Kylie Grace's 1st Month

The blessings and joys that we have experienced with Kylie Grace over these past few weeks are almost indescribable. Each day we see new pieces of her lovable personality; each week brings amazing advances... such a great reminder of what a good dose of love and attention can accomplish!

We have survived a month of doctor's visits and lab work, medical consults and exams. We discovered that the medical information from the orphanage was not complete as Kylie's cleft palate was already repaired. Why we were not told is a mystery; but, it appears to have been done well and it saves us and her from having to deal with that surgery now. There will, of course, still be surgeries in the future and much speech therapy starting soon. But, we are grateful that the cleft palate repair is one less thing we have to worry about.

The video above is a slideshow of our first full month at home as a new family. We hope you enjoy it -- the pictures capture many of the hilarious Kylie faces that keep us in stitches most of the time. (Note: You will want to pause the background music when you watch the video because it has it's own soundtrack -- just scroll until you find the iPod image on the right side of the page, then click the pause button)

We are humbled and grateful that she is adapting so well. Thank you all for your prayers -- we have surely felt the covering of God's grace that so many were soliciting on our behalf.

Thankful,

Hank, Cheryl, Kelsey, Kennan & Kylie Grace

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe that it has only been 12 days since we stepped onto American soil with our newest family member. So much has happened in that short period of time -- it feels as though we've been home for months. The flights went amazingly well, praise God, and we arrived safely, with all of our luggage intact, and all of our souvenirs unscathed.

Kylie took to her new home right away. Even the first night home, she wasted no time exploring all of the rooms she could find. With each passing day her comfort level has grown, both with her surroundings and with each of us. We are quite certain that she has danced, giggled, run and played outside more in the past 12 days than all of her previous three years combined. She is... we all are... having a ball getting to know each other!

The first week home was busy with doctor visits and other medical stuff. There will be more of those in the coming weeks as we plan for her cleft palate repair. That will be the first "major" procedure that she will have done, although it doesn't appear to be as extensive as we had thought. Otherwise, she seems to be doing very well from a medical perspective.

As we move forward through the next few months, communication will be our main focus. She has begun to attempt a few English words and phrases. We know she understands much more than what she can say. But, for the most part she is still "talking" to us in sign language (pointing) and grunts. It's cute to a point; but hopefully soon, words will begin to emerge from that adorable little face.

I could go on for quite awhile with some hilarious stories -- but it's bedtime. So for now, please enjoy some fun pictures posted below.

Oh and by the way... GO GATORS!!!!!

Hank