Yeah, I know, the title's not right, but it's not Monday, so it is what it is. I have the blues. Sigh.
Ya see, Gatlin has been talking a lot about going to "regular" school for high school. We've home schooled Cooper and Gatlin their entire schooling years. This has been a great joy for me - all three of us have loved it. But, Gatlin is a very creative, dramatic, social child and some time spent in a more structured environment might actually be really good for her, so when she brought up the whole "going to school" thing, I didn't say no. I agreed that we should check into it.
There's a small private Christian school very close to our house and that's the school she has been interested in. We have gone to the school and met the faculty and they have interviewed Gatlin. Both of those things we did together. Today, she is at the school all day shadowing another student. And I, the momma who has always had Gatlin here with me, is sitting in my bed listening to it rain outside and fighting the urge to bawl like a baby. Yep, I know it's silly. But, I've just never been a mom who looked forward to my kids being out the door. I love having them here - on the same side of the door as me. I LOVE it.
We're also considering this school for Bennet. Bennet is doing great in school, but I just can't imagine putting her in public middle school right now. I think middle school is a hard place, especially for girls. I'm not sure that Bennet has the discretion to pick good friends (because of a lack of maturity, not any type of rebellion). I think she'd be drawn to whomever picks her, and that's not always safe. The 5th and 6th graders are in a class together and that will be perfect for Bennet. So, we will pray for a little financial aid and send both girls to this small private school.
Speaking of Bennet and Gatlin, they are doing better. It's not perfect, but it's much better. And, of course, we're not expecting perfection....they are sisters, after all. I grew up in the middle of three girls, I know how sisters can fight. Boy, do I. LOL To be honest, Gatlin is really improving in the area of grace, so we are hearing less bickering, but Bennet is still needing to improve in the area of kindness. I am now sensing that there's definitely jealousy playing in to her behavior. For instance, last night we went to Moe's for dinner (because on Monday night kids eat free!). Walking from the car to the restaurant, I was holding hands with Gatlin. Well, we got in the door and Bennet squeezed in up next to me and basically pushed Gatlin aside. Gatlin gave me "the look" and I continued to reach out and touch Gatlin to stay connected to them both, but Bennet would pull my hand back, away from Gatlin. I had to tell Bennet that she couldn't do that and had to get stern with her when she began talking ugly to Gatlin.
Later, Gatlin let Bennet know that it was really hurting her feelings that Bennet kept being so mean to her, and then she said, "Bennet, I will always love you, I want you to know that, but when you are mean to me, I sure don't like you very much".
So, last night while I was tucking Bennet in, she said her prayers and said, "God, please help me not be mean, help me be nice to my sister, Gatlin". Progress.
And speaking of prayers....on Easter night as I was tucking the twins in, I was telling them (again) about the cross and Jesus dying for our sins and how He rose from the dead. I asked them if they understood what sin was, and we talked about that. Then I told them that one day when they were ready, they could pray a prayer asking Jesus to live in their hearts and be their Savior. Then I proceeded to say a "regular" bedtime prayer with them. But, when I finished, Kaleb said, "I want to pray the other prayer" and Kali said, "Me, too!". I said, "Well, can you tell Mommy what you know about that prayer and what Jesus did for us". Kali said, "He made my heart clean." Um, precious. I hadn't used the word, "clean", so I loved that she had that understanding. They asked me to pray for them, so I told them I would pray a line and they would repeat, and I prayed a prayer of salvation and those precious kids repeated line by line and accepted Jesus as their Savior. Hallelujah.
We believe in baptism as a symbol of our salvation so when we feel like they are ready, and can really explain and understand what they believe, they will be baptized in front of our church family.
So, HAPPY EASTER. Isn't that just AMAZING!! And I know this post is long, but let me share one more thing. I have always prayed that my kids would come to know Jesus as their Savior before they were seven years old. I have no idea why that was the age, it just always was. Cooper accepted Christ as a three year old (seriously!!). He was so smart for a little guy and his intelligence was well above his age level. Gatlin accepted Christ when she was six. Both of them were baptized when they were seven. Bennet says she already accepted Christ (and we will get more information from her about that as we continue to talk about her life experiences). And now Kaleb and Kali accepted Christ. I am BEYOND blessed!
And you know I have to end this by asking you -- can you see the eternal perspective thing going on here? I know it's not necessarily convenient to bring an orphan into your home. But my goodness, wouldn't you, couldn't you do it in order to save their life, not only physically, but spiritually? Oh, please think about it. Don't convince yourself that you're not called to it. (: Come spend some time with our twins and then think about them never having this Easter experience. Never having a Mommy or Daddy pray with them before bed and tell them about how much Jesus loves them. DYING physically from starvation or disease and DYING spiritually because nobody brought them into a loving, Christian FAMILY! Jesus DIED so that WE could be ADOPTED as the children of God. Can't you and I die a little to ourselves to save a life?
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
And So it Goes...
Bennet, Kaleb and Kali have been home with us now for two months. Isn't that amazing?! Can you believe from the very first time I laid eyes on their picture to right now, it's only been 7 1/2 months. That's just really crazy. And ya know what, it's actually pretty "normal" already, whatever that is. LOL
The kids are doing great in school and their English is fantastic. Bennet already spoke really good English when she got here, but she is understanding better now. Kaleb and Kali only spoke a tiny bit of English when they got here, but they are all over it now. They rarely speak Amharic at all anymore, which I know some people will think is sad, but to us, it just shows how happy they are here and how much they are loving being a part of things the way our family does them. We never have any instances anymore where we need Bennet to speak Amharic to them to make sure they understand -- they get it. (:
Gatlin and Bennet are doing SO much better. We definitely have moments of sibling rivalry, but it is much fewer and farther between. Praise God. It's an interesting thing to see how much more grace and compassion a teenage girl has for an orphan BEFORE they are living in their house, sharing their room, and often, being a bit of a pill bug. LOL
And, it's an interesting thing to watch an orphan come into a new house and be very purposefully mean to someone who they so desperately wanted to become sisters with. There were some pretty rough days between the two girls and we had to take things away (iPod, Bennet and computer/phone, Gatlin) and force the girls to really stop and think about how Jesus would want them to treat each other. So funny, cause they are SO much alike. We now call them twins - the black and white twins. They laugh about this now, but, for a couple weeks, there wasn't much laughing between them. I share this with you to let you know that it hasn't just been smooth sailing around here. I just don't want anyone to get a false impression. The transition can be difficult. Ours has had difficult, challenging moments, but we have been triumphant, by the grace of God!
