One Year Home with Willow

Wow! One year! I continue to be blown away by the blessing of adoption. I have not done a post adoption update in awhile but celebrating 1 year with your forever family is a big deal so here it goes.  

You can read the past posts here

7 month post adoption

4 month post adoption 

2 month post adoption

Our one year anniversary of Willow's Gotcha Day was officially on March 28th.  A day we will never forget.  She was so brave on that day as she took on a whole new world with strangers essentially.  She embraced us as best as she could and each day after she would come out of her shell a little more.  To see the transformation in this tiny but mighty girl has been extraordinary. 

And if by chance you have not seen our Gotcha Day Video, you can click on this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BimBlznhVFQ

God works in such wondrous ways and this journey has been nothing short of amazing.  Yes, there are hard times.  It's not a smooth sailing "safe & comfortable" decision we made. But God truly makes beauty from ashes, our story is just one example of how He did just that.

So many people will say how lucky Willow is but Willow is the one who blesses us.  She fits into our family just perfectly, like she was always meant to be there.  That is because she was, God does not make mistakes.  He had a plan for Willow's life and although it started with pain and heartbreak as Willow's birth mom made such a selfless decision, God knew Willow's story did not end there.  I've said this many times but I pray so often that her birth mom knows deep in her heart that Willow is safe and loved so very much.

Did we have concerns about the girls getting along? Yes. Did we have concerns over how we were going to pay for the adoption and continue to pay for needs of Willow's after she came home? Yes.  Did we feel like our life was already a bit crazy (okay a lot crazy) and that we might even mess up our biological kids by doing this? Yes. that was something we talked about.  But we prayed and prayed and God always provided.  He always managed to give us peace when we needed it, he put the right people in our path to give us wisdom, he showed us over an over again that we were on the right path in some way.  No matter the price, no matter the stress is might cause in the family (because it did initially) God brought us to it and he brought us through it.  And by the way, I'll do a whole separate post on how this effected our biological kids.  It has impacted them positively in so many ways and it will continue to more and more as they get older.

I'm so thankful we faithfully followed God's call to bring this sweet child of God into our family forever.  We don't have it all figured out, God doesn't call the elite for this.  It makes me chuckle when people want to praise us or say, it takes such a special person to do something like this.  We are broken and rely on Jesus every day. Period.  God doesn't promise us easy when we follow him.  We knew this would be hard, but the greatest blessings in life are often really hard, right?

Okay now on to how Willow is thriving.  I took Willow out on a special photo session that was just all about her.  She does not lack in personality at all.  By the way her glasses are crooked in every single picture but I couldn't love them more.

Wild and free should be the title of this next picture.  

Her run seriously gives me life.  This girl is determined to do ALL things.

She is so incredibly sweet and forgiving.  She might be quick to get upset at times, but she bounces back so quickly.  She is compassionate and concerned if others are sad or hurt.  She is the first one there to try and console someone by wiping your tears or rubbing your back.  I mean, if that doesn't make you feel better I don't know what will.  She has captured all of our hearts and easily draws new people in with her friendly smile and wave.  She might even run straight to you and hug your leg. She has a lot of love to give so on days that might be extra stressful or tough, you can always count on Willow to brighten your day.  Always. She is just a little ray of sunshine but shines so BIG.  I just love her.

More pictures of her with her Panda that we gave to her on the very first day we met her. 

This might be my favorite, it just sums her up perfectly. 

She is so attentive and nurturing.  

Willow does not have any biases when she meets people.  Anyone could be her best friend.  She seriously teaches us so much.

Eating

She has never slowed down in the eating department but she is getting pretty picky.  Well pickier than she used to be.  She is saying no to foods she normally would eat.  Sometimes it can be a bit frustrating but we are just staying firm.  If it were up to her she would be on a popcorn and sweets diet only. lol.  

