6 months!

I'm posting some pictures ranging from all sorts of events that have transpired over the past few months. Since July I've been sort of lax in posting, due to the fact that I've spent the bulk of the time hugging the toilet. I was hoping that the passing of our first trimester a few weeks ago would mean relief from praying to the porcelain god. While I can definately say that it has improved, I can also say that I love the person who created the drug Diclectin. I could not live without it! A week ago we returned to the hospital for another ultrasound and our dates changed again. We're now due on the 12th of March! The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned. I'm heading back to work on October 11th for a 14 week contract. It will be nice to qualify for an entire year off with EI benefits this time around! The girls will head to Tracey's place, and while I will miss them - I also know that she's terrific with them. I couldn't be more relieved that she was happy to have them, although she might be in for a bit of a suprise at how busy Lilah is!

So back to the girls! Naomi has found a new passion in life. We celebrated her second Gotcha anniversary on August 24th with a pony ride. She's been asking to ride a horse for a long time now and on every excursion she notices every single horse and pony farm. We made a deal with her that if she got rid of her soother and started peeing on the potty that we'd find her a horse to ride. The soother was gone within a week and we were well on our way to potty training so we set it up. The family that we arranged her ride with, lives nextdoor to our good friends. Everytime we visit our friends Naomi can be found at the fence. On one particular occasion she was found discretely feeding the horses an entire box of arrowroot cookies.

The day she went for her ride she brought a bag of apples and fed them to the pony she would ride. Polar is a gentle beast and the perfect candidate for her first ride. As Polar ate an apple, Naomi decided she needed a snack as well and dove into Polar's bag of treats. I asked her if she wanted to get up on Polar before she was finished her apple, to Naomi replied, "In five minutes mom". Gosh this kid is such a monkey! Once she finally finished the apple, she hopped up onto Polar's back as if she'd done it all her life and went for the ride of her life. You can see the ear to ear grins on her face in the photo. At the end of the ride, the family gave her a stuffed horse that now must sleep with her at night. You guessed it, her horse's name is Polar. She's been riding twice now and even the instructor was amazed at how well she took to it. Next thing you know she'll be talking to Daddy about chopping the rest of our backyard down to build a stable for her real "Polar".

In case you were wondering, the soother is still gone and the potty training is complete! And I was worried!

Lilah continues to amaze us. On October 4th it will be six months from the date that Lilah first joined our family. What a lot of changes we see in her today. In six months she has gone from a very thin little girl who couldn't even sit up on her own, to a crazy toddler who we have trouble keeping up with and eats like crazy! She's such a spunky kid, is walking with a vengance, runs a mile a minute, is even busier, loves to colour (but prefers her sister's markers over her own crayons), enjoys playing with playdough (and no longer eats it), is coming out with new words on a daily basis and is an absolute joy in our lives. While her addition to our family had it's rough patches, she has definately decided to settle in as a Klassen. Smart kid!

Together, Naomi and Lilah adore each other and it's so interesting to watch the two of them interact. In fact, Naomi doesn't even remember a time when Lilah wasn't here! They do have their spats with each other, but most of the time they get along tremendously well. I can't believe how much I worried about that. Being a sister has brought out a compassionate side to Naomi that we didn't realize existed! I hope that it rubs off on Lilah when the new baby arrives!

It's hard to believe sometimes how far a person can come in such a short period of time! I remember looking at Lilah's referral photo and thinking about the signs God gave us (even then) that she was meant for our family. Six months later, I am finally able to say that I know He was right (even though sometimes I question His madness in me getting pregnant two months after Lilah's arrival).

Often when people find out that we are pregnant, they comment on the miracle, or on the fact that this happens "so often in adoption", or on how we must have "relaxed". To set the record straight, it happens in less than 3% of cases (ironically it's the same percentage as couples labelled infertile, who never adopted). Joel and I knew from the very beginning of our relationship that there was a small possibility that we may have a child biologically, but we chose to adopt our daughters because that was what we were meant to do. When I look at Naomi and Lilah and reflect on their life stories, I see such meaningful ways that God told me that he wanted them to be in our lives. Discrete as they were, those signs were there. This pregnancy confirms it for me -- God has a plan. While I didn't always agree with it or like it, the plan has always been there. Despite my obsession with being a control freak, the ocean that lies between China and Canada, paperwork, fertility struggles and all the other roadblocks in life -- God's plan has still managed to succeed. What a miracle THAT is!

Hope you all enjoy the upcomng Thanksgiving holiday!

Karen