He still amazes me...

(PLEASE continue to pray for Ukraine!!!  Please pray especially for families that have passed court in Crimea and need to get their children OUT!)

Elijah never ceases to amaze me.  The culture of his birth country says he can't learn. Children with Down syndrome can't do anything...they are hopeless.  Well, I'm here to tell you that is SO not true!  (But if you are reading here, you already knew that. :-))

Elijah had a little friend in the orphanage named Toma.  Thankfully he was adopted about the same time as Jonathan was - about 6 months after Elijah came home. About 11 months after Elijah had been home, I was showing him a picture of Toma on his mama's blog, just to see what he would say. I just about fell over when Elijah started pointing at the screen and yelling, "Toe! Toe!"  Yes, he recognized him and could now partially articulate his name. (He had almost zero speech in the orphanage.)  It still gives me goosebumps when I think about it.

Well, then there was today.  Another little sweetie, Pasha, from his grouppa has also been adopted. He's been home less than year I believe.  Sarah is friends with Pasha's mom on Facebook.  She posted a picture of Pasha, and just for fun I showed it to Elijah, not expecting any response.  I immediately teared up when Elijah pointed and said, "Pas! Pas!"  (He can't say the /sh/ sound yet.) 

I asked, "Pasha?".  

"Yes, Pas," Elijah says. 

Yes, he remembered Pasha.  I'm floored.  He has been home 3 years and 2 1/2 months!  I'm still amazed.  This kid is so stinkin' smart and has a memory like a steel trap.  This is also a strong reminder to me that he remembers the not-so-good part of his orphanage life too - whatever that may have looked like.

Lord, help me to remember that all of my precious Ukrainian treasures have a "before". Give me wisdom in parenting them and to help them with their deep hurts. Lord, please reach down into their hearts and heal their emotional wounds. Thank you, Jesus.

(I'll try to get to some medical updates very soon!)

A Black Bag

Some days I ask myself, "What the heck have we gotten ourselves into?" (By the way, I've asked myself that every time I've been "pregnant" since I was pregnant with child #3.) I know I'm not the only one. Today was one of those days. Tonight, my friend, Liz, (Shea's mama) shared a post about how she answers her "What the heck?" days.  She would do it a million times over and so would I...

Please go read her post HERE. (Caution: This is a heavy post and not for young children.)  This may help those who don't understand why we are adopting yet again. Haven't we done enough?  Isn't it someone else's job???  Nope. Not at all.

Happy 5th Birthday, Elijah!!!

Yes, Elijah is 5 years old! I can hardly believe it! Yesterday, we had a very small birthday party with grandparents. And today, Elijah and I skyped with "Mama Tanya" and "Papa Igor", his biological parents. What an incredible blessing that was! I'm so thrilled we are able to have contact with his parents. Elijah was so cute...I definitely think he remembers his parents. He was giving Mama Tanya kisses on the computer monitor. :-) We also got to say hello to his grandpa and grandma. We are very blessed indeed. He showed them the sign for "I love you" and mama and papa. I was trying to get him to count to 5, name his colors, and  say his ABCs but he doesn't like to "show off" you know.  LOL

Often adoptive parents are sad their adopted child never celebrated any birthdays in the orphanage - their birthday was just like any other day. I was thrilled last year when Mama Tanya told us they visited Elijah every year on his birthday and brought in treats for the entire grouppa! Yay!!! So not only did Elijah get treats...

but Shea did...



and maybe even Gideon did too!  (Gideon was only allowed to participate in grouppa "parties" on a very limited basis though. :-( )


Elijah was/is loved by his bio parents and I'm forever grateful for their willingness to list Elijah for international adoption!

Sarah did a wonderful post about Elijah's birthday too. http://matthew18vs14.blogspot.com/2012/09/happy-birthday-elijah.html  She included a lot of pictures from our recent trip to Bay Beach amusement park (that I have not blogged yet...will I ever catch up? Doubtful!) But let me tell you...Elijah is a total thrill seeker!  On the Tilt-a-whirl, he had his hands in the air, laughing hysterically. At the end of every ride, I had to peel him out as he kept signing and saying "More! More!" :-)

I hope you enjoy some photos from Elijah's birthday party yesterday.

Anna made and decorated the cake for me! She did a great job!

He couldn't wait until the end of the song to blow his candles out. How fun the candles were for him! Every time he hears the "Happy Birthday" song, he blows hard then claps "Yay!" Very cute!

Can you believe it??? I have two five-year olds - well for about 6 weeks anyway!
(I also have two two-year olds! :-)) 

Fun monkey card!

And this...from "Auntie Crackers" and PD.......
hmmm....I think that Auntie Crackers needs one of these at HER house for grandson, Carter!
I put clear tape over the speaker and that helped...a little...
I must say Elijah really likes it though...

Alphabet toy from Grandma and Grandpa
I love Leap Frog toys!

Elijah was giving us a concert. Rachel insisted on helping...

Happy Birthday Elijah! We love you so very much and are so blessed to have you in our lives. Thank you for being who you are! You have taught us so much!

(I'll try to post a complete update on Elijah's growth, health, and development after his 5 year check up on Friday.)

Update, Prayer Request, and Another "One Year Ago Today"

Update: Elijah's ear tube surgery last Wednesday went very well. He was in and out of OR in less than 15 minutes, woke up fine, and we were on our way home by 8:30am.  The next day he seemed a little less frustrated, so I'll take that as a good sign! He'll have his hearing tested again at the 4-week post-op check up.

