The $9.05 Update

Cherish used her remaining $9.05 Christmas money to buy Valentine's gifts for her family and relatives. ♥

God bless her sweet heart!

My first note from Hope!

I have begun writing Hope notes in her journal and reading them to her--since she can't read.

She decided to write me a note!

"Mom

I Love You

Thank you for cleaning today

I appreciate all your help

Love,

Hope"

The sweet child painstakingly wrote each letter of the note and gave it to me--not even knowing what it said! (It was one of the notes I had written her.) Hope didn't know which note said what; all she knew was that the notes each meant something special to her.

So, she wanted to gift me with something special, too. My heart was really touched!

A Psalm

Again today, Cherish sat and wrote a psalm in just minutes. This just poured out of her:

"Oh, my God how majestic You are. Your words are comforting. Your world is amazing. And oh, how I cannot wait until I am standing in your presence. You are my Lord, My God, and I shall not fall against Thee. For You deserve the glory, honor, and praise. You are the glory and the power above all. Through You all can be saved and through You all can come to Christ."

Again, she doesn't know I copied her psalm here. It's just that she is so tender, and I want to remember her heart like this!

And, while I am on the subject of Cherish, here are some behind-the-scenes stories:

Cherish received a $25.00 gift card for Christmas. While she was out shopping, she stopped to rest on what she thought was a little stool. It was not. It was a little table and it gave way under her.

She felt horrible and bought the broken table with her gift card. $22.47. Out of $25.00. We took the table home to daddy, and on the way home she talked about what color she wanted to paint the table--for Andrew!

Little did she know that daddy and mommy could eventually find a use for the little table, and daddy had really been wanting to learn how to work with wood. So, we surprised her by buying the table from her in cash.

She went shopping again, and bought a few more items. She took the remaining $9.05 home in her purse.

Later, we found a sweet little box outside our house on our little porch. On the box was a note written: "To: Derek, From:?". Inside was $9.05 and a note stating an "anonymous" person wanted to help with our adoption.

Mommy guessed who that "anonymous" person was and spoke with her privately. She broke into tears. All she wanted was to bless daddy without him knowing it was her ♥.

Daddy gave the money back--with lots of hugs and snuggles.

Shortly thereafter, she presented the family with a "Family Appreciation" card stating she was buying the entire family desserts at Chick-fil-A. She planned the outing, and off we went. Even though she desired to spend her Christmas money on us, we did not let her pay.

The child's heart is SO tender. SO thoughtful. May God bless her!

My First Psalm

God, You are my salvation.

In You alone I can do all things.

Through You only I shall dwell.

By Your blood I will stand in Your presence.

You, oh my Lord, are worthy to take the throne.

You are worthy to have all the praise and glory.

For You are worthy over all nations.

(I, Julie, saw Cherish sit down and type this out in about five minutes. She doesn't know it, but I just had to copy it here.)

First Reading Class...

...in the wee early morning:

Let the world open up to these two!

1st Time Guest Writer

My 9-year-old daughter has been journaling since before she could write. Her first journal was all pictures J. Tonight, she finished yet another journal.

Since she loves to write, I asked her if she wanted to be a guest writer on my blog. She enthusiatically agreed to write a post.

Here is her first post:

______________________

FAMILY UPDATE

1. Daniel has been saying words and he can say two sentences now! He is so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. Hope is a wonderful little sister! She is warm, snugly and awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3. Andrew is a special little brother! He is kind, loving, gentle and amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. Dad is awesome! He is strong, sweet and caring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5. Mom is helpful, kind, she makes peace and is graceful in all ways!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!                                 

WHY IT IS GOOD TO ADOPT

1. If an orphan is not adopted they will feel like no one loves them and they will not see the love of Christ.

2. We should show them the love that Jesus showed us.

Loads of love,

Cherish

"Chen" gets a visitor

Little "Chen" was visited this week by someone in the States. The lady graciously took these pictures for us:

It appears molluscum contagiosum is going around the room Chen has been in, and he caught it as well. He will be home later this year, and we will take care of little guy's needs.

We love you, Little Guy! ♥

Post-Adoption Paperwork

While I was cooking dinner tonight, Derek allowed Daniel to help him with his very own post-adoption paperwork. Derek is such an awesome daddy!

 

Daniel's Update

Daniel is amazing! We are all so in love with him!!

Daniel still has diarrhea every day, but the specialists have not been able to find any causes. A friend mentioned the possibility of PTSD, and I mentioned the possibility to Nemours. I was told it was/is a possibility, as the diarrhea has slowly improved.

In addition, Daniel is on a normal diet, with the exception of eggs and dairy. Dairy hurts Daniel's belly, and eggs give him a rash. So, we stay clear of those foods. (He has no problem eating foods with egg in the ingredients, but he cannot eat eggs straight up.)

Along with his improved digestive tract, in the three and a half months since we've been home, Daniel has grown about three inches and has grown through two shoe sizes!

He is walking everywhere and is verbal. Daniel says, "Thank you" a lot! He says it when I feed him, when I change him, when I put a sweater on him....

And, on January 1st as I was cuddling him before putting him in his crib for the night, he said, "I love you." I was stunned! It was so precious!

The strange thing is that these are conceptual words. He doesn't say or ask for food or drink or anything he wants. He has not once said "milk" or "water" (either in English, Chinese, or Sign Language). Yet, he has conceptual language down. It's strange but so, so sweet!

Also, he has a gentle way of getting my attention. He'll walk up to me and tap me gently on the arm. Then he'll say, "Momma?" He is so gentle and speaks so softly! Each time melts my heart!

Another thing Daniel does is that he will tap his finger on his chin. That means he wants a kiss. However, one kiss is never enough. He'll often ask for 5, 10, or more kisses in a row. It melts all of our hearts!!!!

Daniel is a wonderful addition to our family. He is gentle and kind. He loves to wrestle with Andrew, look at books with Hope, and play and snuggle with Cherish.

We are ALL head-over-heels in love with him!!