The last several weeks at home have been great. Madison and Zoey have bonded and Zoey's little eyes follow Madison wherever she goes and she is fascinated by whatever her big sister is doing. Madison was working on her reading homework one night and Zoey was just listening to every word very intently, not understanding it or anything, but hanging on everything that her big sister was saying. It was so precious!
She has fit right into the snuggle club. We are all about curling up on the couch and watching American Idol in our house and Zoey didn't miss a beat when it came to that. 
See, she is so comfortable that she is picking her nose and doesn't care who is watching!She LOVES music, especially techno or anything with a good beat. She will boogie! I can't wait until she can get into a dance class, watch out Miss Shalita you have an up and coming hip hop dancer on your hands!
Every day we are just amazed at the changes in her since the day we got her, which was almost two months ago and will be on Easter Sunday. She has come such a long way, going from a blank stare and gorging herself to this happy, moving non-stop, grabbing and playing with everything she can get her hands on, laughing, smiling, rolling around, beautiful baby girl whose eyes are full and bright and filled with love! She has just absolutely thrived in the last few weeks we've had her home and it's just God's loving hand on her and on us for her coming into our lives!
In the words of me and my sister when we were little, "We're sisters, we're sisters, we're lovely little sisters. We're sisters, we're sisters, we hope you are some too!"
The weather has been so crazy lately being 40 one day and 70 the next. Here are some picture of one of the warm days when we sat outside to eat our biter biscuit. This is when she first started eating it (or gumming it really).
I know the birds were excited once we went inside. A feast for them fit for a king!
I think more ended up on Zoey's face, clothes, and the ground than she got in her mouth.
So basically by the time she was done I had to strip her down and put her in the bathtub. It was in her hair, behind her ears, down her shirt, EVERYWHERE! But at least she enjoyed it and it was fun to watch!
In the words of me and my sister when we were little, "We're sisters, we're sisters, we're lovely little sisters. We're sisters, we're sisters, we hope you are some too!"The weather has been so crazy lately being 40 one day and 70 the next. Here are some picture of one of the warm days when we sat outside to eat our biter biscuit. This is when she first started eating it (or gumming it really).
I know the birds were excited once we went inside. A feast for them fit for a king!I think more ended up on Zoey's face, clothes, and the ground than she got in her mouth.So basically by the time she was done I had to strip her down and put her in the bathtub. It was in her hair, behind her ears, down her shirt, EVERYWHERE! But at least she enjoyed it and it was fun to watch!
Some of you know that we have kind of been blindsided by some issues with Madison. The first few weeks we were home things were great. Then all of the sudden she started getting very upset going to school in the mornings. One day I decided to let her stay home, which she had been begging to do for a few days. I thought maybe a day home with me and Zoey would help. Boy was I wrong. That just led to more trouble when trying to take her to school. I don't mean throwing a tantrum or acting out. I mean screaming crying saying that she was afraid to go to school because she thought I would forget about her and not pick her up. She thought that I would get so tied up with Zoey that I would literally forget her at school. It has been a very tough few weeks for me. I can hardly make her get out of the car, it breaks my heart. I finally week before last went to visit the school counselor after calling her and we all three talked about things. Madison has been visiting her office and calling me some during the day for some reassurance. I also talked to the social worker at the adoption clinic and she told me the same thing, just to keep reassuring her. Vince and I have told her over and over again that this has been a big change for all of us and things seemed to be getting better, but then she had a major breakdown again yesterday morning. I called the counselor and spoke with her because I feel like I just don't know what else to do. I have been able to change my work schedule and will be able to pick her up everyday from school because I will be leaving work at 2:00. I think this will make a difference. If I can show her that I will really be there everyday maybe we'll get over this hump. I probably shouldn't be spilling all this on my blog but it's like a journal for me and makes me feel better, so sorry you have to endure it. We've really tried to spend special time with her, each of us. We've had spend the night company with friends. It happened to be the Friday night that it snowed. It was so great, the girls woke up to a beautiful white covered morning and got to have a snowball fight before going home. 
It was a perfect sleepover with her friends Neely and Payton! What sweet girls!
Tonight my nieces are over for Easter egg dying and movie in a tent night (pictures to follow on my Easter post). Please keep Madison in your prayers that she will find some peace of mind that there is no way we would ever forget her. It kills me to think that that thought would ever cross her mind! My precious first born baby girl so upset tears me up inside and I can't fix it, I don't know how!
It was a perfect sleepover with her friends Neely and Payton! What sweet girls!Tonight my nieces are over for Easter egg dying and movie in a tent night (pictures to follow on my Easter post). Please keep Madison in your prayers that she will find some peace of mind that there is no way we would ever forget her. It kills me to think that that thought would ever cross her mind! My precious first born baby girl so upset tears me up inside and I can't fix it, I don't know how!
Madison was so thrilled that we took this picture of her on the way to ice skating last Saturday, can't you tell? Life has definitely changed for us very quickly, some things are hard to handle but it is all worth it. Madison was playing with Zoey today on the floor after school and said, "Mom I am so glad that we went to China to bring my sister home. I really love her so much, it was really worth it." All I could think of is the song we used to sing in Sunday school growing up, "GOD is so good, GOD is so good, GOD is so good, HE'S so good to me!"
I am sure for many of you this is a strange thing that you may have heard about being baptized as a baby. Being raised Baptist myself it was something I learned about during my confirmation classes when I converted to Catholicism. I have tried to find a way to explain the Sacrament of Baptism for those of you who aren't Catholic that might be reading this. When I was baptized in the Baptist Church I made the decision to be baptized. When I felt that I truly understood what Jesus had done for me I was in the 4th grade and I acknowledged that I wanted to follow Him through the rite of baptism. In the Catholic Church this is done when we are just babies, if born into the Catholic faith. 
In a Catholic Handbook I have it says, "Through your baptism, you share with others "the sacramental bond of unity existing among all who through it are reborn". Your baptism can never be repeated because it binds you to God forever. The bond is unbreakable. It is possible for you to lose grace and even faith, but you cannot lose your baptism. You are marked as one of God's own. That same bond links you to all other baptized persons in a sacramental way. You are one of us and we are all "sacrament persons." Together we are called to live until death the baptismal mystery into which we have been plunged."
The role of the godparents according to the Code of Canon Law, "Insofar as possible, one to be baptized is to be given a sponsor who is to assist an adult in Christian initiation, or, together with the parents, to present an infant at the baptism, and who will help the baptized to lead a Christian life in harmony with baptism, and to fulfill faithfully the obligations connected with it" (No. 872). This statement clearly reflects the historical roots of the role of godparents or "sponsors". 
