Whew - December was a crazy month, to say the least. But, it was also an amazing month for us, celebrating Christmas with Olivia for the first time, and enjoying Ansley as she enjoyed the holidays.
The month started out kind of rough. Olivia got sick for the first time on December 1st. She ran a really high fever, but thank goodness it was just a virus. That passed quickly. We are so blessed that she has been healthy up until now, despite moving across the world with new germs and such.
We did, however, have a more serious health scare in the family. My 88 year-old uncle, Joe, had a stroke and has been in the hospital/now rehab center since December 12th. He is to be discharged on January 2nd, and we are really excited. He is doing well, but that has been heavy on my heart, and the hearts of my family members throughout the holidays. (After all, he has been like a grandfather to me growing up. Both of my grandfathers passed away before I was born.) I'm just so glad that he is doing better and back to his mischievous self! (We ended up postponing our big family Christmas celebration until he is home.)
Again, Olivia is talking more and more. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but she calls me, "Ma" and Philip, "Da eeee." She calls Ansley either "Sissy" or "Ansee." And, her favorite phrase throughout the holidays has been, "I did it!" Definitely moving in the right direction, and her new speech therapist starts with her in early January.
She is doing pretty well with her potty training and is beginning to tell us when she needs to go. I'll be glad when this is done. Potty training is my least favorite part of parenthood.
Olivia did really well during the craziness of the holidays. I had read and been told by several adoptive parents that the holidays were the hardest time of the year for their adopted children. Any time you get "out of routine," it can be hard for any child, but especially adopted children. Olivia didn't really "get it," but she enjoyed opening the presents and meeting Santa. She remained pleasant and happy the entire time, so for us, that was success. She did enjoy seeing us put up the Christmas tree with the lights and ornaments, and at first, she was taking the ornaments on and off the tree. That was interesting, to say the least.
She also participated in her first program at school. Just think: 8 months ago, she was in a small orphanage in rural China, and now she is performing on a stage in front of many people…singing in a language she doesn't know about a holiday she has no idea about. She did as I expected, and just stood there, but she didn't cry and was still really cute. :) Again, success!
Susan, Hilary, and I took Ansley to see the Rockettes. This has become a family tradition for us, and I'm really disappointed that this is their last year in Nashville. We will have to come up with something new to do next year.
As I mentioned earlier, Ansley and Olivia had their Christmas program at school. They both did outstanding. Unfortunately, Ansley wasn't feeling well the day of her program, but she pulled it off! Ansley's class recited part of the "Charlie Brown Christmas." (That's why they are dressed like Linus.) Each child had a speaking part and did outstanding memorizing their lines!! They also sang 2 songs.
I ordered these ornaments from a sweet friend of a friend, who has also adopted from China and is actually adopting again. She is an amazing artist, and I love our new ornaments.
Girlfriend has some serious bed head. We had to take a picture!
This is Olivia holding up the ornament she made for us at school. She was so proud of it, and we are, too. It is proudly displayed on our tree, just where she wanted to hang it.
I am blessed with a large family, and we enjoy getting together when we can. We still have more family to get together with once Joe's home, but here are some photos of the holidays. As I mentioned, with the new babies moving around everywhere, it is hard to get many pictures. Here are a few:
Making cookies for Santa. Olivia ate more dough than she decorated!
Christmas Eve dinner
Trying to take this picture was a fiasco. It was the best of 4. I look terrible, but that's ok.
Ansley and Olivia loved the movie, "Big Hero 6." This white fluffy doll, Baymax, is from the movie.
I think Olivia's favorite gift this Christmas was a tin of 4 chapsticks that she got from Santa. She calls them "ipstick."
Olivia spent much of Christmas jumping off the couch. She counts, "1, 2" and then "1, 2" again. Finally, she will say, "Go!" and then jumps. You better be ready!
Ansley and Olivia enjoyed meeting Santa. Olivia wasn't scared a bit. She did pull his beard and check out all of his hair, but other than that, she did great!
Philip put together a wonderful video of some of the highlights from the holidays. Enjoy!
Miss Olivia's birthday is just around the corner! She will be 3 on New Year's Day, January 1st. We had planned to celebrate with my family when we did our big family gathering, but since that's been postponed, our plans have changed. We are going to celebrate by taking Olivia to a Chinese restaurant here in Nashville on New Year's Day.
As always, thanks for reading and for supporting us. We hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends. I've been pretty emotional for the past few months with all of our "firsts." Just to see the sheer joy on her face has made me so happy. I am so blessed to be the Mommy to this special little girl, and blessed to have the support to all of our family and friends. I'm also blessed to be the Mommy to Ansley and watch her grow throughout this entire experience. We gave some special Christmas gifts this year. Some gifts that we purchased when we were in China meeting Olivia and bringing her home. Seeing these gifts and giving them brought back many of the emotions I felt while we were in China. I still can't believe that after 8 years of waiting, she is in our house, and I get to hug this little girl each and every day. God is good, and even when we don't understand His timing, He has a plan.
I pray for special blessings to all of you this holiday season,
Jill
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