Our friend Jessica Horton, who is a photographer, took some pictures of Claire for her 6th birthday. She is very hard to get a picture of...so great job Jess!

As you can see, for a 6 yr old, she still has a ton of catching up to do. But, again, she has come so far. We celebrate the little things with Claire, because for her, even the little things are big things. A couple weeks ago, she started clapping on command! It was a huge cause for celebration in our house. We were all so excited and happy! I think we scared her as we erupted into our own thunderous clapping and cheering! She works really hard in therapy learning the most basic things such as "come sit", "look at me", etc... We are working on getting her to wave at us too and are hoping to soon start working on potty training.

And Sam Makes Six

We have discovered that people we don't even know are following this blog. First of all...We are sorry! It's been busy since getting little Claire home and we have not been very good at blogging. However, if you are interested, we are now in the process of bringing another little guy home from China. For more info on this next step of faith, please see our blog address is http://andsammakessix.blogspot.com. There is also a link on the right side of this blog.

A few catch up pics

 

A few pics from the last year and a half.

Locusts

Hello All, I hope this finds all of you healthy and enjoying some semblence of spring....the weather is pretty crummy here today. I have been working extra hard on eye contact with Claire lately. Typically her eye contact is not so great. Today she looked into my eyes and held my face for several seconds and smiled! Oh, how my heart soared!! The Lord really is restoring what the locusts have taken away. The ability to focus. The desire to be held and comforted. She should be able to talk and sing and count and so many other things....but the locusts.....So now the prayer that I have prayed over her several times a day, the prayer that we sing when we lotion her after a bath and when we change her diaper, has become my souls deepest cry. "God is bringing healing, to your body, and your brain, and your spirit". It's simple, but it covers all the needs. And the locusts can't have her. The time, ability, all of it that has been stolen from her, I am watching God restore to her. What a blessing and joy to get to be her family! I love being her mommy! I cry almost everyday over this beautiful girl. Some tears of joy. Some tears of saddness. Some tears of anger and frustration. But mostly I cry tears in wonder of what He is doing in her little life. So many children sit and languish like she did. Some even in worse shape. Sadly, MOST never come home, never start over, never find healing. My heart aches with this knowledge. So, I try hard to not forget the miracle that she even became paper ready for adoption. That we even found her before she went back on the shared list that I didn't know how to navigate through. That she survived long enough to come home. Everyday is a gift. Everyday she is better than yesterday. The locusts have no power over our daughter! Praise God!! Have a great night, Leslie

Driven...

Hello All!! Well, it's supposed to be spring tomorrow, but snow is in our forecast, so, blahhhh!! Our oldest three kids went to a Youth Group weekend two weeks ago and we were also a "host family" of middle school girls. It was fun to host the girls and the three adult volunteers, as well as hear what The Lord had to say to our kids. And the topic was "Driven..what drives you"? And that has been on my heart a lot lately. I heard a sermon yesterday, per pod-cast, as Claire's bowel issues have become quite restrictive, and it had the same theme; "What about you is uncommon by the world's standards"? So I ask you....what drives you? No, really, answers please. I would LOVE to hear what really gets you going. What makes your heart beat fast? What is going on in your life that you CAN'T not share with others? Is it something that will last for all of eternity? And if you don't have an answer to this question, I challenge you to spend time asking God what He created you to do. Because believe me, He created you with a gift and ability and passion for something BIG!!! Are you geeked up when you get to pray for someone? Are you excited when you get to walk along someone that needs and will heed Godly advice? Are you encouraging others to see past today and this circumstance into what God has for them and how He will use this? Can you spend time with someone that doesn't have a lot of friends and have a great day? Can you take your limited resources and show up at someone's house and bless their socks off when they are in need? You see, I just described to you some of my friends. And being with them is contagious! I want to be like that!! I want to make a difference like that!! Melissa Miller, Meagan Truax, Sarah Powell, Janna Alkire, Bambi Rockhold....these are people that DO what God has asked and gifted them to do and they do it with genuine love and sincerity. AND IT SHOWS!! Friends, the time is NOW to go do what God asks us to do! The excuses are all LAME when we try to convince ourselves and others that we are too.....busy...financially strapped...shy....ill-equipped...young...old...NOTHING is lacking when God directs you. He is more than enough for whatever you are facing! Praise God!! (I think you all know what I am driven and passionate about) :-) Claire is doing great. She is the sweetest girl! Her hair is getting so long and she still won't wear a headband or bow.....poor me :-(. This truly is heartbreaking for me. However, she has been dealing with horrific diarrhea for quite some time. We have had two rounds of stool samples, taken away all dairy and juices, added probiotics, and just yesterday fiber, going low grease, and lots of yogurt. And she still goes through two-four outfits a day. It has gotten to the point that we can't leave the house that much because we have to be where we can change her quickly and that usually means clothes. I had to cancel her outstanding therapy appointments, too. So today she had some labs drawn and we are awaiting a call to get into the GI specialist sooner than our scheduled appointment. Our sweet pediatrician wonders if this is not a side-effect of her grossly lacking first 4+ years of life nutritionally and the fact that now she is finally nourished. We'll see. Please pray that the source of this is found easily and remedied quickly. I think it is finally starting to affect her in that she has gotten to be a lot fussier than usual in the last week or so. Who can blame her?? All the other kids are great. Ready for warm weather and loving the longer daylight. I hope that each of you and your family's are well. Love and hugs to all. I truly do hope that I hear from you as you share your passions with me. Leslie

