My niece

My new niece.............Words cannot begin to describe how precious she is. Watching her brings so much joy to my heart. Not only watching her............but watching Brad and Cindy with her. Its like they have always been together. 

She came into Yaya's house at Thanksgiving kissing everyone. She has a sweet little spirit that you can feel as soon as she enters the room. She makes my heart melt. 

When children get adopted we tend to think how lucky the child is to be adopted by such a wonderful family.....and I so agree........but being involved and watching this precious angel enter our family...............It makes me think we are the lucky ones. She is such a huge blessing from God.  And GUESS WHAT I'M HER AUNT........HOW BLESSED AM I? 

                                                 Tara

The Good Life

We are having so much fun together...

Ani has been such a CHAMP...

She is sleeping well, she is eating, and she is HAPPY...

She enjoys all the little things life offers and is quickly giving us all a new perspective...

Transition (for Ani and us) hasn't been all easy...

But the good times definitely out weigh the hard times...

Brushing her teeth each morning and night is no fun...

It hurts her, we try, we struggle, she cries... we hug and hope next time is easier.

Getting her out of bed each morning is a treat... she is always so happy :)

Trying to figure out what healthy food she will eat isn't always easy...

Letting her have her first Oreo is so fun :)

Interpreting if her not so wonderful behavior is related to being in a new place and situation, or related to her history, or related to the fact that she is a two year old is confusing and hard...

Receiving sweet hugs and kisses out of the blue from her is like heaven :)

We are all learning and enjoying the journey...

Here are some of my favorite pictures of our recent time together...

She is eating GRAPES!  This is a big deal... In China she ate every fruit we gave her, but it has taken us two weeks to get her to try American fruit...

She finally gave in and tried her chicken...  she thinks chicken is boring too :)

Ani has a funny "big step" walk she does when she is silly...  she loves to  be silly...

Ani runs to Brad when he gets home from work each night...
She loves him ... and he loves it!

Just a typical afternoon where Luke is scaling our rock wall with his weapon... part of being tough

We went fishing at a friends cabin... Luke caught 2 fish including this nice bass

Hope talked to the fish she caught...

Eli collected clam shells and found every stick in a 3 mile radius... he had a blast!

Both girls played with the bait...  must be a sister thing

Our big kids had a school performance this past week.... they all did great.  Hope was a natural star & loved performing :)

My kids all together!

Random picture, but I love it...
Hope has become a reader...
I am so thankful, because it has been work getting here...






Life is good :)))

Small Steps... in a New World

We have had a full weekend...
We have stayed home, but stayed very busy :)
 
Our little Ani is too much fun...
Our normal is still so new to her...

She got her nails painted for the first time, and squealed in delight.  She was so happy...
After she had looked at them for several minutes she walked around the house with her arms outstretched and fingers spread wide just admiring them and sharing their beauty with the rest of us...

 

The boys made a tent with Ani and played forever...she absolutely LOVED it...  

Since we have been home Ani has been sensitive to change in terrain..  
She pauses when she steps from our tile floor to the wood floor.  She handles it very quietly and does what makes her comfortable to cross...
No fussing just cautious... 


Well, I didn't even realize that we have a couple cracks in our driveway...
Ani, noticed...

This is amazing to me because it's a big enough deal to my girl that she crawls over on her hands and feet, but she doesn't say a word about it.  
She just pauses, plans, and conquers.  

Makes me wonder what else she see and feels as big that I don't even notice...

She is brave and could just conquer these things on her own...
that's what she has had to do in the past...

But I am hoping and praying that she is beginning to understand that Brad and I are here and ready to help her take on the world...

I desperately want her to understand that she is NOT alone...

After almost three years of taking care of herself this leap may take some time...

 

HOME :)

We have been home for one week!

Ani is amazing and is adjusting to her new world so quickly...

She absolutely loves all the attention she is getting from her siblings.  It is so fun to watch them together.  I knew Hope, Luke, and Eli would do well with her, but was surprised by how much they truly LOVE her.  From day one they have been head over heels in love with their new little sister. They just can't get enough of her...

They take turns holding her hand and walking around the house...

and have started rotating who gets to sit by her during meals and in the car..

She is little Miss Popular to say the least.  

Brad and I are enjoying this happy sibling relationship knowing it may not last forever...

 


Ani is a very strong,  extremely smart, and amazingly brave girl.  She is full of life and knows how to have fun.
I am constantly wowed by how willing she is to try so many new things.  And how she is able to function during so many drastic changes happening in her life. 




She makes it look so easy...
 

 
One example... 
she screamed and cried all the way home from the airport because she had to be strapped into her care seat...
This was understandable...she had never in her life been in a car seat.   
It was traumatic for us all...
I prepared myself and my other kids for our next outing and the pain that might accompany the car seat requirement for Ani.   
To our surprise she smiled while getting into the car seat, and didn't fuss during the entire drive...  what in the world??? I didn't get it...
But it was like she got it...
She understood that the car seat was temporary and knew that she would get out...
Just amazing to me...

Part of me still can't believe she is here...  After so much waiting... she IS now part of our family.  
All the anticipation, all the wondering, dreaming... 
And the crazy part is that we have only been with her for about 3 weeks but it feels like a lifetime.
She fits perfectly into our crazy mix...
She adds so much joy, and challenges us all...
She is a Wells and It feels so right!

Thanks for all your love and support.  I will try to be better about posting updates...