Has it really only been two weeks?

We continue to be amazed at the way Kristen is fitting into our family. It almost feels like she has just been here! She almost ALWAYS has a smile on her face! I think that is what we have been asked most. "Is she always this smiley?" We just laugh and say yes! Her resilience is incredible.

I cannot imagine getting picked up and moved away from everything imaginable that is familiar and taken on a way-too-long airplane ride and planted down in the middle of a family. This is Kristen's experience, yet she seems to be happy here. We prayed that she would realize this was her family and home and it seems like she gets it.

I felt like we had a milestone this week when I was being goofy and she laughed at me. We have had several times where we have just danced and laughed together and it is so good!

It seems like she is understand a lot of what we say this week. She is standing in front of me right now with three blocks and just said "one, two, three." Amazing. Her other for sure English words are momma, , hi, bye-bye, pizza, please, Kee-Kee for Katie, Daniel (in her own way), Tiger (one of our cats, and the word of the week in our house: pee-pee. Daniel has decided that he is going to be potty trained. So, we are talking a lot about pee-pee this week. She has caught on. ;)

She is sleeping in her own bed and doing really well with that. Katie is done with school tomorrow and I know they are going to have lots of fun this summer.

We continue to praise God for the way this transition is going. I will add more pictures soon of my smiley girl.

Home a week!

We had Play-Doh night tonight! Kristen had lots of fun with it as you can see!

It has been a week since Kristen arrived home to the United States! What a week this must have been for her as her entire world has been turned upside down. Her resilience and courage have struck me over and over this week. I am so proud of her.

In a lot of ways, she seems to fit right in with our family. Disrupting "birth order" is a big thing to some agencies, but I think this has worked well. She does fit nicely in between Katie and Daniel - I just wasn't ready to have Daniel not be my baby, anyway. She loves to follow Katie and imitate her - this is not always a good thing, but very cute. Daniel has accepted her as a sister and initiated her by hitting, kicking and generally being a pain of a little brother.

I can only imagine what must be going through her head as we took our first trip to Target, our first trip to the mall and more. She was so excited to get Hello Kitty underwear and a bathing suit at Target.

This summer is going to be so fun to see all her "firsts" with us - and maybe ever! We have had the sprinkler on several times already as it has been hot here. She was not sure about it the first night, but ran through with me and played around the edges the second time. Bikes and sidewalk chalk outside were a hit, as were bubbles.

She talks away in Korean - I wish we knew what she was saying! Poong-Poongie - a Korean kids show - is the current hit DVD in our house. She just lit up when she saw it and sings and dances along.

She has eaten pretty much everything we have had to eat - with the exception of peas. And really, how many kids eat peas? We made a Korean meal - bi bim bap - one night and she seemed to like it. I'm sure it is different than in Korea, but she seemed to recognize the idea of it.

She usually has a smile on her little face and sometimes I can't believe she is finally here with us!