God's Grace For Number Four ... Our Journey To Ansley Grace: ALL ABOUT OUR ANSLEY GRACE

I have been TOTALLY AMAZED at how well Ansley Grace has adjusted to her new life with us. It was a week ago today that she joined our family, and it seems like she has been with us FOREVER!!!! She really is doing well.

There are some things I would like to share about her, along with some AWESOME pics I took today.

1. Our China Blessing Number 4 is SHORT!!!! Even though she is like a chunk of lead when I pick her up, she is SO small for her age. As you can see in her pictures, she is at least a half a head shorter than Molly Kate. She honestly would pass for a five or six year old.

2. She is very introverted, quiet, and shy WHEN SHE IS AROUND OTHER PEOPLE. HOWEVER, she can be quite loud when she is around us.

3. She is a GIGGLER!!!! Oh, my GOODNESS.......she has the deepest belly laugh for a little body that I have ever heard, and it doesn't take much to make her giggle.

4. She has only cried twice this week.....once when she fell, and today when they drew blood. HOWEVER, sometimes if she gets mad about something, she kind of ignores us. Today, after they had drawn the blood, she didn't cooperate with any other tests. She told them she didn't want to do them. Actually, I didn't blame her!!!

5. Even though she really has been good with us from the beginning, as each day has passed, she has shown more and more affection toward us. We both actually got our first kiss on the cheek from her yesterday. She will hold our hands, and she has let me help her in any way she has needed it. We can now tickle her and tease her. Sometimes she still doesn't like it, but for the most part, she does.

6. This girls LOVES clothes!!!! From the first day we got her, she has loved everything I have laid out for her to wear. She also LOVES the bows!!! This morning, she brought her bow to me for me to fix her hair. Before her physical appointment today, we had to get her picture made for her visa. They made me take out the bow, comb back her bangs, and clip her hair behind her ears. She didn't like that AT ALL!!! She was ready for the bow to be put back on, and the clips out!!!!

7. She is an EATER!!!! She eats anything and everything we put in front of her. We have had to start limiting the quantity she eats just a little bit. I'm not sure that in the past she has not always been fed as much as she has wanted or needed

8. She is a stasher. In the first update we received after we received preapproval to adopt her, we were told that she liked to stash things under her pillow, like strings. She puts at least one thing under her pillow every night......the past few nights it has been an empty M&M tube. I think she feels real ownership of those things. When I visited the orphanage the other day and went to the apartment where her foster family lives, I did not see one single toy there. She came to us with the clothes she had on her back, and a photo album sent from the orphanage with pictures of her. That's it. She LOVES that album, I think because it's all she had.

9. She is CUTE beyond words!!!! I thought her haircut was atrocious, but it is absolutely darling on her. Couple that with her beautiful smile......she is a little doll!!!!