Home 1 Year - Looong final update :)

This week we celebrated a great milestone - Faith's familyversary - and the Perry family being complete for 1 whole year!  In some ways it seems like we were just in China yesterday (or even impatiently waiting to go to China!) but in others, it seems like she has been with us a long time.  I know many of you have read my updates on Facebook, but I still have a few non-facebook friends that keep asking me to update the blog.  This will be the last update on the blog - we are fortunate that life has settled into a busy-normal - and more frequent posts would probably be uneventful :)  Thanks for following us through the completion of our adoption.


So, here's what's been happening in our life...


Faith is doing great.  She continues to blossom here in our family.  We adore her and she seems very attached to us as well.  She is very affectionate and she often writes me notes that say "I love you Mom" or "I Love My Family."  She's really been a total blessing to us.  We just had our 12 month post-placement and it was our final step in our adoption!  It's 100% complete!!!

It's been a crazy spring/summer, but now here in Northern Virginia we've settled into our new home.  We all miss California so, so very much, but Faith continues to amaze us with her adjustment and ability to adapt to all the changes we are experiencing with her normal spunky attitude. We had considered splitting the girls bedroom up when we moved here since we had the room but, in the end, we kept them together and it's been a blessing.  With nobody to play with except each other and their brothers this summer (because of our new location), they have bonded quite a bit and it's wonderful to see.  Kaylee says she is used to having a big sister now and loves it, and we've noticed Faith finally understanding her lil' sis is just 6 and needs big sis to help her...and we've loved watching her (most of the time) step in that role. We are now living about an hour away from her great-grandparents, grandparents, several uncles, aunts and cousins.  She has loved meeting them all over the summer and especially spending time with all her cousins (several are girls her age).  The girls were both on the swim team over the summer.  Faith has become a good swimmer and loves the water.  She is quite brave and next summer would like to train to join the dive team.  (Kaylee says No Way!  haha)  We also visited several historic locations over the summer including:  The White House, The National Monument, The Smithsonian, and Mt. Vernon.  

When we arrived here in Fairfax, VA - they required her to be tested by the county ESOL specialist and she tested the second level of needing help - not as a beginner. She'll still get assistance, of course, but even the tester was surprised she had only gotten to the US in November.  She is doing great at her new school and I have received several notes from the teacher saying how much she enjoys having Faith in class and what a bright, sunny personality she has.  Each week her progress report shows she is working hard and we are very proud of her.  She has started to develop a love for reading and now asks to go to the library!   Her ability to grasp the language has been amazing.  They recently moved her up to a more advanced group in her ESOL class because she was bored and her language was stronger than the others in the group.  She was also selected to participate in a new program called Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) where she has additional language lessons where she reads, writes and learns more about phonics.  This program just started but her ESOL teacher says she is doing fantastic. 

In addition, Faith has joined the school strings club and each week takes violin with several other students at school.  She took her first field trip to the Kennedy Center to hear The National Symphony Orchestra and she is very excited about that!   On Sundays, Faith, Kaylee and I attend Chinese language classes. As quickly as she learned English, she had forgotten her Chinese, but her teacher says it is coming back to her more each class.  (Kaylee and I are struggling to learn even just the basics in this difficult language!!)  Faith does occasionally Skype with her foster parents and foster brothers and sisters in China, and they are all happy to see and talk with her.  Her foster sister will soon be adopted and come to live in the US...she and Faith were very close.  We've skyped with her future forever family and they are waiting with open hearts for their new daughter.  It is great for Faith to know her friend is going to a wonderful family.  We are hoping to reunite the girls over the summer for a visit.  

