***** THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME WE MET OUR BABY******
Sister & Brother being silly
She LOVES to kiss!!
Today it just hit me. Laurel has now been with us for 5 months. NO WAY it has been that long. The first picture I posted is of the first time we ever met her. Wow was that an exciting time but also terrifying. I will admit, after sitting and hearing her LONG list of medical "issues" that I wasn't sure if I was ready to meet her. How thankful I am that God gave me the courage to keep moving forward. Most of the "issues" they said she had she doesn't. Anyway, I just wanted to give a little 5 month progress report on how Miss Priss is doing.
1. She went from walking like a baby to running like a 2 yr. old
2. She went from hearing nothing to hearing with her hearing aids and understanding a large amount of what we say.
3. She went from SCREAMING all the time, not mad just communicating, to having about 150 either words or signs of meaningful communication.
4. She went from not understanding what a puzzle was or how to match anything to mastering 4 puzzles.
5. She went from eating till she was overfull and spitting up to actually goofing off at the table and leaving some on her plate.
6. She went from completely being diapered to now telling me when she has to potty.
7. She went from not understanding what a hug and kiss is to kissing you all the time.
8. She went from institutional rocking when she got upset and to put herself to sleep to allowing us to rock her to sleep.
9. She went from never hearing about God to signing and singing "Away in a Manger" and God is love Bible verse.
These are just a few of the major milestones that this brave girl has accomplished in the 5 short months she's been here. And they say she is special needs...... Hah. Someone forgot to tell her! :)
I want to publicly praise God for bringing our Ukrainian princess into our lives. Yes, I won't lie to you. Some days it's hard, really hard, but it has been so rewarding to watch this little soul grow and blossom. We have really had minimal transitional issues with Laurel and I know that isn't typical of adoptions but I am thankful to God for this. Noah & Laurel have also seemed to find a happy medium and are really doing great as brother and sister.
Are we there yet? Absolutely not. It is a constant work in progress (as raising kids always is) and we have some really big decisions to make coming up in the next few months about Cochlear Implants and her Chiarre Malformation, which we would really appreciate your prayers for. But..... we are getting there.Thanks for indulging me. I just had to brag on my baby girl.
Ok..... I know this isn't the most flattering picture of Laurel but you have to admit it is hilarious! Noah has this sneaky look on his face like he's going to try and rock her off the horse (which he would when left to his own devices!) 
