The Beginning of this Journey...

The Lord began this journey towards our second adoption about 1 year ago. He put on our hearts to sponsor Kay - at Harmony Outreach and we did. When i first saw her, i fell in love with her and prayed for her to join our family. It wasn't until May 2008 that the Lord began to use her to open our hearts to adoption again. That was when we had John Bentley from Harmony Outreach (her foster program) staying with us and he told us that Kay was ready to be adopted internationally. We prayed about her and began the adoption process again. Unfortunately, it wasn't in God's plan for her to join our family but He did use her to open our hearts up to adoption again and we are excited to see where He takes us. We are Trusting in Him.

The Lord has brought Maylynn into our lives and hearts on Nov. 21st (that is when we received her referral). We are excited to see Him bring her home to us. Please pray for the rest of our journey. We can't wait to bring Maylynn home...

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Happy Gotcha Day!

Maylynn in China - July 2009
Maylynn now - July 2010

Today is the day that God blessed our family with Maylynn one year ago! It has been a whirl wind of a year and God has showed me many things with this adoption but i will go into that another day. Today I am reflecting on how Maylynn is now compared to last year...


July 27, 2009: She was such a sad little girl and would only cling to her daddy. She seemed to be super smart. She ate everything we would give her. She was so cute when putting her to bed - we would just lay her down and she was very particular with making sure that her blanket was laying flat and covering her just so. She didn't speak chinese much but understood everything our guide would tell her. She screamed when i would touch, look or speak to her. She didn't like taking a bath or shower - cried:( Would only allow Lance to get her dressed. When she'd look at me, she would cry. She enjoyed watching her chinese cartoons: she-yang-yang (not sure how to write it in chinese) it was about a little sheep and a goat and she liked that Sing & Dance with Mei Mei video i brought. Basically, she was a very sad little girl who cried about everything...

Today:
  • She seems to be a very happy little girl although quite moody (the moodiest in our family). When she gets upset or mad now, she knows to go to her room (sometimes slamming the door behind her- oh boy) and can come out when she's happy.
  • She loves to take a bath - showers are not her preference but last night was the first night that she took a shower without complaints and she was the first one to point that out to us! :)
  • She is super smart - she knows how to count up to 10 very good, knows her colors, loves to read, loves to color, loves to play with playdough, loves to do puzzles, likes to write the letter "M" for her name, loves to play house with her sister with her babies.
  • She has to sleep with a baby everynight.
  • She can finally open doors - it took her forever to figure this out and would get SO SO frustrated!
  • She doesn't complain when I brush her teeth or do her hair.
  • She can get dressed by herself - but sometimes complains that she can't do it... i usually tell her that i think she can and to try harder -she usually get upsets - stomps to her room to her room to cry about it and then tries harder and does it - she'll come out with a HUGE smile on her face! :)
  • She's pretty good about eating everything that we give her - she loves fruit the best, noodles and candy!
  • She NEVER stops talking! and many times i wish that there was an off switch. She speaks in complete sentences however, due to her repaired cleft palate has some difficulty with her speech b/c her palate is short and some sounds are nasally - she may have some help with speech therapy this year. When she slows down and tries to say the word correctly, it sounds good but when she is in conversations and talking fast, she forgets to close her palate on some sounds...
  • She goes to sleep on her own and takes really good naps - she will even nap at her brothers activities if i lay her in my arms:) Love this b/c she REALLY needs her sleep - it helps with her moodiness!
  • She walks super slow and is often the "pokeyiest" in our family.
  • She likes to swim in grandma & pa's pool and will jump in with no help!
  • She likes to scooter down the street with her sister.
  • She still gets super nervous going to the Dr., dentist etc... and gets upset with new situations.
  • When she smiles her face lights up - you can definately tell what kind of "mood" she is in by the look on her face
  • She LOVES her family!
  • She gives great hugs!
  • She makes us laugh:)
  • She has some special friends that she enjoys playing with at church.
  • She is really looking forward to going to preschool this year.
  • She loves to rock a bye
  • She loves to sing - her favorite songs are: Jesus Loves Me, ABC, Jesus Loves the Little Children, Itsy Bitsy Spider, I love you so much, twinkle twinkle, You are my sunshine, The Barney - i love you song.
  • The best thing of all (i think:)) is that she LOVES her mommy!

3 comments:

Jolene Powell said...

WOW! I remember last year watching you go to China as I waited for TA. What a time in our lives, and what a year it has been. Congrats on one year. She is beautiful!

Amanda said...

This is so neat...what an awesome reflection and to be able to see and document all the changes made over a year! That's awesome :)!!

Mel said...

So happy to hear all the progress...gives me great hope as we adjust!! My love to you:O)