I know everything sounds "glowing," but we feel we've had a great overall adjustment...and the issues we deal with now are typically small.  But, YES, she is still 10!  She's a pre-teen girl and can be moody and quite opinionated (and has no issues letting her thoughts be known)!  She often has no filter and we let her know often what is acceptable in regards to manners and respect.  Faith has gotten used to our family rules now and much of her stubbornness and sometimes smart-alecky/bossiness that would sometimes appear have mostly subsided. But it still emerges sometimes in full force - like most children, she doesn't like to be corrected if her schoolwork is wrong - or for bad behavior - or a bad choice and often will get an attitude about that.  But she used to run off and hide in the closet and now she no longer does that.  She knows now that we will always talk about it.  She understands that even if she makes a bad choice or even if she is upset with us, we always still love her and always will be a family. She seems to trust that as a fact.  We do often remind her she is not Kaylee's mom, but her sister.  She recently cut Kaylee's hair without our permission and then lied about it, so we talked with her about trust after getting her to admit that she had lied.  There were lots of tears but we saw it as a good bonding experience and good for her learning what we expect from her. She still tests boundaries and is learning about consequences (losing privileges/extra chores) isn't fun, even if the consequences are dished out with hugs from Mom or Dad.

As you can tell we are busy, but good busy.  Life has settled into a somewhat normal routine, and the year has gone by quickly.  It has been our privilege and joy to watch Faith grow from the sad, stubborn, full of grief child we met in China to an amazingly smart, loving, and extremely funny and loved, member of our family.  

I wanted to take this opportunity  one final time to thank EVERYONE out there who donated money, donated items for us to sell, or bought items we sold online or at our yard sale, or who attended our charity poker event, or even just sent prayers and faithfully followed our journey to bring our daughter home.  It was amazing to see everyone rally behind our family in our time of need.  Todd and I will never, ever forget all the support we received.  We are so extremely grateful.


I also wanted you to know your donations have officially been paid forward to help more children!!  I never posted this picture, but on August 16, 2011, it was our great pleasure to, as promised, donate back $5,000 to match our online donations to the charity We Will Rise.  After our fundraiser t-shirt bill was paid and we calculated our online and paypal fees, it was just a little less than $5,000 we were able to use toward the adoption!  What a blessing for us, Faith, and these future children!!


Nashville Singer/Songwriter/Photographer Jaime Fox, who donated her very special song "As Big As My Heart" to use as part our adoption fundraiser, has been diligently working to establish this non-profit organization to help Nashville's foster kids and adoptable youth.  We Will Rise began by helping Nashville's flood victims, but has transitioned to an official non-profit organization serving foster and adoptable youth!  They are working on organizing classes, workshops, and activities in both arts and athletics.  Todd and I are thrilled that our adoption played a big part in helping these children!  They have so much planned and this money will help get their program get up and running!  

Here's Jaime meeting Faith and accepting the check on behalf of We Will Rise and this is what she says:

On behalf of We Will Rise Nashville and the Tennessee Foster and Adoptive Care Association, we sincerely thank you for your donation of $5,000 to the We Will Rise Nashville program.  We Will Rise is a non-profit enrichment foundation which enables Davidson County foster and adoptive children to gain exposure to arts and athletics through workshops, classes, and team-based extra-curricular activities.  Because of your donation, we can provide life experiences and enrichment opportunities that might otherwise be lost on these deserving children in transition. We Will Rise Nashville is able to work directly with the resource parents as well as local community members to ensure continued opportunities to grow no matter where in the county the child is placed. 

It is our hope that this pilot program in Nashville will be a model for counties statewide, and eventually become a national campaign.  Again, we thank you for helping to support and build this vital program, and bringing a ray of hope to Davidson County foster and adoptive youth.

Sincerely,

Jaime Fox Hardwick

Jaime Fox Hardwick, Administrator

We Will Rise – Nashville/ TFACA

Finally an update...Home 5 months...

I've had a few requests for a blog update, but we have been busy busy BUSY these last few months!  I post pictures on my FB page pretty regularly, but I know it is not the same as posting an update about the five months Faith has been home...

