Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Guess who is 7 months old?!
Eli is always making this funny face! We are seeing his personality unfold more and more everyday! He is still happy most all the time and has the biggest smile ever! He loves his sister so much! She is pretty crazy about him too! I will post more pictures soon!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
1 month ago today!
I can't believe it's been a whole month since we first held Eli! We are so totally in love with this little guy! He is happy most all the time and very cuddly. He smiles a lot! I find myself reflecting a lot about our trip and everything we experienced in Ethiopia. When we were there, I enjoyed it so much, but I was ready to get my baby home. The grueling flight back was looming over my head and I wanted to get it over with. Once home and recovered however, I found myself longing to be back. I loved Ethiopia, the place, the people. I especially loved the 7 other families we traveled with. They are an amazing group of people and I am definitely blessed having spent time with them. Robel and T, our guides were extremely special people too. They left us inspired. Now I understand why people say they miss it and why adoption is sometimes addicting! We are so thankful to God for choosing us for this miracle called adoption.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
A must read - prepare yourself for tears!
This post was written by another adoptive mom:
Kids and Moms (and Dads)
I have been thinking a lot about kids lately... kids who don't have moms (and dads)... kids waiting for moms, and what life is like for kids who do not have parents. I have been thinking about the transformation that occurs when a child realizes he has a mom, a dad, a family...security, love and somewhere to belong.
With some of our kids, that "realization" that they have a Mom and a family, that they have someone to belong to, someone to watch over them, someone to care for them and someone to love them, has been gradual. With some of our kids, there has been this "a ha!" moment, where you could just see that they "got it".
There was baby Maggie... almost four months old... laying on the bed in our hotel in Vietnam on our first full day together (I had been visiting her for days at the hospital before this point). Before her hospitalization she had lived in a government orphanage where the babies had their names written on their legs in black magic marker so they could be told apart, and got very very little personal attention. She didn't cry when she was hungry or when she wanted something. She was quiet and tiny, but I could tell she loved being held and loved the attention I was giving her.
I walked away from the bed where she was laying to get a bottle for her, and she made this teeny tiny pitiful (feeble attempt at a) cry, and I rushed over and picked her up and offered her the bottle. She got this look of amazement on her face with a little smile that seemed to say, "Holy cow! You mean that crying thing WORKS with you??" and after that she did not want anyone but me and always wanted me close. She got it. I was there for her. I was her mom.
With Mercy, she was nine years old. She had had a mom before, who did not value or respect her role as a mom. Mercy knew neglect and abuse and loss. Despite that, she came to us with an open heart and a surprising amount of trust. At one point during our first week, Des needed her hair washed (and Mercy had been the one to care for Des up until that point, even though she was only three years older). Mercy told Des to go into the bathroom so she could wash her hair, and I gently told Mercy that I could wash Des's hair, and reminded her that that was the kind of thing a Mom should do. The social worker had warned us that "letting go" of being the caregiver of Des might be hard for Mercy and we might have some power struggles over it... but Mercy looked at me and looked at Des and looked back at me and said, "You wash all the other little kids... You would wash Des's hair too?" and I said, "Yes". And she said, "And then what would I do?" and I said, "Well, you could go play." And she looked at Des again and then back at me, and then she got this huge smile on her face, and you could almost SEE her letting go of the responsibility of caring for her little sister. She ran over and gave me a hug, and then took off to play. She got it. I was there for her and for her sister. I was their mom.
With Solomon, that moment came when we left AHOPE for the second time together. We had spent two days together, and then we had gone back to AHOPE to visit. As we walked through the gate and the kids called out his name and came running to say hi to him, he sat in my arms with huge, silent tears running down his cheeks. He would not make eye contact with anyone (including me, the kids and the nannies) and just stared ahead with this heartbreaking acceptance of the fact that he thought he was being left. Again. It hurt me so much that he had come to accept this from life... that nice people came and went, but he did not truly belong to any of them. I couldn't imagine how his little heart felt and how he had endured all that he had already. I comforted him and held him close and told him over and over again in his ear that I would never, never, never leave him.
