over the next week, I spoke with two different Spina Bifida clinics, one told me to expect the worse with a list of unforseen possibilities and the other shared much hope.  Grace's file had a lot of unknowns with the limited medical information and no MRI.  I shared all this information with Jeff and had a pit in my stomach.  Would we be both still be on board and be ok if the worse case scenario was the reality with this little girl?  Jeff asked me what I thought and I shared that I kept having a picture in my head of her eating breakfast with us at our table just munching on her cereal.  Thankfully, Grace had already captured his heart as well as mine, we knew she was our daughter no matter what.  

I know the breakfast picture in my head was kind of weird, but I think God wanted to give me a glimpse that despite some of this medical stuff, Grace was just a little girl who needed a family to eat her breakfast with everyday.  He wanted me to remember the everyday ordinary stuff was the important stuff.  Not having a family really was her biggest need.  Her life with us is so much more than managing her condition.  Thankfully her original medical file didn't include the MRI.  Her MRI is pretty scary  and doesn't give much of a glimpse to all that she has accomplished and who she is.    She does actually have one of the most severe forms of Spina Bifida.  Every doctor we see is totally surprised she is walking and is gaining more and more function.  Granted we are still in the process how exactly SB effects Gracie - She does take some medicine, she has physical therapy and some other various things to manage her condition - but she has a very full ordinary life.  She is starting to ride a bike with training wheels, she can climb all types of playground equipment and funny enough she loves cereal.  

Grace is such a sweet and spicy little girl.  Stinking cute doesn't even begin to describe her. Rules seem to be merely a suggestion to her and  as the mom to 3 other rule followers this has been a constant lesson in patience for me.   She is chatty and unfortunately discovered the word "why????".  She loves baby dolls and singing songs.  Grace is walking better, but she is still prone to falling very easily.

 It still never gets old to see a child blossom into their family like she has done in ours.    She no longer has to be an army of one and she can relax in the fact she is a treasured daughter and sister.  If you sat down with her, I would guess the average person would have no idea she has only been in this country for a short time, she is very much a Starkey. One of the most beautiful things I have seen, is the relationship between her and Matthew.  These two care so much about each other, it's like they have been brother and sister for a lifetime not just 7 months.  Sure they fuss and fight a lot, but each of them is just about golden to the other.  

So as I pick up all the cereal off the floor under our table and I am not thoroughly overjoyed picking it up, but I am over joyed and humbled that God would allow us to be her momma and daddy.  Amazed how God has worked in all our lives to bring us together and make us a family.  

Boo at the Zoo

It's a lot of fun to introduce Grace to all our weird American customs like Halloween.  I dare say you will find anyone more excited about candy than Matthew and he has been trying to prepare Grace for all of this.  He has been asking for weeks if it's time to trick or treat yet.  Thankfully We had Boo at the Zoo to warm us up to trick or treat and we even got to see our favorite zookeeper Aunt Jenny.  

Last game for middle school

Robbie played in his last game for the middle school season yesterday.  So proud of this boy, he really had a great season.  I would love to give you all the football jargon of what he did, but I still continue to mess that up.  Let's say he caught some great passes and had some amazing tackles for someone who is 5'9" and 120 pounds.  He played both defense and offense and coach kept him in for the entirety of most games.  Even though he is currently a tuba player, I am guessing he will not be continuing in the family marching band legacy.  

here is a video from when he was 7

Fun on the Farm

While the big boys went paintballing, the rest went to the farm where Shelby works.  What a great place! However,  I think we will be finding corn for days.

Back to school for the Bigs

I don't want anyone to think I have forgotten about my big kids Shelby and Robbie since I don't post as many pictures of them.  Let's just say they aren't as willing participants to have their pictures taken and they sure are home a lot less than the little guys.

Shelby is back at Akron this fall and in the marching band.  She took a full course load over the summer and she should be a junior by the end of this semester.  She also held down 2 summer jobs, one at the farm market and one as a job coach.  She is beginning her education classes and continues to work at the farm market through Falł Fest.  She has been a huge help with Matt and Grace.  It must be pretty awesome to have an older sister who his 15 years older than you.  Shelby has bought ballon animal and face painting kits to play with them.  She always welcomes them to hang out in her room, too. 

Robbie has been keeping me busy buying new clothes, he has grown over 6 inches in a short period of time.  He is now as tall as Jeff.  People have asked him if he is driving, so it's funny to tell them he is just an 8th grader.  He is back playing football again this fall.  He is playing both offense and defense. He has had some great plays already.   Robbie attended football conditioning throughout the summer, so it wasn't such a killer to start back for football camp in August.  He and Jeff have entered their favorite time of year - the start of college football and sports center coverage of college football.  We are also really proud of how much he is willing to help out around the house.  Robbie and Jeff have taken down several dead trees in the 90 degree heat and he has started to learn how to drive the tractor.  He and I have also worked together to get the camper hooked up to the car by ourselves.  I only back up the car to the camper (with the help of a backup camera) and Robbie does all the rest.  

 

Knees Please

When warmer weather started, I soon figured out we would have to keep Grace's knees covered.  She was falling all the time and had a skinned knee that wouldn't heal.  I later found out that people with spina bifida take longer to heal since they have reduced circulation/feeling.  We also found out we would always have to check her for cuts and scraps on her legs and feet because she might not know she had them and they could get out of hand.  So I soon invested in some knees pads for when she was playing on asphalt and a dozen pairs of capri leggings to wear that would cover her knees.  

Unfortunately there were several pairs of shorts she never got to wear because it just wasn't practical.  A lot of times she just wore dresses because it was easier to pair the leggings with.  Not a lot of people in China wear shorts so it took Grace a little while to realize that her knees could be uncovered.  I started catching her pulling up her leggings to show her knees and she would tell me she looked like RoRo (who wears shorts 349 days a year).  So earlier this week, she found this skort in her bottom drawer and asked to wear it.  I took the chance and since she is falling a little less - surprise, her knees remained intact all day. I can't say I am brave enough to continue to let her keep her knees uncovered, but she was excited to keep showing us her knees that day.

 A lot of her leggings have now seen better days, most have become so torn up I just threw them away.  I am really looking forward to it being jeans season. Earlier this summer I saw a posting for little girls clothing on Mom's resale Facebook page that said like "enough items to clothe a 3T army...".  I jumped at it.   Thankfully, this lot of clothing I bought had 30 pairs of pants and jeans.  There aren't many people who need 30 pairs of girls 3T pants, but I know one little girl who will put them to very good use/abuse.   

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.