Oh, the difference a year makes! Today marks the first anniversary of Diamond and Florence's first day with their new family. I brought them home late Christmas Eve night one year ago and the first day they spent with us was Christmas day. It is unbelievable how much 
they have changed. We could hardly understand them when they first came. Diamond and Florence were both horribly mean to the other children and they didn't trust us at all. It was so difficult for me. So much more so than I had anticipated. It has definitely been a rough year, but the changes are phenomenal. They have both grown about six inches. They speak almost perfect English. Florence still is somewhat difficult to understand when 
she speaks quickly because she has a noticeable overbite. Florence has turned into an angel. She has done a complete 180. She is no where near the same child that I brought home a year ago. She has a special spirit and I have no doubt Heavenly Father meant her to be my daughter. Diamond rarely has tantrums and is slowly but surely losing his entitlement issues. They are both loving and delightful. They are 100 percent my kids now. I often think how it must have been for them a year ago to meet the skinny white woman that was going to be their mother and take them to a far away land where people actually ate things besides rice. I can only imagine how terrifying all of that must have been. But they came willingly. I have been far from the perfect mother. But somehow they have managed to love me and attatch to me. It has been one of the greatest, yet most difficult experiences of my life. 
they have changed. We could hardly understand them when they first came. Diamond and Florence were both horribly mean to the other children and they didn't trust us at all. It was so difficult for me. So much more so than I had anticipated. It has definitely been a rough year, but the changes are phenomenal. They have both grown about six inches. They speak almost perfect English. Florence still is somewhat difficult to understand when 
she speaks quickly because she has a noticeable overbite. Florence has turned into an angel. She has done a complete 180. She is no where near the same child that I brought home a year ago. She has a special spirit and I have no doubt Heavenly Father meant her to be my daughter. Diamond rarely has tantrums and is slowly but surely losing his entitlement issues. They are both loving and delightful. They are 100 percent my kids now. I often think how it must have been for them a year ago to meet the skinny white woman that was going to be their mother and take them to a far away land where people actually ate things besides rice. I can only imagine how terrifying all of that must have been. But they came willingly. I have been far from the perfect mother. But somehow they have managed to love me and attatch to me. It has been one of the greatest, yet most difficult experiences of my life. 
My sister Janey took some great pictures of the family at Thanksgiving time and gave me a disc as part of my Christmas present. We also have a family tradition of doing themed scrap book pages for each family. We draw names amongst families and then that is our gifts to each other. It is a great tradition, but Janey's are always above and beyond. Her gift was so sweet. She even wrote a song to go with it. Here are the scrapbook pages:
Listen to the song here: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DPi1KrsIeYyU&h=15d14f7d3e6d8400e90d9d4b9a59f892
3 comments:
Jessica,
It was great to read your most recent posts. Those pictures are priceless.
Beth
Merry Christmas! Thanks for helping to make ours more wonderful. That robe is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Lincoln wouldn't take it off. He wore it all day and all night until it got slimed with ice cream and I convinced him to take it off! I'm glad you made it through Christmas w/o Brian. You're amazing.
Jessica,
What a great gift! You are a tough woman and you will make it through this! Hang in there and give Brian our well wishes.
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