Back to School

Lucy started kindergarten this week! She LOVES it so much which makes it easier on this sad mama who can see the next 13 years of her life flying by!



She only has 15 kids in her class and a new teacher who seems very sweet and organized. We debated back and forth about letting her ride the bus and in the end, we decided to give it a try. With two little boys that take for-ev-er to get in and out of the car, we thought it would be much simpler (especially once winter comes) to take advantage of the bus! Of course the first day the bus was super early and we almost missed it but I'm sure we'll get the hang of it.





I've also struggled with what method of schooling is best for our family. We always felt like public school would be a wonderful ministry opportunity but now that we're here, it concerns me to let go of Lucy this way. So needless to say, we'll be doing a lot of monitoring and praying and trusting God will show us each school year what He desires for the growth and discipleship of our kids.

2 months

Cole came home with us two months ago and although I'm not ready to begin the regular happy days of blogging yet, I did want to document this day. Yes, it's the 2 month anniversary of when we stepped off that plane and began this new adventure as a family of 5 but today is also the first day we had no screaming (from either Cole or me!). The first day where we enjoyed ourselves from morning to night! And although he did start to whine when I stood up once to put away laundry, something in me handled it differently.

I confessed openly recently that I have been shown that so much of my struggles this summer were not about Cole after all. Not about a grumpy, whiny child who would not be happy but instead, these trials and intense moments of frustration have been about me! In my arrogance, my expectations for having a 3rd child were extremely inaccurate and having thought myself to be a good mother, capable and patient, I now see my weaknesses overwhelming what little strengths I have.

But I can rejoice in this! 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 shows me that in my repentance & submission, I am now in a place of victory, ready to move forward in service of this adorable little boy who gives nothing in return.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

The difference in me today was submission to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to empower me to be the mother He has asked me to be! Now each day is going to be another opportunity to submit or to struggle and there may be days when I submit and still struggle. But I have hope again and that is power in itself.

Time for a break...

I'm going to take a little break from the blog world for a while - not that I post that often anyways! But it's become one more thing to "work" at, trying to think of something worthwhile to share and even more challenging, something that is positive.

I'm concluding our situation is unique in that Cole has been home 6 weeks and we're still struggling. Well, I'm still struggling. We did have a pretty good first post-placement visit though and were told it's "supposed" to get better!

Mark challenged me though with "What if it doesn't get better? What if this is how our life is from now on? How will you handle it? What will you do?" I can't wait it out, I've got to deal with it. So here goes!

Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the summer! I'm sure I'll post pictures of Lucy's first day of kindergarten which sadly, is only 3 weeks away. Sniff, sniff!

Hanging in there...kind of

If you're looking for an update on us, you could just go to Colleen's blog and read this post. Seriously, minus the sleep issues (thankfully) and the parties (unfortunately), this is our life, too!!!

The lice is GONE - hooray, hooray. Just as the celebrations were to begin and we were going to actually venture out of our house, Cole now has some mystery fever. The doctor is unsure about it and threw out all kinds of scary options that it could be, but for now we can do nothing but wait and watch. We are hoping to travel to Texas tomorrow to see family (most of whom have not met Cole) but are now hesitant to do so with the fever so we'll see... trying to focus on God's sovereignty and the big picture but it's a challenge when you've been trapped in your house for 5 weeks!

Meanwhile, Lucy is enjoying VBS at our church this week and Nate is entertaining us by yodeling along to the Sound of Music cd (the puppet show is the yodel song) and Cole, in his sickness, is sleeping a lot and enduring it all. Hopefully my next post will be full of pictures from the Texas heat and not more whining about how life isn't fair. :)

Watch Cole Grow!

For Lucy & Nate's first year of life, I would take a picture each month on the date of their birth showing their growth and change. I was so happy when we got Cole's baby book that it had pages to do that for his first year at home since obviously his first year of life wasn't with us. So here is the Month One picture and stats:



16 lbs 6 oz
27 inches
Crawling, Pulling Up, Standing alone for a few seconds
No hair due to the everlasting lice issue

Also, he is eating better and on a great sleeping schedule - 2 naps a day, 2 hours each, 10-12 hours at night with no wakings! We haven't been out of the house too much and I'm okay with that (though I miss church desperately!).

We went to Children's Hospital yesterday here in St Louis where they have a monthly International Adoption Clinic. If you have something like that in your area, I highly recommend it. We were in one room and 3 out of 4 different doctors came to us to evaulate and screen Cole. (We had to go to an audiology lab for his hearing but that was no big deal since it was just upstairs!)

We're still waiting on lab results but overall things look good! And of course everyone that met him commented on his huge eyes.

So I hope to update with a new picture every month on the day we got him. This is a day late but you get the idea. :)

Counseling

Mark and his friend, Jason, are co-teaching a Biblical Counseling class at our church this summer. Mark is a certified Biblical Counselor and is using this class to teach other believers how to effectively counsel others using Scripture alone.

You can click here to listen to the lectures and also see a list of books and other helpful resources.

The basis is that Scripture claims to be sufficient to meet every spiritual need and a lot of issues people deal with today are spiritual at the root; whether it is depression, marital trouble, sin issues, etc. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

It's been such a blessing to watch Mark minister to others using God's words and not man's. I'm so proud of him and his obedience to the Lord!

One Step Forward...

...a million steps back! No, things aren't too bad. We were doing so well and I even managed to take all three kids by myself on a quick errand but we've had a major setback. That nasty lice has returned and it's been a huge pain!! I found it in Lucy's hair earlier this week and was so worried it would have to be cut. She was very patient though as I spent 4 hours combing through every last strand. Thankfully, the boys took great naps that day so I could devote myself to that unpleasant task.

And yuk of all yuk, it showed up in my hair as well. Trying to treat yourself for lice is almost impossible so I have a lot of doubt that I was successful. So I've been doing tons of laundry, bagging up all the stuffed animals, etc and warning those we have seen recently to watch out. Meanwhile, there is a beautiful summer passing us by while we stay home and wait out this nastiness.

But even in all of that...there is purpose and an opportunity to glorify God. It's not the way I would have chosen to spend my time but I can choose to obey and do what He's asked me to do. In this instance, caring for my children requires gross lice shampoo, tedious combing, staying home alone and tons of laundry. Whew.

Meanwhile, we are eager because next week we take Cole to Children's Hospital for their monthly International Adoption Clinic. He has not been to the doctor since we've been home so I'm anxious to hear some professional opinions and advice on his development and growth. I finally found a pair of shorts to fit my little guy and they are size 0-3 months! I keep telling him at mealtime that he needs to eat because there are starving children in the world and he was one of them! He's not convinced though. :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July!