6 Months Ago

 Here is what our day looked like 6 months ago....
We drove through the very crowded and busy city out into the hills...down long, bumpy, winding dirt roads. Finally, we had to park the car and walk to Zape.  Our hearts were beating so quickly...we were getting ready to meet our precious girl...we were anxious and knew that she must be also.

Here we turned down a side alley way and walked up the path to the orphanage gate.

 When we walked through the gate, all the children ran to greet us with Miriam leading the pack.  We reached down and picked her up.  While she let us hold her and seemed to want to be near us, she was also scared and uncertain.

After playing with the kids for a while and letting Miriam eat her lunch, it was time to go back to the hotel. Our hearts were breaking for our sweet girl because it was so hard for her to leave all she had known for the past 10 months.  She was terrified to leave with these people that she had just met.

She let me take her and I carried her for a while, but then she took my hand and we walked back to the car together.

Back at the hotel, we gave Miriam a shower and got to know her a little better.  This was a day for making her feel comfortable and helping her learn to trust us...nothing does that better than a Fanta!

 We played the rest of the day.  That night because our driver was busy, we had dinner at the hotel with things I had brought from home.  It turned out to be a pretty crappy dinner.  I think the only thing she ate were peanuts and slim jims.  Miriam was probably thinking...I traded chicken and rice for this...Yuck!  She was a trooper, though and brushed her teeth and got ready for bed.

Playing with the I Pad was a huge thrill for her.  It helped her to warm up to us and we were able to sit close and snuggle together while we played with it.

 Finally, after a long, exhausting and emotional day, it was time for a good night's sleep...for Miriam that is.  She twirled around in the bed all night long so Joey and I didn't sleep much at all.  We just kept waking up and looking at her...amazed by God's goodness and faithfulness.

Farm Day

Miriam had her first field trip yesterday!  She went with her preschool class to the farm.  As usual, the most difficult part of the experience was deciding what to wear.  I knew this was going to be the case, so we started talking days ago about the farm and what outfit would be appropriate.  The preschool asked that the children wear long pants and long sleeve shirts.  Since Miriam loves skirts and wearing as little as possible, I knew we had to do some preparation for this day.  Good thing is the girl is also a rule follower, so once she heard her teachers say to wear long pants and long sleeves nothing else would do.  I know how hot she gets so I tried to put her in three quarter length sleeves...we had to change.  The big day finally arrived and we put on the outfit we had decided on...minus the shorter sleeves...I thought all was well, so I went to get dressed. It was my last day of Bible Study, so Joey was going with Miriam to the farm...I came out of my room and Miriam declared that I looked prettier than she did.  This can not be the case, SO we had to come up with another outfit.  I am not sure why the one she finally chose was better than the first, but in her mind it was.  Once getting dressed was out of the way, she had a great day!  There was a hayride, lots of animals, and a snack, but the highlight for her was getting to ride a pony.

5 Months Home

Yesterday marked 5 months that Miriam has been in our home.  A sweet friend also reminded me that it was at this time last year that we accepted our referral for our precious little peanut.  Here is the first picture we received of Miriam:

When I first saw this picture, I thought she looked so scared and alone.  It made me want to fly to Congo right then and hold her.  My other thought was...Really, who makes a dress with a wrench on it?!? What a difference a year makes!  As I wrote that statement, I thought that is not true...a year can make no difference without God.  So let me say that in a better way...Look what a difference a year makes when God is acting...and redeeming...and loving...and restoring...and creating a family.

Here are a few things I want to remember about the 5 month mark ( Mostly I am blogging because I can't remember anything):

Phrases we hear and things said:
As Miriam improves in her English, she talks more and more, so funny things come out of her mouth frequently.  
Miriam still calls all houses...mouses...still not sure about this one, but it continues
One more question...we hear this frequently and it is usually followed by...not a question. She just wants to get our attention so she can tell us something.
Pronouns are causing Miriam lots of problems...well that is not true...she really doesn't care that she is getting it wrong.  It is causing us lots of problems because we can't tell who she is talking about.  Girls are he/him and boys are she/her.  We are working on this one.
She likes to "whistle"...she really does like to whistle and does it a lot...but when she says this she really means that she wants to wrestle...which she loves to do with Caleb.
Miriam to Joey...Dad, why you kiss so loud and smile so loud (laugh)?
Also said to Joey...No kisses at Chik-fil-a cause you too loud and everybody look...hmmm Joey must be a loud kisser.
When things get to be too much for her...or we are telling her things she doesn't want to hear...Miriam declares to all of us...It's time for quiet!

Sleeping:
Yay!  It is better!  I gave in and decided to bribe her.  Miriam was saving her money for a doll she saw at Target, and so if she stays in her room past 6 o'clock then she gets a quarter.  She has done it for long enough now that she forgets about the quarter.  I also think it has helped to train her to sleep past 6.  She is also very thoughtful and concerned about her mama getting enough sleep.  Miriam goes to the bathroom by herself in the middle of the night and puts herself back to bed.  Now, the girl does have mama radar and if I am ever up before 6 o'clock then she is up also.

Miriam goes to school now, too and loves it!  She goes to our church preschool a couple days a week.  One of her favorite parts of preschool is Lunch Bunch.  For some reason, the idea of taking her lunch to school and eating with her friends is a big deal.  We bought a princess lunch box and practiced eating lunch things so that she could go. It has helped expand her diet and the things that she would eat...hooray!

Miriam is also taking swimming lessons.  The only thing I have to say about that is...she is NOT A FAN!  We are on the count down of 4 more lessons.  She does love the water and loves the pool...but not lessons. She is a fan of having her picture taken in her swimming lesson paraphernalia!

Princess guitar...As I said earlier, Miriam was saving for a doll from Target, BUT when she saw a princess guitar on another adoption blog, she had to have it.  We drove immediately to Toys R Us and she handed over her savings.  This guitar has brought much joy to Miriam and our family.  She sings and makes up songs all the time.  Here are a couple of her songs accompanied by the princess guitar.