What I have learned from my daughters

This past week I have had time to reflect on my daughters' lives and all that God has done. I am truly blessed not only to be the mother of these three priceless treasures who have stolen my heart, but I am blessed to have a daily reminder of God's goodness and grace as well His lovingkindness. I am often awe struck when I consider that I am right in the middle of the greatest love story ever told.

I adopted E when she was just 11 months old. She was very frail and weak. She weighed a mere 13 pounds, could not even hold up her head, and slept most of the time. Despite her frailty, E had the most tender spirit you will ever find in a girl. In a nurturing environment of love and nutrition, E thrived. It was not long before she caught up with other children her age. When I see E I am daily reminded of how God gives strength to the weary, how He bestows upon us beauty for ashes. He brings hope when there is no hope.

O was adopted at 15 months old. She did not embrace her new family readily. The first year or two of her time with our family was very difficult, for her and for the rest of the family. She was outwardly healthy, but inwardly was filled with anger and hurt. Even at such a young age, she had built barriers around her heart. The orphanage staff told me that she liked to cry alot. We did find that to be true. But I have seen first hand that God is near to the brokenhearted. He comforts those who mourn and pours His oil of gladness on our heads. Today, almost five years after joining our family, O likes to laugh. She laughs from the bottom of her heart and laughs often. She now loves to be loved. I am reminded that many times our wounds are deeper than what can be seen with the eye but there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.

C recently joined our family this past Thanksgiving. She was 19 months old at the time. Since we have been home, she has undergone much testing of her heart. When C was 3 months old she had 2 holes repaired in her heart. The first was closed with stitches. The second was a large hole. I just read a report this week from her cardiologist that caused my heart to be filled with thanksgiving. While I knew that C's VSD was large and that her repair had been completed very well, I had not realized that it either butted up to or included part of her aortic valve. The end result is that she is expected to now live a normal and long life. What a story of God's mercy and grace. If God had not intervened in C's life, she more than likely would not be alive now. Her story reminds me each day that we are never out of God's sight. He knows every need we have even when we are powerless to care for ourselves. He restores our hearts and renews our souls.

He is a God of love and hope, peace and joy, mercy and grace. Oh to be a part of that on a daily basis. I can truly say that His goodness and mercy follow me all of my days. I stand in awe that I can be counted among the servants of the Most High God, and I am humbled that I am able to call Him my friend.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I was inspired by a fellow blogger (thanks Lesa) to try my hand at Jib Jab. E and O had a great time as we put their faces in High School Musical.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

3 Sweet Girls

Well, spring has sprung here. We mowed the grass for the first time this weekend. This week is spring break. E started the week long holiday off with strep throat. She is much better now. We have nothing big planned for the week. The girls are enjoying being outside, playing with their babies, and just hanging out. We will make a trip to the zoo and build a bear at some point. My goal for the week is to get everyone's closets ready for the warm weather. E needed some new shorts/shirts as she has grown quite a bit.
O got a few new things but is inheriting most of E's wardrobe from last summer which still looks brand new. C, of course, got a few new items as well. I need to take down the storage bins of warm weather items and get them ready. I will pack up C's winter clothes to consign in the fall. I also have a bunch of spring stuff that I will consign that doesn't fit or that I don't need/like. If I get that much done while entertaining 3 busy girls, I will have done alot! C and O are growing out their bangs. Our goal is a one length short bob. In the meantime, C is sporting her new sprinkler hairdo complete with a bow on top. She is so cute in a dress, but it still looks odd seeing her little arms and legs sticking out as we really haven't seen much of them before now. We are looking forward to our first summer together! Here are a few pics to start off the vacation.

February Pics!

We have had some beautiful weather lately. This past week, with temperatures in the mid 80s, we had the girls out in the yard helping to do some yard clean up. In true fashion, O wore her purse to pull the old dead plants out of the pots and collect any seeds that she could. E was happy to dig in the dirt and collect rocks - one of her favorite things to do. C, of course, followed her sisters around the yard.


C's favorite meal of the day is breakfast! (Well, lunch and dinner, too, but especially breakfast!)

We have 5 other families in the area with daughters from China that we get together with regularly. When we adopted O, we traveled to China with one of these families in 2004. O and their daughter are from the same orphanage and only a week or so apart. Every year, we celebrate their birthdays together. Funny thing is, they went back to China about a year ago to adopt a second daughter. As it turns out, C is just about 3.5 weeks younger than their daughter. So it looks like in April, even though we traveled more than 6 months apart, we will celebrate our "babies's" birthdays together as well. Here are a few pics of my girls enjoying the party.








While at the party, Celia showed off her latest in blue tooth technology!

Sleeping Beauty

Today in PE class, O and her fellow kindergarteners did some Tai Bo. After that, they went to Music. Apparently O was tuckered out. She passed out on the floor fast asleep right in the middle of singing. Luckily, the music teacher grabbed her cell phone and took this priceless pic for me. Guess that's a perk of working where your kids go to school.

PARTY!!!!

E's Valentine Party...



O's Valentine Party...



C's Valentine Party...


C's raingear...


E and O get a bear hug...


O's Build-a-bear Party...

An Undivided Heart...

When C was admitted to the Qingdao Children's Welfare Institute, she was very sickly - breathing hard, blue in color, and had pneumonia on top of everything. The medical staff at the orphange stabalized her. She was admitted to the hospital in a matter of weeks for open heart surgery. It was determined that she had a large hole in her ventricle wall (a VSD) near the aorta causing an opening between the 2 lower heart chambers. She also had an opening between the 2 upper heart chambers due to a flap not closing after birth (a PFO). These 2 openings effectively allowed the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood to mix. The surgical staff very skillfully stitched the flap closed and then applied a patch over the hole in C's heart. She no longer had a divided heart.

In the past few weeks we have had an echocardiogram and an EKG done on C. Today we met with the pediatric cardiologist to get the results. He said that the repair was very good. There is no leakage around either of the repair sites. He said her blood pressure and oxygen level were in the normal range. The EKG revealed that her heart was beating regularly and normally. He declared that C's heart is completely repaired and she is to be treated just like any other kid regarding medicine/vaccinations, dental visits, and physical activity. We have to return in a year for a follow up as he wants to follow C's heart as she grows to ensure that there are no surprises. He emphasized that he is not expecting to ever find any in her situation, but just a precaution. If there are no changes after the 1 yr mark, then the time between check ups will be extended. He declared her healthy!

There was also a concern on her original paperwork that stated she had pulmonary hypertension. The doctor told us that she does NOT have PH. He thought that there could have been an issue in the translation and difference in the way that her condition is described between US and China. He said that if her 2 defects had not been corrected, she could have eventually ended up with PH. The way PH is referenced in the US, it is not a good thing. It is irreversible and can be fatal. I had to take a step of faith on that one when I accepted C's referral. I did feel the peace of God to do so and had to trust that what ever C's condition ended up being, He would see us through. That is my miracle.

I am including a couple of scriptures that I prayed for C while I waited for her to come home...

"Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; Give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name." Psalm 86:11

"I run in the path of your commands, for You have set my heart free." Psalm 119:32

These are still among my prayers for C that her heart would completely belong to the one who has literally set her free.

Here are a couple of pics after her EKG. She did reapply all of the little monitor stickers that they hook the wires to all over her pants for entertainment while we waited for the doctor to read the test results.