If you were to come over right now, we just have a normal, 5 kid, house going on. It's a little chaotic, a little messy, there's some laundry that isn't put away (speaking of laundry, I really do think that has been the biggest adjustment -- it's just never-ending!!) I know that all siblings argue. All 6-year-olds fuss sometimes. All big sisters get a little bossy (or maybe a lot). All little sisters want to be the one in charge and don't like it that they're not, all oldest kids - no wait, Cooper is perfect, got nothing there. ha ha ha ha ha
Brian and I tell each other all the time that these kids BELONG in our family. We are a creative, performance, dramatic, musical family. All three of these kids love to sing, dance, play instruments and perform. Sunday night they were all in the church choir musical. They had been to choir rehearsals all of six times and they got on that stage and sang out with confidence. It was amazing to me. There were probably 500 people in the audience and they weren't fazed one bit. They see me and Brian and Cooper and Gatlin up on stage and I guess it just seems normal to them. Bennet said to me a couple days ago, "Mom, I want to be an actress....not today, but when I am 11". Of course she does! I love it!!
And that's it right now, just pretty much routine stuff. Busy, busy life filled with a lot of laundry and a lot of love! (;
The kids are doing great in school and their English is fantastic. Bennet already spoke really good English when she got here, but she is understanding better now. Kaleb and Kali only spoke a tiny bit of English when they got here, but they are all over it now. They rarely speak Amharic at all anymore, which I know some people will think is sad, but to us, it just shows how happy they are here and how much they are loving being a part of things the way our family does them. We never have any instances anymore where we need Bennet to speak Amharic to them to make sure they understand -- they get it. (:
Gatlin and Bennet are doing SO much better. We definitely have moments of sibling rivalry, but it is much fewer and farther between. Praise God. It's an interesting thing to see how much more grace and compassion a teenage girl has for an orphan BEFORE they are living in their house, sharing their room, and often, being a bit of a pill bug. LOL
And, it's an interesting thing to watch an orphan come into a new house and be very purposefully mean to someone who they so desperately wanted to become sisters with. There were some pretty rough days between the two girls and we had to take things away (iPod, Bennet and computer/phone, Gatlin) and force the girls to really stop and think about how Jesus would want them to treat each other. So funny, cause they are SO much alike. We now call them twins - the black and white twins. They laugh about this now, but, for a couple weeks, there wasn't much laughing between them. I share this with you to let you know that it hasn't just been smooth sailing around here. I just don't want anyone to get a false impression. The transition can be difficult. Ours has had difficult, challenging moments, but we have been triumphant, by the grace of God!
If you were to come over right now, we just have a normal, 5 kid, house going on. It's a little chaotic, a little messy, there's some laundry that isn't put away (speaking of laundry, I really do think that has been the biggest adjustment -- it's just never-ending!!) I know that all siblings argue. All 6-year-olds fuss sometimes. All big sisters get a little bossy (or maybe a lot). All little sisters want to be the one in charge and don't like it that they're not, all oldest kids - no wait, Cooper is perfect, got nothing there. ha ha ha ha ha
Brian and I tell each other all the time that these kids BELONG in our family. We are a creative, performance, dramatic, musical family. All three of these kids love to sing, dance, play instruments and perform. Sunday night they were all in the church choir musical. They had been to choir rehearsals all of six times and they got on that stage and sang out with confidence. It was amazing to me. There were probably 500 people in the audience and they weren't fazed one bit. They see me and Brian and Cooper and Gatlin up on stage and I guess it just seems normal to them. Bennet said to me a couple days ago, "Mom, I want to be an actress....not today, but when I am 11". Of course she does! I love it!!
And that's it right now, just pretty much routine stuff. Busy, busy life filled with a lot of laundry and a lot of love! (;
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
For Pete's Sake, Finish the Week...
Oh my word, some of you are mad at me (in love). I'm sorry I haven't written in a while - it has been a little nuts around here with my mom being diagnosed with breast cancer, a trip to Tulsa for my sister's adoption fundraiser dinner, my grandma having a mild heart attack and Brian having to go to the hospital for a kidney stone - oh, and did I mention we just adopted THREE kids. ha ha ha But, other than all of that, we're doing great!
So, not gonna go back to a play-by-play but I'll just finish up that first week by telling you that there were some REALLY hard moments and lots of really great ones. I was very overwhelmed for the first three days, but then began to function somewhat normally by the fourth day. I don't want to throw any particular child under the bus, but one of them was definitely being much more difficult than the others. (: BUT, that's to be expected when a child's entire world has been turned upside down.
As the weeks have gone on (they've been home five weeks now) things have become "normal". We definitely have moments of siblings fighting - but who doesn't? We still have one child who brings more "excitement" to the table than the others. We have a biological child who needs to work on having grace with the adopted one who is struggling the most. We have typical stuff going on around here. Brian and I have said so many times that there are many non-adoptive families we know who have a LOT more drama going on in their homes on any given day. We are really doing great and are SO blessed to have these children to love.
Our friends, Lana Reed, Mary Anne Locke and Kenda Benward blessed us with a sweet "Welcome Home Shower" on Monday, the 28th. It was wonderful to have friends come out and meet the kids for the first time. We were so grateful for the many gift cards we received and the kids absolutely LOVED the cake and kept begging for more. On the way home they were talking in Amharic and I'm positive they were saying, "I had FOUR pieces of cake, how many did you have?" LOL And so funny cause the next day, Kenda took the left over cake to Bennet's school and she got ANOTHER piece. Ha!!
We have been slammed with so many doctor and dentist appointments. Our insurance company has not approved us yet so this has been a bit of a hit financially. We are going to a wonderful doctor's office called, Mercy Clinic, and they work on a sliding scale so that has been a blessing. We had to bite the bullet and go to the Health Department for the dental work cause we just couldn't wait. Even after we get approved, our insurance company makes you wait 90 days for a cleaning. UGH. So, even though the Health Department also works on a sliding scale, it has been quite pricey since both girls have had to go twice and Kaleb has had to go FOUR times.
Bennet has a suspicious lump behind her ear. The clinic sent her to a specialist and he prescribed a strong antibiotic to see if that would affect it, but it didn't. While we were in Oklahoma for my sister's fundraiser, we had blood work done (because her father-in-law is a doctor and did it for us as a gift - so thankful), and those results came back fine. So, we go back to the ENT doctor here next week and find out what the next step is. They may biopsy it - ouch! Please keep Bennet in your prayers as we try to get to the bottom of this.
