Lots of Good and a Little Bit of Less Good

It has been a great few weeks, despite the fact that we continue to battle sickness around here.  Last week was a loooooong week as Brad had to be at church several evenings helping to install a new sound board.  We made it through and even managed a special family outing - eating at a restaurant!  This was our first time taking all three out for dinner and it went amazingly well.  It wasn't relaxing or anything but we had fun and the kids did great...and I didn't have to cook, so that was a bonus!

Hannah has not been able to spend too much time with either of our families because of sickness, but she sure is warming up to everyone!  Here she is with her Aunt Jo - don't they look like best buddies?

The days have been so good! Hannah is signing so many things - more, all done, tub, potty, eat, and she is even trying to say some of these words!  She is so happy when she signs something and I understand her - her little face just lights up!

I must admit it was a bit concerning to see Hannah's muscle tone when we first met her, to realize that even sitting up was hard for her at 18 months old.  We didn't know what the coming months would look like.  There was even a point when I asked the physical therapist if she believed Hannah would walk one day...that's how uncertain it seemed at times.  The physical therapist replied that Hannah seems very determined so she expected her to walk, though it might be 6 months or more and she may need orthodics for her feet and lower legs (to help them align correctly so she doesn't get hurt).

In the last week we have seen just how determined our little girl is!  She is on the move, people!  The other night she pulled herself up to standing in the tub without any help.  I was amazed!  Then yesterday she got up on all fours a ton of times and even moved forward a little bit.  We were cheering her on so much and the look on her face was priceless :)  I think she'll be crawling all over very soon.  It is exciting to see her making so much progress so quickly!

The "little bit of less good" in our lives right now is sleep.  Or, rather, the lack of sleep.  With sickness comes lots of nighttime wakings.  Boo!  Add that to the fact that Hannah seems to be doing a lot of grieving and we've been having some very difficult nights.  Poor baby girl wakes up instantly screaming, angry, inconsolable...totally different from the day.  She doesn't seem to show any signs of not feeling well in the day, so I don't think it's that.  She is just sad.  It's totally understandable, and actually a good sign that she is grieving as it means she was attached to her foster family and is attaching to us.  It's still hard though.  I think we were up over 10 times last night between the 3 kids and we just had to laugh this morning about it (because otherwise we will cry!!!).

I know this is just a season, I know there will come an end to the sickness, I know that one day my babies won't be babies anymore and they won't need me in the middle of the night, so as strange as it seems I'm just taking this time for what it is, holding them close, and being thankful that I'm the one who gets to comfort them.  Over...and over...and over again...all night long...

There's nowhere I'd rather be!