confused

I have heard that we may be going very soon for court. But at the same time I am hearing talk of families still not getting visas issued for their children with legal guardianship. I am not sure what is going on, but am trying very hard to trust God will see us through this with His perfect plan. I really don't want to go, form a relationship with Mercy, then not be able to bring her home. We really don't want to be gone for more than a month. We really want some clear idea of what will happen!! Please pray for us.

two weeks

Our lawyer emailed. Last week we mailed off our affidavit. He received it, will be (prayerfully) picking up paperwork from Mercy's caregiver tomorrow and going to the court on Thursday. He said we may be able get a court date by next Friday. He is hoping for a court date in two weeks. I am praying everything works out perfectly. I am anxious and a ball of nerves. There is so much that I feel needs to be done before we leave. I think I am getting an ulcer. Praying, breathing, and getting more grey hairs by the day!

What I learned in Children's Church today

1 Kings 17

Elijah Fed by Ravens

¹ Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."

² Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: ³ "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. ⁴ You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there."

⁵ So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. ⁶ The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

To go with today's bible lesson was this verse:

He provides food for those who fear him. Psalm 111:5

Well, I already knew this story but what a great reminder for me today! I worked in Children's Church this morning and really enjoyed this.

It is hard to remember at times how much God loves us, and will bless those who obey Him. Adoption can be so hard. Often I feel like people who have not been through it do not understand how difficult and draining it can be. I feel isolated and lonely because I don't want to complain to others about the hard times. I do not wish to discourage people from considering adoption. It is truly a blessing, but can also be so challenging. One of the things that is hard is finances. Raising a large family costs a lot! But we must fully rely on God to provide. And he does! We NEVER thought we would be where we are today. We thought we were done after our third child. Funny how the Lord has such different plans than we did. But we have obeyed and He has blessed us, far beyond financially.

E. news

• E. had a second hearing screening the other day. He has perfect hearing. His behavior there was really great too. I suspect because Dad took him.
• E. had a second screening for developmental preschool too. His first one was about six months ago and they told me they wanted to wait another six months until he has time to learn more English and adjust. This hasn't set well with me, but I felt like I couldn't do much about it. At the screening they decided to have him come in next week for an evaluation. It will take up to six weeks to write up an IEP if he qualifies, so he will not start preschool until fall. I am curious to see if he qualifies for preschool services, but the screening revealed he is delayed in these areas:

concepts

speech/language

self-help

social development

had some difficulty in motor

• Food issues are not a big deal anymore.
• Attachment issues are becoming more noticable, but nothing too difficult. He usually shows some bad behavior to get my attention. It is mainly directed toward me. For example: I am talking on the phone and washing dishes. Dad is standing right behind me, cooking. E. runs up to me, yells something at me and punches my thigh. Then runs off. I am trying to teach him that if he needs me, to come up and quietly put his hand on my leg and wait.
• He can really get amped up and has a difficult time self calming. I see this the most with new people and friends. Many people think his personality is cute, but it can get quite annoying after just a few minutes.
• E. is a very sweet loving kid. He is funny and full of energy. He likes to play outside, ride his little bike, swing, play in the sand box and with his sibs. He is becoming a good big brother to S. by alerting us when S. is trying to escape or get into trouble.

My budding photographer

C. age 11, took our cheap digital camera outside the other day... she is very artistic and creative.

The adopted cat with the ever changing name. Was Veronika, then found out she's a he, then Smores, then Scooter. The name is different depending on who you ask!

On the swing...

travel soon?

Got an email today from our lawyer, asking if we can travel within the next 3-4 weeks. Wow. Things are finally getting worked out it seems. We are getting excited about the possibility! We have a garage sale coming up at our church to raise the remaining portion of the money needed for our trip. Please pray this all comes together!

S. news

S. had an appointment at the hospital on Monday. He is doing well. Actually his doctors and surgeons were surprised that he was able to walk and talk. I was happy to report that he was doing these things, plus climbing, escaping, running, jumping, laughing, making funny faces, plays games, throws and kicks balls, has a temper....the list goes on and on. I was surprised that the medical staff was expecting so little of S. No one had told me that it could be a possibility, but it makes me so much more thankful for all that he can do. So when my child goes missing at a friend's birthday party and has six adults canvassing the property looking for him; I will thank God that he is clever and fast enough to sneak away!