Like I said, we spent last week in Oklahoma for spring break. The kids were AMAZING during the 9 1/2 hour drive. So proud of them. My grandma ended up having a mild heart attack the day we got there so the kids met her for the first time in the hospital. Bennet said, "Oh my goodness, she is SO cute". Grandma Dot is 90, and in Ethiopia, you don't see old people very often. The average life span is 45 years, I believe.
My sister's family is adopting a darling little boy named, Crew Dawit, and the fundraiser they had for him raised over $7000 for their adoption expenses. Woo hoo!! I sang a song I wrote called, "This is Religion" - it's a song that "Sierra" recorded on our very first album. Brian and I wrote it over 20 years ago. I warned him back then that I wanted to adopt some day!! LOL It was an awesome night and our sweet kids were so well-behaved and just loved being there with their relatives and new friends. They didn't want to leave on Saturday to come home.
They also got to meet my dad for the first time - Grandpa Foy. We had lunch with him at The Cracker Barrell and they loved spending time with him there and then getting to see him again at the fundraiser. Everyone in my family is so loving and kind and supportive towards our adoption and we are BLESSED by it. Oh, I will say that we noticed we were being "looked at" a LOT more in Oklahoma than we are here. I've never felt like we were being watched here in Tennessee, but we definitely felt it there. Very interesting.
So, I think that catches us up and I'll try to do better about writing and letting you know how we're doing for those of you who are praying for us and want to know how your prayers are being answered. Please, please, please keep praying for us. We need it. Everything is great, but it's still an adjustment and there are good moments and difficult moments. These kids are amazing and every day we are confirmed that they belong with us. You just have to laugh when Kali and Kaleb do "a show" and start singing their guts our for anybody and everybody who comes over. LOL There is no doubt whatsoever that God knew exactly what He was doing by putting the seven of us together.
There are MANY more of these precious children out there...you should take a look. (;
So, not gonna go back to a play-by-play but I'll just finish up that first week by telling you that there were some REALLY hard moments and lots of really great ones. I was very overwhelmed for the first three days, but then began to function somewhat normally by the fourth day. I don't want to throw any particular child under the bus, but one of them was definitely being much more difficult than the others. (: BUT, that's to be expected when a child's entire world has been turned upside down.
As the weeks have gone on (they've been home five weeks now) things have become "normal". We definitely have moments of siblings fighting - but who doesn't? We still have one child who brings more "excitement" to the table than the others. We have a biological child who needs to work on having grace with the adopted one who is struggling the most. We have typical stuff going on around here. Brian and I have said so many times that there are many non-adoptive families we know who have a LOT more drama going on in their homes on any given day. We are really doing great and are SO blessed to have these children to love.
Our friends, Lana Reed, Mary Anne Locke and Kenda Benward blessed us with a sweet "Welcome Home Shower" on Monday, the 28th. It was wonderful to have friends come out and meet the kids for the first time. We were so grateful for the many gift cards we received and the kids absolutely LOVED the cake and kept begging for more. On the way home they were talking in Amharic and I'm positive they were saying, "I had FOUR pieces of cake, how many did you have?" LOL And so funny cause the next day, Kenda took the left over cake to Bennet's school and she got ANOTHER piece. Ha!!
We have been slammed with so many doctor and dentist appointments. Our insurance company has not approved us yet so this has been a bit of a hit financially. We are going to a wonderful doctor's office called, Mercy Clinic, and they work on a sliding scale so that has been a blessing. We had to bite the bullet and go to the Health Department for the dental work cause we just couldn't wait. Even after we get approved, our insurance company makes you wait 90 days for a cleaning. UGH. So, even though the Health Department also works on a sliding scale, it has been quite pricey since both girls have had to go twice and Kaleb has had to go FOUR times.
Bennet has a suspicious lump behind her ear. The clinic sent her to a specialist and he prescribed a strong antibiotic to see if that would affect it, but it didn't. While we were in Oklahoma for my sister's fundraiser, we had blood work done (because her father-in-law is a doctor and did it for us as a gift - so thankful), and those results came back fine. So, we go back to the ENT doctor here next week and find out what the next step is. They may biopsy it - ouch! Please keep Bennet in your prayers as we try to get to the bottom of this.
Like I said, we spent last week in Oklahoma for spring break. The kids were AMAZING during the 9 1/2 hour drive. So proud of them. My grandma ended up having a mild heart attack the day we got there so the kids met her for the first time in the hospital. Bennet said, "Oh my goodness, she is SO cute". Grandma Dot is 90, and in Ethiopia, you don't see old people very often. The average life span is 45 years, I believe.
My sister's family is adopting a darling little boy named, Crew Dawit, and the fundraiser they had for him raised over $7000 for their adoption expenses. Woo hoo!! I sang a song I wrote called, "This is Religion" - it's a song that "Sierra" recorded on our very first album. Brian and I wrote it over 20 years ago. I warned him back then that I wanted to adopt some day!! LOL It was an awesome night and our sweet kids were so well-behaved and just loved being there with their relatives and new friends. They didn't want to leave on Saturday to come home.
They also got to meet my dad for the first time - Grandpa Foy. We had lunch with him at The Cracker Barrell and they loved spending time with him there and then getting to see him again at the fundraiser. Everyone in my family is so loving and kind and supportive towards our adoption and we are BLESSED by it. Oh, I will say that we noticed we were being "looked at" a LOT more in Oklahoma than we are here. I've never felt like we were being watched here in Tennessee, but we definitely felt it there. Very interesting.
So, I think that catches us up and I'll try to do better about writing and letting you know how we're doing for those of you who are praying for us and want to know how your prayers are being answered. Please, please, please keep praying for us. We need it. Everything is great, but it's still an adjustment and there are good moments and difficult moments. These kids are amazing and every day we are confirmed that they belong with us. You just have to laugh when Kali and Kaleb do "a show" and start singing their guts our for anybody and everybody who comes over. LOL There is no doubt whatsoever that God knew exactly what He was doing by putting the seven of us together.
There are MANY more of these precious children out there...you should take a look. (;
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
And Here We Are (almost done!)...
