Remember last year when I posted the Weston's website?
http://www.wadeandjuliaweston.com
They were the family that adopted the two teen siblings, and had to leave one girl, Katya behind because her paperwork was not in order. Well, They're on their way to get her! They have an appointment at the NAC on March 30, and they need all the prayers they can get. The NAC is going to shut down for the whole month of April according to many rumors. But, the Westons are going anyway, and hoping for the best. Please, please, pray for this family, and their Katya, who they have waited so very long for. Buckle your seatbelts folks. This trip will be tougher than the last, I'm betting.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Re: Helen Keller
I have to blog this real quick...
I was just telling John about a gal who dropped me an email today and said that she'd read my entry about the Helen Keller movie, and also said that she'd seen that movie a few years ago, and wanted to know, "is adopting really like that?" because she didn't think she could handle it if it really was.
John grinned, nodded up and down, and said, "Yes, it IS like that movie ~ for about two months. But then you get used to it, and it's ok." LOL! I busted up laughing over that one. No wonder I have a permanant twitch in my right eye!
We are just kidding, btw. It does get better.
(Usually!) ;O)
I was just telling John about a gal who dropped me an email today and said that she'd read my entry about the Helen Keller movie, and also said that she'd seen that movie a few years ago, and wanted to know, "is adopting really like that?" because she didn't think she could handle it if it really was.
John grinned, nodded up and down, and said, "Yes, it IS like that movie ~ for about two months. But then you get used to it, and it's ok." LOL! I busted up laughing over that one. No wonder I have a permanant twitch in my right eye!
We are just kidding, btw. It does get better.
(Usually!) ;O)
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Helen Keller Movie
We watched a video the other night... it was "The Miracle Worker" with Hallie Kate Eisenberg as Helen Keller. If you haven't seen it, and are planning to adopt, RUN OUT AND GET IT. As I watched it, my heart actually started racing as I had flashbacks of when the kids first came home. Almost a panic-type of a heart-racing. I looked over at John and without me asking him, he said something like, "Yes, it reminds me of that too." The movie really illustrates what an unattached child "looks" like - especially the first days/weeks home. If I have any advice for y'all, it would be to watch this movie with your spouse, and then afterwards, talk out (at GREAT LENGTH) what YOU would do to parent such a child if he/she were in your home. How would you deal with it if your child did some of the things Helen did in the show? What lengths would you go to to make the child "well?" Helen's teacher went to great - even ENORMOUS lengths to help her. What are you willing to do?
The story has a happy ending. It was so touching, and hit home soooo hard, that John had tears dripping off his chin. I was choked up too. Our kids weren't *quite* as horrible as Helen, but when you multiply what each of our kids had times three... well, we were having Flashbacks Like Crazy at the many times we felt as overwhelmed with the strong wills of our kiddos.
Go rent it. I'm tellin' ya, you'll have a clue what those first weeks home will be like, and by making your game plan now, you'll save yourselves some Excederin. Ok, you might need some anyhow. ;O)
The story has a happy ending. It was so touching, and hit home soooo hard, that John had tears dripping off his chin. I was choked up too. Our kids weren't *quite* as horrible as Helen, but when you multiply what each of our kids had times three... well, we were having Flashbacks Like Crazy at the many times we felt as overwhelmed with the strong wills of our kiddos.
Go rent it. I'm tellin' ya, you'll have a clue what those first weeks home will be like, and by making your game plan now, you'll save yourselves some Excederin. Ok, you might need some anyhow. ;O)
Monday, March 20, 2006
19 Months Home
I'm a few days late posting this. The 17th was our 19 months home mark. I've been a bit overwhelmed lately with a very full plate. It's actually really starting to get to me, but I think things are about to calm down a bit (fingers crossed!), so hopefully I'll feel more like a person soon! I took a three hour nap on Saturday to recover from last week, and I've felt lots better ever since.
A lot has happened this month!
Adam first. Seems like we're constantly pulling a "one step forward, two steps back" with him. He'll be cruising along, and then crash into the side of the road and we have to go back a little way and regroup to start again. John and I have noticed some food issues that seemed to have been quiet for a while start revving up again. We've been noticing that *every* time Adam sees that there is extra food to be had during mealtimes, he'll ask for it. Doesn't matter what it is. Could be a spoonful of peas at the bottom of a serving bowl. Could be another slice of ham. Whatever. If he sees it, he'll ask for it. He doesn't hoard or steal food though, and hasn't since he first came home. Some wounds take longer to heal than others, however. :O(
Other than the food thing, Adam has been doing pretty well! He still likes to test me to see if I'm really a) in authority over him and b) if I really love him or not. (Psssst, Adam! a) yes, I am! and b) yes, I do!)
