The Letter "A"

This is the first recognizable picture from Daughter of Purpose. I suppose it looks like nothing to you, but can't you see that it is her first successful attempts at the letter "A" for her real name? She's also been identifying "her letter" in everything she sees. Below her letters are some members of her family. I think our family is so big she ran out of room, but hey--it's a start! Don't I look beautiful?

When we first began visiting Daughter of Purpose in the orphanage, we brought a coloring book and crayons to do during our visits. It seemed to us that she had not used a writing utensil before (or at least very little). She couldn't seem to decide which hand she wanted to use. She was ambidextrous to say the least and made nothing but scribbles. The concept of staying in between the lines was foreign to her. Now she colors all the time and has learned the fine motor control to stay in between the lines. She even has a dominant hand now. This is the first time I've seen something recognizable come out of her drawings. She has come a long way!

I have framed each one of my children's first "family pictures." This one is a keeper for sure!

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Increasing in Strength

I think Daughter of Purpose is increasing in strength. Even with her weaker leg, she climbed up on to the top bunk of her brother's bed today (with no assistance). I thought for sure that was a safe zone, but apparently I was wrong. Now that I think about it, why was I surprised by that? She does everything sooner than I thought and even accomplishes things I thought would be impossible for her. That will sure teach me!

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Russian Princess

Those of you who have followed our adoption journey may remember the trek we took in Moscow in order to buy an authentic Russian dress for Daughter of Purpose. Last time you got a look at it, as you may remember, she had the crown on like a visor and had a whole banana stuffed in her mouth. Well, we finally got a chance to put the real thing on. This was about the best one we got, but we'll have to work on better ones later.

For now, she spends her days recalling more and more of her time in Russia. It seems to go in spurts, but about a week ago she caught a glimpse of a picture of her best friend little girlfriend. Their beds were right next to each other and while we were in-country we spent a good amount of time with the two of them together. Daughter of Purpose seemed to take comfort in her friend and would calm down when she was around.

I don't think she's ever forgotten her friend, but now she has the words to communicate to us about her. She misses her friend and tells us regularly that she wants to go back to Russia to get her friend and bring her home to America. Our other kids have jumped on that bandwagon and think we should adopt her too. Well, there are many problems with that and I won't bore you with all of them, but the main one being that as far as we understand it, her little friend is unadoptable. According to Russian law, as long as a relative of a child visits once every 6 months, they are deemed unadoptable. Sadly, some poorer families put their children in the orphanages and then only visit enough to keep the child unadoptable. In Daughter of Purpose's friend's case, we saw at least one of her parents visit her each afternoon while we were there. We don't know her reason for being there. We just know she's unadoptable.

Just like we have seen prayer be the arms that cradled our daughter while we could not physically hold her, we take comfort in knowing that God will do the same for the friend of Daughter of Purpose. We thank Him for giving us the opportunity to pray for another orphan that we know by name. As Daughter of Purpose walks around holding the picture of her friend and joins with us in praying for her daily, we ask you to also join us in praying for her best friend too.

Editor's note: No, we are not looking to add her friend to our family. Unless we win the lottery, I get an extra jolt of energy, regain some of my brain power back, grow another arm and leg--it won't be happening. We are simply asking you to pray for a child in need. Who knows, maybe she'll someday become adoptable and come home to America to live in your family!

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Sassy

There is no question that Daughter of Purpose is improving in her English by leaps and bounds. While we were still in-country I knew that I had a sassy one on my hands, but it has become clearer and clearer as her English has improved that even though I didn't know a ton of Russian--I was right. Here are few of her quotes lately that prove I've still got my work cut out for me.

When I asked her to pick up something off the floor the other day to assist in clean up, she replied, "No, that you job." Oh yes, she was indeed corrected on that one and had to clean up more than she bargained for.

When Daughter of Purpose asked me a question, but one of her siblings jumped in to answer, she quickly quipped back to him, "I not talka you." I was thinking in my head, "Well, excuse him!"

As Nate and I drove back from Shriners with Daughter of Purpose, while she and her Daddy were having a conversation, she responded, "Talk to the hand, Daddy." She even did the hand motion. Nate looked at me and said, "Did she just say, 'Talk to the hand'?" He wanted to know where she'd learned that. I had a hard time keeping myself from laughing because I certainly didn't want to encourage her attitude, but I couldn't help it when I had to confess she learned it from me! During VBS week, each night she would confirm with me that we were going to church again the next morning. She would often tear up so Mini-Me and I would joke with her and say, "Talk to the hand." in order to get her to laugh. It was a comical moment, but I never thought she'd turn around and use it with attitude! Well, at least I can applaud her for figuring out how to use it contextually correct!

So as you can tell, I've got my hands full in more ways than one. Now that I know what she's saying, I'm chipping away at Miss Sassy Pants. I keep thinking to myself, "And they let you get away with this attitude in the orphanage?" Well, it won't last long here. Kiss your attitude goodbye, Little Missy...

