Schmidt Family Snapshots: 1 Month Home

How do you put into words the gratitude you feel for being given the opportunity to be family to this child? There are no words, just tears of thankfulness and a heart full of love for this one who has only been in our family for 1 month! How can it be only 1 month when it feels like she has been with us forever?!?! The Lord definitely knew what He was doing when He choose us as her family. She fits so extraordinarily well with us that only the Lord could have orchestrated it!

This past week I've felt even more thankful for her because she easily could not have been born. I read a very disturbing article (you can read about it here http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/chinese-woman-in-critical-condition-after-forced-abortion-at-18-weeks-repor) about forced abortions in Chin@. This made me hold her that much tighter each night. It made me thank God again and again for her life and His protection. We will never know the circumstances of her birth, but I am so thankful that her mother choose life and wasn't forced into doing something so terrible. My heart aches for the innocent children who don't have a choice and for the mother's that are often taken by force, beaten, drugged and induced all because of the one child policy or their inability to pay the child fines. My heart's prayer is that as word spreads about this awful, inhumane treatment that the Lord will move mightily and change hearts in Chin@.

It has been a wonderful few weeks at home. We are adjusting to having a messy, food loving toddler in the house. Ava now knows that when it is time to eat, we strip down to our diaper. Otherwise I would be doing loads and loads of laundry every day! When she is hungry, I see her trying to take off her shirt! The girl is so uncannily similar to all of us! She loves peanut butter and popcorn (two of my favorite foods!). We have not found a thing she doesn't like. Tonight after eating her own dinner, she was mooching off of Jeremy. She squealed when we gave her homemade sloppy joe's which was what Jeremy and I were eating! She is signing "more" very clearly and tonight was trying to say it! As Trevor likes to tell people "she eats like a horse!" It is such a blessing to have a child who loves any kind of food. It is rather fun to put different kinds of food in front of her, and see her gobble it down!

She is saying some words very clearly and understands us so well! She can say:
Ow (as in ouch)
Hot
Mama
Dada
TT (Trevor)
EE (Evan)
bed
bye
baby
meme (more)

She is so smart, and loves the touch and feel books. I think once she really starts talking, she probably won't stop! She already babbles quite a bit which the boys think is hysterically funny!

She is the best hug giver whether it is arms clutched tightly around your neck or around your leg. She loves to give kisses, and yesterday she was giving me kisses while we laid in bed. I was not quite awake, and she leaned over and gave me a kiss. Oh my, melt my heart!

She loves her brothers, and they love to chase her and tickle her! She loves being outside, playing in the sand box or swinging. She also loves the swimming pool. Earlier this week, she spent a good 20 minutes playing in the baby pool with a cup and watering pitcher. I was impressed that she was using toys to play and stayed with it for that long! This is huge for kids who have lived in an orphanage. At home, she is not consistently playing with toys yet. She is more interested in getting into the boys legos.

We have had several doctors appointments, and they have all gone well. Today our pediatrician commented on how well adjusted she seems having only been home a month. I'm telling you, it's like she has been ours forever!

We are trying to lay low, and help Ava adjust to life here. We learned in our adoption education training that it is best for the child if you basically cocoon once home. The child needs to learn that Mom and Dad are the only providers of love and food so that child can begin to attach and trust. This is so important for kiddos who have been institutionalized because they have had caregivers come and go. They have never experienced constant care from one or two people. We will be watching Ava to make sure that she isn't showing signs of indiscriminate affection which would indicate that she isn't attaching to us in a healthy way. Indiscriminate affection occurs when the child is seeking affection from anyone, and has not learned that mom and dad are the sole providers of love, attention, food, and care. So were are the only ones right now to hold her and feed her. This is just for a season, and we can't wait for her circle to grow and watch her develop healthy relationships with our friends and family members.