The language thing is still his biggest issue, but he's really been doing GREAT this month! Unfortunately, the only people that really know that are me and John, because once he gets an audience, he's all show, and for some reason, shuts off the brain and starts getting silly, and he can't concentrate enough to really speak clearly and correctly. He has been speaking full paragraphs *beautifully* save for one or two words or grammar structure errors. I have more confidence in that than ever that the future is pretty bright for him regarding his speech. Couldn't always say that truthfully.
Other than that stuff, he's enjoying doing Boy Stuff. He has his tent set up in his room and has been sleeping in it quite often lately. He's got it made, really. Between his loft bed, and his tent, he's been having a ball!
Next, Liana. She's still so strong willed! I've been babysitting a bunch for John's sister's kids lately, and Liana is little-miss-mama. Until a few days ago, when the baby would come over, she was constantly reminding ME to do this, that or the other thing concerning the baby. (We had to have a chit-chat over that one). She can diaper the baby, feed the baby, rock the baby, put the baby to sleep, carry the baby around, etc. (The baby is a year old, btw). But, baby Callie has come to really love Liana too. She was following Liana around all day Friday asking Liana to pick her up.
Otherwise though, while she struggles Daily with her strong will, she does seem to be wanting to be doing what's right, and these months of constantly redirecting that "power" really do seem to be paying off. She has truly come a long way already. It's just that she's got a long way to go yet too! ;O) She's gonna be a dynamite whatever it is, that's for sure!
Liana has taken off to outerspace with her reading, and I suspect it will keep getting better and better from here on out. She has just this month discovered how much FUN reading is! YAY! Just a few nights ago, she picked up a book and read it to Aleksa on the couch, just for fun. (Trust me, this wouldn't have happened last month... either her reading would have been too choppy to keep Leksa's attention, or Liana wouldn't have wanted to do it in the first place!) It was realllllly heartwarming for this mama! :O) Adam stood over their shoulder and helped Liana out whenever she stumbled over a word (which wasn't very often), but mostly, he listened in. John and I think the whole trouble with Liana's "taking off" had to do with her will. She is a proud little girl (uff!) If she can't do something well, she doesn't want to do it, and she'll get instantly MAD at YOU if she can't do it right. That meant a rocky start at reading, since she couldn't do it right at first! But now that she KNOWS she can do it... look out world! :O)
Speaking of looking out world! Here comes Aleksa Lu! She's just blowing me away with how fast she's picking up reading. Today she read a really long story (for her - it was probably 8 lines long). She's been chomping at the bit to read "the big one" and today was the day! The other two, when they had to read this particular story a year ago, pitched Major Fits at the THOUGHT of having to read it. It's all in the attitude, I'm almost certain. Aleksa does a little cheer for herself at the end of every correct word or sentence. The other two never did. Aleksa thinks it is fun to TRY to read it, even if she's wrong and stumbles. The other two panicked. (Don't get me wrong - they did "ok" - but well, now that I have Aleksa to compare them to, I can see that they did have a harder time).
Aleksa is also little miss geographer! Our world map is on our kitchen table under the plastic table cloth (remember me mentioning that?) Well, I quiz the older two on where places are on the map every lunchtime. Well, Miss Smartie has learned these places right along with the other two. She can tell you where Ukraine, Russia, USA, China, Mongolia, India, Italy, Egypt, Greece, Kenya, the Nile River, and a few other places are! Pretty good for a 5 year old! (And pretty good for a 7 and an 11yo too, because they all know 'em!)
All three kids got baptized last Sunday! I got pretty wet myself! We "dunk" at our church as opposed to sprinkle or pour, so, as I helped them out of the baptistry, I got pretty soaked. (John sat with the congregation and video taped it). Of course, it didn't help that as I took one out, that instead of sending him/her to the changing room, I made them stay there to watch the next one get baptized too. My shoes were pretty wet with everyone's drippage. I couldn't miss it though! I wasn't about to miss 2 of my kids getting baptized because I was towelling off one! What kind of mom would have done that!? Everyone came out of the changing rooms dry except for me, because I was the only one who didn't bring a change of clothes! Anyway, it was really neat, and it sure hit home to us how far the kids have come in just a year and 7 months! Pastor said some really nice things afterwards, and it really choked me up a bit. I was glad to be hiding in the dressing room instead of sitting in the pew where I would have been all choked up in public.
