Savanna, we've come a long way, baby!

Last night was our end of they year interns banquet for Glorieta Camps and Conference Center, so while all the adults were in one room for the banquet, all of our kids were being watched by volunteers in an adjacent room, watching movies, eating pizza, etc. I had stayed home with Samuel who was recovering from a couple of days of very high fever (thankfully, the ER confirmed that is was not malaria the night before). Around 7:45pm I went to pick up Savanna since she and Samuel go to bed at 8-ish, and when I got there, she had evidently just tripped and fallen (very common occurence for her as she is a "size bigger" than her age/brain!) Anyway, she was only mildly wimpering in someone's arms until I came into view, then she bursted into uncontrollable tears....exactly the kind you WANT to see from an adopted older child....the kind that says, "I can let it all out now, my mommy's here!"....



I held her tight all the way home, enjoying her clinging to me and feeling completely free to be comforted by me. Then, she performed the "clenching" act of the evening. With her head laid on my chest, arms around my neck, and crying slowly fading, she said "I want mama".... (She wasn't implying she wanted someone else, but rather that this was where she wanted to stay).



It was an incredible experience that I will never forget. She's been affectionate to me plenty over the last 3 months, wants to be held all the time, gives great hugs, etc. But this was a defining moment - Mine were the only arms that brought her the kind of comfort she desparately craved. When I shared this with Art later that evening, he said, "yall have come a long way since week 1!"....For those of you new to our blog, week one in Africa consisted of her being in Art's arms, bawling when I had to take her from him, begging strangers to take her from me, laughing hysterically for Art, but then noticing me watching and becoming totally stone-faced again. Now at the time, I knew all this would change, we had read plenty of stories to know this would likely happen to one of the parents. We overcame that chasm thanks to 5 packs of fruit snacks (Cristy - I'm FOREVER in your debt!).....but love and perseverance has helped us overcome the gulf......



On that note, I'll leave you with a minute or 2 of video footage of the first Snead Family baseball extravaganza, where Savanna is featured....