A few Mira antics...

So it's NEVER a dull moment at our house these days.
Mira is extremely vocal... It just happens to be in a language I don't understand!
When we were in China we couldn't convince her to use chopsticks, she used a fork or spoon. Well, in the past week, she now insists that she eat with chopsticks at every meal. It's amazing to watch her patiently eat every morsel piece by piece....let me tell, this girl would STARVE if I had to eat with chopsticks. It's been fun, Sami attempts to eat most things with chopsticks now and Kayla tries occasionally too. The most interesting thing is that since they discovered Mira's arm bones are fused we actually have discovered things that she has learned to modify....the use of chopsticks being one of them. She actually holds them palm down and uses them much like scissors, therefore she never has to rotate her wrist.
Another thing that is cracking us up these days is her accent. You would think my girl was learning English from Paula Deen..... Boy does she have a southern drawl. She is always talking with the other girls and we hear her telling Kayla to "hang on" but it sounds like she is from the deep south!
On another note, there seems to be some grieving happening, a few times this week, I found her sobbing for no obvious reason. I have no doubt she is happy here, she loves each of us dearly but the reality is.... She has thoughts and feelings from the past. Our social worker even brought to our attention that she may be feeling sad for those left behind. She did have a "best friend" at the orphanage who is on the shared list. We have a few pics of her and she smiles at her when she looks at them. I pray that her heart continues to heal, I pray that God continues to dwell in her heart and provides comfort too.
As it stands Mira will be having a sedated MRI at Sinai on June 12 to rule out multiple old fractures vs a tumor. My pediatrician thinks June 12 is much too long to wait and is trying to get them to move it up. I will keep you posted!







Have a great weekend!!
Vanessa
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A day at Shriners in Philly

Today Mira was evaluated at Shriners in Philadelphia. For those who don't know they specialize in orthopedics. Mira has extensive ortho needs. This is a fantastic facility. They are thorough & efficient. We have seen many many doctors at many many hospitals with my children's medical needs, rarely can I say thorough & efficient about any of them.
We were seen by a general ortho Dr. Then we were seen by a few specialists. There are a few things they recommend not treating and a few that will need extensive work. They discovered in both arms the radius and the ulna are fused together which prevents rotation of your hands. We were unaware of this but are not surprised as we have seen Mira compensate for the normal rotation of your hands....this is one of the things they will not treat. She was fitted/molded for a back brace to help with her severe scoliosis, this she will only wear at bedtime, so she can remain mobil. The other area the studied was her legs which is Mira's most severe area of deformity. The repair to one leg, her right, seems relatively simple. The left is a whole different story. The tests revealed something in her left femur. The unfortunate thing is they need an MRI to rule out the possibilities. We were given 2 possibilities, one is that she suffered several very bad breaks to that femur that were never repaired and now the bone is growing abnormal OR there is a tumor in the bone... Obviously the results are scary. We knew going into this adoption that Mira had lots of unknowns, that didn't and doesn't scare us. We know that whether it is a biological child or an adoption, there are risks & unknowns...possibly many don't know this as well as we do. But we know we serve an awesome God. He will hold Mira in the palm of His hand just as He does the rest of our girls. Whatever His great plan is, is okay by us, we trust...wholeheartedly. If you can, please say a prayer for our family as we go through these tests. We are confident that prayer is heard.
I will keep you all unto date.
Vanessa


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Happy 6th birthday Mira!

Today we celebrate Mira's 6th birthday. She has no concept of what we are singing to her..... but it does make her smile. ;)
Her resilience & determination is a lesson for all of us.
Some may think she was blessed to be placed in our family but WE ARE THE ONES WHO'VE BE BLESSED!
So grateful that Mira is with our family, she will never be alone again.
Happy birthday my sweet girl~ we love you!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Camping, the MD Zoo, a birthday & the JDRF walk