On Wednesday morning we headed over to Hunter's Bend Elementary School to check it out. I've only home schooled Cooper and Gatlin so this was our first experience at a "real" school. Everyone was extremely nice and seemed genuinely excited to meet the kids. I was given all the necessary paperwork and was told that they could start as early as the next day. Wow.
I had been thinking long and hard about school. When Cooper first started Kindergarten, I was still traveling with "Sierra" and I wanted him to be able to go with me as much as possible, so we home schooled. We absolutely loved it and continued it from that day to now. It ended up being a huge blessing when the kids began acting and we began traveling to California so often for their auditions and work. I have always been so happy with our home school choice. On a Spiritual level, it has been very important to me as well. I want my kids to learn from a Christian worldview. So, when I was debating school for the new kids I will admit to some guilt over that aspect of it. But, in the end, I had to let go of that guilt and do what I thought was best for everyone. They needed that time with other kids and those of us who would remain at home needed a little breather.
I then began to debate whether to start them on Thursday or wait until Monday. I had had a great night's sleep (thanks to the Tylenol PM that Lana gave me) and so when I woke up Wednesday morning I was feeling a MILLION times better. The knots in my stomach were basically gone and as of that day, I felt like I was going to be ok. Thank you, God!! So, I was thinking that I'd just wait and start them in school on Monday. But then I started thinking that it might be nice for them to get a feel for it for two days before they went for an entire week - and my gut feeling was that that was the best decision. Turned out to be a real God-thing.
A sweet gal from church named, Rhonda Rose, brought us a wonderful dinner that night and once again, we all went to sleep fat and happy. (:
Thursday morning we got up early (for us) and started getting kids ready for school. I'm so thankful that Brian is here helping - we've got a nice little routine going. We were at the school by 8:20. Dianne, the school secretary, walked us to their classes and made sure we knew where they were supposed to be. They were very excited to meet their teachers and all three kids went straight into their rooms without any trouble at all. Yipee.
When I got home, Gatlin and I had a really important conversation. We talked about life before the kids and life as it would be from now on. There were deep issues discussed and we both cried a bit (ok, maybe a lot). It was a talk that needed to happen and it resolved very well. But it was heavy and we were both emotionally tired. Right when we wiped away the last tear, my phone rang. It was my mom.
Gatlin and I were sitting side by side, I was about to answer an email and she had just started her school work. I said hello to my mom and she immediately said that she had some not so great news to share with me. She then told me that she'd gotten the results of her biopsy back and that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Unfortunately, Gatlin was sitting so close to me that she heard her Nana say those words and she just started bawling. She was crying out, "No, she's the only grandma I see, I don't want her to be sick, I love her, please don't let her die". It.Was.Awful. I lost it. I HATE that my mom is having to walk through this. She is already a cancer survivor - she had Hodgkin's Disease when I was 16-years-old. I don't want her to go through all this again. My head was spinning as I realized that if we hadn't just adopted three kids that I could have jumped in the car and driven to Oklahoma to be with her right that minute. I wanted to be able to go spend time with her, and the realization that I wouldn't be able to was painful. We said we would talk later that day and we hung up. I put my head in my hands and sobbed.
It was pouring rain outside. God's tears? I know it hurts Him that His children hurt. I always say to my kids, "Did we trust God before this (particular event occurred)?" "Do we still trust Him now?" And yes, we do trust Him. We are praying for my mom's complete healing. I'm praying that when she goes in for her MRI tomorrow that the whole darn lump will just be gone. But, if that's not how God chooses to heal her, than we will continue to trust Him. Please pray for her as she walks this journey. She is an amazing Mom, Nana and friend.
It turned out to be a perfect day to have started the kids in school (the God-thing). I picked them up at 3:30 and they were all very happy. Everyone had had a great day and they all loved school. Yipee again!! That night our friends, the Trouts, AND our sweet friend, Dana Carter, both brought food over to us for dinner. We were feeling quite blessed and quite spoiled. And again, we went to bed fat and happy.
To be continued (I'll try to squeeze the rest of the week into the next/last post)...
I had been thinking long and hard about school. When Cooper first started Kindergarten, I was still traveling with "Sierra" and I wanted him to be able to go with me as much as possible, so we home schooled. We absolutely loved it and continued it from that day to now. It ended up being a huge blessing when the kids began acting and we began traveling to California so often for their auditions and work. I have always been so happy with our home school choice. On a Spiritual level, it has been very important to me as well. I want my kids to learn from a Christian worldview. So, when I was debating school for the new kids I will admit to some guilt over that aspect of it. But, in the end, I had to let go of that guilt and do what I thought was best for everyone. They needed that time with other kids and those of us who would remain at home needed a little breather.
I then began to debate whether to start them on Thursday or wait until Monday. I had had a great night's sleep (thanks to the Tylenol PM that Lana gave me) and so when I woke up Wednesday morning I was feeling a MILLION times better. The knots in my stomach were basically gone and as of that day, I felt like I was going to be ok. Thank you, God!! So, I was thinking that I'd just wait and start them in school on Monday. But then I started thinking that it might be nice for them to get a feel for it for two days before they went for an entire week - and my gut feeling was that that was the best decision. Turned out to be a real God-thing.
A sweet gal from church named, Rhonda Rose, brought us a wonderful dinner that night and once again, we all went to sleep fat and happy. (:
Thursday morning we got up early (for us) and started getting kids ready for school. I'm so thankful that Brian is here helping - we've got a nice little routine going. We were at the school by 8:20. Dianne, the school secretary, walked us to their classes and made sure we knew where they were supposed to be. They were very excited to meet their teachers and all three kids went straight into their rooms without any trouble at all. Yipee.
When I got home, Gatlin and I had a really important conversation. We talked about life before the kids and life as it would be from now on. There were deep issues discussed and we both cried a bit (ok, maybe a lot). It was a talk that needed to happen and it resolved very well. But it was heavy and we were both emotionally tired. Right when we wiped away the last tear, my phone rang. It was my mom.
Gatlin and I were sitting side by side, I was about to answer an email and she had just started her school work. I said hello to my mom and she immediately said that she had some not so great news to share with me. She then told me that she'd gotten the results of her biopsy back and that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Unfortunately, Gatlin was sitting so close to me that she heard her Nana say those words and she just started bawling. She was crying out, "No, she's the only grandma I see, I don't want her to be sick, I love her, please don't let her die". It.Was.Awful. I lost it. I HATE that my mom is having to walk through this. She is already a cancer survivor - she had Hodgkin's Disease when I was 16-years-old. I don't want her to go through all this again. My head was spinning as I realized that if we hadn't just adopted three kids that I could have jumped in the car and driven to Oklahoma to be with her right that minute. I wanted to be able to go spend time with her, and the realization that I wouldn't be able to was painful. We said we would talk later that day and we hung up. I put my head in my hands and sobbed.