First off, Faith is doing so well!  Let's see, since my last update -

- she completely stopped using translation at about 2 months home
- she has grown 1.5 inches and gained 2 pounds
- she finished all her dental work and her teeth are completely healthy (no longer hurting or bleeding)
- she attended her first military ceremony (Todd's change of command)
- she rode on a speed boat
- she went to the beach
- she has skyped with her foster parents a few times
- she celebrated Chinese New Year in America
- she attended her first birthday parties and learned about pinatas!
- she learned to ride her bike without training wheels
- she had received her 2nd report card (which was great!)
- she has made lots of school friends
- she has met more of our extended family
- she went to court to be readopted in California
- she decided she wants to be a model when she grows up and
- she has fallen completely in love with our little Yorkie!

...and so much more!  It's amazing to watch her grow and blossom and experience new things!!

Maybe some before and after pics would tell where we are now best...







What a change it has been to watch her go from this sad-stubborn-little-full-of-grief girl in China...


(YES, this was the reality of our gotcha day - thank you so much, Sean, for this photo that brings back so many emotions for all of us!).

She was heartbroken as we carried her hitting, kicking and screaming out of the adoption center.  She arched her back and pulled away from Todd and refused to look at us.  

She finally gave in...defeated...but was still full of despair.

Thank you again, Sean, for this meaningful photo.

AND NOW...




to this happy-little-glowing girl at Juvenile Court with her new family to be re-adopted in California.

It hardly looks like the same girl!  Our meeting day seems so long ago!

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Here we are in China again (the day after Gotcha Day) signing adoption paperwork in China (much to her dismay)...she tried to avoid participating in this finalization...

Here she is happily signing the paperwork HERSELF (with her new name) here in California!  What a joy this was to watch!


We had a cake that said "We love you Faith!" and she said she had never had a cake in her honor before.  She was smiling from ear to ear.  She told us she was SO happy this day!

Her teacher says she is doing things she never thought she'd be able to do at this point (after only 59 days of school in America) - her final grades were in line with other students in her class.  She says she participates in class and really is achieving the best we could hope for!  We agree with her that we have a smart little girl!  She had to do an oral report on an American Hero and she chose Grandma Holt.  Her teacher wrote us a note saying she had tears in her eyes as Faith told the class about Grandma Holt because she had such a personal connection to her subject which is unusual for a 3rd grader.

We had our 6th month post placement visit since we are moving to DC soon...and we were so happy to share with our social worker how far she has come.  Our original daily meltdowns which were a bit overwhelming in the beginning have subsided...our trips to hide in the closet are less and less...she trusts us more and continues to share with us (both happy and sad memories) about her life in China.  She was definitely told things in China that are not always true about life in America, and she definitely came with some pre-formed opinions about different topics that we are trying get her to be a little more open-minded about.  She laughed at the Bible in China...her foster parents were definitely not Christian, but over this past weekend she randomly asked my brother's girlfriend (who is also Chinese) if she believed in God.  She in turn asked Faith if she believed in God and Faith (to my surprise) said, "Yes."  She has asked a lot of questions about God and what happens after we die and it's amazing all the things she is thinking about!  Some stuff is difficult to explain in English, let alone someone who is just learning the language!

We still have some minor issues we are working on (like independent play/unstructured time, shopping, and personal ownership) but everything has improved so much.  She does have occasional nightmares about us sending her back to China - and we try and try to reassure her we're her forever family.  There has been tough, emotional, overwhelming times for both her and Todd and I since she has come home....and it definitely has not always been an easy-breezy adjustment, but she is sweet and stubborn and smart, sassy and funny and wears her heart on her sleeve and you just can't help but love her...and we do...very much!  Todd has fun joking with her and, amazingly, she gets it and we laugh around here a lot!

Kaylee has come miles and miles from her initial jealousy and we were thrilled to hear today from her teacher that her teacher agrees.  She is reading and writing and growing academically and overcome the huge change in her life.  They bicker and fight like true sisters, but they both hate to be without each other for any length of time.  I asked Kaylee the other day if she remembered when she was the only girl anymore and she pointed at her bath toys and said, "Yes, I didn't have to share any of those..."  and then sat for a minute and said, "But, I don't care because I'd much rather have a sister!"  Perfect.