Sleeping

She still sleeps great in her own room since about 7 months home.  Prior to that she slept in a pack in play in our room but when we moved her to her own room, she slept even longer. She is still in crib even though she can easily crawl out, she stays in it for naps and bedtime.  She doesn't always nap but most days she naps from like 3:30-5pm.  She goes to bed by 8:30 and sleeps till at least 7am.  I call that a win.  Actually in the last month, she as been coming into our room at random hours of the night but I just take her back to her room and lay her back down.  She never makes a peep.  She for sure is the best sleeper in our house, I would say.  

Challenges

I would say behavior has recently become a little challenging.  I've always said how easy she has been overall so maybe that is coming back to bite in the butt. lol.  We are still learning in all of this and trying to figure out what works best for her.   She needs to be held accountable for her actions but there are certain things we have to "let go." It's just not worth battling.  Willow copies everything so I'm trying to just really be patient with her and model the correct behavior and give her lots of praise when she does something correct as well.  If she sees me getting all worked up over something, she will do the exact same thing.  She imitates everything she sees.  It is already hard enough getting her siblings to practice that, so as the Mom this is where I'm trying to improve the most.  

Development

Willow blew us away from the very beginning, her development has been steady since she came home.  I feel like she can learn something pretty quickly but its totally up to her whether she chooses to coorporate or not.  Everything is on her own terms so this can be a challenge.   She is so brave though and eager to try new things.   She loves to please so if you turn it into an activity she enjoys, she will stay focused for awhile.  I've been working with her on the alphabet and doing the correct sign for each letter.  She will sit and do this with me for a long time.  She loves all the Melissa and Doug puzzles too especially the ones that makes sounds.  I see a bright bright future ahead for her.  I feel like this is where I can step up more, I try not to beat myself up too much about it. She still goes to school 5 days a week as well from 11-2pm.  She appears to love school and the teachers always have happy reports to give me.  

Speech/Sign Language

Her speech is moving slower than I would like but she gets her point across. lol.  It is pretty easy to meet her needs and figure out what she wants and I think she knows that.  She knows her siblings will talk for her or that she can show me something she she may not be able to say or sign.  We are working on her saying the letters of the alphabet and numbers and most of them she can say pretty well.  The #1 word most often used by her is Mum.  She says it over and over all day.  The second word used the most by her is, No.  Other words she says often are, stop, go, up, out, drink, eat, more, night night, hi, bye, nice, mine, shoes, boo boo, and my butt.  I mean, we can't get her to say Daddy but she will say, my butt over and over.  hahaha. Hopefully that will get old soon.  I blame her siblings for that one. 

She tries to say please and thank you a lot as well.  She will use the sign at the same time so I always know when she is saying it.  She also says K? Like meaning, you understand what I'm saying right? 

Physical Growth

She has grown 2.5 inches and gained 2lbs.  It may not seem like a lot in one year but for her, it's great.  Her hair is so much longer, she just looks so much more grown.  This side by side really shows how much she has changed. 

She is still really small, most people would guess she is about 2, definitely not 4.  I can still hold her like a baby in my arms, she is so flexible she just molds into a little ball and fits perfectly in my arms. 

Attachment 

This is what we probably prayed the most for.  Attachment is so important and the foundation for so many other areas to begin blooming.  Willow attached to us very quickly.  She is definitely a mama's girl.  She is quick to show love to others but she puts her arms right back to me almost every time.  She knows who her family is and that I"m so thankful for.  I've had people ask me this question and many others think it so I'm going to answer it here.  Do I love her like one of my biological children? 100% yes! At first it was different, I'm not going to lie.  It felt a little bit like I was babysitting at times.  But that is normal and okay to feel that way.  It didn't take long though, we love Willow in such a special way. I think we love each of our kids in a same but different way for reasons that make them special.  I could do a whole post on this.  Willow is absolutely a Richardson and loved fully and fiercely. We have been extremely blessed in our adoption journey, that attachment came quickly.  That is something I do not take for granted. We love her so BIG and her LOVE always comes right back to us.  

Thank you for reading. Willow would give you all a big hug if she could.  Your sweet comments and messages have been such a blessing.  

If you do not  follow us already on Instagram, I post there daily with pictures and videos of the family.  If you want to tag along, you can find us @embraceandgrace