Catching up....

It seems like the longer I wait, the more I have to share and the less time I have to do it. So, although you are all anxious for pictures (which I have tons of since I got my new camera), I wanted to journal about the going-ons, our busy lives and Anna Grace's attachment progress.

It truly has been non-stop here. My brother, his wife and my goddaughter came up a couple of weekends ago. It was his first time meeting Anna Grace. I hadn't seen him in a few months and I truly missed him. It was great getting together, if only for a short time. He, of course, fell in love with his youngest niece and she seemed to reciprocate the feeling.

The day after, Scott, the kids and I went on a little family outing to the Shell Factory. Sound boring, huh? Well, when you live in Ft. Myers, there's not really a whole lot to do here. But, this place is somewhere I've been really wanting to go to since I went to their website. Ok. I admit it. It wasn't the most amusing place in the world, but we did have a nice time, even with Scott having to leave us for a bit to go to the Sheriff's office to see if he could pick someone out of a line-up.

Yep! My husband was a hero. When we arrived, I was taking the kids out of their carseats while Scott was pulling the strollers out of the back. All of sudden, we hear this huge crashing sound. An old beatup SUV backuped up in the parking lot at full speed and rammed into a brand new Celica. Then the woman put the truck in drive and started peeling out of the parking lot. Well, my own personal Jack Bauer, Scott, took off running after the truck. He was able to catch up close enough to get a tag number as he yelled to her that he had gotten it, which was followed by her chanting to him a series of obscenities. All of this happened in a matter of 1 minute.

We then headed inside the Shell Factory and told the manager what had happened. They were able to track down the owner of the Celica. My heart sank when I learned that it was a little old man who was there with his daughter. It ended up not being brand new, but instead it was a 2002 with less than 15,000 miles! The car was his baby after his wife died and he was pretty crushed. After the police arrived, the owner and Scott went down to the station and were able to positively identify the driver of the hit and run. I was bummed that Scott couldn't enjoy the Nature Park with the kids and I, but I was so very proud of him for doing the right thing. I am blessed to be married to such an honorable, God-filled, loving man.

Moving along. I want to share about Anna Grace's attachment. Along with the daily holding time, I have added a couple of attachment techniques that were suggested to me and have truly seemed to be helping us arrive at our goal. These include having her carry a baby doll and care and nuture the doll. It is amazing to me as I watch her to see her imitate my actions and words with her dolly. She holds her dolly close to her while making eye contact. Then she says, "Look at Mama" and she touches the baby's face. It really is sweet to see. It has shown me the softer, more endearing side of her that she has been afraid to share except with inanimate objects.

The second technique we have been doing, which she really didn't enjoy in the past and I didn't want to force upon her was dancing together. She now loves it and has even asked on a couple of occasions for me to pick her up and "d-o-n-c-e". Too cute, almost sounds like a British accent.

So, I believe that with the continued holding time, and working with her we are really taking steps now. I know last time I said this, we had major setbacks, but I'm going out on a limb now and saying that, although I still anticipate some rough days, we have turned a corner.

There was a moment this past weekend that I want to journal about because it affirmed to me that our love is indeed growing in a healthy way. This past weekend we were invited to a Bar Mitzvah of a dear friend's son. Of course, there were many people there and I tried to keep her with me and not going from person to person as much as possible. But, I also realize that she is 2 and loves everything about being 2! So, after the temple ceremony was over, and they were taking pictures, I put her down and let her walk around with Kai. She was ooohhhed and aaaahhhed over by everyone (as I expected), but I continued to kep my distance and let her play and do her thing.

I noticed that she sat down by a little girl who was standing my some flowers at the front of the temple. At that point, the photographer came over to them and knelt before them, asking them to smile for a picture. Ham that she is, an immediate heart-melting smile covered her face as the high-pitched little voice squealed "C-H-E-E-S-E!" The photographer smiled and shot the picture, then walked away. I continued to watch Anna Grace who by then had realized that the faces surrounding her were not familiar and she stood up, with a worried look upon her face and began calling, "Mama! Mama!" as her eyes searched the crowd. I, of course, immediately ran up to her and her smile was priceless. I picked her up, swung her around as I hugged her and told her that I missed her so much! She hugged me back tightly and put her head on my shoulder. That was HUGE!!!!!!! The fact that she realized that it was not ok to be with strangers and that she called for me. I think about it and tears fill my eyes. We are getting there. It's a slow boat and sometimes the seas are rough, but they were like that for Noah and he ended up peering at the most beautiful rainbow. Hope springs eternal and I already have the treasure, it just a matter of opening up the chest.

P.S. Check back soon because I will be posting lots of pictures in the very near future!