Sunday Snapshot: Avery

I decided to showcase our youngest daughter, Avery!

My heart beats with anticipation as we wait to meet her, to hold her, to love her...

 


This was my first glimpse of her....way back in September of 2008.
In this picture, she was only 23 months old. But, at the time she was already 2 1/2 years old.

Isn't she a cutie????

I remember the day I first saw her face... I was smitten!

My husband and I knew we were going the SN route, without a doubt.

We just didn't know for sure what special need our child would have. We were comfortable with a SN of cleft lip/palate, of course because we have experience with that medical issue.  We were even thinking about club foot thanks to all the info that Stefanie from Ni Hao Y'all fame had provided through her blog.

The SN process was a little different this time.  When we adopted Shea, we had to fill out a form specifying what SN we would accept.  So, we hunkered down in prayer and made some choices. Then in May of 2006, our case worker called with the news that we 'had a little girl'!!!  The rest is history.  Our agency now had their own list of SN kiddos, we just needed to get pre-approved (love that terminology) in order to receive our password to access their list.

This is where the story gets good....

I had just called my agency with the news that we were ready to adopt again.  I made this call on Tuesday, Sept. 2.  By Friday of that same week, I was ready to take my first peek at the list. I sat down at my computer, prayed to God for direction, and proceeded to open the file......my heart was beating wildly....this was so surreal....I could possibly be looking at my child's face in seconds....

Yep, there she was.  Lower right-hand corner....in all her grand cuteness.  But, what was it saying her special need was.....ummmm, what is "Abnormal Sleep EEG"....I was asking myself.  My goodness, I have never heard of that....I was stumped.

I closed her file. I then went to No Hands But Ours website.  Nope, no mention of that special need. I then 'googled' it.  Bad idea.  All those medical terms and mumble jumble lingo....help, I was so confused!!!  Since my agency does not take phone calls on Fridays (unless it is an emergency) because it's their paper work day, I would have to wait until Monday to get some information.....darn!

All weekend long, her little face invaded my brain.  I couldn't stop thinking about her.....

Oh, I should mention that I never told my husband about her that weekend.  I don't know why, I think I just wanted to keep her to myself.  I think I needed more details about her special need.  I think I was already in love with her, and I was so hoping that my husband would feel the same way.....I was a little scared.

Finally Monday morning arrived!

Her medical  information stated that she was pretty darn healthy (my words), and also (by the way) an EEG report showed abnormal sleep. Okaaaaay, what could this possibly mean???? There was no explanation as to why this test was given.at.all!! Then it states that six months later a CT scan was administered with no 'abnormal findings'.   Huh???

Long story short.....after having her paper work evaluated by an international adoption specialist at our Children's Hospital it seems that this special need could be epilepsy.

Oh, is that all it is????  We definitely could handle that!!! Not to trivialize epilepsy, but with proper medication the doctor assured us that this was definitely manageable.

We had her file locked down by September 15, 2008!!!!!

(I have no idea why these referral pictures are so small!?)

Let me tell you a little about her....

She likes to be cuddled.  (I can't wait!)

Usually, she is obedient!  (Yeah, right.  I'll believe it when I see it. lol)

When she sleeps, she is liable to suck her fingers.  ( Awwww, how sweet is that???)

She likes tomatoes and sweet crackers. (Interesting.)

We received some updated photos of her in June.  Look at how happy she is....

This one is my all time favorite...

She is a girlie-girl!
Yeah!
She will fit in with all the other 'princesses' in this household!

Avery will be four in March.

We have been waiting 15 months for her.

We have celebrated her third birthday without her!

We are so ready to have her home!!!

Soon, my little one, soon!!!!