Faith is now looking forward to a few things coming up...

1) her birthday
2) her birthday
3) her birthday
4) her birthday
5) going to Disneyland, Easter, and moving to the Virginia to meet the rest of the family, and going to the wedding of Uncle Scott and Miss Kelly.

Her birthday is April 25th and she's been talking about it since January.  She is truly so, so excited to have her very first birthday party ever and she has picked everything out in Pink Barbie theme and anxiously awaiting her big day!  She has chosen to have her party at Incredible John's Pizza and invited 10 class friends.  We're also heading to Disneyland before we move East - this is something she has been dreaming of for a very long time and we can't wait to make this dream come true for her.

Todd leaves soon for DC, and we will stay to finish the school year, and we pack out here the last week of May.  It will definitely be a time of transition for all of us so please keep us in your thoughts in the coming weeks!!

Help a friend bring home her little boy and win a Pentax Camera!

Help my friend bring home her little boy, Max, waiting in China! This is their third adoption so they definitely need assistance!! And, you may win an awesome Pentax camera in the meantime!!

http://fromlouisiana2china.blogspot.com/2011/03/first-major-fundraiser-to-bring-max.html

http://www.facebook.com/l/0386eLZOFqsQNfRf1A32cePgJXQ/www.fromlouisiana2china.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com

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    Leda Thomas Perry PS. She jumped right in to help us when we were fundraising!! I donated, but want to pass the word on too!

A Christmas story...

Remember this post?  On December 10th, 2009, I made the announcement on my blog that we were adopting again, and I posted this picture.  I also told the story how (after several weeks of waiting for our agency's decision) when I received the call that we were officially matched with Li Cui Mei.  I looked up and saw these letters on our church Christmas tree right next too me.  Faith was a name we had talked about, and in this exact moment, I knew immediately our daughter would be named Faith... 

("Now faith means that we are confident of what we hope for, convinced of what we do not see." )

Fast forward to today, Christmas Day 2010, and Faith is home with us.  After opening gifts and playing all morning, Faith and I took a ride over to our church today so I could take her picture by this same tree before they take it down this year.   I explained to her the meaning of this tree, how I had been standing in that same spot when I received the call from Holt saying she (Li Cui Mei) would be part of our family.  I told her I was so happy to hear that and I had started to cry, and how happy I am now that she is here with us, and that I love her very much "yong yuan."  I didn't expect it, but as I was telling her the story, my eyes filled with tears and emotion thinking back to that magical phone call.  She saw this and had a big smile on her face and started saying, 

"Thank you, Mama!  Thank you!  Yong Yuan (永远 forever), Mama!  I love you -- yong yuan!  Wo Ai Ni!"  

Then I think I got about a million squeezy hugs and kisses.  She's very affectionate and it was a few moments that made my Christmas day extra special.  So here's my girl today, by the Christmas tree in person commemorating the story of how she became named Faith CuiMei Perry.

(By the way, I want you to know the only reason she doesn't have a dress on is that I insisted she wear pants to ride her bike the first time.  She still wants to wear dresses every day!!)

Sweet girl.  She celebrated her 1st Christmas today -- at age 9.  Her happiness and excitement was quite amazing and humbling to see.  Todd and I enjoyed every minute watching her.  She didn't know what to expect at all except that we told her there would be presents from Santa in the morning.  She loved every part of the Christmas preparations and traditions, only having trouble with one thing really - and that was holiday shopping.  

We let our kids pick their own gifts for their siblings and us and we take Mom and kids - and - Dad and kids shopping trips.  Shopping was definitely tough for Faith, and in the end, I tried to not put her through it.  It was difficult for her to buy a beautiful Barbie for Kaylee or gift for someone else and wrap it up knowing she would have to give it away.  The poor girl has lived her life up to now without having her "own" things.  And, of course, I knew she would gets lots of great presents too, but having never celebrated or experienced Christmas, Faith just couldn't understand that or see this as a truth in her mind.