It was pouring rain outside. God's tears? I know it hurts Him that His children hurt. I always say to my kids, "Did we trust God before this (particular event occurred)?" "Do we still trust Him now?" And yes, we do trust Him. We are praying for my mom's complete healing. I'm praying that when she goes in for her MRI tomorrow that the whole darn lump will just be gone. But, if that's not how God chooses to heal her, than we will continue to trust Him. Please pray for her as she walks this journey. She is an amazing Mom, Nana and friend.
It turned out to be a perfect day to have started the kids in school (the God-thing). I picked them up at 3:30 and they were all very happy. Everyone had had a great day and they all loved school. Yipee again!! That night our friends, the Trouts, AND our sweet friend, Dana Carter, both brought food over to us for dinner. We were feeling quite blessed and quite spoiled. And again, we went to bed fat and happy.
To be continued (I'll try to squeeze the rest of the week into the next/last post)...
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
And Here We Are (con't)...
We were at the doctor by 9:30 Monday morning. I took Bennet and Kali together and then Kaleb was scheduled for 1:30. The girl's appointment took THREE hours. Oh my word. They were very good, but by 11:30 they were so ready to leave (as was I). They had to have shots and Kali cried and cried, even before the needle touched her arm (Gatlin always did the same thing!). That girl can SCREAM. Wow! Bennet almost started crying for Kali - she was much more bothered by Kali having to get shots than she was getting her shots. When it was her turn, she sat in my lap, burrowed into my chest and never let out a cry or scream. She was very brave and I was so proud of her. When we left, we made our first trek to McDonald's. I got cheeseburger Happy Meals (a little healthy eating) and we headed home to eat and drop them off and get Kaleb.
My sweet friend, Gina Payne, offered to let Bennet and Kali go to her house to play with her son, Mamo, who they know from the orphanage. They were so excited to do that and I appreciated Gina so much for making that offer. Remember, this was still the time that my stomach was in complete knots. At one point during the girl's doctor appointment I started crying. Just overwhelmed way too easily by all the paperwork and keeping the girls somewhat settled down in that little room for three hours. I knew it wasn't a good idea to leave Bennet and Kali at home with Gatlin and Cooper because Brian was working on a deadline and couldn't be interrupted. So, Gina was a life-saver and the kids loved playing at her house.
Kaleb and I got to the doctor at 1:30 and we left there at 4:00. It was a LONG day, but the kids really were good. Kaleb was as brave as Bennet and never cried or screamed during the shots. He did the biggest belly laugh when the doctor had to look at his privates - it was hysterical. After his appointment we headed over to Gina's house to pick up Bennet and Kali. The bummer about this was that as soon as Kaleb saw Mamo, he wanted to stay and play, but we couldn't cause we had people bringing dinner to our house and we had to get home. He was pretty frustrated and unlocked his seatbelt and refused to put it back on. I pulled the car over, put it back on and told him he would go to time out when we got home if he did that again. He was very familiar with time out at this point, and chose to obey. Good boy. He was learning fast. Yay!!
Our awesome friends, Deb and Rob Solberg (and Sami and Maggie) came over and brought us the biggest pan of pasta ever. They got to talk to the kids for just a bit, but the kids were starving and were ready to jump into that pasta pit. LOL It's so funny cause for the first few days, when we put anything new in front of them, they would just say, "No!" We would tell them that they had to take two bites. They would take one bite and then it was, "MMmmmm". And they'd eat it all and want more. These kids can EAT!! So, they devoured that yummy pasta and asked for it for lunch the next day.
On Tuesday, sweet Stephanie Younger, asked if she could take the kids swimming after her kids got out of school. That was a huge blessing cause I needed a break, and truthfully, so did Gatlin. I told you in the last post that they knew they weren't supposed to get out of their beds before 7:00. Two out of three kids were doing great with this, but the third was really struggling with obeying that rule. I continued to get woken up very early in the morning with, "Oh, hey mom....I'm so sorry, Mom (shake me, kiss me, grab my face)." The child knew they were doing wrong, but continued to make that choice. I had only slept about four hours Monday night (just really having trouble sleeping and eating cause of the stomach issue), so this early wake up testing was pretty frustrating. Gatlin was still very jet lagged and was having trouble having grace towards this behavior. I was proud of Gatlin because she did get up and make the whole gang breakfast. Very sweet.
We played outside and then ate lunch and then had rest time. When they woke up, it was time to get ready to go to the Younger's house, so I loaded them into the car and we headed out. The Youngers live down in Spring Hill - wish they were closer cause Bennet loves hanging out with their daughter, Kristyn. Marshal went way above and beyond when he brought them home and didn't even allow us to meet them half way. Sometimes your friends bless you beyond measure - this was one of those times!!
We were also blessed on that day by the Trout family who brought us a delicious dinner!! The kids love rice and were very happy to see it included in the entrees. They had already had McDonald's with the Younger family, but that didn't stop them. They dug into their second dinner when they got home. (: Everybody went to bed stuffed and happy!
My wonderful friend, Lana, brought over Tylenol PM and made me promise to take it before bed.
The next day we decided to check out the school.
To be continued.
My sweet friend, Gina Payne, offered to let Bennet and Kali go to her house to play with her son, Mamo, who they know from the orphanage. They were so excited to do that and I appreciated Gina so much for making that offer. Remember, this was still the time that my stomach was in complete knots. At one point during the girl's doctor appointment I started crying. Just overwhelmed way too easily by all the paperwork and keeping the girls somewhat settled down in that little room for three hours. I knew it wasn't a good idea to leave Bennet and Kali at home with Gatlin and Cooper because Brian was working on a deadline and couldn't be interrupted. So, Gina was a life-saver and the kids loved playing at her house.
