Unlikely

In the unlikely event that are still one or two of you out there reading this blog.....I thought I'd tell you I'M STILL HERE.  Shocking, I know. 

Actually, shocking would be if YOU are still here! 

I am knee deep in preparations to leave the country.  Knee deep in plans for the homeschool standardized testing that I coordinate this time every year.  Knee deep in plans for the Father-Daughter-Dance that I volunteered to coordinate for this March!  I am neck deep in fundraising and finalizing.  I am buried under laundry and housework and homeschooling. 

But, it's all good, because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have it any other way!

One of the things we had to take care of was wrting a letter to go with our Lifesong account.  My husband decided to take it upon himself to take care of this feat and I was so glad to have that off my plate.  He began the letter:

Many of you are aware of the calling that God has placed on our hearts, that we would adopt another fatherless child into our family. You also know how much we have been blessed by our adopted daughter, Claire, and the inspiration that she is to so many who have witnessed the miracle of her healing!

I don't know if you get tired of me bringing it up, but I just don't get tired of saying it!  THEY SAID SHE WAS NOT LIKELY TO WALK!  Doctors in China were so convienced of it, that they never had her club feet corrected or even tried therapy with her.  They simply said she wouldn't and so she was treated as if she could not.  Period.  Doctor's here didn't hold out much hope either. 

Well, to any doctor that told a child they couldn't just because they shouldn't be able to.......

What do you say, now?

Nothing like having three very active older sibs to have to try to keep up with, right?  There was no way she was going to let them have all the fun!  And soon there will be a little brother to keep up with too.  Talk about motivation!  I assure you, she isn't going to just sit there and let a younger brother run circles around her.  NO. WAY.

How soon?  Well, your guess is as good as mine. 

More about that tomorrow.

Well you didn't think I'd give you all the updates in one post did you?  Then what would I have to blog about the rest of the week???

Playing with Photoshop

Before

After

Beautiful either way!

Every now and then I take a photo that surprises me.  I'm still learning my way around my camera and Photoshop, but I want Lightroom instead now.  I think it might be easier because I hear there are a lot of pre-sets available for it.  It took me quite some time to edit this photo.....but, I can see that if I do it often I would be able to do it much faster.  I really like the way this one turned out though!

And these weren't bad either!

Okay, maybe it has more to do with the subject I was photographing than with my mad skillz behind the camera.  There is just no way around it....she's beautiful!  She isn't going to take a bad picture.  Of course, she did take a few interesting ones, though.

What is up with the kissy faces???

Photo session ovah! 

Leaving you with this.

I'm going away for the weekend and there may not be internet out there in wide wild world. 

Okay fine!  I'm not actually going into the wild.  I just want to sound adventurous.  And, there probably is internet there someplace, I just want an excuse if I decide not to take the time to post.  :)  Love you guys!

The point is that before I go I wanted to leave you with this post about my Claire.  As you know, there are many, many, many things that Claire has wanted to do for a loooooong time.  She waited years just to be old enough to play on a sports team with the other kids, go to homeschool classes with the other kids, play Upward basketball, and join the kids to play down the street.  She's still waiting for Upward {just a few more months, y'all} and it will be a while before she can say she's going down the road to play.  She doesn't realize that she is only 4!  She thinks she is 14!

But, a few weeks ago it was her turn.  Her turn to go to American Girls Club.  Yes.  A club dedicated to those over priced oh-so-cute historical dolls.  Isabel owns three.  Claire hasn't started her collection  yet.  But, she is finally old enough to join one of the clubs for homeschoolers in our area.  Thank goodness!

September was the first meeting and she was thrilled to run right into her class and jump into everything.  I stuck around to see how things went.  She's shy, believe it or not, so she jumps in quietly.  But trust me, she's happy about it!

A little craft action going on!



The girl is serious about her crafting, y'all.



Ahhhh, a finished clothes pin doll.

The girls were studying all about Kit.  She's the doll that "lived" during the depression.  Naturally, they talked about how hard life was during that time and it lent itself to a project for a local food pantry.  This pantry is in a house next to the church where the club meets {and is run by said church}.  At this point in the lesson the girls grabbed bags of food they donated and headed on a little {much longer than short} walk to the food pantry to drop off the canned goods. 

Okay.

That meant little legs that don't keep up well, had to try.

Claire walks.  But, Claire doesn't walk like other kids.

And, that does not bother her. Not yet.

Mom waited in the wings to see what would happen.

She grabbed her bag and started out the door in the line with the other girls.

Whew. Deep breath, mom.

Did she want me to help? 

Mom followed close by.

I offered to carry the bag that was knocking her balance off.

Nope mom, I got this.

She teetered and fell several times.

But, she got back up and kept going.

The other girls in the line behind her slipped past and she was soon at the end of the line.

Do you want me to carry you for a little bit?

Are your legs tired?

I can help you catch up.

No, mom.

I love to walk, mom.
Walking makes me happy, mom.



I'm not gonna lie.  This brought tears to my eyes.

It broke my heart to see her fall behind and try to run to catch up.



But, what you can't see.....what helped me get through.....she's smiling!

She doesn't care that she's behind them.

All she cares about is that she's there!

She's walking!

She's a big girl and she has way more grit than the rest of us!
The things that this child has overcome....leave me speechless.

She carried that bag and walked all the way to the house by herself.

