Psalm 100:4

Psalm 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. Wednesday of this week, Camellia's great grandmother was welcomed home to paradise. She is now home with Jesus and has been reunited for all eternity with Great Grandpa, who went home in 2010. We were blessed that Camellia got to meet and spend some time with her great grandma.

 

When Camellia first met Great Grandma, she was so concerned about her hands. She kept rubbing her hands and holding them. At one point, Camellia grabbed my hand and placed it on Great Grandma's and kept trying to tell me something. I could distinctly tell how compassionate Camellia is for other people.

In the video, you can see Grandma and Camellia interacting. Notice how Camellia keeps rubbing Great Grandma's hands.

 

Shortly after recording the video, Grandma looked up at me and said, "Is she yours?" to which I said, "Yes, Grandma, this is your new Great Granddaughter, Camellia." Grandma smiled and simply said, "Ahhh."

For the first several months home, Camellia would take at least an hour to wind down and fall asleep. I would put her to bed and have to sit on the end of the bed, rub her back, or hold her hand until she fell asleep. She would scream if I left early and start the whole process over again. Over the last few months, we have gone from 2 hours down to as little as 15 minutes! This extended time in the bedroom really cut into my blogging time! At exactly 4 months from her joining our family, I put Camellia to bed, and as I went to sit on her bed she looked at me and said, "No... Bye Bye," and then pointed at the door. I asked her, "Are you sure?" and she nodded yes. So I walked out the door, and she fell right to sleep! The next night, she wanted me to sit on the bed. For the next few nights she flipped about every other night between wanting me in the room or wanting me to leave. Two weeks have gone by, and we are now to the point where she goes to sleep every night without me in the room. A huge win for the blog, and my evening down time!

Last posting I requested prayer for our friends Aaron and Sarah and their little girl Haven. Haven is just 2 1/2 years old and was adopted from China in May of last year. She had heart surgery on March 19th. Unfortunately, little Haven suffered a stroke during the operation. Haven has shown some great progress, but she has a long road of recovery ahead of her. Please continue to keep Haven in your prayers. You can follow Haven's progress on Aaron and Sarah's blog at:
 http://blessingsandfingerprints.blogspot.com

Finally, to cheer things up a bit, I will leave you with a text message that Camellia randomly typed to the president of a consulting company that we work with at the office.

She grabbed my phone and started touching the screen. Thanks to the wonders of the iPhone auto-correct feature, Camellia managed to send the above text of "Fatty" to Josh. I noticed right away and attempted damage control, but the deed was already done. Luckily, Josh is a friend and very lighthearted. Nicki, feeling deep sympathy and emotion over Camellia's first text, was crying when she read the text. Although, I think the tears were from laughter.