3 months home

I cannot believe that it has been 3 months already since Hannah Cate came home to be with us forever. Truly, I feel as if she has been in my arms since the day she was born. Like she has always been a part of this crazy, organized chaos that is our lives. She has adjusted and bonded with every member of our family and there is nothing Kyle and I love more than seeing our 3 littles laughing and running and being children. Together. 2 boys. 1 girl.

Our sweet precious LOVES...
cheese, baby dolls, balls, swinging, reading books, dogs, taking baths, hair bows, and fruit snacks.

She is speaking beautifully, saying new words and sentences every single day. I am amazed at how English has came to her so easily. She seems right on target for her age in everything so far. Her health is flourishing and I have not weighed her since her first doctor's visit but I can guarantee she has chubbed up a little bit. She fits best in 18 month clothes and size 4 diapers, as well as size 6 shoes. HC is long and lean and can throw a ball really well! She is also super fast and enjoys flipping and jumping. I can't wait to enroll her in gymnastics or dance soon because I just know she will love it! She has also been sleeping through the night since her 2nd night home, going to bed around 8 and sleeping until 8. She naps anywhere from 1-2 hours in the afternoons. Thank you Jesus for her great sleeping habits! We mama's can do anything with sleep, can't we? :)

From the moment we started preparing for her arrival home to us, Kyle and I gave ourselves ZERO expectations of what the transition would look like for our family. I had read some things on attachment and bonding, educated myself just enough on general in's and out's, and decided to just wait for her. To wait to see how she reacted to her new environment. To all new people and faces. You hear horror stories. You hear of seamless transitions. So our prayer was for God almighty to work His way in her heart and ours and boy did He ever! We did not cocoon or keep her from people. We let others hold her. And she did really well. We started small, saw how she did, and worked our way from there. Her biggest thing was some knock down drag out temper tantrums when I would put her down for a minute after I had been holding her. She HATED it. Screamed and pitched a big one. I still don't know if it was a security thing for her to be held while I was standing, but the minute I sat down with her she went ballistic. This lasted about 3 weeks and then one day it just stopped and she hasn't done it since.

For us, wisdom on what to do came from the Lord. I prayed for discernment and grace and mercy every single day. And you know what? He gave me more knowledge than I could have ever gotten from a book  someone wrote, ya'll. If you are adopting, please give Him a chance to do His work in your life and the life of your children. Don't let a famous author or another parent tell you how to transition your adopted child. I promise if you pray for it, He will direct you. His ways are so much higher. :)

He still continues to write a beautiful love story for our Hannah Cate and for me as well. One day soon I will share what has happened to me, personally, as we have walked this road of her homecoming.

So 3 months home. Baby girl is flourishing and learning and teaching us so much. It is hard to believe that the sweet thing I met in July 2011 now sleeps down the hall.

Hannah Cate, 6 months old, July 2011