8 months already?

I have to apologize at the lack of "blogging" we have done.  As you can tell neither Jeremy or I are "bloggers".  I have had a few requests to update everyone on how Jayna is doing and decided that tonight was the night.
It is hard to believe that it has been a little over 8 months that Jayna has been home with us.  In some ways it feels like it has gone so fast and in other ways it honestly feels like she has been here all along.  She is an amazing little girl and has adjusted so well.  She doesn't miss a thing.  She copies everything Nyla says and does.  It is almost like having an echo in the house.  If Nyla wants a snack, Jayna wants a snack.  If Nyla tells us about painting at school, Jayna tells us about her painting at "school".  If Nyla has to go to the bathroom, Jayna has to... well you get the idea.  Jayna and I are enjoying our days together while the kids are at school.  I don't return to work until January so I am trying to get as much time in with her as I can.  She is a great little helper and loves to have a job to do.  She is very focused when given a task, today she washed the kitchen floor for a good 1/2 hour.  One of her favorite things to do right now is be out in the garage with Daddy and play with the sawdust and pick up wood pieces.  She plays really well on her own but is incredibly social as well.  She really enjoys being around people and is very excited when I tell her to get her shoes on because we are going "out".
Her english is amazing.  Within the last 2 months she has reached the point where she can pretty much always find a word to use to say what she wants or what she is thinking.  It is wonderful to sit and have her"read" a book to me or just let her tell me stories she comes up with (which usually involves whatever she happens to see around her at the moment).  To progress from pointing and reading body language to being able to have a conversation with her is amazing. She is such a smart little girl.  She reminds me of Ethan in that she always has to figure out how something works.
She loves to sing, and she can dance.  She has great moves.  Puts the rest of us to shame really.  She loves to stand in front of the mirror in our living room and sing away.  I have a feeling they did a lot of that down in Haiti.
She loves to wear dresses.  Almost everyday she asks if she can wear her "favorite dress".  Which is a different dress each day.  So to everyone who bought her a dress please know that they are loved and well used.  Jayna and Nyla love to match when they can.  They really are great friends.  They play together great and run to hug each other almost everyday after school.  Nyla loves taking Jayna to school.  One day they were playing in the back yard "painting" the playhouse with sidewalk chalk.  I guess at some point Nyla discovered that it was more fun the "paint" Jayna.  She was "white like Nyla".  I will try to include a picture of this if I can.
They are now sharing a room together and sleep in the awesome bunk bed their Daddy made for them.  (My husband is truly amazing by the way!).  Jayna had no problem transitioning from our room to sharing with Nyla.  For the first 5 months she was with us she would wake at night whimpering.  All she would need is to hear our voices and she would go back to sleep.  I think she has gotten to the point where she is comfortable here, and knows that we are not leaving and she is not leaving because she doesn't "whimper" anymore.  It is actually pretty rare that she wakes up during the night at all anymore.
She is a great "eater".  She will eat almost anything now, but it is done in almost slow motion.  She is always the last one eating which is complete opposite of Ethan.  Supper consists of us telling Ethan to slow down and reminding Jayna that she needs to finish tonight sometime.
It is such a gift to have Jayna here with us.  All the firsts are so fun.  Being able to make her a cake this year for her birthday that she actually got to eat was amazing!  Summer holidays out in B.C. this summer were wonderful.  She really enjoyed getting to know her cousins better and is constantly asking when she gets to see them again.  We tell her she will get to see them at Christmas and now she likes to tell us that it is "Christmas time".  It's funny because she has no idea what this means... another first I am really looking forward to.
I guess one of the biggest struggles was potty training.  Knowing that she was smart enough to figure it out but just choosing not to was a little frustrating.  I'm pretty sure we tried everything...I think I could write a book.  I think it was something that she had control of in a world where she had lost control of everything else.  It was just a matter of waiting until she was ready.  She is happily wearing panties now and proud to be a "big girl".
Jayna has a photo album that we made her of her life in Haiti, the night we met her and brought her home and her life here.  She loves to sit and go through the pictures over and over again and comment on them all.  There is one picture of Jeremy holding her the night we met her after we were back in the hotel room.  Her face looks a little frightened and she always comments saying "Jayna was scared of thunder" and the next picture is of her laughing and she says "I am brave now".  Thanks to lots of prayers our little girl is feeling "brave" and you can tell that she knows that she is loved.  We tell her that she is a treasure and that God has a special plan for her and I know she believes it.
There is so much more to tell you.  Maybe pictures will help.  I will get Jeremy to put some up within the next week or so.  Thank-you for all your prayers and support for our family.

Grace and Peace
Amanda and Jake