Visiting Weekend

Saturday was a day of visiting and meeting new people. In the morning we went to Adoption Resources for the Parent's Retreat for Children's Hope Network. They are our local agency. We were so excited for Jill and Sandy to meet Elizabeth. It was also exciting for us to talk to parents at their journey and tell them that there really is a wonderful baby waiting at the end. We met one family adopting a boy from China. I am not sure what country the other families were going to. Elizabeth charmed everyone and Sam was the proud big brother answering questions and talking about China. We are so thankful to Children's Hope Network for all they have done to help us bring E home. They have been so supportive and really walked us through the whole process. They also recommended Homeland to us. Thank you so much!

In the afternoon we went out to Madison to see David's cousin Helen and her boys, Mikey and Andrew. Helen was so excited to meet Elizabeth and all the kids played really well. Andrew is two, so he had some trouble sharing his toys, but Elizabeth held her own!

On Monday Grandpa Kent and I took Elizabeth to get her cast changed. Grandpa picked purple this time. They said her foot is doing really well, and she should only need two more casts. Then she will have the tendon lengthening surgery and be in a cast for three more weeks! AKC! I did not realize that. Plus, Dad was with me at the first appointment and he did not hear that either. We thought after the surgery she would go into a brace. So, poor E will be in a cast through June! We are going to have to figure out how to wrap it really good so she can still play at the beach at Pike Lake. Truthfully, she does not seem to care. She has figured out she can bang it against things to make noise, but does not mind it. It is more me that struggles with it. It is hard to get pants over it, it makes her harder to carry and I am constantly asked, "Oh, poor baby, what happened to her leg?". I want to say she was skateboarding or something. I just tell them she has a club foot and they are correcting it. I always stress that it does not hurt her and she does not mind the cast. Then I wait a few minutes for the next person to say, "oh, she lost a sock." "No, she didn't she has a cast on her foot and won't keep a sock on the other foot. " "Oh, what happened to her?" I should put a note on her back, "I was born with a club foot and the cast is to correct it. My parents are very good to me and I am not injured!" So, I guess, I am struggling with it more than she is. I am also bummed she will still have the cast on for her June 21 party and when she meets her Stolpe cousins, Aunt, Uncles and Grandpa. I hope they will be ok with it.

Below is a picture of her digging into noodles like there is no tomorrow. She loves them and can't get enough. The noodles are the best from the Chinese grocery store, I mix a little soy sauce on them and she is so happy. You can also see her purple cast peeking out.