He started to relax a little the longer we were there and I stayed with him, but he was not his usual self. And then it happened. I put him in the sling, we waved good-bye, went back out through the gate and headed back up the road towards the hotel for some lunch. He got this HUGE grin on his face, and was bouncing up and down in the sling laughing, and then grabbing my face and kissing it over and over as we walked. He was so happy and joyful. He got it. He was not going to be left again. I was HIS. He was mine. I was his Mom.
Since then I have watched him blossom with love. I have watched him learn how to expect and look forward to being held often, comforted when he cries, rocked to sleep, having his needs met, getting individual attention and being smothered in hugs and kisses often. As I crawled into bed last night, a few hours after I had put him down to sleep, his little body turned towards me, and without waking up, he put his arm on me, snuggled in close and let out a content sigh.
All kids deserve that knowledge, that peace and that comfort. All kids deserve to know that they are loved and that they belong to someone.
I believe with all my heart that our Heavenly Father did not send us down here to go at life alone, to worry about ourselves and to focus our lives on material and trivial things. I believe with all my heart that we are meant to live in families... mothers, fathers and children together, focusing our lives on loving, enjoying and serving each other.
We have several reasons to believe that Solomon most likely spent very little (if any) time with his first mother. And yet even after multiple changes in caregivers and "homes", multiple losses and lots of suffering without a mom to comfort him, he KNEW what a Mom was for from our very first days together. His heart and soul reached out to mine and grabbed on firmly. He knew that he wanted a mom. He knew that hugs, kisses and rock-a-byes were something he wanted, deserved and needed. The other kids we met in Ethiopia knew it too. They knew that they belonged with parents. They knew that something big was missing from their lives.
My heart rejoices for my kids and others that have had their lives changed so drastically...who were once alone, and now live with love, security and family. Watching Solomon over the past few weeks has reminded me of what an incredible miracle adoption is.
And at the same time, my heart aches for the so very many kids who are living life alone right now. . Even the very best orphanage is no comparison to a home and family. It is wrong that these kids must wait and yearn for a family. They deserve, as all children do, the peace and security that comes with the knowledge of knowing that they belong to someone, that they are being cared for and that they are loved.
This is why I support adoption...because I have seen the sadness in the eyes of the children who wait for moms, I have seen the amazing transformation in children once they have been "claimed" and loved, and because I believe, with all my heart, that that love and belonging is what our lives on this Earth are supposed to be about.
This post brought tears to my eyes because it is so true! I too, have seen it now with my own eyes. I've watched our little Eli blossom right in front of our eyes. He was almost lifeless when he was handed to us, barely holding his head up. He would look up at us and smile, but he was so still and small and quiet. He kept his little hands in fists and he would not stretch his legs out. I know the nannies loved these babies and did the best they could with what they had. There were just a lot of babies. Eli is such a good baby, that maybe he didn't get a lot of attention because of that. You tend to attend to the needier babies. Within 2 days of getting Eli, he was squeeling with joy and babbling like nobody's business! He is a crazy man on the floor now kicking and thrusting his arms out and growling.......all in pure joy! He knows who his mamma, daddy, and sister are. It's purely evident in his thrilled responses to us after waking up from a nap or after daddy comes home from work, or sister from school! He thoroughly loves his bath and I've cried watching him take it, for those babies that will never know that experience and never know this love, family, and a place called home that he has found. I saw so many children that have such a need as this. When you caught their eyes, they would smile so big. Oh, it made your heart ache so! If you feel even an inkling toward adoption, I encourage you to pray a lot about it and consider it! It will change you forever, but in an extremely positive way! We are so very blessed to be chosen by God for our little Eli!
Kids and Moms (and Dads)
I have been thinking a lot about kids lately... kids who don't have moms (and dads)... kids waiting for moms, and what life is like for kids who do not have parents. I have been thinking about the transformation that occurs when a child realizes he has a mom, a dad, a family...security, love and somewhere to belong.