  One day she was sadly wrapping a present and I could sense the despair (not to be mistaken with selfishness or greed) in her face.  I pulled her onto my lap and and kissed her and told her not to worry.  I told her SHE would get MANY beautiful things too on Christmas day and that was a promise!  She looked at me half-heartedly and smiled and gave me a hug, but I could tell she couldn't really envision that prospect.

  

What she really, really wanted was a bike - it's the one thing she has been consistently asking for since she came from China.  She ran to it this morning yelling, "Yay!  Yay!  Yay!  Yay!  Yay!  Yay!  Yay - my bike!!!!!!!" when she saw it.  I'm pretty certain she would have been 100% satisfied and grateful if only that bike were sitting under the tree.  I really think she thought Santa would bring just one thing to each child.  

But, after she had a chance to take it all in, she skipped around smiling and shaking her head in disbelief looking at the presents saying, "So many presents, so many Christmas here."  She was very excited to receive everything she got from her bike...to earrings...to her new pink boots...to her Barbie...to it all.  She was also surprised to receive presents and even money from her Uncles and Grandparents and Great-Grandparents who she hasn't even yet met.  

So, about the present thing -- I think she believes us now!  :)  She has carried most of her new things up to her room and put them away with her stuff - mainly because she can do that now that she has things of her very own.  But, at the same time, I'm sure it was overwhelming and I can tell she is very tired tonight.  

Oh and she might...just might have gotten a little play make-up too.  Can you tell?!

The rest of the kids had an awesome Christmas morning as well...

Kaylee got her much anticipated (and begged for) DSi and Cooking Mama game...

Austin got some clothes he wanted, and this very orange backpack he's been asking for,

 and a new skateboard...he's a happy camper.

and Taylor got the Kingdom of Hearts PSP bundle he hoped for.

Todd made us an awesome dinner and we stayed home all day and just hung out and played.  We're all sleepy now (Kaylee and Todd are both crashed out), and the rest of us are just relaxing and being lazy and thankful for all our gifts and each other.

It was definitely a Christmas to remember!   

Hope everyone out there had a wonderful day too!

Merry Christmas!

We let the girls go to Kohl's and do a big fashion show of all the holiday dresses for our recent Christmas photo.  Faith and Kaylee were so excited to pick out a "fancy dress."  Faith would wear a fancy dress every day of her life if I would let her.  They must have tried on at least at least 10 dresses each, and they each had to be evaluated on amount of sparkle, softness, color and of course, twirly-ness.  

Does this girl look happy or what?!?!  It seriously makes my heart melt to see this picture because I know how much Faith loves this dress, and we love seeing how happy she is.  

 Kaylee still has her "spunky-tude" as you can see below, but this picture definitely
captures both of their personalities to perfection!  (Thanks, Heather!)  

Actually, the tantrums (from both girls) have mostly subsided and we're so relieved to Kaylee settling back in a bit.  She has actually come a long way since we arrived home with Faith 7 weeks ago, and she is finding out that sometimes it's really fun to have a sister.  Thank goodness!

I wanted to share a quick story I wrote in our Christmas card - while we were having the picture below taken the photographer told Kaylee and Faith to "say cheese" -- Faith got a bit overwhelmed in this family moment and with a BIG smile instead yelled out,

 “I have FAMILY!”  

If you can't see it on my face, know that it is a moment I will never forget.  

Her happiness in that moment is every reason why we chose to pursue an older child adoption.  She had been waiting so long…she knew her foster home was temporary where children came and went, and now finally we are her (as she says)

“yong yuan de jia”

永远的家  forever family - permanent home.

