Little girls giggles and high pitched squeals. These were the sounds our days were made of …
Oh how I wanted her voice to be the soundtrack of my life, but it wasn’t happening. Why isn’t she talking? Is this normal? I have two teenagers and can’t remember what is normal. Is it because she’s our third child? Why isn’t our bribery and insistance working??
“Oh don’t worry, she’ll talk.” “Einstein didn’t talk until he was 5.” “Just wait ’til she won’t stop talking! Then you’ll be thankful for these days.”
Their words were meant to be encouraging. And sometimes they helped to stretch our patience as we waited for our little girl to say simple yet precious words like “Daddy” and “bye-bye”.
In October 2009, we adopted Aster from Ethiopia. In August 2011, as she was heading toward her 3-year-old birthday, Aster was diagnosed with a severe speech disorder called Apraxia.
In the midst my deep sorrow over my fathers’s death, the joy of my book release and the heart-shattering shock about my little girl, all I wanted to hear was the soothing sound of my daughter’s precious little voice.
But Aster could barely say five words, and those were very hard to understand. It was determined that she could understand almost everything, but Aster’s mental planning paths weren’t connecting between her brain and her mouth, and no one knew why.
We’ve scheduled countless assessments, a brain MRI, hearing tests and more. And now after 10 months of speech therapy two times each week, we are celebrating an amazing milestone. Look how far God has brought our sweet and beautiful girl!
Although Aster still has days where she hardly says a thing, when she is chatty, she can say at least 50 words now! And her whole alphabet. She is super excited about her newest accomplishment – she can count up to 10!
We are so proud of how hard our girl is working that smart mind of hers, creating paths in her brain and building weak muscles in her mouth. And we’re over the top thankful for each little step of progress she makes. If you’d like to see just how far she’s come, the first time she EVER talked on camera was March 4, 2012. Here is that video:
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”– 1 Corinthians 2:9
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Unfortunately my sound isn’t working this morning, but the joy and excitement on both of your faces speaks volumes!!
God is good!!
WOW! I am amazed. Your little girl really loves you and she knows that she is loved! What security there is in love. I pray that I have shown my little girl love and grace. Grace is so needed with love. Thank you for allowing me into your family for a loving moment. You are a wonderful woman of God and mother. Thank you a million times over for never giving up! August Rose
God bless you Renee
Renee,
Thank you for sharing your life and your family with us. Aster is such a beautiful little girl and I believe God has an extraordinary plan for her life. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”– 1 Cor. 2:9. This scripture really tugged at my heart as I read and watched you and Aster. I could see the love and the joy in both your eyes as she said her first words. What a precious gift! How Great is Our God! To Him Be the Glory!
Lakeeia
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!! Aster your such a smart baby girl! Proud mommy! she is super precious! Thank you for sharing!
Aloha from Hawaii xoxoxox
So sweet. 🙂 God has a special plan for her life. 🙂 I hope to have an happy family as you do Renee. So precious!
I was so blessed by you sweet Aster! You are one beautiful and wonderfully made princess and Child of God. You are doing so awesome and to see what all you can do made me cry my eyes out! Keep up the great work and know that you are special and so many love you already! God bless and thank you for making my day so much brighter! Love and God bless you sweet girl 🙂
renee, you really are an awesome mom. your family is so perfect. God will make Aster perfect too.
blessings,
anna
Blessings, Renee God knows you are an excellent mom, friend and sister who is doing His will, thank you for sharing your book, your life, your time and you home with us. It’s been a pleasure doing this study with you (even thou I’m a bit behind) I pray that God may continue opening doors for you and your family always, this reminds me of Mark 7: 31-36 (please read) if we place our trust in Jesus to do His Fathers will all things is possible Amen God Bless
That was so heart warming seeing your beautiful little girl Aster having fun forming words. So lovely too that you shared some of your everyday life together. God bless you all richly and increase all you do and say to bless others. Thankyou and look forward to more of the final chapters of your book next week.
Wolw, what progress she has made since seeing the first video in the spring. Happy 4th. Look forward to ur last week of on-line BS and the conclusion of your heartfelt, teaching and mentoring book. I am so blessed that I fully particiapted this time around. I had been a blog reader only during the 1st time as I was finishing up BSF. Blessings on your wonderful family, j
Thank you for sharing these precious moments with us. May GOD continue to bless Aster and your family 🙂
That is so awesome! Thank you so much for sharing. God is Good!
What a blessing! Praying for you as you walk this difficult path with the Lord.
Aster is so precious. So awesome to see her progress. Thanks so much for sharing!
What an encouragement, my daughter has some type of language processing disorder but we unsure what yet. I am going to an informational meeting on dyslexia in 6 days, as this is a strong possibilty. I was feeling a little down about the road ahead if this is the case along with anger over insurance not covering the testing etc. Your e mail made me grateful instead, thank you! I am so happy for you and for Aster.
Renee she is so precious! Praise God for her tremendous progress! My daughter is Autistic and when she was two I longed to hear her say “mommy”. I thought all my dreams of mommy/daughter outings as we know it were destroyed. My daughter started speech therapy and signing at an early age. She finally started talking at age 5. Years later we couldn’t keep her quiet!!! She is 20 now and we love our mommy/daughter time shopping, etc. To God Be The Glory!!! Keep doing what you are doing Rene. Before you know it she will be talking non-stop. Already thanking God for it in advance!!!
Great job Aster! I love seeing her smile!
Way to go, Aster! What a wonderful and miraculous blessing.
What a blessing! Aster is making such good progress. Thankful for families like yours that are willing to adopt these precious children. It takes a special person & God choose you & your family to give Aster a home & the attention she needs to live a productive life. Praise God 🙂