March 1, 2011

3 MONTHS HOME & SOOOOOO Many FIRSTS!!!

AMAZING is all I can say!!!! Hard to believe the scared little girl we first met is now BLOOMING!!! She is loving America & is fitting right & truly becoming an All American Girl!!!

She has experienced so much in her short time here & has also had to go through a lot! Between Dr. appointments, dentist & even had to have dental surgery where they pulled 7 teeth & she had chronic infection, which the dentist said she was in so much pain younger because her nerves were dead! Luckily her permanent teeth that are coming in are GREAT, YEAH!!! Here is a picture right after they wheeled her back into us! As you see she was not very happy with us!

She would not be happy that I posted that photo! Her next first is the eye Dr. looks like someone may need glasses!!!

She got to go to her FIRST Ice show!!! We took her to see "Toy Story 3 on Ice"!! She loved it & did not move once & her eyes were glued! Of course it brought tears to mama's eyes to get to experience all this with her & to think she would NEVER of had these opportunity's if God did not place this child in our lives!



Jesse was her favorite!!!

She went to her FIRST High School basketball game to watch Brooke cheer! She was not sure about the band at first but like anything else she got use to it after awhile & she never complained about it being loud! She decided she does not want to play basketball but wants to cheer/dance like Brooke!!! After years of coaching cheerleaders, Mama always said her girls would NOT be cheerleader!!! HUM, guess I might be eating my words!!!





Another FIRST, which Mama is happy about is...... She is taking gymnastics & is a natural!!! She is already working on her round off back handspring & almost has it by herself after 3 weeks of taking classes!!! YEAH, maybe she will stick with gymnastics instead of cheering??????


Another HUGE FIRST, she started school today!!! We are so excited & never dreamed she would be this far in her English to start school! She has been working with her tutor from IU once a week & I have been trying to home school a little bit each day (I know what you all are thinking that know me, I have coached gymnastics/cheerleading & been a hairdresser for years NOT a teacher) but she is picking up so fast that she really needed more structure in her life each day & her mind needed to be tested a little more. After the first day she already was starting to read books & did subtraction problems with NO troubles!!! She had FUN packing her backpack & getting ready for her first day & the kids made her feel so welcome!


We have only enrolled her part time for now & she will go a few hours each day until she feels comfortable staying all day!


Last but not least another FIRST for her is she has a sister, brother & a FAMILY forever!!!






There is sooooo much more to share but hopefully I won't wait as long to post & will share more!!!!

January 12, 2011

HOME UPDATE!!!

WOW, I can not believe we have been home over a month!!! It is all still a blur!!! Hard to believe this child that has touched our hearts has been in our arms now almost 2 months & we are still in awwww of how far she has come!!! I will admit it has not been easy but I think the timing of arriving home around the Holidays made it even harder. The kids were home from school for another 2weeks for Christmas break so I will say we have ALL had a lot of time for bonding, maybe toooo much!!! It is really hard to explain when people ask "How are things going"????? Not sure how to answer when I want to keep it in a positive way but not sound like it has been perfect!!! I am living the song "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus right now, just listen & it will explain how I am feeling, it is all about the climb & keeping my faith!!!

There is soooo much to tell about our first month home so I will keep it short!!! She has truly amazed us on how well she is picking up on English, she is trying so hard to fit into this American world that she wants to know how to communicate with others! She loves watching Annalei at gymnastics & she is a natural herself, once she sees something or if you teach her she will do it!! The gym is so excited for her to start classes but once we get there she crawls back in her shell & will not participate, mama even bought her a new leo hoping that would help (but she is VERY modest & a leo does not cover the whole body so that is an issue).

She has had LOTS of first & that is so amazing to us & we realize how much we take for granite. Popping popcorn has been the funniest, walking in snow for the first time, seeing drums played at church, shopping at a mall, Christmas with a Santa that brings gifts, decorating cookies & I can go on & on but that is when I stop & put my exhausted selfishness aside & start to realize how we have changed this child's world & how she is having to adapt to a new life & we have expected so much out of her, even though it all may sound like it is heaven to a child, she still had a life that she lived 9 years before coming to America that is totally different than here!!!! I had to stop & think the other day that she even had a name for 9 years in China (Long Fu Mei) & in 1 day it was changed & she has had to learn it & adapt to it over night & live with it(thank goodness she likes it)!!!

She is going to start tutoring soon with a friend of mine at school & we have found a grad student at IU that is Chinese to help out as well, YAY!!! We are so excited, she needs more structure in her life & a daily routine, like she had in China!! She seems very bored when we are home so I am doing some school projects at home & many crafts to keep her occupied!

We have many new pic's & I will try my best to update more often!!!! Here a some from Christmas, we introduced her to the COLTS, decorating Christmas cookies & then a picture that my niece captured of her looking out at the snow & then typical siblings playing around!!!