 Her adjustment continues to amaze us...she has a very happy spirit and has transitioned so well to us and America.  She is very affectionate and embracing being part of a family in every way.  She's loves American food and is happy to have started school.  She makes us laugh and shake our heads at how funny she can be - she has a twinkle in her eye definitely.  She is in 3rd grade and her English has blossomed literally overnight - in fact, almost too well - as we are already seeing her struggle to find her Chinese words when talking to her friend Gemma.  But, we are fortunate to be able to have real conversations at our house already that we weren't expecting to be able to have for quite some time! She has shared with me some of her previously-unknown-to-us past about how she came to live in the orphanage, and it really just overwhelms my heart.  She truly values having a family, and my maternal love as a mother is deepening each day.  I know Todd feels the same way about being her father.    

Todd and I both assure her we will never leave her.  

We feel extremely blessed to have her as our daughter.

 

Austin and Taylor have been awesome big brothers, as we knew they would be.

  We're so proud of them and love them both very much!

Here's Todd and I, we didn't ask Heather to take this shot, but I'm so glad she did.  It's a great photo to commemorate 19 years together on December 28th.  It seems not so long ago we were bringing Taylor home from the hospital and now he is almost 16.  Most of you know Todd and I have grown up together, and been together longer than we have been apart.  We met when we were just 13, and he still makes me laugh after all this time.  Life hasn't always been easy, of course,

 especially being a military family, but 

I am very grateful for where we are today.

I'm not sure Todd has still figured out how he ended up with four children.  It makes me smile just to type that.  It wasn't in our life plan, but we've been doubly blessed with two biological sons and two adopted daughters.  I feel so fortunate we were able to experience completing our families through both paths.  Pregnancy and Adoption are both different and wonderful in their own way...

and our family is definitely complete.

Just as our adoption journey is finally winding down the year of 2010, we have officially received orders from the Navy for a new adventure in 2011!  Todd will be heading to a staff position at the Pentagon in March, and we will follow him at the end of May.  We came to California in 2003 expecting to be here for a short 15-month tour, and never dreamed our time would actually end 8 years later.  

We have loved it here more than we can say - we have made amazing friends and neighbors, we love our church, and have terrific co-workers.  We will miss our “California family” and home here terribly.  On the flip side, we are happy we’ll be so close to our hometown of Frederick, Maryland.  We don’t know where we’ll settle yet, but we’ll be within a 90-minute drive of much of our family.  That will be a blessing after 8 years of distance, and not to mention, just being on the same time zone will be great!  Hopefully, we'll see many of you that we haven’t seen in a long time in the new year!

We hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends,
and we wish you much happiness in 2011!

Love, Leda, Todd, Taylor, Austin, Faith, Kaylee and Bandit

Home 5 weeks! Long update...school and more...

Tomorrow will be five weeks since we came home with Faith and time has just been flying by.  I must admit I still don't think I've yet totally recovered from exhaustion from the trip, from the roller coaster of emotions we've experienced, from the new-to-having-four-kids, from it all...but I will say, each day seems a little more normal than before.

After much debate about when the right time was to start Faith in school, we finally decided to start her November 29th, the Monday after Thanksgiving.  This is much sooner than we expected her to start, but we had been walking Kaylee to school every day and each day she would ask when she could start.  So, we went in for language testing and she started in 3rd grade soon after.  Faith was excited to start school, but her biggest concern was whether her teacher would be "strong" or not.  Strong in Faith's words means strict - and unfortunately, the kids were hit at her school in China if they were not working or unprepared.  The teachers at her school in China carried a yardstick and misbehavior would not be tolerated.  So, Faith's biggest fear would be that she would be hit for not being able to understand.  We assured her that would not be the case in America.

The school assigned a Cantonese-speaking 5th grader to be her helper the first day while she went through the day so she could have someone translate what the routine was usually like each day.  She also had another student assigned as a friend, and she and this friend seem to get along really well and have continued playing together since then.  One great things about Faith is that she is not shy and she is not afraid to try her English out to talk to other kids, so I'm pretty certain she'll be able to make friends as well.  Already when we walk through the school, I hear kids calling out, "Hi Faith!' and so it's all good.  She thinks her teacher is nice, as do I, and so everything is off to a good start so far.