Kaleb and I got to the doctor at 1:30 and we left there at 4:00. It was a LONG day, but the kids really were good. Kaleb was as brave as Bennet and never cried or screamed during the shots. He did the biggest belly laugh when the doctor had to look at his privates - it was hysterical. After his appointment we headed over to Gina's house to pick up Bennet and Kali. The bummer about this was that as soon as Kaleb saw Mamo, he wanted to stay and play, but we couldn't cause we had people bringing dinner to our house and we had to get home. He was pretty frustrated and unlocked his seatbelt and refused to put it back on. I pulled the car over, put it back on and told him he would go to time out when we got home if he did that again. He was very familiar with time out at this point, and chose to obey. Good boy. He was learning fast. Yay!!
Our awesome friends, Deb and Rob Solberg (and Sami and Maggie) came over and brought us the biggest pan of pasta ever. They got to talk to the kids for just a bit, but the kids were starving and were ready to jump into that pasta pit. LOL It's so funny cause for the first few days, when we put anything new in front of them, they would just say, "No!" We would tell them that they had to take two bites. They would take one bite and then it was, "MMmmmm". And they'd eat it all and want more. These kids can EAT!! So, they devoured that yummy pasta and asked for it for lunch the next day.
On Tuesday, sweet Stephanie Younger, asked if she could take the kids swimming after her kids got out of school. That was a huge blessing cause I needed a break, and truthfully, so did Gatlin. I told you in the last post that they knew they weren't supposed to get out of their beds before 7:00. Two out of three kids were doing great with this, but the third was really struggling with obeying that rule. I continued to get woken up very early in the morning with, "Oh, hey mom....I'm so sorry, Mom (shake me, kiss me, grab my face)." The child knew they were doing wrong, but continued to make that choice. I had only slept about four hours Monday night (just really having trouble sleeping and eating cause of the stomach issue), so this early wake up testing was pretty frustrating. Gatlin was still very jet lagged and was having trouble having grace towards this behavior. I was proud of Gatlin because she did get up and make the whole gang breakfast. Very sweet.
We played outside and then ate lunch and then had rest time. When they woke up, it was time to get ready to go to the Younger's house, so I loaded them into the car and we headed out. The Youngers live down in Spring Hill - wish they were closer cause Bennet loves hanging out with their daughter, Kristyn. Marshal went way above and beyond when he brought them home and didn't even allow us to meet them half way. Sometimes your friends bless you beyond measure - this was one of those times!!
We were also blessed on that day by the Trout family who brought us a delicious dinner!! The kids love rice and were very happy to see it included in the entrees. They had already had McDonald's with the Younger family, but that didn't stop them. They dug into their second dinner when they got home. (: Everybody went to bed stuffed and happy!
My wonderful friend, Lana, brought over Tylenol PM and made me promise to take it before bed.
The next day we decided to check out the school.
To be continued.
Monday, February 28, 2011
And Here We Are (con't)....
Like I said, the kids did great in church but I just couldn't shake my nervousness. I was praying and asking God to help me shake it off, but the pit just continued to sit really hard in my stomach.
After church, we headed to Genghis Grill for lunch. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was so crowded and the line was really long and the kids were getting very tired. Ended up with some fussy kids. Nothing terrible at all, but just the reality that what you have been told a zillion times about adoption is true....kids are kids and they don't look at you and say, "Oh, thank you so much for saving me from the orphanage". Nope, they look at you and say, "I am hungry and you need to feed me now or I'm going to be a real pill bug at this lunch table". (;
I couldn't really eat too much lunch and I was on the verge of tears the entire day (and for the next two days). My family and my sweet friend, Lana, were with us and I was just trying to keep it together so as not to fall apart at the lunch table. I didn't want anyone to think that I was regretting our decision, because I wasn't, I was just completely overwhelmed, which surprised and frustrated me. I wanted to be able to snap out of it, and I just kept continually asking God to make my stomach settle down, cause that was the thing that was making everything worse. We finished lunch and headed home.
Looking back, I should have put the kids down for naps, but at the time, I thought that we should stay up so that everyone would be super tired and sleep really late and not wake up at 6:00 like they had that morning. Brian and Jim (my mom's husband and the kid's "Papa", whom they adore) took the kids outside to ride bikes and jump on the trampoline (the neighbor's trampoline is their favorite thing and we are grateful that they share it with us). We all just hung out and if I remember right it was pretty uneventful. I let Gatlin have her friend, Jessie, come over so that she could have a little of her "normal" around her.
My sweet family picked up Zaxby's for dinner and then by about 7:30 everyone was falling asleep. I made sure that the kids knew where the clocks were in their rooms and I told them that they were not allowed to get out of their beds until 7:00 (this is something we did with Coop and Gat when they were little and it worked very well). They all seemed to understand that. We said our prayers and our goodnights and gave our kisses.
The next morning, one of the kids (who will remain nameless) decided to get out of the bed before 7:00. This was done with lots of, "I'm sorry, Mommy" attached to it, but that made it more frustrating. I had probably only slept about four hours because of my stomach and I knew that the child knew that what they were doing was wrong, but they just wanted to test us. So, the morning started out a little rough. We survived it, and started getting ready for the doctor's appointments that were scheduled for the day.
I'll speak to the disobedience a little here. When Brian was in Ethiopia with them, there wasn't much he could do by way of discipline. I mean, in a foreign country, stuck in a hotel room, what are you supposed to do? You just kind of have to get through it. So, coming home to mom and the strictness that awaited them has been a very eye-opening experience. We are utilizing time outs and it is working very well. We are being very strict with "first time obedience" and are not allowing whining and begging (it was constant the first couple days). We are not allowing anyone to tell us "no", or anyone to say, "I love you, NO". Those are not allowed here and there is discipline given when those things are spoken (yelled) to/at us.
We also give a lot of love. We are hugging and kissing constantly. We are assuring them that they are safe with us and will not be taken back to the orphanage. I will tell anyone who has kids (whether natural or adopted) that the very best thing you can do is stand your ground with consistent discipline. Consequences for behavior. It is hard and it is tiring, but there is no better way to get the results you want, and no better way for your kids to feel safe and secure and loved. If you could see how much faster the turnarounds are now, you'd be amazed.
My sweet friend, Beth Krehbiel, also brought over cute little jars with colored ribbons on them (each child has their favorite color) that we are filling with marbles when they do a good thing like obey first time, or help clear the table, or whatever. Then marbles get taken away when they disobey. When the jars are full, they get a treat. They like the marble system and definitely respond to it. (Thanks, Beth!)
Ok - this seems long and boring. LOL Just giving you the play by play. I'll stop here and pick back up with the doctor visits on the next post.
