Nine Months

Nine months ago today was Gracie's GOTCHA Day!! Nine months.

It has been an amazing 2013 having her in our family. In many ways it has been just like having a newborn. The first few months were blissful, then we hit some tough months of adjustment and testing boundaries and now everyone is settled in and we have established a new normal for our household.

There have been so many changes this year. In January we brought Gracie home. In June our oldest son graduated from high school and in August he moved out of state to begin college. Gracie and her little brother also started school. It seemed like every time we got settled into a norm, that norm (or the path of our wind) would change.

With so much going on in our family combined with many doctors and therapy appointments, I just haven't had the time or motivation to blog. Some people have mentioned that they miss the updates. I understand that. I used to feel the same way when people I was following stopped blogging after they came home. Now, I understand.

Gracie is amazing! She has adjusted well. Most of the stimming and hyper vigilant behaviors she had at first are gone. There are still a couple of things we need to work on. Mainly, teeth grinding. She also likes to put her cup or toys up to the side of her face and ear and shakes them against her face. I'm pretty sure she has some sensory issues that we need to work on. Her teacher has mentioned there are things at school that she doesn't like to touch.  I had her in private therapy throughout the summer, but stopped when she started school. I now can see that she still needs more therapy than she is getting at school. Last week I called to get her back in therapy and should get her on a new schedule this week.

Some other things that have "gone away" since she came home are the medical conditions that we were told she had. All of her medical reports and doctors told us she was deaf, had hypothyroidism and had an infection with fluid around her heart. Since being home she has had tubes placed and can hear 100%, has had labs done to confirm that she does not have hypothyroidism and was taken off of the medication and has been cleared by the cardiologist.

Gracie has changed so much. We have a picture of her framed and hanging on the wall of what she looked like when we first met her. It's shocking. She is hard to recognize in that photo.

Gracie has now gained 12 pounds. She was only 19 pounds when we brought her home. She is now 31 pounds and only 5 pounds lighter than her "little" brother. When I look at her growth chart at the doctors office I can't help but smile and be amazed. I've seen how the line usually gradually climbs over the months and years, but Gracie's chart is much different. The line on her chart shoots straight up.

Yesterday was an amazing, special day. We celebrated Gracie's baptism. God led us to her through adoption. Yesterday we gave her the gift of knowing Him and receiving His Grace.

She received a special lamb from a family friend who told us that our adoption reminded her of this parable:

Luke 15:4   If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?

We are so thankful that we were able to discern His plan for our family and go where He led us to bring our daughter home. She will now know of His love for her and will not be lost.
  

9 Months Ago

Baptism Day

We also took family photos this weekend. These are the first family photos since Gracie has been home and they are so beautiful and special. I can't wait to update my blog with a new look.

Blessings!