One thing that really freaked Faith out is packing lunch.  In China, the kids go home each day for a big, hot prepared lunch and then return to school a couple hours later.  Their day is longer but they have a long lunch break.  She was in shock to find that our kids only have about 15 minutes to eat and then are shuffled out to the playground.  It is kind of sad really, we teach then to rush their eating which is one of the biggest No-No's in overeating and eating healthy.  The very first day, she actually thought her class skipped lunch because the eating time was so short she thought that must not have been lunch.  Poor girl.  But, anyway, it is what it is and it is and she was so hungry when she got home.  Our girl can eat that's for sure.  She wants to pack 2 clementine oranges, an apple, and a banana in her lunch and snack along with some other food and a sandwich, and I have to explain to her there is just no way she will have time to eat all that.

The academic part is hard for her, of course, but only because she can't understand the language.  We laugh at Math word problems which seems like all her homework has been since she started, and spelling is pretty humorous too.  We do what we can and we don't stress over it.  Faith had started 4th grade in China and was just a few weeks into the new year when she was pulled back to the orphanage for our meeting.  But, since we start school here in July she had already missed almost the entire first half of 4th grade so we enrolled her in 3rd, hoping she could spend this initial months just being immersed in English and not worrying so much about missing what she is learning now.

To our amazement, Faith's English has increased at record speed.  She talks to everyone and she talks a lot.  She can have a pretty normal conversation with people in our family because she is used to our voices now.  In fact, last week she was talking with her friend Gemma via skype and I was shocked to listen and realize she kept accidentally slipping into talking English.  Gemma was looking at her like "who are you talking to?" and I had to keep reminding Faith to tell Gemma in CHINESE.   Hahaha.  I was surprised.  Faith says she can understand me most of the time.  If I have something more important I want to make sure she understands, I use the translator in addition to telling her verbally.  I told her the other day her English was getting better - wow- she was using so many new words, and you could see she was really proud of herself.

We went to the dentist and received the expected but sad news that Faith had severe decay in several of her teeth.  She was in pain and her teeth had been bleeding every day since we met her.  She will need 8 extractions, 3 root canals, 3 crowns and 2 spacers placed.  The good news is that all of the teeth they are extracting are babies.  So far, we have had 3 teeth extracted, one crown, and the two spacers placed.  It hurt badly as the teeth even under sedation were so decayed she felt a lot of discomfort.  She was very brave but it was painful to me to watch her tears flow freely down her face as they worked on her.  The dentist and assistant were wonderful with her though - I couldn't have been happier with all the extra care they took showing her things and wiping her tears away since she didn't speak English.  And although, hard to watch, I was so grateful to be there holding her hands during the whole thing.  She was trusting me, not freaking out, and letting me take care of her and overall couldn't have asked for a better experience considering the circumstances.  We have the two spacers placed and she was very sad when she found out they wouldn't be coming out anytime soon.  They feel very uncomfortable to her and she was angry and sad about it.  I sat in the car with her hugging her and we talked about her sick teeth and it was a difficult time for her.  We will continue her work over several appointments until she is 100% decay free.  She already feels a lot better and there is less bleeding.

Faith has also started swimming lessons which she loves.  She loves the water every bit as much as Kaylee but has no swimming skills at all.  She would jump right in the pool without any fear and we knew immediately she would need lessons.  It's interesting to see them try to teach someone with limited English - I'm sure the teacher was just loving me when I told her she didn't know English (haha).  Kaylee is in a higher level class than Faith, which is good for her ego and they both really look forward to it each week.  Also, Faith started a beginners gymnastics class.  She loves this type of thing.  The poor girl has huge blisters on her hands from playing on the monkey bars at school (she's very strong) but it doesn't stop her from playing on them.  So, we're able to expend some of her never ending energy and I've finally gotten her to admit a couple of times that she was actually tired!  Yaaay!

