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Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Sophia's Child Dedication

On the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, Dave and I had Sophia dedicated to the Lord by my dad, Rev. Jim Christian, at our church here in PA.  We believe that all of our children are a gift from the Lord and are on loan to us from Him.  We desire to raise each of our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and so we have them publicly dedicated to God in front of our church family in order to provide us with accountability and encouragement in our efforts.  It was such a blessing to have my parents there, and to be surrounded by our friends at Jonestown Bible Church who have been such a blessing to us on our journey to bring Sophia home.  Many thanks to Maryellen Corrado for taking some photos for us while we were up front.  Surprisingly, Sophia hammed it up and enjoyed her moment in the spotlight...we thought for sure she would pitch a royal fit in front of so many people!!  The pretty dress she is wearing was made for Sophia by a dear lady at my parents' home church in DE.  It's hard to see, but it is absolutely adorable. We are so blessed!





Children are a blessing from the Lord!!
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Sunday, September 18, 2011

Three Months Home

Today marks three months since we landed in New York and began forever with Sophia in the United States.  Some days it seems like she has been with us forever.  She was definitely hand picked by God for our family, as she fits in so well.  We were told before we got her that she didn't like loud noises and we were a bit concerned as we have four very loud sons.  Well, this girl can make noise right along with her brothers, let me tell you!  She's just a Fisher through and through!

This month--in fact, literally this past week!--Sophia has made made some huge steps in her development.  No pun intended...she literally got up spontaneously last Monday night and started walking across the room all by herself!  It caught us all off guard, but we were so excited, and she is SO proud of her accomplishment!  She continues to walk regularly, strengthening her legs and her confidence daily.  This is all without any therapy yet, as her IEP meeting is scheduled for this coming Wednesday, and therapies will begin after that.

Last weekend we also moved Sophia out of the pack 'n play and into her twin bed.  She has done wonderfully with the transition, and we are so proud of her.  Additionally, in the eating and drinking department, we changed her bottle to one that makes her suck harder to get the milk, and is squatty like a sippy cup, in hopes that she will eventually wean to a sippy cup instead of the bottle.  She immediately noticed the change and stuck her nose up at it, but eventually took the bottle since she wasn't going to get her beloved milk any other way!  We have totally run out of the rice milk powder from Taiwan and are just putting baby cereal in her milk for fortification, and she doesn't seem to mind.  Our baby girl is growing up!

At the pediatrician this month, Sophia showed a weight gain of about 4 pounds and a 2 inch height increase.  Her doctor was very pleased by this.  We have several appointments coming up for Sophia in the next couple of months including a neurologist and a feeding clinic.  We have found that Sophia is quite resistant to doctor and therapist "types", not matter if she is the patient or someone else, so please pray for good visits with minimal meltdowns!  :)  We don't expect to find out anything new from these visits, but they will help us understand her better and give us baseline data that we can then build upon as she grows.

I will leave you with some of my favorite photos from this last month.  We are so thankful for our beautiful daughter.  She is a joy and delight, and we feel privileged to be her parents.  Thanks for your continued encouragement on our journey!

Sophia celebrated Labor Day in this beautiful dress embroidered with the flag of her new home country.

This isn't the best picture, but it shows how beautiful Sophia is in the color brown.

This was at Mom Mom and Pop Pop's house...she made the kissing motion for the first time on this bear!

My happy girl!!



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Thursday, September 15, 2011

Just Because...


Isn't she beautiful?

She's had a busy week...stay tuned this weekend for a three month home post to see what she's been up to!!


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