She was late.

The other girls were heading back and the lady was already locking up the house.

But, they stopped and waited while Claire turned in her offerings.

And mom learned a very important lesson.

I've always waited on her and tried to let her do her thing without swooping in all the time to "save" her.

I really have.

As much as I want to carry her.

I don't.

Unless she asks.

And I have to remember that it isn't about my heart.

It's about hers.

And her heart?  It was good.  She was so happy that day!

I know it's hard to believe that she wasn't bummed about being left in the dust.

But, she really, really wasn't!

One day she may realize that she's different.

That she can't always keep up.

But, it wasn't that day.
And, right now, and probably forever, she doesn't want me to interfere.

So I won't.

I sucked it up and prepared to follow her back to the meeting room!

And then.

One girl made all the difference in this mom's day.

Grace {from Our Red Thread Journey} was leading the line, but she stopped before she took the first step in the direction of the church, walked to the back of the line, took Claire's hand and walked her to the front of the line.



She'd seen what the other girls weren't seeing yet.



That someone was getting left out.

When Grace took her hand and started walking, all the girls took hands and walked together!

No one left behind.

Isn't that what being an American Girl is all about?



And determined little Claire? She got another chance to be like all the other kids!

And she loved it!

And mom loved it!

Now excuse me while I go dab my  eyes.....I think my "allergies" are kicking in.  'Cause why else would my eyes be watering? 



Can't

The word can't defined this child for two and a half years.  I believe, just based on what I got when she was placed in my arms, that she heard that word, or some semblance of it, more often than not.  You can't walk, you can't run, you can't do it, you can't learn, you can't understand.....

The 30 month old handed to me, was a developmental 10 month old.  That's a huge deficit, even for an orphan and especially for one living in foster care for 24 for those 30 months.

She never uttered a word to us in her native tongue.  According to her foster mom, she only knew about ten words anyway.  They had tried to teach her.....but, she couldn't learn it. They had to tried to teach her songs and counting, but she couldn't learn that either. 

I confess, I'm not without blame.  I too have spoken in haste to tell her she can't do something.  But, she is patient with me.  She simply looks on and says, "Mama, can I try?" And the truth is, there are some things she can't {yet} do. But only some. 


And yet, that word.......the word can't,  has not found it's way into her vocabulary!

If anything, I think her beginnings have made her fighter.  She's out to prove that she can do anything you can do! 

She doesn't know how to swim.

She wouldn't put her face in the water three weeks ago.

She has to wear braces and shoes in order to walk around the pool.

And she doesn't {yet} have the upper body strength needed to keep herself above water and compensate for the low muscle tone in her legs.

But the idea that she can't be on the swim team has not occurred to her!

Thankfully, it didn't occur to our coach either!

Claire joined the swim team in early May.

She has since stopped wearing the Ducky.

And, will put her face all the way in the water.

She works with Coaches Brad, Shelby, Emily and Patrick.

But coach Jason, who also wore leg braces as a child, has taken a personal interest in her.

He talks to her and encourages her every time he sees her.

He thinks she is brave and has made it his mission to make sure she sets

 and reaches a swimming goal this season.

He'd like to see her swim the 25 meter backstroke or freestyle.

Without her Ducky.

Can't is not in his vocabulary either. 

God is good to make sure that she is surrounded by people who do not know that word!

Is it harder for a child with special needs to participate?

Sure.

Thank God for people willing to make adjustments so she CAN!

Because neither she nor I care if she swims the 25 meter anything this year,

it's just the shear fact that she got to try!

The joy that she can if she wants too!

Sidelines

Within a week of being home from China, Claire was sitting on the sidelines.  Her brothers had a baseball game.  And that was just the beginning.  You see, our kids are team players.  Baseball team, basketball team, swim team.  So, Claire?  She's spent a whole lota time on the sidelines. And, pretty much as soon as she could talk....in English, that is, she wanted to know when she could get off the sidelines and into the game! 

Today was her day!

Claire wants more than anything to play Upward basketball.  But she has to wait until this fall when she is old enough.  So, we thought we'd try Upward Soccer to warm her up.  Today was her first game!

And when they called her name, she ran through the tunnel all by her big girl self.

Mom and Dad?  Yeah, we cried like big ole babies when we saw her coming!

Because she was so proud of herself and was giving high-fives like all the other kids. 

And because we still remember the baby that came home from China.

The one that doctors told us not to count on walking.

But look at her now!

Whoever thought this would be impossible did. not. know. Claire.

Today she got off the sidelines and got in the game!

She is the smallest player on the team.  And the slowest. 

Neither of these facts occurred to her today!

She was in.the.game.

And, that was all she cared about!

Everyone was sweet about it.  They gave her a chance.

They cheered her on!

Even when she was often left behind.

So, she made sure to wave to all her fans.

On the sidelines.

Where she was not sitting today!

'Cause she?

Was in this game!

And she was lovin' it!

Until.....

She decided to come off the field in the middle of a period....... because she?

Was done!

"I'm tired now"

She pretty much did this until her coach came to get her.

And take her to the bench.

But it was still fun, and she got Best Effort for her first soccer game!

YAY CLAIRE!

You did a great job and you will sleep well!

And the princess went home and put on her tutu!

Because that's how we roll, baby!

Guess what? 

She gets to do it all over again next Saturday!