Update

Anna has been home almost two weeks now. I would have liked to update sooner, but it has been a zoo around here - really! Scott has been home, which always adds another ring to the circus here, Eric's parents came out from Oregon for a visit (planned long before the timing of the adoption), we had several doctor appointments for Anna, dentist appointments for all the kids, Eric was sick for several days, and the older kids were getting ready to leave for camp this summer. Scott, Amy, and Katie are all working at Camp Westminster for the summer. I was quite sad to see them go - they left on Wednesday and will be gone until the end of July (although the girls will be home for some of the weekends).

Overall I think things are going well. Welcoming an older child into the home was much harder than I anticipated. I knew it would be hard, but there were several days where I questioned what we had done. It didn't have to do with Anna being some very difficult child - it really is more my own sin nature and wanting to have my comfortable life back. This process has highlighted some very ugly areas in my own heart. Certainly Anna does bring difficulties, but my issues are much bigger.

Anna seems to be a very happy child. Her excitement when she makes some sort of connection is infectious. We have several of the Signing Time videos and she loves to watch them. She has made much more progress with the sign language than the actual spoken language, but at least we are learning to communicate in some sort of fashion. She enjoys puzzles and card games, is fascinated by the phone, and loves to watch food being prepared. She has some definite opinions and can be quite stubborn in certain areas (ie. food) so that has been challenging at times.

Medically we are in the midst of gathering information. The orthopedic we saw said that he can fix her, and he also commented that we saved her life bringing her over when we did. Her curve is so bad she is shrinking. We are waiting to get an MRI and a CAT scan and then he will make the decision on surgery. He said that something needs to be done sooner rather than later and commented that we were going to become great friends. Inside I was thinking I don't need any more friends, especially in the medical field, but I am so very thankful for the medical care that we do have here and fact that there is hope for Anna. Of course ultimately that comes from the Lord and we continue to look to him as we tread this new path.