One Month Home

It’s hard to believe we have been home one month with our sweet little girl. It really feels that she has always been with us. She fits in so well with our family!
 
It’s amazing to see Selah’s transformation since we’ve been home. She went from a girl afraid to step on grass (she’d never seen it before) to running out the door in bare feet to the water table. She went from spitting out and refusing most of the food we gave her to eating just about anything and gaining almost two pounds. She went from having to have a snack in her hand at all times because she was afraid of not having enough food to trusting us to give her meals. She went from not knowing how to play on a slide to climbing up and going down all by herself. She went from being scared out of her mind at bedtime to looking forward to reading books and brushing her teeth with the boys. It really is incredible.
 
Selah loves macaroni and cheese, animal crackers, waffles, ice cream, showing off her painted toenails, sunglasses, her baby dolls, singing, laughing at her brothers, baths, the water table, swinging on the swing set, Calliou (ugh), and brushing her teeth. She knows A LOT of English words (too many to list now, really), and learns lots more every single day. She is so incredibly smart! We've spent time at multiple doctor's appointments this month. Thankfully, Selah's cardiology appointment went well (although it wasn't without tears); her heart is healthy, which is a huge answer to prayer! She is currently on medicine for an intestinal issue, but we're hoping she'll be cleared of that soon. We have another appointment in a couple of weeks with an allergist, because she has shown signs of a couple of food allergies we want to get check out and understand.
 
Selah has really done amazing things since she’s been home, but that doesn’t mean this transition hasn’t been hard on all of us. The honeymoon stage is officially over, and we are working on adjusting to being a family of five and as parents, outnumbered by toddlers/preschoolers. Our kids are amazing, but we are truly exhausted, and some days are a struggle. It’s all worth it, but the days can be long! But our kids are all full of smiles (most of the time), and when we see them hug each other and say “Wo ai ni” (I love you in Chinese), it just makes it all worthwhile.

We were happy to celebrate Selah’s first 4th of July as a US citizen yesterday. I am more thankful than ever before to live in America. I don’t ever want to take for granted the freedoms and opportunities that we have here. As Peter Marshall said, “May we think of freedom not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right." As hard as some of the days are, we are thankful that we have the freedom to be able to bring Selah home to be with us forever. God meant for her to be a part of our family as a daughter and sister. We are so blessed to have this precious little girl in our family.