Hebrews 10:23- "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Two monts later......



Well we have had our little girl for 2 months now and everything continues to go well.  As stated before she is definitely 3, so there have been many trying 3 year old times, but nothing too bad. 
 She continues to bond and attach, especially to me.  I start back to work tomorrow night.......then work again Saturday and Sunday nights.  I'm a little nervous about how she will do at bedtime.  She only wants me, so hopefully if I'm not an option, and only Daddy is, she will do ok......
Getting back to work will be a hard and trying time for us. It has been so nice to feel normal with a normal schedule.  I'm not looking forward to the constant exhaustion that comes along with working nights, but my schedule is the best it could be with a newly adopted toddler at home.  

For the first 5 weeks home we were at the doctor 4 out of 5 of those weeks, all of which she had to be stuck for something......she's had a double ear infection, Scarlett Fever, and Giardia........Don't worry giardia is only contagious if you have come in contact with her poop, and I think I'm the only one who has, and I'm fine!  The doctor actually thinks that she is just a carrier of it, because she has not had any symptoms, other than eating poorly.  
We did get her blood drawn including vaccination titers, to see if they really did give her all the vaccinations they said they did.  They all came back that she was indeed immune to what she should be, so that was good news.  All her blood work looked pretty good, so we were glad to hear that as well.  The orphanage had said she never really got sick, my theory is that she didn't get sick because she was never exposed to anything.......I think she stayed indoors and was never given a chance to really strengthen her immune system.  
She isn't very fond of wind or the sun......She pretty much whines when the wind blows and she burry's herself when it's bright outside.  We are trying to get her more use to it, since she will be at a lot of baseball games this spring!  

So all in all we are still doing great!  
I had written a blog post on Gotcha Day while we were on the train going to her province, but because we met her the second we walked in the hotel, I never got a chance to post it. So hear it is, a little flash back to two months ago.......
There is also another slideshow for your enjoyment.... ;-)

We are on the train to Olivia’s province!  I am not nervous, just anxious.  Well I may be a little nervous, because I have only been on a train once in my life, and we just stopped and are sitting.  Anyway, Mike didn’t sleep well last night, he is very nervous.  He’s afraid she isn’t going to like him….so he has been up since about 3 am.  I slept good. J  When I think about her I just get teary eyed, yes already.  I know once I meet her I’m going to be a sobbing mess.  I keep thinking about what she is doing right now, what she must be thinking.  She is riding a train as well to the capital of her province, Jinan.  That is where we will be staying until Friday.  I think her train ride is a little longer than ours.  She must be scared to death; I doubt she has ever left the orphanage before.  I have been praying for her to have peace, peace in her heart when she meets us.  That she will understand our love and feel safe with us, that she won’t be afraid.  I know that only God can prepare her for this union.  So I put total faith in God that whatever happens He will take care of us all.  I am so thankful to God for leading us here, for putting us on this AMAZING path of adoption.  I love her so much already, I can’t begin to explain. 

Our guide, Sylvia was telling us yesterday that we will have 24 hours to make our final decision to adopt her.  Our decision has been made.  God did not bring us here to turn around and go home, childless.  This child has been placed in our hearts by a power above all understanding, a love that will out win any human trials.  Adoption is nothing short of a leap of faith.  Faith in God, faith that He will guide us, take care of us, and help us along the way.  I truly believe God has given Olivia to us, that we found her only through Him.  So many things that have happened throughout this process have only happened because God made it so.  When you pray for God to move mountains and then the next few days, all you see on church signs is “God moves mountains” or hear on the radio about God moving mountains, you know God is telling you to trust and have faith in him. God also timed everything perfectly. Adoption is not cheap but God does not always call the equipped but he ALWAYS equips the called.  And then there is the peace that I have had after a storm (or freak out).  Many times I have had anxiety or stress over something and then I would pray, worry, and pray some more, and there would be an overwhelming peace that would come to me, which would soon be followed by an answer to whatever was bothering me.  When I prayed for another child, I was also at a time in my life that I wanted to have a deeper understanding and relationship with God.   We had found an amazing church and I was longing for a day to day walk with God, not a Sunday fix.  I would pray for a life change to live and work for God.  I even strongly considered missionary work.  When God opened the door to adoption, I did not realize what else He was going to show me.  I have needed more faith in the last year than I ever would have imagined.  I have grown so strong in my relationship with Him.  It has been an overwhelming feeling of God’s strength and grace in me over the past year.  I finally understand what it’s like to want to need Him every day.  And this cannot be changed now.  This path does not end.  I will not let it.  I can describe it best as a relationship with your spouse, you thrive in it, you need it, you want it.  Yes, you can get lazy and relaxed and not continue to keep it special.  But that is when God will pull you back in and show you that you need Him always. 
Well, that’s about all for now.  I’m hoping to get off this train soon. Yay, we’re moving, hoping that means we’ll be pulling into the station soon.  Next post will have some beautiful pictures of a precious little girl!!! 
Love from China, Katie




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