After church, we headed to Genghis Grill for lunch. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was so crowded and the line was really long and the kids were getting very tired. Ended up with some fussy kids. Nothing terrible at all, but just the reality that what you have been told a zillion times about adoption is true....kids are kids and they don't look at you and say, "Oh, thank you so much for saving me from the orphanage". Nope, they look at you and say, "I am hungry and you need to feed me now or I'm going to be a real pill bug at this lunch table". (;
I couldn't really eat too much lunch and I was on the verge of tears the entire day (and for the next two days). My family and my sweet friend, Lana, were with us and I was just trying to keep it together so as not to fall apart at the lunch table. I didn't want anyone to think that I was regretting our decision, because I wasn't, I was just completely overwhelmed, which surprised and frustrated me. I wanted to be able to snap out of it, and I just kept continually asking God to make my stomach settle down, cause that was the thing that was making everything worse. We finished lunch and headed home.
Looking back, I should have put the kids down for naps, but at the time, I thought that we should stay up so that everyone would be super tired and sleep really late and not wake up at 6:00 like they had that morning. Brian and Jim (my mom's husband and the kid's "Papa", whom they adore) took the kids outside to ride bikes and jump on the trampoline (the neighbor's trampoline is their favorite thing and we are grateful that they share it with us). We all just hung out and if I remember right it was pretty uneventful. I let Gatlin have her friend, Jessie, come over so that she could have a little of her "normal" around her.
My sweet family picked up Zaxby's for dinner and then by about 7:30 everyone was falling asleep. I made sure that the kids knew where the clocks were in their rooms and I told them that they were not allowed to get out of their beds until 7:00 (this is something we did with Coop and Gat when they were little and it worked very well). They all seemed to understand that. We said our prayers and our goodnights and gave our kisses.
The next morning, one of the kids (who will remain nameless) decided to get out of the bed before 7:00. This was done with lots of, "I'm sorry, Mommy" attached to it, but that made it more frustrating. I had probably only slept about four hours because of my stomach and I knew that the child knew that what they were doing was wrong, but they just wanted to test us. So, the morning started out a little rough. We survived it, and started getting ready for the doctor's appointments that were scheduled for the day.
I'll speak to the disobedience a little here. When Brian was in Ethiopia with them, there wasn't much he could do by way of discipline. I mean, in a foreign country, stuck in a hotel room, what are you supposed to do? You just kind of have to get through it. So, coming home to mom and the strictness that awaited them has been a very eye-opening experience. We are utilizing time outs and it is working very well. We are being very strict with "first time obedience" and are not allowing whining and begging (it was constant the first couple days). We are not allowing anyone to tell us "no", or anyone to say, "I love you, NO". Those are not allowed here and there is discipline given when those things are spoken (yelled) to/at us.
We also give a lot of love. We are hugging and kissing constantly. We are assuring them that they are safe with us and will not be taken back to the orphanage. I will tell anyone who has kids (whether natural or adopted) that the very best thing you can do is stand your ground with consistent discipline. Consequences for behavior. It is hard and it is tiring, but there is no better way to get the results you want, and no better way for your kids to feel safe and secure and loved. If you could see how much faster the turnarounds are now, you'd be amazed.
My sweet friend, Beth Krehbiel, also brought over cute little jars with colored ribbons on them (each child has their favorite color) that we are filling with marbles when they do a good thing like obey first time, or help clear the table, or whatever. Then marbles get taken away when they disobey. When the jars are full, they get a treat. They like the marble system and definitely respond to it. (Thanks, Beth!)
Ok - this seems long and boring. LOL Just giving you the play by play. I'll stop here and pick back up with the doctor visits on the next post.
Friday, February 25, 2011
And Here We Are...
I'll start by saying that I'm gonna be completely honest in these posts - not that I usually lie, ha! But I just don't want to candy-coat things. I hope it doesn't offend anyone, but I just feel like it's important to tell you exactly how I've felt throughout this first week home. I don't see how it does anyone any good if I say, "Oh, this has been a breeze." So, here it is in all it's glory.
Brian, Gatlin, Bennet, Kaleb and Kali flew in on Saturday, the 19th, at 2:45. My Mom, her husband, Jim, my sister, Debbi, and her daughter, Makenzi, had come into town from Oklahoma to welcome them home. It was so wonderful having family here! We got passes from United to go to the gate so that we could spend the first few minutes with them alone. The kids were so sweet when they came off the plane. Lots of hugs were given out and it was a wonderful time.
After those initial hellos and hugs, we headed out to the greeting area and about 50 friends were at the airport to welcome them home. It was such a sweet time for the kids as they saw these awesome new friends holding up, "Welcome Home" signs for them. There were balloons, too, which were a big hit. One little guy in the group was my friend, Gina's, son, Mamo, who was in the same orphanage with them. It was precious when Bennet went running to him and gave him a great big hug. Sweet stuff!!
After the airport we headed home. The kids were so excited to see their new house - especially their bedrooms. They were actually pretty quiet on the way home and I was a little surprised by that. I guess I kinda thought they'd be more chatty about all the new things they were seeing, I mean, it is quite different here than it is in Ethiopia. But, they just really didn't seem to be taken in by it at all, they just chilled in the car.
When we walked into the house they immediately wanted to know where their rooms were. Bennet was especially excited to see hers and when she did see it, she fell to the floor in excitement. She was so happy and very giddy about the new room that she loved. Kaleb and Kali loved their room, too, and I was very glad that they were happy with what we had chosen for them. Whew!
Meeting the dogs for the first time was so funny. I had the three of them sit on the couch and then let the dogs back in (we put them out while the kids first looked around). The dogs immediately ran to the kids and all three of the kids were squealing (ok, screaming - ha!). They'd kick their feet up in the air and just squeal. Kali almost started crying, but then she'd just squeal and hide her head, and then quickly turn right back around to the dogs. So funny. The dogs aren't allowed on the couch so this process actually worked out very well. Within a few minutes the kids had calmed down and were petting the dogs (Solomon and Simon are both small Japanese Chins - they bark when strangers come over, but are super friendly). The dogs haven't been a problem at all and, thankfully, all three kids really love them. YAY!!
We hung out at the house for a little bit and then everyone was hungry. We had decided to get pizza and Gatlin was really craving Nick's pizza, and since she had just spent a week in Ethiopia (and sick three of those days) we decided to go with what she wanted. We got in the car and headed to Nicks, but very quickly the kids fell asleep. So, there we were, waking up sleeping kids to go into the pizza place to eat. That was the first bad idea we had. LOL The first moment of, "Oh, this might be really hard" happened at Nick's when the kids were very vocal about what they would and wouldn't eat and a bit impatient waiting for their food. Realizing they were VERY tired, we did the best we could to keep everyone happy. Kaleb slept the whole time and never ate. We headed home.
