One Week Home

I could also call this one, When Will Becca Learn to Stop Making Plans?!?

We have been home with our precious girl for a whole week.   She is so wonderful. Matthew agrees. He says she is cute AND funny!  She has brought us so much joy and we are doing our best to bring her the same.  She is not able to speak much, although she seems to understand our questions and simple instructions.  We think her palate is limiting the sounds she makes….so her vocabulary currently consists of “Mama” (that’s me AND Kyle), “Maa” (That would be big brother Matthew), “Mo” for more, and “Mah” pretty much covers everything else.  Her favorite games include “peek a boo” and running round and round with Matthew. When she misses Matthew during the school day, she sits in the dining room and looks at the family photos on the wall. It’s precious. I can’t wait to get some that include Eliana!

This week has gone exactly nothing like I expected.  Due to some difficult circumstances in our church, we agreed that Kyle needed to return to work right away.  Matthew returned to school on Tuesday, so I’ve spent quite a bit of time alone with my girly. I’ve been so thankful for my sis-in-law who has been willing to drop everything and come help me at a moment’s notice!

In spite of the drastic changes to our “cocoon” this week, Eliana is adjusting so so well.  She is eating and sleeping very well. She plays alone and with us. She laughs often. She comes to us when she is scared or worried or sad or hungry or tired.  Even our social worker commented on how amazing Eliana’s adjustment seems to be after such a short time. We are so thankful for God’s provision in this area. It is so clear that he has been preparing her heart for this time.

Moving forward I don’t plan to post much here.  The goal of the blog was always to keep people up to date on our journey to “brother/sister.”  I’ll let you know how things are going after a month and when she has surgery, and maybe a year home?  And for those of you who attend church with us--you’ll probably see us sooner than expected. With everything going on, I am looking forward to being with our church family as soon as is healthy for Eliana.  For those who saw us Wednesday, thank you for kind words and also for your distance! We will continue to keep Eliana close for a while and ask everyone to give her space, even if we are in church. It turns out she is a ham in front of an audience but very nervous in more personal, one on one interactions with new people.  We want to ease her into the number of people who love her!!

We’ll never be able to thank all of you enough for the prayers and support through the years of this journey.  It has left us forever changed.