Better Every Day

Our new life with Collins gets better everyday. We've been home in Asheville for five days now, and she's getting more secure and courageous about things. She will let me be out of her sight in a different room in the house now for a short time, and she's even kissing Riley our dog. Riley is the one that may run away from home, this has rocked his world, but he'll learn to love Collins in time. In his old age he seems a little irritated by all her attention. We're all still trying to recover from jet lag and feel normal again. On Tuesday night we went to Conner's baseball game about an hour from here, and that felt great, because it was our normal life again with a wonderful addition added to the mix. Conner was in the dugout and when Collins realized he was in there, she started screaming at the top of her lungs over and over again, "CACA!" That is the cantonese word for brother. I think he was embarrassed and secretly thrilled at the same time. Wednesday night we went to church and were able to speak at Wednesday Night Live. Carl's speaker for the night had to cancel at the last minute, so up we went, jet lagged and all! Collins sat on the front row with Gran Jan (my mom) as Carl and I shared our adoption story from beginning to end. About halfway through, she wanted to come on stage. She went straight for the microphone, so we had her sing "Jesus Loves Me". I know I'm a proud Mama, but there were tears all over that room. We talked some more and then Gran Jan asked that she sing it again, so she did. She even sang it a few more times without being asked, wanting the mic the whole time....quite the ham, that girl. At the end we showed a slide show of our trip with a Steven Curtis Chapman song, more tears. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to get that on this blog. Today Collins discovered a bicycle in the garage that friends had given us. No training wheels, but she was determined to learn how to ride that bike. Our neighbor Scott took her up and down the street again and again. She hasn't quite mastered it yet but is almost there. I think the one thing she is missing is being able to play with other children so we're trying to get her with other kids when we can. This weekend she's going to TC Roberson Homecoming, apple-picking in Flat Rock, and Katherine Grace's birthday party! She is ROBUST thoroughly enjoys all these new life experiences...it is so much fun to watch. Pictures soon to follow....