With some of our kids, that "realization" that they have a Mom and a family, that they have someone to belong to, someone to watch over them, someone to care for them and someone to love them, has been gradual. With some of our kids, there has been this "a ha!" moment, where you could just see that they "got it".
There was baby Maggie... almost four months old... laying on the bed in our hotel in Vietnam on our first full day together (I had been visiting her for days at the hospital before this point). Before her hospitalization she had lived in a government orphanage where the babies had their names written on their legs in black magic marker so they could be told apart, and got very very little personal attention. She didn't cry when she was hungry or when she wanted something. She was quiet and tiny, but I could tell she loved being held and loved the attention I was giving her.
I walked away from the bed where she was laying to get a bottle for her, and she made this teeny tiny pitiful (feeble attempt at a) cry, and I rushed over and picked her up and offered her the bottle. She got this look of amazement on her face with a little smile that seemed to say, "Holy cow! You mean that crying thing WORKS with you??" and after that she did not want anyone but me and always wanted me close. She got it. I was there for her. I was her mom.
With Mercy, she was nine years old. She had had a mom before, who did not value or respect her role as a mom. Mercy knew neglect and abuse and loss. Despite that, she came to us with an open heart and a surprising amount of trust. At one point during our first week, Des needed her hair washed (and Mercy had been the one to care for Des up until that point, even though she was only three years older). Mercy told Des to go into the bathroom so she could wash her hair, and I gently told Mercy that I could wash Des's hair, and reminded her that that was the kind of thing a Mom should do. The social worker had warned us that "letting go" of being the caregiver of Des might be hard for Mercy and we might have some power struggles over it... but Mercy looked at me and looked at Des and looked back at me and said, "You wash all the other little kids... You would wash Des's hair too?" and I said, "Yes". And she said, "And then what would I do?" and I said, "Well, you could go play." And she looked at Des again and then back at me, and then she got this huge smile on her face, and you could almost SEE her letting go of the responsibility of caring for her little sister. She ran over and gave me a hug, and then took off to play. She got it. I was there for her and for her sister. I was their mom.
With Solomon, that moment came when we left AHOPE for the second time together. We had spent two days together, and then we had gone back to AHOPE to visit. As we walked through the gate and the kids called out his name and came running to say hi to him, he sat in my arms with huge, silent tears running down his cheeks. He would not make eye contact with anyone (including me, the kids and the nannies) and just stared ahead with this heartbreaking acceptance of the fact that he thought he was being left. Again. It hurt me so much that he had come to accept this from life... that nice people came and went, but he did not truly belong to any of them. I couldn't imagine how his little heart felt and how he had endured all that he had already. I comforted him and held him close and told him over and over again in his ear that I would never, never, never leave him.
He started to relax a little the longer we were there and I stayed with him, but he was not his usual self. And then it happened. I put him in the sling, we waved good-bye, went back out through the gate and headed back up the road towards the hotel for some lunch. He got this HUGE grin on his face, and was bouncing up and down in the sling laughing, and then grabbing my face and kissing it over and over as we walked. He was so happy and joyful. He got it. He was not going to be left again. I was HIS. He was mine. I was his Mom.
Since then I have watched him blossom with love. I have watched him learn how to expect and look forward to being held often, comforted when he cries, rocked to sleep, having his needs met, getting individual attention and being smothered in hugs and kisses often. As I crawled into bed last night, a few hours after I had put him down to sleep, his little body turned towards me, and without waking up, he put his arm on me, snuggled in close and let out a content sigh.
All kids deserve that knowledge, that peace and that comfort. All kids deserve to know that they are loved and that they belong to someone.
I believe with all my heart that our Heavenly Father did not send us down here to go at life alone, to worry about ourselves and to focus our lives on material and trivial things. I believe with all my heart that we are meant to live in families... mothers, fathers and children together, focusing our lives on loving, enjoying and serving each other.
