Wordless Wednesday

Unexpected Blessing

For some time now Abby has been saying prayers that include thanking God for all of her cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. Often she even names them...and there are many to name :) She loves having a family, and we love that she is part of our family. It wasn't long until her prayers began including a request for brothers and sisters - and then thanking God in advance for those brothers and sisters He would give her.

Back in the early Spring we discovered from conversations with Abigail that she had lived with a foster family before the spinal cord stroke. She lost this family because they could no longer care for her, and she returned to the orphanage after 2-3 months in the hospital. The foster family was also caring for a little girl close to Abby's age - and Abby would call her "my sister." We began inquiring about this little girl through our adoption agency - only to find that she was being and is now adopted by a family. We were able to make contact with this family, and hopefully when the little girl is ready she and Abby will be able to keep in touch.

The Father has given us a great love - a passion for the orphan and especially those sons and daughters in China. Our prayer has always been and continues to be that He would provide for us to return to China and bring home another daughter - a sister for Abigail. We were hopeful to complete that long paperwork process by the year marker of having Abby at the end of this year, and possibly travel to China again in late 2011.

However, God often has a different schedule. What is that line from the movie Bella? Something like, "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans." We have found this to be so true! He continues to amaze us. Our current unexpected blessing is a child growing in my belly - as Abby proudly tells everyone. The Father has heard her (and our) prayer for brothers and sisters...and He has chosen to act very swiftly...come March 2011 there will be a new addition to this Weaver family :)

At Home Recovering

Abby had a visit from Uncle Sonny and Aunt Nell on Friday.
She still wasn't very talkative, but had some smiles!

Today we woke to a much more energized little girl.
Our Abby is almost back to normal.

Abby wanted to walk in her chair today, color, and even play a little.

That smile appears to be back!

Abigail is on a 10 day liquid diet - today is day 3. She is going to lose some serious weight because she only eats about 3 tbsp at time maybe 3 times a day.
She does drink lots of juice and water though.
After 10 days she can move up to soft foods, but still no utensils or straws in the mouth.

It sure is nice to see her smile and hear her laugh again :)

In the Hospital

After many tears, Abby got her hospital pjs on and the long wait began. Her new kitty Marmie and Little Mermaid were her companions. She was scheduled to go back to surgery at
12:30 p.m. - but the surgery before her lasted a lot longer than expected.
She went back at about 3:00 p.m. and "silly juice"
was administered about 30 minutes before that.

Abby returned from surgery with Marmie still masked!

Settling into her room for the night Nannie and Gami told her goodnight :)

Thursday morning we learned that we could go home!
Abby enjoyed 2 early movies and all of her gifts.

Revision Palate Surgery

We will be heading to Children's Medical Center of Dallas for Abigail to have corrective surgery on her palate. Apparently the surgery was done incorrectly when she was 2-3 yrs old - which has limited her ability to speak many consonants clearly.

This will be her first overnight stay in a hospital since a year ago in China when she was hospitalized for her paralysis. She was hospitalized for 2-3 months. And we have recently learned that she had a foster family prior to becoming paralyzed. She was only with them for a short time, but they are one of her strongest memories. When she was hospitalized for the paralysis she lost them because they could no longer care for her. As you can see, she associates much fear and loss with both doctors and hospitals.

We have seen such new confidence in her at doctor visits. She is no longer afraid and even likes seeing many of them very much : ) We pray that this surgery will not be a setback for her.

The surgery is at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday June 23rd. It should last about 2 1/2 hours. We will have to stay at least one night in the hospital. Please be in prayer for her:
- that her fears would be calmed
- that she would understand that we are her forever family
- that she would rest and heal from the surgery
Thank you in advance for your prayers!

Day 2 of Summer

It was time for some fun with water on this 2nd day of Summer!

Abby was yelling "I love it...I love it!!!"

Abby received this little animal pool set a while back from Gami, and we are finally putting it to use. Last night we told her that she would get to play in it today and she said, "I want to get Mommy and Daddy wet a lot. " And she did just that. On this 2nd day of Summer 2010 we had a lot of fun with water!

Coming indoors was a little chilly!
Thanks to Bear and Rhonda she had a great big princess towel to wrap up in :)

Last Day of Spring

It has been feeling like summer for a while now, but today it is officially the last day of Spring.