6 months home

We are settling into a normal but busy life.  The girls are pictured above with Rachel when she got her ears pierced on Saturday.  Katie really wanted to get hers pierced, but I had to check with the doc for both her and Jenny since they've both had open heart surgery and I was afraid they'd need antibiotics.  But the doc said no - so back we went to Claires today.

Jenny kept saying, "I'm so 'cited, Mom.  It's just so 'citing." (meaning excited. :) ) And no, they didn't do it for half price since she only got one ear pierced...at least we'll have an extra earring for her prosthetic ear when we get it.

 Katie was a trooper - but Jenny needed to hold my hand.  It's interesting how Jenny is so self sufficient, yet more like a younger girl with many things.  She's very frightened of medical things - despite of, or perhaps as a result of, her early hospitalizations for open heart surgeries.  She needs to be reassured all the time, and still doesn't quite trust our love.  She gets very excited when she writes a composition well enough for a sticker on her book - she never got those early grade rewards.

She gets stickers for obvious care and effort in her 3 sentence compositions each day.  She enjoys this basic work and drawing the pictures - even though she's able to read fairly high level material in her native language - including Tom Sawyer.   I found out why she was behind in school:  apparently many schools would not accept an orphan.  It took her foster mother 2 years to find one that would accept her.  She said they were very nice to her at that school.

Sarah is super confident - as you can tell from this pic:

Hands are always on hips - and she walks like she owns the world.  She loves 1st grade and improved so much in reading this summer that she won't qualify for the Reading Recovery program at her school. (bummer) She is barrels of fun and finds friends wherever she goes.  Jenny is much more insecure at home - and has dealt with a lot of rejection and hurt in her life due to her visible differences.  She tries to control everything and everyone around her - which gets on my nerves since that's MY issue, lol!  Funny how God sends you kids with your own issues - even if you weren't the ones to relay them!  Homeschooling has been perfect for her - giving her confidence and the closeness that she needs.

One interesting thing is that neither girl will speak Chinese anymore - and honestly seem befuddled with both languages right now.  They were very eager to speak to Chinese friends when we arrived home, but are now so immersed in English that they're thinking in this language.  I think they'll do better in a few months as they get the two separated in their brains.

I love these girls and almost weep when I think that we may have missed finding them a world away.  The boy in my last post - along with many others - is another one of these treasures waiting for a family to bless. (ok - and occasionally annoy - haha!)  They're precious, they're God's children, and so much fun to get to know.   Four miracles in our lives - most people never even get one. 

Blessings, Kim