It's March..... Hello friends.....it's been a crazy last few weeks, weather-wise. Lots of snow and snow days, and lots of appointments. Some I got to, and some I totally forgot. No mother of the year for me. Oh well, there's always next year. Claire is doing great. She has gained 15 pounds and grown 3 inches! She has lots of hair and is a very happy girl! We are madly in love! We think she is the sweetest, cutest, most precious baby girl and all of us are completely ga-ga for her!!! She is soaking it up! She will have surgery in June to repair the fistulas and maybe lesson the thickness of her upper lip. She is going to have to see a gastroenterologist for severe long-term diarrhea. Yay. Another specialist. Yippee. (Note the sarcasm??) Today has been a little hard. Yesterday we spent the day with a new friend that is 14 months old and is the same height and communicates much better than she does. It's heartbreaking. I know that she has come a long way, but boy, she has so far to go. Lots of new friends home from China that are doing great, and several more that will be home in 2013, and that is so exciting. We'd love to adopt again, and would love to adopt from the same orphanage that Claire is from. It's just hard to know what is being willing and what is being called. We have a lot to pray about. My mood is low today, sorry. I'm more than ready for spring. Hope all well with you! Leslie

Moving Forward.....

Hello! Today our friends Heather and Bobby Eledge are traveling to China to get their new daughter, Harper!! Yay!!! Prayers for safe travels and sweet meetings for them. I can't wait to read and see pictures telling all about it. Also, our dear friends, the P's, decided to add another sweet boy from China to their family this year! Can't wait!! Our friends, the Sterlings, are home safe and sound with their five new children from Peru! Our friend Stephanie and two of her daughters are heading to China in less than two weeks to bring home Ava. God is so good! He sees all of the orphans all over the world, and is directing the paths of their family's to go get them! That makes my heart so happy!! Adoption makes me so excited! Last time we talked, I told you Claire will be having surgery on 1-16, but the plans have changed. She has to be off the bottle before we have that surgery. Well, today is Tuesday, and we were told this Friday. Guess who hasn't had a bottle since Saturday??? Yep, The Amazing Claire!! Cold turkey for this girl! SO probably March she will have the fistula repair surgery. And she is doing great! We started having her evaluations last week, too. Folks, I spent most of last week crying....mourning, really. Our sweet girl is testing cognitively as that of a 2-9 month old. She is 4.5 years old...I cry for the babyhood that she never had. I cry for what the lack of nutrition and stimulation have done to her brain. I cry for the injustice and cruelty she has endured. I cry that I wasn't there to take care of her myself and therefore this would not be her reality. I cry because I can almost guess what those first four years were like for her....almost. BUT, and this is a huge comfort to me, the Lord says that He will restore what the locusts have taken away! And I'm believing Him!! He showed me long before we got her home that He was going to make her new-in every way! And I'm believing him! He gave me a verse in Isaiah for Jack and Claire, "and the tongue of the stammerers will speak readily and plainly", and I am believing Him! And you know what? I'm not having to wait long to see Him do it!! Praise God! She now weighs 26.84 pounds and is 33 inches tall. In case you are wondering, that's almost 12 pounds and 2.5 inches since the day they placed her in our arms just 4 short months ago!!! Praise God! That's 8 pounds since we brought her home! AND, she is more and more active, alert, curious, responsive, ornery, and is one happy baby!! Her hair is growing a ton, and we have to trim her fingernails about once a week or she will claw us up! So, we start communication therapy with our beloved Teresa twice a week. And occupational therapy once a week for an hour, and soon to add physical therapy. What is all this going to cost us, you ask? Well, Chris' new insurance is amazing!! We have NO deductible to come up with and NO co-pay for therapy!! So, whatever we spend on gas is the cost!!! Can you see God's provision here, friends??? We could not have come up with a better plan, and yet God's way are so much higher than our ways! So, we are even more determined to get her birthday changed to a different year. I'd love to see the judge grant us a 2011 birth year, but I will be thrilled with 2010, too. I'm chosing to take my husbands lead, and see the positives in this. When I kept crying he asked, "why are you crying? The way I see it, her birthday is the day we got her. The day she went from surviving to living. So, to me she is four months old, and I don't know too many four month olds that crawl and walk, so my baby's a genius! And she'll only get better!" You know what? He's right!! That really is the day her "life" started, the day that God chose to redeem her out of the mire and into the sunshine. So, when people ask me how old she is, I tell them she's one. Because in a lot of ways she is, and hopefully we'll have the birthdate to prove it. If not, she's a lady, and a true lady never tells her age ;-) What does it matter, anyway? She will reach all those milestones when she's ready, She will do all the things we are waiting for her to do when she's ready. Until then, I am just loving every minute with this amazing, beautiful, fun baby girl that God gave us. Please keep a few names in mind when you pray: Lily, Ivy, Anouk, Evangeline, Harper, Ava, Astrid, John, and Therese....all are precious children adopted from China and in need of your prayers for different reasons. Also, Avery, who is not adopted, but could use prayers, too. Much love! Stay warm, Leslie