Prayer Request for Jonathan: Jonathan will have his ear tubes placed at about 10:30 tomorrow (Wed) AM. The ear tube part of the procedure should be quick, but they are conducting a sedated hearing test. This may take up to 2 hours. Please pray for him to handle the anesthesia ok. He did get a clearance letter from the cardiologist, but a little extra prayer never hurt. :-) Also, he won't be able to have a bottle after 4:30AM.  I have a feeling he won't be a happy camper...so prayers for contentment and peace (for both of us) would be appreciated too.

One Year Ago Today:  "Auntie Debbie" FINALLY made it to Elijah's city after a nightmarish trip to Ukraine through snowstorms across Europe in which she "visited" France, Italy, Germany and finally Ukraine, including a night in the Milan airport, as well as a night on the lovely Ukrainian train. I was never so glad to hear someone's voice when she called from Max's phone. But whatta friend, huh? I'm SOO grateful for Max as well. He gave up a few days of his very, very busy schedule to pick up Debbie in Kiev and then guided and protected her on the 15-hr train ride. I chronicled her journey a bit HERE, HERE, HERE (which also includes an update about sweet Shea. I'll tell ya, there is nothing like shouting about a child that you've met and then seeing a family commit to him while I was still in country! What a joy!!!) and HERE.   I'm forever grateful to Debbie for willingly giving up her Christmas with her family to spend it with me and Elijah. I can't even begin to tell you how much more difficult it would have been to be away by myself over Christmas. As I'm hearing Christmas songs this year and finding myself getting weepy, I'm realizing those emotions from last year are still pretty fresh. Having Debbie with me on the way home was a HUGE help too of course. After coming home alone with Jonathan, it made me realize how much more difficult the trip home with Elijah could have been.

So, thank you, Debbie, aka "Auntie Crackers", for giving of your time, friendship and all that you gave up physically, mentally, and emotionally to travel half way across the world to be with Elijah and me. You and your family will always have a very special place in my heart. :-) Debbie did a guest post for me last year while in country. You can read it HERE. Maybe I'll ask her to do a follow-up post in the next couple of weeks...the Lord has done AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING things in her family over the past year!!!

Shea's Family!

Introducing a very special family for a very special little boy...

(Ok, the beginnings of this post were saved as a draft since 1/1/11...good grief. I'm sorry this has taken so long, Liz!)



This is Shea. Shea is in Elijah's former "grouppa". I got to see him 2x/day for 3 weeks. I posted about him here when I was in EE. I can not even begin to tell you what a little honey he is. I just can not. His profile on RR is rather "scary". Here's what it says:

Boy, Born October 17, 2006


What a handsome boy!! Shea only became cleared for adoption very recently, so we are so hopeful he will find a family quickly. He is facing the institution very soon because of his age.

From his medical records: primary hydrocephaly, shunt dependent (has one in now), disorder of function of pelvic organs, paralytic clubfoot of both feet, spina bifida, mielomeningoradikulotsele. Very good and smart boy. He can speak very well, he can only sit, he is in plaster cast so he cannot stand and walk.

Shea will remain bedridden the rest of his life once he is transferred.

(I had to smile about some of this. Even though, he does/did have knee-high plaster casts on his legs, I saw him stand next to the couch where I was sitting more than once, and one time, I even saw him pushing a walker as he walked behind it!)
But all those scary terms didn't scare away his soon-to-be momma. See, God had it planned all along. His new momma is a physical therapist!  Isn't God good??? I know she can't wait to get her PT hands on him. :-)

The Kulp family will be Shea's new family!!! Click here to visit their blog. Another thing that makes their family so special is that Liz and Dan have already adopted 2 special children from China. In fact, their son, Simon, was one of the first children adopted out of China. Now, there are lots of children w/ Ds on RR. Awesome!

God has a sense of humor too. :-) Liz found out she was pregnant just a few days after they committed to bring Shea home. Hee hee. This is their first biological child. "Belly baby" as she calls him/her. I love it! She is due about the same time I was due with Noah, so I can't wait to see photos of Shea holding "belly baby".

The Kulps' SDA appt is on May 24th. I know they would appreciate you visiting their blog and encouraging them with a few comments during their travels. It gets lonely over there. Please pray for them and Shea as he meets his new family.  Also, please pray for a quick court date for them after they accept Shea's referral.

I'll leave you with a couple videos of Shea (in the red hooded sweatshirt) so you can see how mobile he is and how full of joy and life he is!  The first one is during a "party" that I had for the grouppa and brought in the tent and balls they are playing with.

This one was the same evening (Christmas Eve). You can see Shea bouncing around, lovin' the bubbles. You can hear him too. He's the only one in the grouppa that's verbal. And, verbal he is. He's a little jabber box. I wish I could have understood what he was saying. Whenever I would be walking through the city streets and hear a little one talking, I would think of him.

A little boy that joined the grouppa after we passed court, Elijah, and Shea with his huge smile.

My dearest Shea,
 
Your life is about to change so much. It may be scary to you, but don't worry, your mommy and daddy love you so much and will keep you safe. I can't wait to see you in your mommy's arms. I wanted so badly to take you home with me, but of course, I couldn't. After I met you, I told the RR family about how special you were and your momma heard my call and answered my pleas for your momma to step forward. I am SO happy! "Auntie Debbie" and I cried many tears over you. It broke our hearts as you would call out to her to be your mama. But soon, very soon, it will be your turn to call out mama and she will be able to pick you up and love on you and hold you always.
 
I know this is the family God has ordained for you all along. You will be loved by your parents and by your two (soon to be 3) siblings. God is good. It is my prayer that you will someday call Him your Lord and Savior too.
 
I love you, sweet boy!
Signed,
Alyosha's mama