Four years ago today we signed officially with our adoption agency, America World to bring home our sweet Avery. We had decided in the Spring of that year (2005) that we would adopt but spent the next several months deciding between Korea and China and then what agency to work with. It is still amazing to me where this journey has taken us. Who would have thought that we would start the adoption process and begin praying for our daughter three years before she was even born? We never imagined. In fact we thought we thought we were going to bring her home years before the Olympics even took place in Beijing and that was over a year ago now. But God had a completely different plan for our family. Although I am still saddened by the age difference between Camden and Avery and honestly can't help but wonder if Camden's transition would be just a little bit easier (although not easy mind you) had he been 4 or even 5 years of age instead of the nearly 8 year old boy he is. However, I continue to choose to trust God's plan for our little family and know God will bring us through this mighty transition.
To you faithful readers (or not so faithful if we've lost you) I am sorry that I haven't posted much since returning home. Life has been busy and quite overwhelming at times. Not only are we trying to figure out life again with a young toddler (and we are old now!), this transition to a family of four has not been an easy one for us and quite frankly has brought us to our knees before the Lord (which is always a good place to be) many times. Avery continues to blossom. With the exception of teething (4 teeth have broke through since we received her 7 weeks ago), she is quite the happy baby during the day. She has such a sweet personality and smiles and laughs easily. Her belly laugh is just about the cutest thing ever. She says Dada, Mama and Baba (bottle) and seems quite close to many others. She is also a brilliant mimic and quickly learns new things. The other night we were watching Flipper and after Flipper would do his squeal, Avery would try to emulate it and squeal to. It was too funny! She loves peekaboo and to blow kisses. She is really affectionate and just loves to be played with, hugged and kissed. She is quite the fast crawler now and is pulling up and now likes to put her butt against the wall (or something else to balance herself) and stand up. She is into everything and although she still loves her stacking cups and musical toys (she loves to dance to them), she is quite enthralled with everything that is not a toy such as cabinets, power cords, electrical outlets and vents. Much to Camden and my dismay, she still abhors stuffed animals and dolls. She is somewhat intrigued by our cat but mostly just puts up with her hanging out by her. We are a big cat and stuffed animal family so hopefully she will come to love them as we do. The nights continue to be at times difficult. There are many nights that she will wake numerous times. We have tried many many different approaches to it but nothing seems to really help which leads me to believe most of it is emotional. At times they seem like perhaps night terrors but other times she seems to wake just to make sure we are still there. It breaks me heart to think that she may be scared or worried of being abandoned again. It certainly makes me wonder if she has an unconscious memory of her abandonment which took place (we believe) on the day of her birth in the middle of the night or in the very early morning. We are praying that in time she will grow more secure. On the bright side, she is out of our bed and sleeping in her crib which is in our room. She also goes to sleep pretty easily both for a nap and at night so progress is being made. :)
Camden continues to struggle with being dethroned as the only child. At times he seems to be doing better and realizes the power he posses as Avery just adores him and he can get quite the belly laugh out of her. But then there are days that are so difficult and I wonder who this child is as I never seen him act that way before. I know a lot of it is normal but it is really painful to see him struggle so much and be so unhappy. In addition, his second grade year is not off to a great start and we have been praying about whether or not to change schools. So there is much we are trying to help our sweet boy through.
Putting aside the severe sleep deprivation Doug & I are feeling at times, we are doing pretty well. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? =) Truthfully this transition has brought us closer together. We are still in a state of disbelief that we are a family of four and that Avery is actually here. We are greatly enjoying getting to know our little lady. Here 's a few pics of our sweet girl that melts our hearts with her smile and laugh.
Avery enjoying her rocking chair:
Peace sister...
It seems Avery already likes to be photographed. Although at times she will wait till after she sees the flash or hears the click to give her best smile.
She has quite the impressive tongue. She can do all sorts of things with it. It's actually pretty cute...it seems when she is really happy and content she will stick her tongue out.
Another cheesy grin:
She laughs so easily especially when you get down and crawl around with her. She just loves that!
She loves the water...bath or pool.
2 comments:
Such a happy girl!!!! Can you even believe it's been two months already? See you tomorrow...and I WILL have that blanket with me!!!!!
Great to hear from you again. I have been praying for your family. What a cutie :) Your transition sounds all too familiar. Zachary was 8 when Meili came home and although he is our 2nd, he was definitely the baby and was dethroned like Cameron. He still has some bad days but he has come a long way. Meili is still in our room, but we are working on the transition. She does sleep through the night and has for the last year, but the first 9 - 12 months were tough to say the least so I feel your pain. She still has panic times but they are less frequent. Mostly they do just need to know you are still there. Hold on tight, keep praying and know that you are not alone.
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