And guess who received her social security card in the mail today!?
That's right...Mia Jane Hui
...almost done with the paperwork.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
More paperwork.
Two weeks ago we received Mia's Certificate of Citizenship (COC) in the mail. She now has a document testifying to her US citizenship! It is quite official looking and this is the document that we needed in order to file for Mia's social security card. So, I printed off some forms on-line, filled out some more paperwork, gathered up several documents from China, including our adoption decree and Mia's Chinese birth certificate, passport and her COC and headed down to the US Social Security Administration office last week.
And guess who received her social security card in the mail today!?
That's right...Mia Jane Hui
...almost done with the paperwork.
And guess who received her social security card in the mail today!?
That's right...Mia Jane Hui
...almost done with the paperwork.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
It's been a while
It has been quite a long time since I have posted. It is not intentional, I have really just gotten busy doing the dailys of life as a wife and momma of four.
This past weekend, Steve had all four kiddos by himself while he allowed me to get away on a weekend women's retreat through church. It was a time of renewal for me. And it was good. It was good to have extended quiet time with the Lord. It was good to be able to sit long enough to hear from Him without responsiblities calling my name. It was good to have precious fellowship with sisters and uninterrupted conversations. It was good to have nothing to do with meal preparation and clean-up. It was good to dress and bathe only myself for 2 full days. It was good to take in His creation in such a beautiful and quiet setting. Just before I left, a friend encouraged me to have no mommy-guilt for taking this time. I did my best not to, but that does not come naturally for me.
Steve did AMAZING. He not only handled everything as a single parent of 4 while I was away, he also went to 2 grocery stores with all of them, stocked our fridge (buying only on-sale items), got them to Sunday School and church on time with everyone dressed appropriately AND he & the kids cleaned up the whole house before I got home.
I am not kidding.
When I walked into the house, I found
a clean sink,
an empty dishwasher,
all the beds made,
every toy put away,
the counters cleared,
clothes in the laundry baskets and
the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets filled.
It was such a sweet gift. It was also incredibly wonderful to receive HUGE embraces from my five most favorite people in the world. Steve did so well that I had to make sure he still needs me. He said he does. ☺
Steve is such a great daddy and it was clear that the kids all had a fabulous time with him. I made sure to send him out for some mountain biking later that afternoon so that he could refresh too...and it was the last weekend of the season at Nine Mile.
So what's new here?
Mia continues to do overwhelmingly well. We have very few battles for which I am grateful. She has absolutely no medical needs - a miracle I need to continue to remind myself of on a daily basis. She sleeps well (although sometimes naps can be very hard with lots of tears). Her teeth no longer bother her at all and she can eat all kinds of food without difficulty or pain. Mia eats normally and has a very healthy, balanced diet. She actually has lost 3 or 4 pounds since being here (probably because she finally has a healthy diet that is not filled with candy & junk food). Her receptive language continues to grow, however, Mia continues to speak very little in English.
This is one of my greatest struggles - I want to be able to have conversations with her and right now we cannot. I am the only one talking. And I am certain that cannot be much fun for her. ☺ We have no problem communicating the daily needs & activities...food, dressing, bathing, toileting, coming & going, clean-up, etc. And she is even playing UNO quite well which is shocking to me. The hard things are when I want to talk to her about the truths of life...
First and foremost I want to tell her about Jesus. I want her to know her Savior. I want her to understand His love. I want to talk with her about obedience and blessing and sin and consequences. I want to talk with her about fear and learn about her past. I want to teach her about love and trust and honesty. I want to have a conversation about manipulation and kindness and goodness. Right now talking with Mia is like talking to a 12-15 month old. She is almost 4 and a half. I know that she will pick it up quickly and that she is learning so much. Her receptive language is outstanding, but obviously the conversations you need to have with a 4 year old are much different than those you would have with a 12 month old. We'll get there, by God's grace.
Please pray that I will be patient.
Enjoy some of the photos below...
Mia continues to LOVE to dress up especially while Chloe teaches her ballet. Chloe has only been taking lessons for four weeks herself, but she has become quite the ballerina and she loves to practice. All. The. Time. And teach everyone her new moves.
This past weekend, Steve had all four kiddos by himself while he allowed me to get away on a weekend women's retreat through church. It was a time of renewal for me. And it was good. It was good to have extended quiet time with the Lord. It was good to be able to sit long enough to hear from Him without responsiblities calling my name. It was good to have precious fellowship with sisters and uninterrupted conversations. It was good to have nothing to do with meal preparation and clean-up. It was good to dress and bathe only myself for 2 full days. It was good to take in His creation in such a beautiful and quiet setting. Just before I left, a friend encouraged me to have no mommy-guilt for taking this time. I did my best not to, but that does not come naturally for me.
Steve did AMAZING. He not only handled everything as a single parent of 4 while I was away, he also went to 2 grocery stores with all of them, stocked our fridge (buying only on-sale items), got them to Sunday School and church on time with everyone dressed appropriately AND he & the kids cleaned up the whole house before I got home.
I am not kidding.
When I walked into the house, I found
a clean sink,
an empty dishwasher,
all the beds made,
every toy put away,
the counters cleared,
clothes in the laundry baskets and
the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets filled.
It was such a sweet gift. It was also incredibly wonderful to receive HUGE embraces from my five most favorite people in the world. Steve did so well that I had to make sure he still needs me. He said he does. ☺
Steve is such a great daddy and it was clear that the kids all had a fabulous time with him. I made sure to send him out for some mountain biking later that afternoon so that he could refresh too...and it was the last weekend of the season at Nine Mile.
So what's new here?
Mia continues to do overwhelmingly well. We have very few battles for which I am grateful. She has absolutely no medical needs - a miracle I need to continue to remind myself of on a daily basis. She sleeps well (although sometimes naps can be very hard with lots of tears). Her teeth no longer bother her at all and she can eat all kinds of food without difficulty or pain. Mia eats normally and has a very healthy, balanced diet. She actually has lost 3 or 4 pounds since being here (probably because she finally has a healthy diet that is not filled with candy & junk food). Her receptive language continues to grow, however, Mia continues to speak very little in English.
This is one of my greatest struggles - I want to be able to have conversations with her and right now we cannot. I am the only one talking. And I am certain that cannot be much fun for her. ☺ We have no problem communicating the daily needs & activities...food, dressing, bathing, toileting, coming & going, clean-up, etc. And she is even playing UNO quite well which is shocking to me. The hard things are when I want to talk to her about the truths of life...
First and foremost I want to tell her about Jesus. I want her to know her Savior. I want her to understand His love. I want to talk with her about obedience and blessing and sin and consequences. I want to talk with her about fear and learn about her past. I want to teach her about love and trust and honesty. I want to have a conversation about manipulation and kindness and goodness. Right now talking with Mia is like talking to a 12-15 month old. She is almost 4 and a half. I know that she will pick it up quickly and that she is learning so much. Her receptive language is outstanding, but obviously the conversations you need to have with a 4 year old are much different than those you would have with a 12 month old. We'll get there, by God's grace.
Please pray that I will be patient.
Enjoy some of the photos below...
Mia continues to LOVE to dress up especially while Chloe teaches her ballet. Chloe has only been taking lessons for four weeks herself, but she has become quite the ballerina and she loves to practice. All. The. Time. And teach everyone her new moves.
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