We have several reasons to believe that Solomon most likely spent very little (if any) time with his first mother. And yet even after multiple changes in caregivers and "homes", multiple losses and lots of suffering without a mom to comfort him, he KNEW what a Mom was for from our very first days together. His heart and soul reached out to mine and grabbed on firmly. He knew that he wanted a mom. He knew that hugs, kisses and rock-a-byes were something he wanted, deserved and needed. The other kids we met in Ethiopia knew it too. They knew that they belonged with parents. They knew that something big was missing from their lives.
My heart rejoices for my kids and others that have had their lives changed so drastically...who were once alone, and now live with love, security and family. Watching Solomon over the past few weeks has reminded me of what an incredible miracle adoption is.
And at the same time, my heart aches for the so very many kids who are living life alone right now. . Even the very best orphanage is no comparison to a home and family. It is wrong that these kids must wait and yearn for a family. They deserve, as all children do, the peace and security that comes with the knowledge of knowing that they belong to someone, that they are being cared for and that they are loved.
This is why I support adoption...because I have seen the sadness in the eyes of the children who wait for moms, I have seen the amazing transformation in children once they have been "claimed" and loved, and because I believe, with all my heart, that that love and belonging is what our lives on this Earth are supposed to be about.
This post brought tears to my eyes because it is so true! I too, have seen it now with my own eyes. I've watched our little Eli blossom right in front of our eyes. He was almost lifeless when he was handed to us, barely holding his head up. He would look up at us and smile, but he was so still and small and quiet. He kept his little hands in fists and he would not stretch his legs out. I know the nannies loved these babies and did the best they could with what they had. There were just a lot of babies. Eli is such a good baby, that maybe he didn't get a lot of attention because of that. You tend to attend to the needier babies. Within 2 days of getting Eli, he was squeeling with joy and babbling like nobody's business! He is a crazy man on the floor now kicking and thrusting his arms out and growling.......all in pure joy! He knows who his mamma, daddy, and sister are. It's purely evident in his thrilled responses to us after waking up from a nap or after daddy comes home from work, or sister from school! He thoroughly loves his bath and I've cried watching him take it, for those babies that will never know that experience and never know this love, family, and a place called home that he has found. I saw so many children that have such a need as this. When you caught their eyes, they would smile so big. Oh, it made your heart ache so! If you feel even an inkling toward adoption, I encourage you to pray a lot about it and consider it! It will change you forever, but in an extremely positive way! We are so very blessed to be chosen by God for our little Eli!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Eli Update!
Eli went to the Dr. yesterday and weighed in at 15.7 pounds!! He has gained 3 pounds in the 2 weeks we've had him! Wow! He is 27 inches long too! He is almost at the 25th percentile weight and 75 percentile height. Wonder if he will be tall? His motor development is still behind of course, but he is making great gains! When we got him, he could barely hold his head up and he wasn't reaching for anything, but now he has great head control and is constantly reaching for things. We give him lots of tummy time and do lots of rolling him around and trying to stand him up to gain some leg strengh. We also got him a Johnny Jump Up type thing to help with his strength and motor development. Look out! In another couple months, he will be hard to keep up with!
My babies early in the morning before school
Hey, you cutie pie!
Sweet Eli!
Cute little splashing foot!
Eli loves to look at himself in the mirror!
He absolutely loves, loves his bath! Look at that growing tummy!
I imagine him saying to himself: Hey, you handsome devil!!
Grandma Sherry!
Too bad he's not wearing his OU shirt!
Sweet sis Baylee! Eli lights up when Baylee is around! He thinks she is pretty neato and she feels the same about him!
My babies early in the morning before school
Hey, you cutie pie!
Sweet Eli!
Cute little splashing foot!
Eli loves to look at himself in the mirror!
He absolutely loves, loves his bath! Look at that growing tummy!
I imagine him saying to himself: Hey, you handsome devil!!
Grandma Sherry!
Too bad he's not wearing his OU shirt!
Sweet sis Baylee! Eli lights up when Baylee is around! He thinks she is pretty neato and she feels the same about him!
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