On July 21st, we welcomed a beautiful new addition to our growing family in the form of 2 year old Louise!
At that point it had only been 2 days since we had received a call saying there was a little deaf girl at the state orphanage who was eligible for a free cochlear implant but wouldn't get it if she stayed there.
They asked if we would be willing to take her.
It seemed to be a perfect situation as we have already gone through the CI process twice with Nolan and Theo and are familiar with the post-surgery therapy as well. We just weren't sure about taking yet another child. We already had 8, plus 1 little girl that is staying with us temporarily. We are also still waiting for Chloe and Charlotte who frustratingly have still not been transferred to us.
If we were to take this little girl, we could potentially have 12 children at once. At what point does it stop feeling like an intimate family for the kids and become more like the orphanage they came from?
Yet how could we say no?
What can you say when you are told that a child will only get a CI if you take her and if you don’t she’ll just keep lying on her back in a crowded room without anyone fighting for her?
We said we’d pray about it but both kind of already knew what answer we would give.
I could already tell God was working in my heart and giving me a love for this little girl.
I wanted to be sure though so I spent the next day bringing it to the Lord in prayer and got the confirmation I needed.
I looked at Nikki, nodded, and then she gave the word that we would take her. All we knew about this little girl was her name and that she was deaf and around 2 or 3 years old but we already loved her and knew God had planned from the beginning for her to be a part of our family.
Surprisingly we got a call the very next day saying we could come and pick her up. I can’t remember a time when I was as excited as I was in that moment, waiting for my new baby to be brought out to me.
The rest of the day is a blur. The handing over of Louise and her few belongings, the auto ride home as she pointed to everything we passed with wide eyes, the wiping off of the Hindu dot on her forehead, the getting her all dressed up and putting a bow in her hair, the
5000 pictures that were taken, the discovery that she could already walk, and the first tantrum all kind of run together in my mind in a wave of busyness and excitement.
Since then, we have been slowly peeling back the layers, trying to really get to know our new little girl. It’s hard to know sometimes what is her personality and what is coming from her life at the orphanage.
She has a lot of signs of being neglected which doesn't surprise me, but it still breaks my heart. I’m just glad she came to us when she did.
The back of her head is flat as if she’s spent most of her life just lying on her back. She also has some nervous habits she has developed like grinding her teeth and biting her nails.
She seems to be a little resistant to sensory input so a lot of what we've been doing with her so far involves sensory play. She hates play-dough and was not a fan of water play at first but it seems to be slowly growing on her. She enjoys finger painting and playing with shaving cream though!
The only things it seems she has done before are coloring and playing with cars. Everything else we have tried with her were met with blank stares at first ;)
Louise has beautiful eyes and the most expressive eyebrows. She is also very curious and is always exploring her surroundings.
She attached herself pretty exclusively to Nikki and myself at first, most likely due to being mistreated by Indians in the past, but is slowly starting to branch out, play with the other kids, and warm up to our wonderful ayahs.
The amount of tantrums she throws per day has decreased substantially but is still incredibly high… She is slowly learning they don’t get her anywhere around here though ;)
Louise is the most fiery of our kids second only to Jasmine and by far our biggest diva. She is also 100% toddler. She is definitely keeping us on our toes!
Only 9 days have passed since little Louise moved in with us but she is a part of the family already. All the wondering if we were making the right decision is gone. I know that God created a little Louise shaped hole in my heart from the very beginning and this was His plan all along.
And as usual, the fulfilling of His plan has left me incredibly full and feeling so blessed.
Welcome to the family, sweet girl. I love you more than I can say.
They asked if we would be willing to take her.
It seemed to be a perfect situation as we have already gone through the CI process twice with Nolan and Theo and are familiar with the post-surgery therapy as well. We just weren't sure about taking yet another child. We already had 8, plus 1 little girl that is staying with us temporarily. We are also still waiting for Chloe and Charlotte who frustratingly have still not been transferred to us.
If we were to take this little girl, we could potentially have 12 children at once. At what point does it stop feeling like an intimate family for the kids and become more like the orphanage they came from?
Yet how could we say no?
What can you say when you are told that a child will only get a CI if you take her and if you don’t she’ll just keep lying on her back in a crowded room without anyone fighting for her?
We said we’d pray about it but both kind of already knew what answer we would give.
I could already tell God was working in my heart and giving me a love for this little girl.
I wanted to be sure though so I spent the next day bringing it to the Lord in prayer and got the confirmation I needed.
I looked at Nikki, nodded, and then she gave the word that we would take her. All we knew about this little girl was her name and that she was deaf and around 2 or 3 years old but we already loved her and knew God had planned from the beginning for her to be a part of our family.
The rest of the day is a blur. The handing over of Louise and her few belongings, the auto ride home as she pointed to everything we passed with wide eyes, the wiping off of the Hindu dot on her forehead, the getting her all dressed up and putting a bow in her hair, the
Since then, we have been slowly peeling back the layers, trying to really get to know our new little girl. It’s hard to know sometimes what is her personality and what is coming from her life at the orphanage.
She has a lot of signs of being neglected which doesn't surprise me, but it still breaks my heart. I’m just glad she came to us when she did.
The back of her head is flat as if she’s spent most of her life just lying on her back. She also has some nervous habits she has developed like grinding her teeth and biting her nails.
She seems to be a little resistant to sensory input so a lot of what we've been doing with her so far involves sensory play. She hates play-dough and was not a fan of water play at first but it seems to be slowly growing on her. She enjoys finger painting and playing with shaving cream though!
The only things it seems she has done before are coloring and playing with cars. Everything else we have tried with her were met with blank stares at first ;)
Louise has beautiful eyes and the most expressive eyebrows. She is also very curious and is always exploring her surroundings.
She attached herself pretty exclusively to Nikki and myself at first, most likely due to being mistreated by Indians in the past, but is slowly starting to branch out, play with the other kids, and warm up to our wonderful ayahs.
The amount of tantrums she throws per day has decreased substantially but is still incredibly high… She is slowly learning they don’t get her anywhere around here though ;)
Louise is the most fiery of our kids second only to Jasmine and by far our biggest diva. She is also 100% toddler. She is definitely keeping us on our toes!
Only 9 days have passed since little Louise moved in with us but she is a part of the family already. All the wondering if we were making the right decision is gone. I know that God created a little Louise shaped hole in my heart from the very beginning and this was His plan all along.
And as usual, the fulfilling of His plan has left me incredibly full and feeling so blessed.
Welcome to the family, sweet girl. I love you more than I can say.
She is adorable! Prayers for your new little one as she transitions!
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