Have you noticed recently that time has really
started to fly by? I mean we are nearly at the end of 2013! Where did this past
year go?! Don’t you love when people say that? Well, I personally, know exactly
where this year went…Exactly one year ago, nearly to the date; Jay and I
basically became parents overnight. Little man has officially been with us for
an entire year. It has been the most confusing, crazy, at times frustrating,
yet beautiful year of our lives.
Jay and I, like most new parents, have taken
hundreds of pictures throughout the year and I recently put together a book for
little man detailing this past year with us, so as I said before, I know
exactly where this past year went. It is amazing to see this little one's HUGE transformation.
Our first few days/nights looked something like what you see to the right.
He slept on the floors, he was scared, his
vocabulary wasn’t strong and he had no way to talk about his fears. He had no idea what was going on and neither did we! He cried a
lot, we cried a lot. But slowly, he started coming out of his shell. We grew into each
other so to speak. We have, as our family likes to call it, a “new normal”. And
we have noticed our little one, isn’t so little anymore. He is growing and
learning, and he has truly changed by leaps and bounds. He has quite a
vocabulary now too. He has what I call “J” isms. Here are a few of my favorites
thus far:
1.)
I no eat all my veg-a-tables cause then I
get too big and break you ceiling.
2.)
Tomorrow is bring you fruit snacks to
school, so I have more fruit snacks now?
3.)
What is my chocolate milk doing right now? (while in the car, miles away from his chocolate milk)
4.)
I no go potty now, I just went yest-a-day.
5.)
(While throwing a tantrum and yelling at me)
Me: please come here, Him: “NO, IM BUSY”.
6.)
“Why do you keep doing this?!” (while being put
into time out)
7.)
Why you pee in my bed? (for the record I did
no such thing)
Everyday he is saying and doing more and more
things. He is silly and funny, sweet yet spunky, independent, loving, smart,
energetic, …in other words, he is more than we could have ever hoped for and I
think we are doing pretty good for our first year!
There are however, the challenging medical issues
that seem to always face our “J”. After we finally got caught up on over a
dozen vaccinations, he was still getting sick pretty often. He was also snoring
something awful (much like a 50 year old overweight man with sleep apnea). He
underwent surgery for adenoid and tonsil removal with ear tube placement in
May. We have been consistently treating whole body eczema with various creams and lotions. This past month he was diagnosed with asthma requiring at least two
breathing treatments a day (sometimes up to 5!), and now is currently having some
tummy trouble that could end up being a lactose intolerance issue.
So, basically, everything we learned in the hours
of adoption education mandated by our agency and the country of Ethiopia,
ranging from “Bringing home an older child” (above the age of two), “Disciplining
the adopted child”, and “Common Medical Issues” has proved invaluable! We never
even thought those educational sessions would be of value in “our adoption
situation”, but again, God works in such CRAZY ways! He knew what we needed to
learn, not only for our international baby, but our little man right now. I get
chills thinking back on the last year and seeing how God beautifully prepared
us for “J” prior to him ever stepping foot in our home. And “J” is preparing us
even more for our Ethiopian child and the near certain issues and concerns we
will face with them during their first year home.
(this pic was done on a recent family photo shoot)
I have to say, I continue to be a bit nervous about our future,
much like I have been from the start. We take every day at a time, and consider
each day with little man a blessing (even when we are on our 15th tantrum of the day
because the banana we handed him broke into two halves prior to him eating it
all). I guess that’s what not
knowing what the next day holds, teaches you….to be especially thankful for
each and every moment you get. I know that sometimes in our busy lives we can
begin to take things for granted, and so in a weird way, our unknown
circumstances are a beautiful gift from a very loving Creator. He is definitely
making us lean into him in a very dramatic way, but I think he does some of His
greatest work when we do just that.
On the Ethiopian adoption forefront, not to much
news lately. A few referrals from last month (2), so once again small movement.
November is national adoption month. If you haven’t already, please consider
asking your congressman to back the Children in Families First Act (CHIFF). It
helps to do just that. This legislation redirects U.S. resources to focus more
on ensuring that all children grow up in a family and helps to cut some of the
red tape that is such a hindrance now and this is both domestically and
internationally. More information can be found at Http://childreninfamiliesfirst.org
Lastly, in honor of National Adoption month, I
wanted to give a huge “You Guys are Amazing” shout out to a family from my
hometown, The Tipton’s. They are currently in Costa Rica, adopting not 1, but 3
kiddos there! They listened to God’s calling, and their family of 4 just
officially became a family of 7! Their story can be found on their blog at http://www.openhandsandopendoors.blogspot.com
So exciting to watch and read about this family’s
adventures through the adoption journey!
