New Year Changes

    You are looking at the big new change for our household.  I am now officially a homeschooling mom to a 6th grader.  She began with Connections Academy, an online academy, last week.  It's been a bumpy few days, but we are thankfully beginning to settle in.  This was a very specific calling from the Lord for us, so we will follow Him over the bumps and still be assured it was the right choice.  God's ways are so much higher than our minds can understand and it is so tempting when things look different than anticipated to doubt.

Ready to dive into their first gift.

I think 3 is just about the best age at Christmas time.

Chloe intently watched and sang along as Uncle Craig played Christmas carols.

One of the older girls got a pinball machine, but guess who has figured out how to play?  That is actually her score.

If you look at the clock on the wall, we celebrated New Years a little early with Chloe and sent her off to bed.

Snow Bunnies - Chloe begs to go out and play in the snow.

Merry Christmas

Wishing your Family a Blessed Christmas

This Holiday Season, we pray that Christ is the center of all your celebrations.  He is truly the most precious gift ever given.

My Chinese Acrobat

     We always knew that Chloe had good balance, but this is a little ridiculous!  Yes those are roller blades on my 3 year old.  She and Greg were playing in the basement and the next thing I knew, here came Chloe with roller blades on.  She's been scooting around in the pink plastic Barbie ones with the training wheel, but this is a whole different ball game. Do you think we should purchase the Aflac Accident policy for next year?  With stitches and a dislocation this year, I wonder what next year might hold.
     Chloe has slowly but surely come out of regression.  I heard, "I love you, Mommy" for the first time again this week.  I didn't realize just how long it had been missing.  We are working on making her bedroom a fun place to be and giving Chloe some ownership of it.  Up to this point it was always just her sister's room that she was joining.  We put a sign on the door with her name on it, moved some books upstairs, and moved her clothes from our bathroom to her bedroom.  This all made Chloe quite angry and she still refuses to call it her bedroom.  Obviously, we still have some work to do.  She still sneaks into our bed at night when I'm sleeping too hard to notice.  Otherwise, I carry her back to her own bed typically twice a night.

   In other family news, if you know anyone interested a Bichon Frise, we are looking for a new home for our Nilla.  She is a 4 1/2yr old registered female that has been fixed, has all her shots, and is house trained.  She needs a new home, because we just don't give her the attention she deserves with our busy lives.  Having an inside dog is much like having another child and we just need to simplify.  Please feel free to email any questions to:  thebeachfamily@cs.com

Fun With Friends

Heather, Chloe, & Alexandria

We spent last weekend at an indoor water park with several adoption families.

 It was so much fun to compare stories and see how the girls have grown.  We all traveled together to China to adopt our girls in April '08.

 

 Alexandria and Chloe played hide-n-seek for a long time.  Their cribs were side by side in the orphanage.

 Chloe was a daredevil as always and loved the slides, even the big ones.

 

Thankfully we are seeing more and more smiles from Chloe.  Even though regression is still evident, she coming out.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Pain Tolerance

    Yesterday morning we made a quick trip to the doctor.  Chloe woke up not using her right arm at all.  The night before, I had picked her up by her wrists with her arms extended straight to hug her goodnight.  She told Greg at bedtime that I had squeezed her arm too tight.  There were no tears.  During the night she cried and was kind of in distress, but no mention of pain.  Two x-rays later, she was diagnosed with a dislocated radius and it was still out of place.  A wiggle and a twist later, it was back in place and by afternoon she was using it again.  At no point would Chloe actually tell us she was in pain!  I can't believe she was walking around with her arm out of place of place and not screaming.

   At therapy last night, I asked Arleta if this was common and she said it's sensory issue.  Many kids who have been in an orphanage do not have a good sense of their body.  They can be in really severe pain and yet pretend everything is okay.  Occupational therapy can address this issue and we will be looking into this in the future.



Social Milestone

      It has taken a long time for Chloe's social development to catch up with her age.  In Sept. we started taking her to Sunday School and she has really enjoyed it.  This is the first classroom setting she has experienced, so she's learning to stay in her chair and listen to the teacher, etc.  Chloe has always loved singing, so it was right up her ally to sing in church.  She wasn't intimidated in least :)

 I've been doing a lot of Christmas shopping online this year.  Greg made a great 2 story club house for Chloe and her kitties out of some of the boxes.  She's been playing in it for weeks.

Family Craziness!

  A quick update on Chloe's regression.  We had therapy this past Sat. and Chloe experienced new waves of grief.  It was so sad to watch as emotions rolled over her and rocked her.  As Arleta talked through her life story this time, fear was the emotion Chloe was feeling.  In the past, the emotion associated with her history was sadness.  Another layer has came off and now it is fear she is working through.  The fear is from being abandoned in a crowd, from not recognizing any faces around her at the police station, new sounds, new smells, hunger, etc.  As Arleta described what Chloe must have been feeling as an infant through those experiences, I could watch Chloe's face and see an emotion get triggered that she had experienced. Then the tears would come.  Thankfully, as she cried, the emotion was released and she no longer has to carry it with her anymore.  Although, we still see regression in Chloe, her eyes are "smiling" again and we know working through these newly uncovered emotions is the key to her moving forward.  Sleeping and separation anxiety and still a struggle, but we will continue to tow the line and know that this too will pass.

Fall Changes

     It been a long time since my last post, so I'll try to get you caught up on the Beach family today.  With school going, I have truly become a "soccer mom" again, transporting and cheering.  Homework has taken it's toll on family time and added much stress.  We have struggled with one of our girls in the public school system, so that has taken a lot of our time and attention.  So much of this blog has focused on Miss Chloe and her transition to attachment in our family.  The reality is, she is but 1 of my 4 beautiful daughters.

We celebrated my 40th birthday (don't worry, no tears were shed) at the Millennium Theater in Lancaster, PA last weekend.  The story of Joseph was amazing and inspiring.

Tom Sharpes, a friend of Greg's from college, has been acting at the theater since 1994.  He played Jacob, Joseph's father in the show.  We had the special privilege of going back stage and talking to him for a few minutes between shows.

Sunday, we stopped in Hershey, PA on our way home and got our chocolate fix.  The girls enjoyed the tour of how chocolate is made.

 Unfortunately, this little angry face below has become all too common right now. 

  Regression has officially hit as a result of Chloe move out of our bedroom.  She had been doing so well, but we knew it was a little too good to be true.  It was obvious that regression would come and we saw little hints of it.  Now it has arrived with all it's vengeance.  Chloe is angry and disobedient.  She is kicking and hitting her sisters again, throwing fits, crying like an infant, and struggling to control her emotions.  Even Chloe's language has regressed.  It is difficult to understand her again and her speaking is back to that "sing-songy" Asian feel.  Chloe's sleep is very restless.  Her therapist said her brain still thinks it's in the orphanage at night when she is alone in her bed.  We hear her talking in her sleep and crying out.  Sometimes she will kick and thrash around.  Last Thurs., she called out and thrashed around 6 times between 12:30 and 3:00am.  The lack of sleep isn't helping my ability to cope with it either.  Thank the Lord this regression is only temporary and that there is a sweet, happy little girl under all of that trauma.  I can't wait to see her again.

    If any of you are struggling with attachment or behavioral issues and could use a listening ear, please feel free to email me directly:  thebeachfamily@cs.com

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  Matt. 11:28