It's been almost two months since my last post and my only excuse is, well, we have been busy being a family. Darrell graduated with his MDiv from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and has been tearing things up at work, church and home with his free time (literally--our side entry gate is gone and a new one is under construction).
Luke, Katie and Chelsea have just 1.5 more days of school left, and I am working up the courage--errr---creativity to keep all of them entertained during the summer months. Our family is doing fantastic as we get to know each other and grow together since Chelsea's arrival on January 31st.
Chelsea, Luke and Katie are doing great together. Yes, they have their usual bouts of sibling rivalry, and yes, I did have to tell Chelsea that it's wonderful that you love your brother enough to stand up for him, but he being 9 years old and over 100 pounds gets quite embarrassed when his 10 year old, 60 pound sister tries to defend him when another boy in the neighborhood pool shoots him with a water gun! Teeheehee
Chelsea has had so many firsts in her first four months here. She is an amazing little girl with a huge spirit. She "runs" so fast with her walker that we have already had to replace it once. She crawls around the house and tears through pants, socks and shoes like there's no tomorrow, so we need to either be at peace with her clothing budget or I need to learn to sew. She can roller skate with the best of them and is learning to swim. Her next appointment with Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas is June 7th. We are very prayerful, eager and hopeful that they can do something to help correct her limb difference.
We are enrolling Chelsea in the 2nd grade in a very good, small private school in the fall. She will attend classes three days a week and I will home school two days a week. We are going to work together to catch her up to a 4th grade level where she should be. She speaks exclusively English very clearly and is already reading at a late first grade level! She has a tremendous vocabulary for just four short months and knows how to count American money and it's exchange rate in China. LOL She is absolutely brilliant and we are so blessed to be able to see all of her talents blossom. She can draw beautifully and pick any tune you give her out on the piano.
Chelsea is a brilliant, compassionate and caring child and we just couldn't imagine her anywhere else but with our family. That sibling rivalry thing? We will keep workin' on it and pray that it will subside. It has already gotten immensely better in the last month, so we think we are headed in the right direction.
Good night, all. God's blessings to you!
