Life with Piper Grace

PG has been home for 10 days now and life is good! She has settled into a schedule and when she is awake, she is so joyful. She loves playing with her blocks and toys, and especially Hunter and Ella. She loves being in her highchair and eating with the family. This morning I heard her wake up on the baby monitor, she started making little noises - babababa, na na na, etc. until Ella woke up. From that point on there was a lot of singing, giggles, and squeals.
I faced my fear and took all 3 kids to Walmart by myself. Hunter and Ella took turns pushing Piper in the small stroller we got in China while I pushed the cart. Somehow it went smoother than before Piper. Pulling into the garage with a full car after such a successful trip, I was feeling a bit smug. That lasted about 3 minutes until I went to get Piper out of car and she had "done her thing" and it was all over both her shirt and her pants. This is becoming a theme every time we go out. At least I got to clean her up at home this time as opposed to the front seat of our car. We found out on Wednesday that she has Giardia, which is a lower digestive tract illness, very common among orphanages and daycares. Antibiotics should clear it up, but it may take a while. This is probably the reason she got dehydrated when we first got home. It drives me crazy when moms go on and on about their baby's poop, so I will spare you the details. The words explosive and messy pretty much sum it up. Thankfully, she really likes taking baths.
Please pray this goes away soon, as it can be serious if she gets a stomach bug because she can get dehydrated very quickly. She does not seem bothered by it in the least. When we first got her, she did not like diaper changes, but now if we give her a Cheerio, she's happy for the entire 20+ minutes it takes me to completely clean her up.
While we were waiting to go get Piper, I would pray for God to give her joy and it is just amazing for me to see her joyful spirit. She seems to dive into new experiences and make the most of them. I love going to get her after a nap or in the morning, she flashes her big smile and is so excited to see me! When we were in China, I started this thing when I am feeding her the bottle where I say really slow "mama loooooves Piper!" Everytime I would say it, her eyes would get bigger and she would really listen. For the last few days when I say it to her, she stops sucking on the bottle and gives me a big smile.
Enough sappy mommy talk...
Looking for something to give your kids for Easter? (in addition to chocolate of course) Here's what we just ordered. We are really excited about it:http://mooreblog.typepad.com/mark_moores_blog/2007/03/keller_for_kids.html