When The Going Gets Tough...

The whole "bringing our new daughter home and transitioning" phase has been full of wonderful and yet very challenging experiences. During the past couple of months God has taught me that it is only in my weakness that His strength can shine through. And I have been so very weak, I have laughed, I have cried, I have been on my knees and even flat down on my face as I am letting go of control in raising children. Paul and I have been blessed with having two great, albeit not perfect, biological children. The challenges we face with Hannah are God's way of saying, "Hold on a minute, Sissy, things didn't work out well because of anything you are doing (besides pray), but because of all that I AM doing.

Hannah has so many beautiful qualities. She is affectionate, she is generous, she is honest, she is a hard worker and God has given her a teachable spirit.

At the same time we are enjoying these virtues, we are also experiencing her strong-willed need to be in control. She sees me as having so much control in the household so I must be the one that she has to conquer. She tries to conquer me physically; although sometimes it's done in a way that may be perceived as affection, for her it is a battle to be won. She will run up to me and jump on me as if hugging me, but with her legs wrapped around my legs. She only weighs 15 lbs. less than me and, to be honest, it hurts! When I tried to teach her not to do that she changed tactics; she then just wrapped her arms around me, hooked one leg around my leg and "constricted" in a way that ould make me buckle in order to "take me down". After  lots of explaining, I started to just sort of go limp and let her fall. I know it sounds horrible, but she never hit the ground and it did happen sort of in slow motion. Well, the way she saw it, she won! So now I have to strongly take her by the forearms and pull her away from me. I have someone who is able to explain  to her in Chinese that hugs should feel good and that her tactics are innappropriate...and she is learning. I also make sure there is lots of time when she is not in battle mode when I approach her for lots of hugs and cuddle-time.

She is going to school for four hours every morning now and that has been such a huge blessing. She is used to WORK and school is satisfying that craving in her soul and I suppose it makes her feel worthy. Believe me, we will be teaching her where her worth lies.

Bedtime is wonderful...I've even started getting her to bed sooner so we can have lots of time snuggling, reading, talking (it's hard to explain how we do that, but we do). While I read the Bible, she wants her head on my chest or my abdomen, I guess it is comforting. Sort of like a baby needing to hear Mama's heartbeat, she never had that, so I have to fill her "Love-Bucket" in ways like this.

As I said before the big picture is that she is transitioning really well...and we are so thankful.

TTFN

This was a post I started a couple of weeks ago but didn't finish...things are quite challenging around here right now...more about that later....

The weekend we spent in Boone, NC was filled with new adventures for Hannah.
We left our hometown and its 100+ degree weather and headed for the hills...where we were greeted with avg. temps of 75 and cool breezes..it was beautiful.

God woke me in time to witness His beauty on Saturday morning and it was gorgeous....

And I just love getting away with the family when they are a captive audience  ;)

We rode the zip lines that crisscrossed Hawksnest Mountain...

                                      Fearless was her fearless self...

                                           Madeline loved it...

                                  Is that a muscle???  I don't think so...I think the photographer Photo-Shopped it...

                            "Who's Bad"  (Hannah's nickname for Sarah) is just hangin'...

                                    And Paul is bringing up the rear...

We also spent some time at Tweetsie Raiload...much to the dismay of our oldest daughters.

It's a cute but cheezy little amusement park with a real steam engine that was actually used during the Civil war...I think it was the Civil one...anyway, we had fun.

Then we were off to Miracle  _____________ (I always want to say Miracle Hill, but that is the name of the homeless shelter here in town and they are not the same place). Any way the most fun part was going into a room that is built with the floor at an odd angle that when you stand up in the way that the fluid in your ears says is "level" or normal, you look like you are standing at a 45 + - degree angle. I can ride all roller coasters, but this room makes me feel very pregnant. Ladies, you know what I mean, dizzy, nauseous (sp?) and kind of green, I didn't stay in as long as everyone else.

                         

                             This is Sarah in the out-house with some old man.

And some people have accused me of trying to keep my children in a bubble...

                           It doesn't work...

And this is just some lady with duct tape on her hat... ;)

TTFN

(Ta-Ta-For-Now)

                                   Where do I begin?

We have been home for about 5 weeks now and life has been full...to put it mildly. Hannah is adjusting very well, she is:
* busy
* energetic
*helpful
* thankful (her first words to us were "Thank you" and she says it so many times every day that it makes my heart melt)
*hungry (especially for hamburbers and "freshy-fries!)
*and did I mention busy and energetic?  ;)

 So many prayers have been answered; she has a good heart, she has a conscience with a knowledge of the difference between right and wrong (although she doesn't always choose the "right", she is learning and making tons of progress, and some things that were "right" in an orphanage aren't "right" in a family). She also has a very teachable spirit; earning pennies for good behavior to save up for a bike (she saw on a blog that her friend had one, so guess what?)  - 200 pennies buys a bike doesn't it - anyway it did for her.

One of our first outings was feeding the ducks at Duncan Park. It looks pretty harmless doesn't it? When Sarah and Madeline were little we used to have to coax the ducks to come close enough to get the food....not any more. Those things are so used to getting fed (the good stuff like potato chips and cookies :( that they have become aggressive.

I had to let her stand on the bench because they were pecking at her. But since fearless is her middle name, she had a blast anyway.

She has grown to love Duke and Maggie. She now knows they aren't lunch, they don't have mange, and they will not eat you. She now even wants Duke, the little one, to sleep with her...which, of course, he loves!

And a plastic swimming pool makes a great chew toy for a Mastiff ;)

Then there's the swimming pool at "Grumpa's" house...
Did I mention she's fearless?
Before we got the life jacket she would just jump in..
shallow end, deep end, it didn't matter.
She can't swim, she doesn't try to doggie paddle, and she floats like a rock.
She would jump in (in the deep end, after being told not to),
sink to the bottom and wait for Paul to come pull her up (I am not storng enough to do it).
Upon entering the world of air she would exclaim with a huge smile on her face,
"Thank you verrrry much!"

Peace signs are very popular in China...