I think this month, over all the recent months, has given us a clearer picture of how "life is going to be" for us. Adam's speech is indeed improving. Liana's strong will is indeed being redirected. Aleksa is indeed learning up a storm and understanding more than we give her credit for. We're getting there. But more importantly, we're enjoying the trip along the way!
A lot has happened this month!
Adam first. Seems like we're constantly pulling a "one step forward, two steps back" with him. He'll be cruising along, and then crash into the side of the road and we have to go back a little way and regroup to start again. John and I have noticed some food issues that seemed to have been quiet for a while start revving up again. We've been noticing that *every* time Adam sees that there is extra food to be had during mealtimes, he'll ask for it. Doesn't matter what it is. Could be a spoonful of peas at the bottom of a serving bowl. Could be another slice of ham. Whatever. If he sees it, he'll ask for it. He doesn't hoard or steal food though, and hasn't since he first came home. Some wounds take longer to heal than others, however. :O(
Other than the food thing, Adam has been doing pretty well! He still likes to test me to see if I'm really a) in authority over him and b) if I really love him or not. (Psssst, Adam! a) yes, I am! and b) yes, I do!)
The language thing is still his biggest issue, but he's really been doing GREAT this month! Unfortunately, the only people that really know that are me and John, because once he gets an audience, he's all show, and for some reason, shuts off the brain and starts getting silly, and he can't concentrate enough to really speak clearly and correctly. He has been speaking full paragraphs *beautifully* save for one or two words or grammar structure errors. I have more confidence in that than ever that the future is pretty bright for him regarding his speech. Couldn't always say that truthfully.
Other than that stuff, he's enjoying doing Boy Stuff. He has his tent set up in his room and has been sleeping in it quite often lately. He's got it made, really. Between his loft bed, and his tent, he's been having a ball!
Next, Liana. She's still so strong willed! I've been babysitting a bunch for John's sister's kids lately, and Liana is little-miss-mama. Until a few days ago, when the baby would come over, she was constantly reminding ME to do this, that or the other thing concerning the baby. (We had to have a chit-chat over that one). She can diaper the baby, feed the baby, rock the baby, put the baby to sleep, carry the baby around, etc. (The baby is a year old, btw). But, baby Callie has come to really love Liana too. She was following Liana around all day Friday asking Liana to pick her up.
Otherwise though, while she struggles Daily with her strong will, she does seem to be wanting to be doing what's right, and these months of constantly redirecting that "power" really do seem to be paying off. She has truly come a long way already. It's just that she's got a long way to go yet too! ;O) She's gonna be a dynamite whatever it is, that's for sure!
Liana has taken off to outerspace with her reading, and I suspect it will keep getting better and better from here on out. She has just this month discovered how much FUN reading is! YAY! Just a few nights ago, she picked up a book and read it to Aleksa on the couch, just for fun. (Trust me, this wouldn't have happened last month... either her reading would have been too choppy to keep Leksa's attention, or Liana wouldn't have wanted to do it in the first place!) It was realllllly heartwarming for this mama! :O) Adam stood over their shoulder and helped Liana out whenever she stumbled over a word (which wasn't very often), but mostly, he listened in. John and I think the whole trouble with Liana's "taking off" had to do with her will. She is a proud little girl (uff!) If she can't do something well, she doesn't want to do it, and she'll get instantly MAD at YOU if she can't do it right. That meant a rocky start at reading, since she couldn't do it right at first! But now that she KNOWS she can do it... look out world! :O)
Speaking of looking out world! Here comes Aleksa Lu! She's just blowing me away with how fast she's picking up reading. Today she read a really long story (for her - it was probably 8 lines long). She's been chomping at the bit to read "the big one" and today was the day! The other two, when they had to read this particular story a year ago, pitched Major Fits at the THOUGHT of having to read it. It's all in the attitude, I'm almost certain. Aleksa does a little cheer for herself at the end of every correct word or sentence. The other two never did. Aleksa thinks it is fun to TRY to read it, even if she's wrong and stumbles. The other two panicked. (Don't get me wrong - they did "ok" - but well, now that I have Aleksa to compare them to, I can see that they did have a harder time).
Aleksa is also little miss geographer! Our world map is on our kitchen table under the plastic table cloth (remember me mentioning that?) Well, I quiz the older two on where places are on the map every lunchtime. Well, Miss Smartie has learned these places right along with the other two. She can tell you where Ukraine, Russia, USA, China, Mongolia, India, Italy, Egypt, Greece, Kenya, the Nile River, and a few other places are! Pretty good for a 5 year old! (And pretty good for a 7 and an 11yo too, because they all know 'em!)
