A Gracie Update

Here's sweet Gracie in her glasses! (and notice all of her jewels! :) I bought the girls each a necklace at the store I work at, and the bracelets she made with a beading kit that a friend gave her!) Anyway, I am so glad that she can finally SEE! I'm sure it's making a huge difference for her, too, as she had horrible vision! She picked her glasses out and they look adorable on! We had hoped she could get tortoise frames, but they wouldn't stay on her nose. I do think she looks adorable in her glasses, and most importantly, she can see!

Gracie also had her dentist appointment last week and did very well. She only has 3 cavities, which was definitely exciting to hear, as according to her paperwork, she had many more. She needs to have two of them filled and the other is in a baby tooth, so they are going to pull the tooth, which by the way is her only remaining baby tooth! Other than that, her mouth looked great and she will just need braces!

And for those who are wondering, Gracie is doing great! Her English is coming slowly but surely. She works on Rosetta Stone English daily (while Dad does Mandarin!) and really enjoys it. She has a notebook which she has taken lots of notes in, and it's fun to see all of these English words that she is writing!!! She is using more and more, and although it's still not much, there have been improvements! 

 

She is a girl who is all about her daddy, that is for sure! It's really sweet. She also lights up whenever Drew is home and loves talking to him in Mandarin. We have learned some really interesting things about her and have really loved that she and Drew can communicate! She is so smart and we are pretty sure she spent a lot of time in China talking with her foster brothers and father, as she is an amazing communicator and knows a lot about things that most 10 year old girls would be clueless about!

She and AnnaClaire are going to start school tomorrow! Age wise, Gracie will be in 5th grade, but one of the perks of homeschooling is that she can take whatever pace she needs to get on track. Obviously she won't be doing most of the things that you learn in 5th grade, considering she doesn't have much of a grasp on English yet. Mom is going to start AC with Kindergarten! She is SO excited! Although she's not technically the age to start kindergarten, she is SO ready for it.

Grandma was in town last week and Gracie loved that! She was closest to her foster grandmother in China, so she immediately loved Grandma and followed her everywhere. It was really sweet. She just loves her "grand-a-mother!" I was gone most of the week on my retreat, so I was only able to get one picture of her with the kiddos (and the lollipops she brought for them!)

So there's a little update on Miss Gracie! She is amazing! So sweet, obedient, beautiful, and loving. It is SO hard to believe that she's only been in our family for just over 2 months. Crazy. It literally feels like she has been with us so much longer. We never in our wildest dreams imagined that the adjustment with TWO kids, one being TEN years old would go this well. God has truly answered all of those fearful prayers we had and has blessed us in amazing ways!