{ 1 Month Together }

I can hardly believe that we have only been with Olivia for 1 month. It truly does seem so much longer then that. This sweet girl we met 30 days ago has blossomed more then I ever imagined a child of her age could or would even want to. What a brave girl she is and to trust us so soon is more then I could ask for. I know that she is worried about pleasing me. She wants to do everything right. I always tell her that it is ok when something doesn't go as planned. We hug her and tell her we love her and it seems to be ok after that. It hasn't really happened too often because she really is an easy child at this point. I know that once she is able to talk more that the tears might come about things that she wants to share. I'm prepared for that and actually, I'm waiting for that to happen. She is understanding much of what we say or use gestures for and she is trying her hardest to communicate back. She has "thank you and your welcome" down to a perfection and it is so sweet to hear her say it.

She is a beautiful child with a heart of gold. I truly believe she adores Sophia. The laughter and giggles that comes from their side of the house is priceless to me. They play dolls, dance, look at books together and spend quite a bit of time coloring and drawing. Olivia has done so well in school, that we are going to start full days the last week of March. She does well with Andrew and Daniel, but there is no doubt that she prefers to be with Sophia. She tells me she loves me all the time now and I continue to answer her back in both Mandarin and English. She pretty much has our daily routine down and seems to be fine with it all. I can hardly wait for our trip to Maui and for the weather here to begin to be nice so I can get them all outside and show her everything that we do. Some of the best moments with her are when I give her simple directions. For example, one night last week I told her to go upstairs and tell Sophia that dinner was ready. I made it very simple. She looked at me and said OK and then proceeded to run up the stairs yelling Sophia and then went into full blown mandarin followed by Momma, eat and come. It was priceless and I was cracking up as I listened to the whole thing. Well either Sophia didn't get what she was saying or didn't want to listen to her because before I knew it Olivia was coming back down there stairs saying Sophia and then talking in mandarin telling me that Sophia was not listening to her. It was so obvious that she was annoyed with the fact that Sophia did not listen to her. It was hilarious to say the least. Many times we look at each other and laugh because she knows I have no clue what she is talking about and many times she does the same to me. She is such a good sport. However, she also knows when it is time to listen. I can see that when I have to get on the boys about something that she will whisper to Sophia and they both act really good. She is a very smart girl. That is one thing I know for sure!

Olivia is also quite independent. She can go and play alone in her room and does not seem to worry as much where I am in the house now. She still seems to love all things girly and I can't wait to see what she think of the boat, swimming pool, our hot wheel cars, dressing up for photoshoots with me and just hanging out during the summer months. I know that not all adoptions of older children go this well, but I do believe that you should not be fearful of it. That if you are prepared and can be realistic about what to expect, then things will be fine. I believe that the Lord knows where all these precious children are suppose to go and He knew exactly what He was doing when He led me to Livi last June. I always knew I would find her. I just never expected that she would be 7 years old. But she is perfect for me and I pray that she thinks I am perfect for her. Life feels so complete with her here. I wish many of you could see us and see how we are on a daily basis. We are just one big family trying to enjoy life and do what we are called to do. It really does seem peaceful here in our crazy, hectic life! ;)