We are so very proud of Hope. Not only did she start school without any problem…she was also named “Student of the Week” for her class. Yeah!!
She is really doing great. Each night she has “homework” and we can see such progress already. She is reading little books and has learned so many other new things. The school system is great and the elementary program just cannot be beat. Can you nominate a school for some type of award? I’ll have to Google that!
Congratulations Hopie !!!!!!!!!!!!
This has been emotionally exhausting for me. Hope is doing great. I on the other hand am doing just ok. I have prayed for her to be content, happy, independent, a good student and a good citizen. Well my prayers have been answered and our sweet Hope is all that and more. I suppose the hard part for me has been that two years and eight months is not the usual time a mom has with her babies before they go off to Kindergarten. It seems like just yesterday we boarded that flight to China and brought home this precious gift from God. Our family has been so very wonderful over the past couple of years and Hope has really packed five years of growing up an American Girl successfully into that time frame. I was emotional when our older girls started school too. So one thing I know is, she will continue to be just fine and my emotions will soon fade to a wonderful enjoyment of this new phase of growing up.
I am so very thankful to be Hope’s mom. I want the best for her and know that she is in a wonderful classroom environment with a couple of great teachers and she is so very smart. I know that the stimulation of her mind by trained professionals will produce awesome results.
But….still….I miss my baby!
By the way has anyone noticed the white arm band? Want to know what is it and what it is for?
Hope loves to snuggle with me in the rocking chair and smell the freshness of my T-shirts. That arm band is made from one of my softest shirts and smells just like mom…she also carries a kiss on her hands that she can rub on her cheek at anytime she needs to be near me…may sound silly to some but it works for our Hope.
January 14, 2008 in a very cold town called Hefei in Anhui province in China an orphanage nanny walk a scared three year old Huai, Dong Tan over to us and as soon as I felt it was safe to touch her without scaring her I kissed her tiny little hand…she loved it then and still does today. Then I whispered into her ear the words I had planned to say to her for over two years. “Jesus loves you and He sent me halfway around the world to be your Mommy forever”…I think this is the first time I have shared this but I think it is time…
A word to anyone who is reading this and is considering adoption.
“If you know that God has touched your heart with a desire to adopt…just do it…He will walk with you every step of the way.”
(You really should click on the song at the right below and listen while you read this post)
Thank you everyone who has been praying with us. Once again our Heavenly Father has heard and answered our prayers.
She did it! Hope started school yesterday and it was amazing. We planned earlier after much discussion that I should NOT be the one to take her to school on that first day. Carmen and Sunnie came over and Hope rode to school with them. Hope has never stayed with anyone else but me, Ronnie, Misty, Carmen, Bethany, and Grandma (just a couple of times while Ronnie went out to the barn). It is not that we have tried to shelter her or limit her potential but we all just felt right about not leaving her. I believe that her experiences at Church helped so very much. I used to go to Sunday School and sit in her class with her but we felt she was ready to go alone and just told her she could either go to her class or she could go with me to my class where she would be sitting quietly and listening. She chose to go to her class and I secretly knew she would. Miss Kathy her teacher is wonderful and always walks Hope over to my class. Small steps and helping her build confidence in lots of other ways helped to make yesterday’s big event in a little girl’s life go so smoothly. I’m sure there are other adoptive parents who would think that we should have put her in day care or some other program to help her with her separation anxiety but you know we did what we felt was best for our Hope with her unique personality. It worked…She loves school.
Hope is so blessed to have Carmen working at the school she attends and her very best friend in the world her niece Sunnie Kay as a mentor.
Ms Sherry and Ms J. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! THIS IS HOW SHE LOOKED AT THE END OF THE DAY!
We love you Hopie Marie and are so very very proud of you.
Mom
Hope IS ready though!! I think my baby’s gonna do just fine tomorrow. Mamma may crumble once she goes out the door but I think Hope is ready…That’s all I have time to say now. Check back tomorrow for an update…she just can’t be starting school…I needed a couple more years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!%5B2%5D.jpg "IMG_2628 (3)")
Please pray for Hope and Hope’s Mom…
Becky
We took Hopie, Caleb, Tyler, Bradley, Ben, and Sunnie to Port Aransas last week. Here are a few photo’s to share her fun times!
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The underwater viewing area for the dolphin show at the Texas State Aquarium. It was beautiful and it was COOL!! Hope loved the dolphins and loved being so very close.
To be continued…
Becky
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