Age 3
Selah enjoys being baby Lucy's big sister. She also loves pretty dresses, reading and playing with her brothers. When Mommy and Daddy allow it, she enjoys playing with pbskids on the computer.
For any of you who are considering the possibility of adopting internationally, we would highly recommend our adoption agency--America World. We believe they are some of the best in business at taking care of families who are adopting. Their good care was particularly evident to us as we waited for our referral. Compared to other agencies out there, their communication was frequent and accurate. They did a great job of telling us only what they knew to be true, and were careful to avoid unnecessary speculation. When you're waiting for your child, believe me, you don't need to have your expectations raised falsely.
We also believe they are some of the best in the business in maintaining and developing healthy relationships with the governments of the countries in which they work. Those good relationships matter to you as adoptive parents. Furthermore, we were thoroughly impressed with our experience in-country. America World's guides are the best! They went above and beyond the call of duty to insure that we had the best possible experience.
Finally, we have been thrilled with our America World social worker Amber Lewis. She has been a wealth of information for us. While she is thoroughly professional in what she does, she is also passionate about adoption. She will do everything in her power to help families adopt orphans around the world. If you are considering international adoption, you need to check out America World!
Seven Months
Selah has experienced relatively few difficulties attaching to our family. She has bonded well with Jennifer, myself, and our two boys. We attribute that largely to the fact that she was in foster care for most of her life prior to our adopting her. It seems very apparent that her foster mom cared for her very well. It's hard to believe that she was with her foster mom longer than she has been with us up to this point. Already by this point she is part of our family. How excruciating it must have been for her foster mom to let her go.
While attachment hasn't been much of an issue so far, Selah continues to be plagued with minor illness. She hasn't had any serious health problem, but she has been almost constantly sick with flu and cold-like symptoms. Since she has been with us, her longest stretch of being well has been about three weeks. We were hoping that summer might bring less sickness, but just a couple of days ago she again became sick. Our pediatrician and adoption social worker tell us this isn't unusual for internationally adopted children.
Meanwhile there is no doubt that she is Easton and Jonas' little sister. They act like normal siblings. Last night our friends the Futrells watched them while Jennifer and I went out. When we went to pick them up, Selah had already fallen asleep. As we were getting ready to leave, Jonas started to become concerned. He asked Jennifer, "Is Selah coming with us?" Jennifer joked that maybe the Futrells would like to keep her. Jonas promptly responded, "No, she's ours!"
The Wonders of Language
We recently went back to St. Louis to attend our friend Jenny's wedding. We are really excited for Jenny, and it was a beautiful wedding. Together with several other friends, we have been praying that the Lord would provide her with a godly husband. He has done just that! It was great to see so many friends from St. Louis.
One morning after the wedding we ran into Jenny's mom in our hotel around breakfast time. She began to speak to Selah in Chinese. Other Chinese friends have tried to speak to Selah with no apparent response on her part. But she really took to Jenny's mom--there was definitely some kind of connection. In Chinese Mrs. Huang asked Selah if her breakfast was good. Selah responded by saying, "good" in English. As Mrs. Huang said other things in Chinese, Selah likewise answered in English. Apparently she still remembers at least some of her Chinese. Knowing she still remembers her Chinese makes us want to expose her further to the language. If only Mrs. Huang lived in Oklahoma City and not Chicago!
Selah's Baptism
We are filled with joy to announce that Selah will be baptized this Sunday, December 10th at the 8:30a.m. worship service at Heritage. There's no better welcome to the visible church.