S. has Chiari I malformation. It is pretty big. This can cause HUGE problems for him, causing extreme pain, mobility problems, swallowing and breathing issues. He will most likely need invasive brain surgery to correct this if any symptoms appear. For now, he doesn't communicate that he is having any symptoms. But if he is, we need to bring him in and his neurosurgeon will decide what to do. Please pray with us that S. will be healed and not need surgery on the Chiari.

S. will have plastic surgery in a few years on his nose as well. They want to wait on this for now to be sure that it will not effect his development.

Incoming

Please pray for us. I am going to be generally vague and discrete on here, but know that we are about to experience some big things. We are excited, nervous, diving in blindfolded while trusting God. Tomorrow is a big day.

More news:

• We had a busy weekend celebrating my birthday and Easter (and company for dinner).
• Today is E.'s birthday! He is four and so excited. He tells people that he sang (then sings the entire Happy Birthday song) and then "I blow out the candles like this..." and makes the blowing motion and sound. Really cute.
• The coming weekend is busy too with a friend's birthday party and church activities.
• I have a feeling that as spring/summer arrive, my calendar will get more and more filled.
• E. has another hearing screening coming up next week. I am also waiting to hear if he will need to get an evaluation for the special preschool.
• S. has an MRI and craniofacial clinic appointment at the hospital on Monday. Please pray for him as they will have to use anesthesia for him during the MRI. Also, pray for me since he will not be allowed to eat in the am, and his appointment isn't until 11 am. Ugh!

Munchkins

My friend Brooke has a photography business called Roxsey Photography. A few weeks ago she offered a great special. I couldn't resist and took the three youngest kids to the park for a short photo shoot. They turned out cute. These are my favorites:

A little update

We heard from our lawyer today....keep on praying!

I sent one of staff for the paperwork for mercy last week so we have what we need to move forward. Perhaps the only problem will be with the legal status of the orphanage, unfortunately the law seems to allow for two different registrations but the judges insist on a particular one, the one approving the home from the Minister in Charge of children. I did not see that in the documents i received. Am sure we can go round that though.

Am just sending u this so u can know that we shall begin ur process this coming week so u should get ready.

Please keep in touch, am still torn between an adoption and a legal guardianship, we shall try an adoption i think but am not so sure as i study Mercy's documents more i will be in position to make a final decision, this is a tough call for me Kimberly, please understand. But i should have made up my mind by the end of this week.

Please stay in touch.

What's up?

Well, first of all, we have been very busy. We have some big things coming up, but I am not going to tell all the world right now. They are good things, some that may not happen, others that are happening soon. Let's just say that most would think it was an April Fool's joke if I shared!

• I finished the girl's room, well at least for now. I painted a cute picture on canvas, but the colors were too bright and didn't go well. It did go perfectly in C.'s room, so that is where we will hang it.

• We decided not to go vegan. Too much work at this point in my life. I do like the idea of doing it down the road, but for now it is so much easier to shop and cook for a larger family when we can use real milk, cheese, eggs, etc. We do a lot of vegetarian dishes, but also eat meat, fish and chicken at times. We are for sure cutting back though.

• As far as the memorizing Philipians goes... slow. I am still planning on doing it, but it is taking me a very long time. But that's ok!

• My birthday and E.'s is coming up soon! No big plans, but hope to find some fun activities to do on Saturday. On Easter we have my family coming out and I'm making some yummy food.

• E. had another preschool screening yesterday. He is still delayed and we are waiting till Friday to hear if they feel like he needs an official evaluation. If he qualifies for the preschool program, he will most likely not go until fall.

• I have been noticing E. hugging many people he barely knows lately. Like the cashier at Costco today. I don't know what to do when this situation happens...

E. "Can I hug you?"

stranger: "Oh, sure, you want a hug? Ok!"

Should I interject and say, "Please don't hug my son, we are still working on attachment."? Thoughts?

• On the food issues I posted in the past. E. is doing MUCH better. He still really loves food and asks to eat a lot, but not as much as he was. We are sure to offer a healthy snack when he asks. He still sneaks from the kitchen sometimes, or will swipe something from a sibling's plate occasionally. Recently I have noticed he has become more picky with the food I cook. I am thinking much of the issues he has exhibited in the past and currently are more than likely behavior issues rather than health/medical related.