June trip to UC

We had another day of appointments at UC with Hadley this past week. We met with a speech pathologist first. Mrs.B was great, patient and understanding. She was also amazed at how well Hadley is doing. Mrs.B is fluent in sign, and Hadley responded to her really well.  She made some recommendations for us, and gave us some pointers for the future.

Then we met with Dr.W who is a developmental behavioral specialist. What a blessing it is to meet this team of amazing doctors! Dr.W's assessment was that Hadley us catching up, maybe slightly still behind in gross motor, but overall doing well. From her stand point if and when we get a cochlear implant Hadley will be an appropriate recipient.

Then Hadley had some blood work, didn't shed one tear, tough girl. Then as we walked to the audiologist's office she insisted on walking with her oversized backpack on cruising the halls all by herself. Waving and smiling at everyone in her path. With her hotpink, sparkly sunglasses on. Everyone smiling and waving back, she is so stinking cute!

Then we met with Mrs.L the audiologist and we made our next appointment for our hearing aids, which by the way are hotpink too!!! Mid July we will go back and get them, wearing them for a few months to see if amplication will change anything. However I will say, when you hear nothing, hearing aids only amplify nothing. But we will give them a try anyway.

Socks

Our sweet heart has learned how to put shoes on.... however not her shoes! The other day I noticed she had went and put on Haven's socks and shoes and was prancing around the house in them. May I add that she didn't fall once.... and it's hard to walk in shoes twice as big as your feet when you don't have an issue with your gait. I ran to get the camera so I could catch a few shots of her....

Each day she accomplishes something new, I'm so lucky to be this little ones' Momma!!!!

Baseball Games and WaterParks

 Everyday Hadley experiences something new, something she's never seen or done. New people, and new places. It's awesome watching her! Makes me see things so differently. Without blinders on. Hadley has inspired so many people, and she's not even been home 6 months yet. What a testimony our girl has already! In exactly 6 days we will be home 6 months with our girl. In these short 6 months I have learned so much more than I ever thought I would. As I type this now, she  is sitting contently under my feet looking at a book. How boring was our life before December 7th 2013? Very, and we didn't even know it.
  Sharing our adoption story is a passion for me, and I think now even so for Brian. It's not us we want people to know about, it's her, it's Christ and what he's done for us. He is the reason we get to share our life with this sweet little one.
Updates:  
School
Hadley is doing so good, school has been such a great experience for her. She is soaking everything up like a sponge. She will return to Memorial this fall and hopefully will be joined by her own ASL interpreter all year. We just met with her school faculty in hope they will be able to provide one for her. Hadley will be staying home this summer with the other little ones. Can't wait to see what they teach her. Maybe if we're lucky we can work on potty training.

Medical
Hadley goes back to UC on 6/18 for hearing aids and follow-ups with lots and lots of special doctors. We know that hearing aids might not help her enough but we will try them first. She is a cochlear implant candidate, however we know God can and still does perform miracles so anything is possible (just ask the blind man, he's seen miracles and if you don't buy his story talk to the deaf man he heard all about them too). "Our God is so big, so strong and so mighty there's nothing my God can't do for you."  there's that song too.
In July we go back to see Dr.T at U.K. for our 6 month check-up, I can't wait for her to see just how great our girl is doing. The last time she saw us Hadley couldn't even walk, now she's running.

Advocating
I don't want to get to in depth here about advocating, most all parents advocate for their children at one time or another. But, we are learning that having a child with different needs then the majority is challenging. However, not impossible. The love we share for our children is a common bond between all of us, what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger. Keep advocating, even when you don't feel it makes a difference, it does.....

Home life
The kids are all still doing great with our newest addition. None of them have had behavioral changes, at least not in a negative aspect. Rather a change for the better..... they are learning patience and love without boundaries. They don't seem to even notice that they're more of us. We have happy kids, that's all I can say. They enjoy watching her change as much as Brian and I do. They feel apart of something bigger than all of us, and that's living a life serving others and sharing God's true love for us all.

We took her to the water park yesterday, and she LOVED it!!!! Hadley is such a water baby.....

We couldn't be more happy with our decision to follow God's perfect plan for our family through adoption. It's not cookie-cutter perfect, there are some times when it's crazy, hectic, chaos, and you wonder if you'll survive another minute. But then the minute is over, and you think "oh, that wasn't so bad." If you are interested in adoption, sponsoring a child, or even advocating for orphans there are so many things you can do to help. If you have any questions you can call or email me anytime. I'm no expert, but I do know where to get answers/information.

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." - Mark 9:37