All three kids got baptized last Sunday! I got pretty wet myself! We "dunk" at our church as opposed to sprinkle or pour, so, as I helped them out of the baptistry, I got pretty soaked. (John sat with the congregation and video taped it). Of course, it didn't help that as I took one out, that instead of sending him/her to the changing room, I made them stay there to watch the next one get baptized too. My shoes were pretty wet with everyone's drippage. I couldn't miss it though! I wasn't about to miss 2 of my kids getting baptized because I was towelling off one! What kind of mom would have done that!? Everyone came out of the changing rooms dry except for me, because I was the only one who didn't bring a change of clothes! Anyway, it was really neat, and it sure hit home to us how far the kids have come in just a year and 7 months! Pastor said some really nice things afterwards, and it really choked me up a bit. I was glad to be hiding in the dressing room instead of sitting in the pew where I would have been all choked up in public.
I think this month, over all the recent months, has given us a clearer picture of how "life is going to be" for us. Adam's speech is indeed improving. Liana's strong will is indeed being redirected. Aleksa is indeed learning up a storm and understanding more than we give her credit for. We're getting there. But more importantly, we're enjoying the trip along the way!
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Good Night Jim Bob!
Can't go to bed quite yet. My mind is full of kid-thoughts. Not really sure what I'm going to write, but I guess I just gotta post something!
Today was one of those "day in the life" kind of days. Nothing at all extraordinary happened today. In fact, if I sit back and look at the things we did today, I'd say it was rather a boring day. Know what? Strike that. It was perfect.
Aside from our Saturday trip to the library, we pretty much just stayed home and enjoyed being "us." Well, except for John (poor guy!) He's been swamped with work and extra projects lately, so he was stuck sitting at the computer all day long trying to cross things off that to-do list. He even skipped out of the library run. *gasp!* So, I guess the day wasn't completely perfect since he couldn't fully participate. :O(
Anyway, as for the rest of us, we basically just lounged around. We all seemed to gravitate toward wherever the rest of us were, so we all found ourselves in our room (where John was working), and the kids and I tickled, and snuggled, and chatted, and wrestled. Other than Liana finding one of my very few tickle spots, it was a stress-free kind of a day. It was the kind of day where I go to bed completely Knowing that I am blessed, blessed, blessed and absolutely thrilled to be a mom.
I grew up an only child. Sure, I have six siblings, but they were up and out of the house by the time I could really remember much. Whenever they came home, I loved the fact that the house made noise. I knew I'd have lots of kids when I grew up. It really was Devastation when I realized I couldn't physically have any. After a day like today I think, "OK, I've got three, this is easy, let's go get some more!" (I really need to check out some Waltons dvd's from the library... maybe that will inspire John to want to go get some more kiddos somewhere!) JUST KIDDING! Kinda. ;O) Anyway, though we only do have three kids, it definitely was a "Good night John Boy" kind of a day. Thank you, God, for my family!
Today was one of those "day in the life" kind of days. Nothing at all extraordinary happened today. In fact, if I sit back and look at the things we did today, I'd say it was rather a boring day. Know what? Strike that. It was perfect.
Aside from our Saturday trip to the library, we pretty much just stayed home and enjoyed being "us." Well, except for John (poor guy!) He's been swamped with work and extra projects lately, so he was stuck sitting at the computer all day long trying to cross things off that to-do list. He even skipped out of the library run. *gasp!* So, I guess the day wasn't completely perfect since he couldn't fully participate. :O(
Anyway, as for the rest of us, we basically just lounged around. We all seemed to gravitate toward wherever the rest of us were, so we all found ourselves in our room (where John was working), and the kids and I tickled, and snuggled, and chatted, and wrestled. Other than Liana finding one of my very few tickle spots, it was a stress-free kind of a day. It was the kind of day where I go to bed completely Knowing that I am blessed, blessed, blessed and absolutely thrilled to be a mom.
I grew up an only child. Sure, I have six siblings, but they were up and out of the house by the time I could really remember much. Whenever they came home, I loved the fact that the house made noise. I knew I'd have lots of kids when I grew up. It really was Devastation when I realized I couldn't physically have any. After a day like today I think, "OK, I've got three, this is easy, let's go get some more!" (I really need to check out some Waltons dvd's from the library... maybe that will inspire John to want to go get some more kiddos somewhere!) JUST KIDDING! Kinda. ;O) Anyway, though we only do have three kids, it definitely was a "Good night John Boy" kind of a day. Thank you, God, for my family!
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Lesson Learned
Memo to Self:
Next time you get a months' worth of groceries and then decide to let the kids bring in the food as you stay outside and hand bags to them out of the trunk, think again....
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