Two Years at Home

2007...Mandy(Wei Dan Na)...leaving her "old" life for her "new" one...what a brave little girl!!

Mandy... a proud Chinese American... Today is Mandy's second Forever Family Day. It is so hard to believe that she has been a part of our family for two years. Sometimes it seems as if it were yesterday that we met this scared, precious little girl. There are days that seem like she has been with us forever(she fits in so well), and to be honest, there are days that we have a hard time... helping her to feel and know that she belongs, helping her to trust us and to accept that she has parents to care for her needs. Slowly, we are building that trust and forging a relationship. She still has, at times, difficulties understanding and accepting these concepts. We continue to work diligently in the areas of family relationships, togetherness, trust, and forever. It is our hope that she will know and feel unconditional love and that she will always know that she is a part of our hearts forever.

She has grown so very much over the last two years. She has changed both in size and appearance. She is maturing emotionally and spiritually, as well. We continue to take steps to help her be a child,enjoying things she may have missed as an infant/toddler, and helping her meet her chronological age as well.

Here are some things we have learned about Mandy:

1) She is a "girlie" Girl...she loves clothes,jewelry,hairstyles,makeup(if it were allowed),finger nail polish,princesses and the like...

2)She is a good student and loves learning new things.

3)She has an amazing talent for Art. She particularly loves arts and crafts, and she is talented at drawing as well.

4)She has learned to speak English well. It has bothered her for sometime that she couldn't remember Chinese. Amazingly enough, we have witnessed a "renewal" of her skills...she doesn't always remember how to say words; however, she is understanding Mandarin when it is spoken to her. She translates it automatically to English without any help.

5))She is "fitting in" with her siblings now. She loves to be with them all the time and misses them when they are gone. It has been fun to watch her develop an interest in outdoor and sports activities. She loves to play "sandlot" baseball with her siblings,especially if her big brothers teach her skills. She loves to go on our nature adventures and very seldom complains anymore about being outdoors and in the heat.

6)She gives hugs more willingly now, and she will respond with "I love you" when we tell her first. We are praying for the time when she can freely say "I love you".

7)She tries more and more types of foods.

8)She isn't afraid to try anything at least once whether it is food, an activity or a new concept.

9)She has learned to play...it has been fun to watch her develop a wonderful imagination.

10)She is proud to proclaim that she is American...Chinese American.

We are so blessed by the plans God had for our family. We are so thrilled to able to call Mandy our daughter. We pray that God will continue to grow our relationship, that she will know that she is loved, and that she will know that we are forever her family!