WOW!, it's really been 3 months since my last post! So if you do the calculations we will be celebrating Makena's 6 month anniversary with us next week. It has been a busy, fun, hard,at times overwhelming and rewarding period in our lives.
Some of the things that stand out:
- Makena celebrated her 4th birthday "Minnie Mouse" style with friends and family. It was emotional to celebrate this moment, on one hand we are so grateful to have the chance to celebrate with her but it was bittersweet to know that we have missed 3 other birthdays and it was her first time to be celebrated in that way, and boy did she enjoy the attention!!:)
- On May 21st, Makena underwent a cardiac catherization where the doctor placed a balloon in her pulmonary valve to open it up more and relieve some of the pressure on the valve. She was a great patient and the procedure was a success. She will continue to be monitored due to the fact that her heart continues to be "sick". There is a balancing act between the amount of pressure on the valve and the amount of leakage caused by opening the valve more. There are more procedures and possible surgery in her future but hopefully not for a long time. If you've seen her you would never know all that is going on inside that heart of hers after all on the outside she is as active and ornery as any other 4 year old.
- Makena has gone swimming for the first time and loves it!! She is like a little fish.
Of course there have been so many other firsts that have taken place on a daily basis over the pat 6 months. Sometimes in the busyness of life it is easy to overlook them and take for granted simple things that may be completely new for her.
Our Chatty Little Girl :)
The hardest adjustment has always been the language barrier between us and Makena. Not knowing what she is saying or if she is understanding us completely has most certainly challenging. She would nod or say yes to just about anything you say, so trying to gauge what she was getting and
what she wasn't was a often a parenting nightmare.
Pat and I once said to one another that once she started really speaking English she is probably never going to stop talking and oh did we hit the nail on the head! This little lady has got to be talking ALL THE TIME!:) (In English,YAY!) What seemed like would take forever to happen seemed to have happened. Our little Asian Princess who only 6 short months ago didn't know one English word is for the most part fluent in English! It's one of those things you don't notice always on a daily basis and then one day you're like "I don't remember the last time Makena spoke Chinese"
We do have a CD of Chinese kids songs and she does seem familiar with a lot of them. It is sweet to listen to her sing them and Cameron try to learn them. It helps remind us of the fact she had a whole other world before us.
Now that Makena does speak our language, her strong-willed personality lets us know what she does and Does Not want to do!! Oh life with preschoolers-No one said it would always be easy but it most certainly keeps you on your toes;)
Cameron and Makena continue to amaze us with their natural sibling relationship. They care about each other very much, play and laugh together, and they fight over toys and who gets to go first etc,etc.
The other night during our family bible study we were learning about nothing being impossible for God. I told Cameron that there was a time that Daddy and I didn't think it was possible for us to have a child and he said, "but then you had me.... But mommy you know what the coolest thing is? ...We got to adopt Makena!"
So,yep besides my gift of salvation thru Jesus Christ, my family is the most precious gift I could ever ask for. It was answered prayers in God's most perfect way!
(new pics posted below)
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