Six Weeks with Gabriella....simply amazing!

The first day

The first week



A second week...filled with more new beginnings








The third week




Week number four:)







A very special fifth week!



Week number six!
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It's amazing to think we have had Gabriella in our life for just six weeks! It truly feels like she been with us forever! She fits in so perfectly with our family! The first day Sun Wenhao was placed in our arms she was a very upset and confused little girl. The love she had for her foster parents was very evident and she grieved several days for them. It was hard watching her go through the grieving process and our hearts were broken with hers. In time, our sad little girl began to open up like a flower; with each week she is allowing us to see more and more of her beautiful personality that God has created in her.
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Gabriella called us Mama and Baba (daddy in Chinese) from day one. Her foster parents had prepared her well showing her pictures of our family. When we would skype with the boys she was fascinated with them and especially liked our youngest cat Nemo however she started calling him Mo while were in China. In just six short weeks she now says hiiiiiiii, hello, mo-mewo, bye-bye with a princess wave, papaw, gmaw, gaga (Teresa's grandma), naiel (Daniel), night night with the cutest southern accent you have ever heard and wuv you. She understands 95% of what we say to her and we use sign language for the other 5%. She will try to say almost any word we ask her to say and when she says her prayers at night it is just precious!
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Gabriella's relationship with her brothers is one of the most precious things we have ever been a part of. She loves to play with Nicholas ~ she follows him everywhere when he is home and he is very patient and loving with her. Jordan enjoys saying her prayers with her at night, does an excellent job putting her in the car seat, fixes her breakfast and always calls her princess and she just smiles from ear to ear. Daniel and Gabriella's relationship has come a very long way! In the beginning she was pretty shy with Daniel...well, if you know Daniel he is pretty strong willed and he did not like that at all; as Gabriella is also strong willed we joked that they had met their match! Daniel's persistence paid off and now Gabriella screams with excitement each time Daniel walks in the door. She loves for him to hold her, carry her places and will even cuddle up with him when he is doing homework on his laptop. When anyone leaves, except mom, she will give them kisses and tell them bye bye; she doesn't like mom to leave at this point and this is one we are working through.
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Playing outside is one of Gabriella's favorite things! Going for walks, to the park and playing with the boys are things she loves to do! Shopping is something this little one loves and ohhhh does that make this mama happy! When we go shopping and pull into the local mall she screams with delight clapping her hands, smiling and is filled with excitement; a contrast to shopping with the boys. She also loves looking at pictures; I'm thinking once my thesis is written I will introduce her to scrap booking as she also enjoys making things with pictures as well:)
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I could honestly write for days about all the little details of her first six weeks with us! She is simply amazing! I can say with all the years of talking about adopting a little girl from China, praying about it, twist and turns in the road that led me to believe there was a possibly it may not happen....I would not change a thing! We were united with Gabriella in God's perfect timing! We didn't plan on starting our paper work until the fall of 2009 yet God asked us to start it a year earlier....we have learned such a priceless lesson in how everything in life isn't about our timing but God's perfect timing and we couldn't be more thankful!