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Dude

Well, I think Daughter of Purpose has adjusted. I just heard her say to her brother, "Dude..." LOL! :)

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Happy Feet

Daughter of Purpose has very happy feet. Yesterday after she wore her KAFO, she was rewarded by getting her finger and toenails painted. I'm not sure she's ever had that done before. By the sheer delight of it all, I'm pretty sure it was a first for her.

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Blue with Kitties

I cannot seem to get "blue with kitties" or "KAFO" out of my head. I suppose with good reason. We spent the day at Shriners Hospital so that Daughter of Purpose could be fitted for her new KAFO that is blue with kitties on it.

While we were waiting for some of the details to be fixed on her KAFO, she got to play in the "play area" of the hospital. It is an awesome area full of things for her to do and play with. She can even do an art project if she wants! The rocking horse seemed to be her favorite.

Daughter of Purpose held herself together for her brace fitting and while the Physical Therapist and the man fitting her KAFO deliberated back and forth about what her needs were. The big discussion seemed to revolve around whether her KAFO should be locked or unlocked at the knee. They settled on locked.

Once we were done, that's when Daughter of Purpose decided to let us know how she really felt about her brace--she's not happy! She doesn't want to wear it. We made her wear it to the car, but we let her take it off in the car. We had many discussions all the (very long) way home about why she needed to wear the brace. The thing that struck me the most in the midst of all this discussion was something I've noticed over the last few weeks as I have explained to her why we were returning to the hospital. Here is it: I honestly don't think she had ever noticed there was anything wrong with her leg.

Ever since we originally went to Shriners and started asking her to do things with her leg without the assistance of her hand (she tends to use her hand to move her leg without thinking about it) she has looked at us like we're crazy. It's like as if no one has ever asked her to truly use her leg before. Now here we were--back at the hospital doing it again. We keep drawing attention to her leg and I think it's hitting her that she cannot control her leg. She seemed to have her "game face" on for the fitting, but when she asked us in the car why she needed to wear it, we explained that it is to make her leg stronger. We explained and showed her that we need her to be able to lift up her leg. She then seemed driven to prove to us that, in fact, she could do what we were asking so therefore she didn't need that "blue with kitties" thing.

Now I know she was tired and I think a bit overwhelmed with it all, but it broke my heart when she kept trying to show me over and over again that she could "perform", but yet she really couldn't. This brought her to tears because she couldn't do it. It brought me to tears too. This will be an adjustment for her AND for me. Nate seems fine with it all, but for some reason I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that she needs it.

Well, tomorrow is a new day and we'll see what it brings. We are supposed to have her wear the KAFO 1 hour per day for about a week and then increase it the next week and so on. I am not really looking forward to tomorrow when I have to make her wear the KAFO--even though the time will be limited. I'm glad Nate will be home to support my efforts and to also encourage Daughter of Purpose along.

I can't be grateful enough for the other kids and their excitement of it all. They've been great since we got home and were totally excited to see her brace. We keep catching ourselves saying, "Where is her leg?" Funny, but I guess we better think of a better way to refer to it. Below is a video of a few of her first steps showing off to her siblings. Again, I am so grateful for them to be her cheerleaders alongside me tomorrow. I think that will make a huge difference in her attitude about it all.

Here are some pictures of the kids and Nate goofing around posing with Daughter of Purpose with her new KAFO.

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

On the Road Again

We're on a our way to Shriners again. Tomorrow we will head to Shriners Hospital to pick up Daughter of Purpose's KAFO (leg brace).

She is getting stronger with every passing day and we are very curious to see what sort of impact the KAFO will make on her walking. She is moving at a greater speed now and I often find her tumbling all over the pillows in the living room. She's even taught herself how to do a somersault. She will be starting gymnastics in a few weeks and I think she's going to love that! Watch out world--here she comes!

We'll post when we get home and let you know how her visit went.

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Happy Adoption Day!

This post is well overdue, but here are a few pictures from our "Happy Adoption Day" with Daughter of Purpose. In August, we finished up her adoption with the state of California. We had to go down to the courthouse and have an official court hearing. What this does is allows us to get Daughter of Purpose an American birth certificate. So much easier than bringing the Russian one with an English translation everywhere we go!

Mommy, Daddy and Daughter of Purpose waiting for the judge.

Our "jury"--our kids and grandparents.

All the family (minus Nate's dad who had to work--bummer) plus the very friendly judge. He was so happy to do this hearing that he sat down on the other side of the table from us to go through the proceedings--not his official seat. He was so friendly to the other kids and guessed their names and ages accurately. We couldn't have asked for a nicer guy. Sorry the pictures aren't that great. The lighting was kind of dark.

The new Freeland Family (with the judge, of course).

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."