We put everyone to bed as soon as we walked in the door...I think it was around 8:00. When I got into bed my stomach was a nervous wreck. I was tired, too, because I'd been staying up late getting things ready here and then Brian would call early in the mornings to talk from Ethiopia. I wasn't getting as much sleep as normal so I chalked the knotted stomach up to that. Brian slept hard and actually got up at 6:00am to be in the worship band (craziness!). The kids got up a little after Brian - oh my GOSH. I was hoping they'd be a little more exhausted than that. LOL I hadn't slept well at all. It was like when you have a newborn and you are on uber alert listening for every little thing. That's how I was. I heard every little turn in their beds. I was SO tired when it was time to get up.
Gatlin also got up early cause her clock was off - so she changed her mind about staying home and just going to the 11:00 service, and got ready and had our neighbor pick her up so she could go to her 9:15 youth group. She left me. ha!! Thankfully, Cooper stayed home to help me. I fed everyone oatmeal for breakfast and then started getting ready for church. Nothing too exciting - the only hard part was that shoes didn't fit great so we were scrounging a bit to find shoes that would work with outfits. We headed to church around 10:40. Church was great and the kids were so well-behaved during the service. We were introduced and I walked the kids up front so that our church family could see the kiddos they've been praying for. I was very proud of them and how well they did. They loved seeing their daddy on the stage singing and playing the accordion.
During the service, our pastor showed a picture of a 4-year-old little boy who had died in Africa that week and it reinforced in me that we made the right decision adopting our children. I hate to think of what would have happened to them if they were left there. A child can only be in the orphanage for so long.
After church we headed to lunch. This is when overwhelmed began for me.
To be continued....
Brian, Gatlin, Bennet, Kaleb and Kali flew in on Saturday, the 19th, at 2:45. My Mom, her husband, Jim, my sister, Debbi, and her daughter, Makenzi, had come into town from Oklahoma to welcome them home. It was so wonderful having family here! We got passes from United to go to the gate so that we could spend the first few minutes with them alone. The kids were so sweet when they came off the plane. Lots of hugs were given out and it was a wonderful time.
After those initial hellos and hugs, we headed out to the greeting area and about 50 friends were at the airport to welcome them home. It was such a sweet time for the kids as they saw these awesome new friends holding up, "Welcome Home" signs for them. There were balloons, too, which were a big hit. One little guy in the group was my friend, Gina's, son, Mamo, who was in the same orphanage with them. It was precious when Bennet went running to him and gave him a great big hug. Sweet stuff!!
After the airport we headed home. The kids were so excited to see their new house - especially their bedrooms. They were actually pretty quiet on the way home and I was a little surprised by that. I guess I kinda thought they'd be more chatty about all the new things they were seeing, I mean, it is quite different here than it is in Ethiopia. But, they just really didn't seem to be taken in by it at all, they just chilled in the car.
When we walked into the house they immediately wanted to know where their rooms were. Bennet was especially excited to see hers and when she did see it, she fell to the floor in excitement. She was so happy and very giddy about the new room that she loved. Kaleb and Kali loved their room, too, and I was very glad that they were happy with what we had chosen for them. Whew!
Meeting the dogs for the first time was so funny. I had the three of them sit on the couch and then let the dogs back in (we put them out while the kids first looked around). The dogs immediately ran to the kids and all three of the kids were squealing (ok, screaming - ha!). They'd kick their feet up in the air and just squeal. Kali almost started crying, but then she'd just squeal and hide her head, and then quickly turn right back around to the dogs. So funny. The dogs aren't allowed on the couch so this process actually worked out very well. Within a few minutes the kids had calmed down and were petting the dogs (Solomon and Simon are both small Japanese Chins - they bark when strangers come over, but are super friendly). The dogs haven't been a problem at all and, thankfully, all three kids really love them. YAY!!
We hung out at the house for a little bit and then everyone was hungry. We had decided to get pizza and Gatlin was really craving Nick's pizza, and since she had just spent a week in Ethiopia (and sick three of those days) we decided to go with what she wanted. We got in the car and headed to Nicks, but very quickly the kids fell asleep. So, there we were, waking up sleeping kids to go into the pizza place to eat. That was the first bad idea we had. LOL The first moment of, "Oh, this might be really hard" happened at Nick's when the kids were very vocal about what they would and wouldn't eat and a bit impatient waiting for their food. Realizing they were VERY tired, we did the best we could to keep everyone happy. Kaleb slept the whole time and never ate. We headed home.
We put everyone to bed as soon as we walked in the door...I think it was around 8:00. When I got into bed my stomach was a nervous wreck. I was tired, too, because I'd been staying up late getting things ready here and then Brian would call early in the mornings to talk from Ethiopia. I wasn't getting as much sleep as normal so I chalked the knotted stomach up to that. Brian slept hard and actually got up at 6:00am to be in the worship band (craziness!). The kids got up a little after Brian - oh my GOSH. I was hoping they'd be a little more exhausted than that. LOL I hadn't slept well at all. It was like when you have a newborn and you are on uber alert listening for every little thing. That's how I was. I heard every little turn in their beds. I was SO tired when it was time to get up.
Gatlin also got up early cause her clock was off - so she changed her mind about staying home and just going to the 11:00 service, and got ready and had our neighbor pick her up so she could go to her 9:15 youth group. She left me. ha!! Thankfully, Cooper stayed home to help me. I fed everyone oatmeal for breakfast and then started getting ready for church. Nothing too exciting - the only hard part was that shoes didn't fit great so we were scrounging a bit to find shoes that would work with outfits. We headed to church around 10:40. Church was great and the kids were so well-behaved during the service. We were introduced and I walked the kids up front so that our church family could see the kiddos they've been praying for. I was very proud of them and how well they did. They loved seeing their daddy on the stage singing and playing the accordion.
During the service, our pastor showed a picture of a 4-year-old little boy who had died in Africa that week and it reinforced in me that we made the right decision adopting our children. I hate to think of what would have happened to them if they were left there. A child can only be in the orphanage for so long.
After church we headed to lunch. This is when overwhelmed began for me.
To be continued....
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