9 Months

9 months ago today we walked into the Civil Affairs office in Hefei, China and we were very nervous. We waited a little while for the girls to show up.  And then they walked in. Not a care in the world about us.  They were told to say hello to us. They were told to smile and take photos for and with us.  They wanted to just ignore us.  Then the tears started.  And they pushed us away.  That lasted about 30 minutes or so.  Then it was time to leave the office and then we got smiles, we heard "Daddy" for the first time, we got giggles.  Then the "fun" began.

So much has changed in these last 9 months.  The shy, scared girls that we met that day are no longer visible.  They are strong girls, full of life.  Full of spunk.  It's been 9 months of new, for the girls and for us.  Parenting 6 kids has had it's challenges.  Adopting 2 older girls from another country has had it's challenges.  We have our good days and then our bad days.  Maggie seems to have adjusted well.  She loves the family, loves to laugh, loves to play, loves to help out.  Hope has not adjusted as easily.  Not sure why.  Not sure if she is overwhelmed with the size of our family (you would think she would be used to noise & lots of kids but I don't think she is).  Hope is trying now. She wants the family to be happy.  But she still has her bad moments.  And we are trying to work through them.  We have started to see a therapist, her, Bill & I.  So far they have just been asking us what we want to get out of these sessions. Our answer is basically "we want to feel normal. We want to understand what Hope needs".  Hope does not want to go.  She acted up during the hour we were there.  The therapist said nothing. Maybe she was watching how we react.  I'm praying these sessions can help us.  Because the behaviors that we experience are starting to affect the entire family.

On a positive note, the girls are learning so much. Their English is amazing. They do not speak Chinese to us or each other.  They have chatted a few times on Skype with friends and they speak Chinese & English.  They did a presentation in front of their entire class the other day. And the whole class cheered. Their teacher cried.  Hope & Maggie were beaming.  They are making friends and they want to have a birthday party. So we are trying to coordinate this.

We are thankful that God chose us to adopt.  There are days I question what was He thinking when he chose us to parent 6 kids.  :-)  But I know He's with us, and he's helping us get through the difficult times.  We cherish every happy moment we have.  We are thankful.

This is my favorite photo from today.  I love how Hope is looking at Maggie.

Please pray for Hope.  She is getting an expander put in her mouth tomorrow. This is the beginning phase of her dental work before she has a bone graph next summer.  She is not too thrilled about having this done.  Thanks!

This is their favorite shirt. They wear it every Monday. It says "Friday Makes Me Happy. (on the back) Monday Makes Me Sad".