A Note from Dee

Dee handed me her journal the other night and asked if I would please put this on my blog.  For those of you who don't know, Dee is my "spunky" child.  You never have to guess what she is thinking...she wears her heart on her sleeve and isn't afraid to tell you exactly what she is thinking...for better or worse.  She has had quite a struggle with this adoption.  She has especially struggled with Hannah.  At first, it was because Hannah didn't want anything to do with Bill and Dee couldn't understand why Hannah wouldn't absolutely LOVE her daddy like Dee does.  Then, Hannah started warming up to Bill and now adores him.  Dee is still struggling.  Now, she struggles with the attention that Bill gives Hannah and there is definitely some jealousy and resentment that we are working through.  I believe that God is working great things in both Sarah and Dee through this entire process and every once in a while I get a glimpse that the work that He is planting is taking hold, even if it is deeply hidden most of the time.  Here is her entry:

"It is bedtime.  Hannah hates going to bed because...well, I don't know why.  Anita cries when we put her in her crib. I think she thinks it is jail. LOL.  I (heart symbol) my family. I used to think they were losers. Well now looking in those orphanages at all those poor children, now I know why my family adopted us. God has it all planned out."

She is such an amazing kid. She has always been very strong willed and opinionated.  I always believed that these qualities (if properly nurtured) could lead to great strengths some day.  It is my prayer that God will continue to work mightily in all of my girls but especially Dee.  I believe He will because she holds on so tightly to her bitterness and anger at times that it is going to take a mighty God to work through her and to show that He is more powerful.  I strongly believe that His hand personally protected her from further injury in the accident that claimed her sister's life.  She was literally millimeters from death due to the nature of her head injury.  So many things could have turned out very differently but He saved her and I have to believe that she is going to be part of a much bigger plan than any of us could ever imagine.  

And Dee Dee......  I (heart symbol) you too.   

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Day Six in Uganda...Hannah

I am alone in our apartment with Hannah and Anita for the first time.  Bill, Sarah and Dee all walked down to the local mall to get groceries and have a coffee date.  Bill put Anita down for a nap before he left which left me here with Hannah. I closed my eyes on the couch while she sat on the floor playing with some toys. When I woke up she was sitting on the floor surrounded by a bunch of books which she had picked off the coffee table.  She was sitting in the middle of them and would pick them up one by one and "read" them.  She was turning the pages and talk, talk, talking while she did so. This was the most we have heard her say in 2 days. 


She is making strides in many areas.  This morning I was showing her her colors with some flash cards I had brought.  I made a row with each  color in it and would give her a new card and she had to put it on the right pile.  Half way through the game she was repeating each of the colors as I said them and she could put them in the correct pile.


She doesn't say much but it is clear that she understands much of what we say to her.  Bill and I had been talking about how we were out of matches and he said, "I know I saw some extra ones somewhere." Well, low and behold, when Hannah was looking through her books she picked up a box of matches and said to me "matches".  Oh my!  I was amazed to say the least. 


Bill and I were remembering today how Grace was the same way when we first adopted them.  She was very quiet for weeks after, but once she started talking it was very clear that she had been listening to everything we said and was just taking it all in. I have no doubts that Hannah is doing the same thing. She is very observant and watches everything.

She still does not go too far away from me and I can usually find her about 2 steps behind me at any given time. I call her "my shadow".  She is still hesistant around Bill, but he is slowly trying to just be near her when I am around and helping her to trust him. We are in no hurry to force her to be uncomfortable as I'm sure she is already under enough stress as it is. She had fallen asleep withe  me in the bed last night and then Bill switched with me half way through the night.  We were delighted when she awoke this morning and did not freak out that Daddy was in bed with her instead of Mommy.


She also has a terrible cough at night time.  She sleeps pretty well once we give her some Benadryl, but once she starts coughing again her entire body comes off the bed.  She is a terrible wiggle worm and horrible to sleep with, but we realize that this is just a phase and we will get into a good routine of her sleeping in her own bed once she feels better and trusts us. 


Meal time is still tough for her.  We have found that it helps to eat on the floor so we have made family mealtime bearable by all sitting on the living room floor to eat with Hannah.  She finally found her appetite and really seems to like hot dogs and fruit (neither she or Anita were crazy about macaroni and cheese for lunch).

She had her first shower with mom last night and did well.  She does not like the water in her face and kept wiping her eyes.  I was reminded of Grace who used to do the exact same thing. What sweet memories.


We were told when she came that she was not fully potty trained and definitely was not at night.  She did wet her pull up the first night but since then we have had no accidents and she has even told us a couple of times when she needs to go "potty".


She went for her first "swim" today.  It was actually just walking around in knee deep water and passing a ball back and forth but she did well with being splashed  and didn't seem to mind the water (as long as mommy was right there with her of course). 


She is very industrious and always seems to have a "plan" when she plays.  She is diligent in working at something until she gets it right.  She was trying to put the rings on Anita's Fisher Price ring holder.  She tried it over and over again until she got the right order. 


She loves her baby doll. We brought two small black baby dolls that Bill's mother bought last Christmas.  Hannah loves her "baby" and takes her with her wherever she goes.  She also found Sarah's Connie the Cow today and I think we may need to go out and buy her a stuffed animal so that we don't have any fights over poor Connie. 


All in all, Hannah is doing very well.  She is adapting to her strange surroundings and the white people who are with her all the time now.  She loves her little sister, Anita.  She is a very sweet little girl and when she flashes her smile it is absolutely contagious. You can't help but smile back at her.

We heard today that we have a tentative court date on October 1st for her. We won't know for sure until the paperwork clears with our lawyer tomorrow.  Please continue to pray that this will work out because if we don't get a court date in October then it won't be until December!!!!