Growing Snowflowers

Our 'Waiting Child'It's been almost two years since we first laid eyes on our sweet Paisley, and as this anniversary of her referral date draws nearer I have to say a few words about how grateful I am that she was chosen to be part of our family, and that the decision was made in the Heavens, out in the great Universe...and by whatever means on that day in November 2007 we got THE call...not the CALL, but quite literally THE call.

10 months earlier we had submitted our medical conditions checklist with our agency with the hopes that we would be approved to adopt another daughter from China. We knew when we began the paperwork that this would be the route we chose. Things were changing in China and the need for adoptive families for children with medical, physical and/or developmental needs was now more prevalent and more accessible and we felt that we could honor a child who had needs outside the realm of what was considered 'normal'.

Of course our parents were concerned for us, but we assured them we knew what our limitations were and that we had thoroughly researched all the conditions we were 'open' to. Funny thing is...when that call came from our agency, Paisley's 'condition was not even on their list let alone ours! Her file had severe mistranslations and her condition was not researchable, we relied on the advice of the adoption doctors and faith that this little girl needed us!

Her 'special need' was a birth defect on the back of her skull that was 'assumed' to be extremely serious...I won't go into macabre details, but her prognosis was 'fair' at best.

When we saw her we knew instantly that she was meant to be in our family, even after speaking with several of the most respected names in International Adoptive Medicine who had deep concerns for her welfare, we committed to this little child and forged forward in an endeavor to bring her home as soon as possible.the Director obviously had a sense of humor when he sent this update photograph!

In March 2007 we travelled to China to bring sweet Paisley Rose home, she grieved heavily for the first week, screaming for her foster mother and scratching her body unrelentlessly until we could barely see skin beneath the welts. It was a rough week, but after the move to Guangzhou we started to see her personality and sweetness emerge.

Once home, the first month was filled to the brim with Doctors visits, MRI's and screenings. It was after the MRI that we got the best news ever, Paisley's 'defect' did not involve any kind of spinal fluid, brain matter or skull defect but was in fact a simple lipoma, a mass of fatty tissue and skin probably caused by lack of prenatal nutrition.

On May 5, one month after being home Paisley had a 20 minute surgery to remove the mass...and there has been no looking back!

Isn't this incredible, this was taken just a few hours after we came home from the Hospital, the surgeon didn't even have to shave her head!

The decision to adopt a 'waiting child' was the best one we have EVER made!

Paisley Rose is an amazing 2.5 year old, she knows all her colors, can count in English AND Mandarin(thanks to her big sister). She has been FULLY potty trained for about 8 months! She has absolutely no residual side effects from her defect. We did have Early Interventions come for a few months post surgery to help build her muscle tone and strength, but after just 8 weeks of treatment she had surpassed not only their 3 month goal, but also their six month goals! She is insanely funny, sweet, cuddly, loving and loves loves loves her big sister. She tells each and every family member 'I love you' at least 20 times a day, and will sit calmly and repeat her professions until the sentiment is returned! She will try almost any food, hardly ever has a tantrum (unlike you know who) and is inherently kind and generous.

When people tell us how lucky SHE is we cannot believe the audacity, for it is US, this kooky family who are the lucky ones to have HER in our lives.