Right off the bat, I don't have any "new" pictures because....well....my camera broke. REALLY! So I'm getting a new one this weekend and I am waiting to unveil new pictures of our upcoming
family adventure! It's gonna be a good one, so stay tuned!
Well,
'staying grounded' kind of has a different ring in our household lately. Mary has been
very ill with bacterial pneumonia and it has only been in the last couple of days that she's starting to really feel better, have an appetite (she's lost about 2 pounds) she's free of the fever that I thought would NEVER go away and her cough is not lingering as much nor is it as intense as it was. I know her little chest is so sore. So - we've all been 'grounded' in that sense, feeling very confined in our own home, leaving the house only to go to work, to get groceries or go to the doctor.
I remember that while we were in our adoption process that just waiting to see a picture of this gift God gave us seemed like it would never happen. Every day was a different dog and pony show of hoops we had to jump through in order to do
our part for God's miracle to manifest. Most of the times mind you, this process seemed relentless in the redundancy, the bureaucracy, the doubt, that left us emotionally and physically drained. It was hard to stay grounded in the sense of staying the course with the focus and persistance that God requires. And then - just as Christmas of last year was coming around the bend, the burden of time and waiting was lifted, our joy was increased and our hearts were stunned in awe at the beautiful picture of our daughter God promised us. We
finally got a glimpse of the incredible gift that awaited us on the other side of this world. How humble we become when deep in the midst of all of our complaining, moaning and whining - God gently reveals His committment to us. And He never does it halfway, our little Mary is waaayyyy far and beyond what we ever expected and His excellence validates that. So last Christmas was very, very sweet but THIS Christmas - the 'picture' will be alive and well and ...wow, who knows what Mary will think of her first Christmas?????
SO -We're trying to learn from our last bout of whining to God to get through THIS season of waiting by trying to stay grounded.......and focused with a
healthier attitude. (No pun intended) Our mantra has become, "we can't wait for the day when Mary doesn't have to see a doctor every week"! Our desire to see our daughter OUT of doctor's offices are not of selfish intentions but if Mary could talk to us now (cause we know she will soon) we're pretty confident she would tell us how tired she is of being dragged to different doctors offices, like - all the time! We may not be able to hear that from her, but we sure can see it! We never saw THIS illness coming but while we know that God is in control and He knows how the end of the movie plays out, Like
any parent, we just want to see our child
healthy, happy, peaceful and.........
grounded. We hang tough and remind ourselves that -
Christmas is just around the corner!!!
Well, Mary is over her pneumonia and we'll have a follow up chest x-ray within the week! Mom & DaDa had a little funk but we're good too! Not much to chat about but Mary is doing INCREDIBLE with her hearing aids and will have her first speech therapy session with her hearing aids this week. There are some things that seem to throw her off regarding being overstimulated and that's usually indicated by her throwing her hearing aids or getting angry. Our audiologist warned us there could be some temporary behavioral changes as Mary adjusts to her new world and lately Robert and I have seemed to have forgotten that so we're keeping that info in the forefront of our minds and going with the flow, flooding her with love, understanding and when it gets too much, time out on the "naughty rug"! But our daughter is doing better, trying harder and doing the best she can so we try and focus on that and enjoy this awesome blessing. I'll put a few captions under the new pics so enjoy - we all love you!!!
Robert, Mary and I enjoyed the Octoberfest in the Germantown area of Nashville. Mary had her FIRST Bratwurst - well, actually, I offered her a bite of mine and she basically took it for herself and inhaled it like a hoover vacuum cleaner - ROCK ON!
Mary and DaDa chillin out in Destin - was a GREAT, relaxing trip, we ALL needed it!
Wow, for such a princess who can't STAND anything spilled on her body or hands, our girl LOVED the sand in any and every way!!!!
Mary running toward the next sale at SeaSide! No, really, she was just having fun!!!!
Mary petting the miniature pony at ZooWorld in Panama City Beach.
A family picture at SeaSide!
Mary having a ball and playing hard with all the other kids at the Destin Commons! Here's a GREAT story, and only better had we been able to catch it on camera! There was a live band about to play and in the middle of the playground mayhem, the bass player started up and our daughter, shoots both arms up with her fingers pointed to the sky (Like a rock star, of course) and shouts, "WOOOOOO"!!!! Momma followed and even another parent was just rolling laughing and went up to Robert to see if he saw it....yep, couldn't miss that one - THAT'S MY GIRL~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, so Mary's FIRST exposure to the ocean/beach we weren't so sure of at first. The night we got in, we went out to eat and afterwards, decided to take a walk barefoot along the beach. It was dark and Mary's first sensation of sand beneath her little feet was NOT good! She freaked out and would NOT get out of our arms. We were kind of dreading the next day but - BUT - we set up at the beach and thank GOD, we bought her a sand bucket with appropriate accessories. She started playing and just getting it ALL OVER HERSELF! Go figure. Then, Robert and I both gradually took her into the ocean and SHE LOVED IT! Again, we missed out on a great video opportunity but she was squealing and screaming and laughing at jumping the waves with Momma and Dada. The only thing that was cute but very concerning was (IS) is that this little guppy has NO idea that she CAN'T swim! She would try to tear out of our arms to go to DaDa or Momma thinking I'm sure, that she could just swim to us. She was the same in the pool, too! Although taking her out of the pool was traumatic for Robert and I because she literally showed her teeth and tried to nip at us - typical toddler. We are SOOOOO sure, within the year, our little guppy will be swimming and tubing with the rest of us and will probably kick our butts on the tubes!!! Oh, the swimsuit ensemble is courtesy of Sheila Wardlaw - you ROCK!
More family photos!
Alas, baby girl fell asleep on the way back to the condo from Seaside. The VERY first time she actually ate a cookie (Oatmeal Raisen) and of course, our girl has that cookie in both hands, as she's dreaming of swimming with Nemo!!!!