Home Six Months

Today marks six months since Grace has been home with us. It is so hard to believe that is has already been six months, and yet we all agree that it seems like she has been here so much longer. The kids said that it is hard to remember what it was like before she came home.

We brought Grace home on July 3rd. What an awesome 4th of July we had this year. Doug joked that the entire country was celebrating and that the fireworks were for her.

I wanted to find six pictures of Grace from the past six months which would show the growth (both physical and emotional) that she has had. I thought the first picture would be a shell shocked Grace that looks like she is shy, frightened, or reserved...couldn't find those pictures, because she did so well from day one. We are truly blessed with how well the transition has gone. It has not been all roses and rainbows, but we are lucky. Here is Grace on her first full day home with us. Her hair is a little shorter, her belly a little rounder, and she seems tiny to me, but her smile is still pretty bright (considering she just spent 20 hours traveling home and spent the night in a strange bed in a new house).
She looks smaller in this picture. I think she has grown a couple of inches and gained a few pounds since she has been home (but since she is the fourth child in our family, we are not as good at documenting her growth)!!! I know her clothes fit differently and she is heavier for me to carry, so all is good with her growth. Emotionally, she continues to amaze me. She is such an independent, outgoing, confident little girl. I know I have said it many times, but her resiliency impresses me more than anything. I am so proud of her (and yet I had so little to do with her awesome personality)! She continues to be very girly, dramatic, social and detail oriented. She can pout with a capital "P" which drives me nuts. She prefers to pick out her own spoon, fork, clothes, etc. and when time is tight, we just whip something out...this does not go well with her. I am working on ending the drama because I know that if I let her continue down this road, her teenage years will be a nightmare. She has done so well with discipline. She used to cry a lot more -we even needed to use "the crying chair", but it is almost never used now (although it can be a "pouting chair" too).

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

I met someone the other day that would not stop talking about how awesome our family was for adopting a little girl like Grace (blah, blah, blah). I finally had to shut her up by telling her that, NO, in fact we are the lucky ones. Grace is a blessing to US. We pray that the next six months goes as smoothly as the first did. My prayer is that she is as secure and attached as she appears to be. I have a feeling that next six months of pictures are going to show the same beautiful smiles that these pictures do!