10 Days at Home

Okay, so we've been back in the U.S.A. for 10-11 days, and we're just beginning to get our bearings. All this girl drama is quite a change for this household! Collins is smiling and giggling most of the time, but she's had plenty of meltdowns too which is totally understandable considering all the changes she is having to adapt to. There is frustration because of the language barrier, and I'm sure she has moments of grieving those she left behind. She has great spunk and a strong will, and with all she has been through in her 5 short years, these qualities have served her well. I'm sure the idea that the "strong will survive" is especially true in an orphanage. After almost a month with her, we're so, so grateful that she's bonding so well (no shortage of hugs and kisses with her), and have seen progress in her "wildness". We knew that often older kids who are adopted are pretty wild for awhile. Its like they've been let out of jail, and there is so much to see, do and experience out here in the world. Its easy for them to get over-stimulated, and just seem out of control. We've learned the hard way that too much sugar and chocolate really don't mix well with all of that. She had another treatment for scabies as well, and its amazing how much better the last 2 days have been. No tantrums or tears at all, just 2 fun, calm days all in all. She wanted to get upset when we took Gran Jan to the airport but she pulled through it. Our house is on the market and I got a call this morning that it would be shown in 4 hours. Collins was a great help! She got inside the bathtub and sprayed and wiped for at least 15 minutes. She vacuumed the hall and wiped down the bathroom counters. She's still pretty dependent on me, but now I can be in another room in the house. She practices writing her name alot and has learned a few more songs. Carl and Collins go swimming at the YMCA almost every night and that is absolutely her favorite thing to do, other than playing with Riley our dog. She's also riding her bike, playing with play-dough, jumping rope and having me count how many times she can dribble a ball or twirl in the hula-hoop. You are all going to think I made this up, but she picked up the hula-hoop and went 381 times without missing! Conner is just that good too. I do not get how they do it, except that they barely move their hips. They had to have had a hula-hoop at the orphanage. Carl has been so amazing with Collins. I think kids can tell if their parents enjoy them or not, and he really enjoys her and she knows it. They have a special relationship already. Tonight he was saying something to her about her bubble bath in a silly way. She got embarrassed and acted as if she was in middle school! She rolled her eyes and shook her head like "Oh Dad!" She is speaking very little english, but she lets us know her thoughts as best she can, mainly through "charades". The other night she couldn't go to sleep and was miserable with the itching from the scabies. She looked at Carl, pointed to him and then put her hands together telling him to pray for her. Some of her meltdowns have come at bedtime, so we started playing Steve Green's kids cd's. Carl was singing along with it and she shushed him, pointing to his lips and then putting her finger over her mouth! Today a friend gave her an apron with her name monogrammed on it. When I pulled it out, her face lit up. She saw "Collins" and pointed to herself with a huge grin. She knew what aprons were for because then she pointed to herself, then acted out stirring something in a bowl, then pointed to me and to Carl. She was telling us that she was going to cook for us. I'm totally open to that. So...all in all we're doing good. The time at home has been full of ups and downs. During one of the downs, I looked at my mom and said, "This is not for the faint of heart!" Carl and I have seen impatience and selfishness and anger surface in our lives, and thats not been pleasant. Our experience has not been some kind of "pollyanna" story, where's its all been just sugar and spice and everything nice. Taking a child that has come from a hard place is truly a rollercoaster, but we wouldn't have missed this for the world! What a delight she is to our lives! What a faith walk this has been and continues to be! Believers are the ones that are called to walk by faith and not by sight. If we had walked by sight through this whole long process, and even now, we would have jumped ship and missed the immense blessing of this little person. Oh how I love following the One that leads us out of our comfort zone to higher challenges and higher joys!