Tuesday update....

Hi everyone-it's Jan typing for the first time since we got Lilly. She is napping now so I have a few moments to update you with some specific info about her. God has truly answered the many prayers which have been lifted up for this precious child over the last 5 months. We are so grateful to Him for His provision over her until we could be united with her. She is very active!!! She should fit right in with her big brothers Fulton and Ethan at home. The VSD does not seem to slow her down. She will walk while holding onto our fingers, but she is not real steady standing freely. That's exciting for us because that means we, her parents, will get to have the joy of her first independent step! She rolls on the floor to get where she wants to go. We have not seen her crawl. She loves her reflection. Thankfully our room has a large full length mirror, and she really enjoys standing up looking at herself. The floor by the mirror is a granite-type floor and is real shiny. When she is walking on it, she bends down to see her reflection- it is SO cute!!! She has made great eye contact with all of us which is a good sign of attachment. She enjoys being held and loves to rub my shirt- almost like a blankie. Very sweet. She is very tickelish and has laughed out loud several times!! So precious! She has a beautiful smile which we have waited 5 months to see because she never really smiled in any of the orphanage pictures. I am so in awe of the goodness of our Heavenly Father. All glory and honor and praise are His.

Lilly was called "Su Su" in the orphanage. Her Chinese name is Kai Shu, but the "Shu" is pronounced "Su" (like Sue) so we have been calling her Su Su or Lilly Su Su. Shelby said we could call her Lilly Sue at home, but she may not like that when she is older- LOL! Many of you remember that she had some reports of respiratory issues while we were waiting to get her. She does have a wheeze. Nurse Jan brought her stethoscope, but sometimes the wheeze is audible without it. She is not sick now per the orphanage doctor nor does she act sick at all. I called The Pediatric Clinic yesterday to talk with Joy (my favorite nurse) about the wheezing because Dr. Macpherson had actuallly suspected that she was wheezing from the medical info we shared with her at our consultation appt. Dr. Mac gave me a prescription for a bronchodialator. I wanted to know whether I should give her the medicine even if the wheeze was not affecting her. Joy said that I should not give it unless her breathing is affected. So Lilly may have asthma, but we will have to wait until Dr. Mac can check her out. Lilly also sweats a lot! In China, they believe in dressing the babies very warmly. Lilly's outfit from the orphanage when we got her was fleece on the inside. She and I were both drenched when we got back to the hotel. The orphanage Dr. said keep her dressed warm so she won't "get a cold". I didn't argue about that, but of course a cold or respiratory infection is caused by a virus or bacteria not the cold weather. And believe me, it is FAR from cold here now!!

Shelby and Katie are doing great! They have been real troopers with little if any complaining! Our family has adopted Phillipians 2:14 as our motto. "Do everything without complaining or arguing." So far the Holy Spirit has really been equipping them to obey God's word.

She is still sleeping. She is very tiny but many Chinese people that we have seen are very small. Her hands and feet are probably the size of a typical 6 month old in the US. We haven't weighed her yet, but the measurement from the orphanage regarding her feet was incorrect. I purchased sizes 4 and 5 for her, but the 4 tennis shoe slides off easily even when double knotted. She actually kicked it off at breakfast this morning. They have cute shoes here called "squeaky shoes" because they squeak when the child walks. We will have to get her a few of those.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers, love, and support. This is amazing and we are truly blessed to have been chosen by God to be Lilly's mama and baba. (Chinese words for mom and dad)