At home, Faith typically has a very happy attitude, but we definitely still have some attitude and boundary testing going on.  It's difficult at times if she is acting out because Kaylee feeds off of that, and then sometimes we have a double whammy of two girls acting like they are going through the terrible two's...those times are not fun.  AT ALL.  Just a few examples...Faith has shut herself in the closet when angry or looked herself in the bathroom at the YMCA or chosen to go to bed to try to block everyone out if she is upset.  She has also decided she doesn't want to wear any clothes except dresses, so getting dressed for school is often a battle.  (And, of course, Kaylee wants to wear whatever Faith is wearing so then the battle continues to her).  Kaylee has been definitely defiant at times, rude and has regressed in many ways.  She complains now about going to school, which she never did before, and also sometimes chooses to talk at times in broken English like her sister.   It's exhausting to say the least - Todd and I are the first to admit parenting four is kicking our butt - all four of our kids are demanding in their own way and have very different needs.

Kaylee has made strides in some ways, though she still has a ways to go.  There are times they play together beautifully.  We joke that it's like having a slumber party every night at bedtime because we hear them up there laughing, running around, being silly, and basically doing everything they are not supposed to be doing (like gymnastics on the bed).  Sometimes, we give them our strict face when they pop downstairs to remind us of some random excuse to get out of bed (like they forgot to take their vitamin that day) and then crack up after they leave.  Todd says it reminds him of when he and his brother shared a room, and how they always would get in trouble at bedtime for talking and laughing and doing the same thing as our girls.  LOL.  This morning, they decided to match their clothes and it was quite cute to see them planning.  When I was dropping Faith off to school, Kaylee and I were headed to her class, and she turned back and yelled "I love you, Faith!" and Faith gave her the sign language sign for I love you and her big, trademark smile.  It was really sweet and Kaylee skipped off to class.  It's moments like that that make everything so much easier.

Faith's biggest strength is that she has opened her heart to our family.   I have to say she really "gets it" when it comes to what a family means.  We are very, very fortunate in that way.  She freely tells me, "Wo Ai Ni, Mama -- so much!" She has been able to share some personal things with me about her life in China and those times, even if sad, are wonderful.  I told her that while we were waiting every day we would look at her pictures and wonder if she was okay, if Faith was happy, if Faith was safe.  I told her every day we would go to the computer to check if it was the day we would get the approval to come to China.  Now, we were so happy she was here.  Every morning she wakes up earlier than Kaylee and she comes and gets in bed with me for some quiet snuggle time.  I asked her this morning if she would snuggle with Auntie and Uncle (her foster parents) in bed and she said no.  She said, "Uncle say no and Auntie say no" (they had 5 foster kids and I'm sure had their hands full and of course, it's culturally different there as well).  But, I told her Mama was so sad about this because "9 years Faith had no snuggle."  She told me, "that okay, mama" and "Now I have mama and baba and family and snuggle.  Now I happy."

Talk about having faith, bless her big heart.

Faith bought Todd a little gift but she cannot keep a secret about it - and she keeps talking about it.  It is cracking Todd and I up and it's very sweet as she definitely loves her BaBa.  Every time he calls from work, she is desperate to talk to him, and it is so funny to hear her scold him in her Cantonese tone about coming home late.  She also loves to see us kiss, as I'm sure she didn't see too many displays of affection in China, so she often pulls Todd and I together for a kiss and is all smiles and goofy when it happens.  We're getting excited about Christmas here, and Faith has decided that she loves Christmas already.  She loves the lights, the advent calendars, and everything she has learned about it so far.  With that, I'll leave you with our recent Gingerbread cookie decorating.  The boys were great sports and joined in to encourage the girls and they loved it.

 When did this guy start looking so much like a teenager?

 

Taylor was concentrating and made some evil eyes for his G-man.  LOL.

All finished, though they are missing a few arms and legs now  :)