My girl is making some miles these days!
Last weekend we took Mira on her first camping trip. She loved it! She is definitely an outdoor-sy girl! She went fishing with Baba & Pappy. She was so excited to reel a fish in! And a camping trip couldn't be complete without roasted marshmallows~ yummy!
On Wednesday we had our 1 mo post placement visit with the social worker... Poor Mira shut down when Lauren arrived. I think she thought it was time to go back. I felt so sad for my girl. Once she realized the SW was leaving without her she ran to the front door, opened it and screamed "bye-bye!!!"- hysterical!
Since we homeschool, Thursday was a trip to the MD Zoo, this was so much fun! Mira loved saying the names of animals and imitating their sounds. Her favorite was the elephants.
On Friday, Mira turned 6, we had a mini party. She opened a few gifts & she blew out her candle & ate Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream pie from Friendly's... My girl savored every bite!! When she really likes something she will "mmmm... Yummm.... Yummy" through every single bite! I love it!
My 10 yr old Sami is a type 1 diabetic, on Saturday we participated in the JDRF walk to find a cure. It was a beautiful day to see so many people come together to support such an amazing cause. We pray that our Sami will see great progress towards a cure in her lifetime.
Here are some shots from the week!











Blessings~
Vanessa
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The sweetest thing I've ever heard

Just a have to share moment....
A brief background is necessary to understand the sweetness. My middle biological daughter suffers from a progressive, degenerating disease. One of the areas she struggles with is having seizures...often many times a day. These are not the on the ground, unconscious seizures...they are more like blanking out, sometimes 15+ times a day. We often call her out of them by asking if she is okay or saying a random word that she will eventually repeat "once she's returned".
So, the other evening the girls were at the table talking, I was in the kitchen not far from them when I heard Mira saying pretty loud and clear "okay, Kayla? Okay, Kayla? Okay Kayla?" sure enough, she was calling Kayla out of a seizure.
It's amazing how quickly children adapt & find what's the new normal.
We are certain Gods hand has been here every step of the way & times like this confirm it!

The sweetest thing I've ever heard!
Vanessa

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Another adventurous week!

Life moves along quite nicely these days....sometimes there is resistance but we keep going forward!
Mira came home with quite a few "habits" but we are slowly seeing a decrease in these behaviors. Being a first time adoptive mom is a bit different than a birth mom! Lol! I couldn't understand why Mira kept spitting in her babies hair, apparently she has seen this before!
We spent Good Friday at the Cross Walk which was a very nice time to reflect on that grueling walk Jesus made carrying His cross. Then Friday night we went to the Tenabrae service at our church. I have to say that we have been blessed that Mira remains perfectly quiet during church, she whispers at all times....unless....she says Amen on a precise 2 second delay! This makes for quite a few chuckles!
Easter was a fun filled day, Mira ate a peanut butter cup for breakfast (is that legal?) luckily she doesn't speak enough English to tell the SW on our 1 month visit! After church we spent Easter Sunday with family at my Aunt Mar's house, dinner was delicious as usual!
Today, Mira had her first appointment with the pediatrician. All went well, she received 2 vaccines, she never even flinched! Such a brave girl! Although we did experience a complete meltdown, she has quite a bit of VERY HARD wax in her ear. The Dr tried to get it but it was just too hard, we will try at home to take care of it over the next month. Good news of the week is that we received a letter stating our application to Shriners in Philadelphia was approved~ wooohoo! Mira will overtime need EXTENSIVE orthopedic work, we are thankful to Shriners dedication to children.

Enjoyable few more pics!





































Have a blessed week!
Vanessa

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

2 weeks seems like forever!

Every day is an adventure!
I can truly say I am TOO OLD to keep up with this little one!
She is sooo active~wow!
This transition continues to be amazing, though we have found out exactly how stubborn this little princess really is. But I guess there are reasons. Her determination is remarkable.
She has such a way with people, she wins most hearts with a "hey hey", "bye bye" or blowing kisses.
She learns more and more English, mixed with some Chinese. Most recently she says "thank you mama" at appropriate times.
Many thanks to all for the gifts, calls, emails & prayers! Please continue to keep our family in your prayers as we face a few challenges during this time.
We look forward to seeing the pediatrician this week to discuss the services Mira will need in the future & to prioritize the care needed. The one thing I can say about Mira is, if you couldn't SEE her, you would have no clue that she has a special need. She is a VERY regular child, who happens to have twisted legs & weak eyelids. There hasn't been one thing that she CAN'T do.
Enjoy the pics of her week!



























Happy Easter to all!
Love,
The Newmans

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad