How Good Was Our Thanksgiving?

Oh yes, it was this good.

It was so good that the boys were out cold five minutes after leaving our wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with Brad's family.

It was also so good that I forgot to take any pictures! Oops!

Oh well, the rest of the weekend was great as well with my family coming for a visit. My boys are so blessed with such great grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins!

Our hearts are full of thanksgiving for all that God has done for us!

The Littlest One

High up on the list of things I love about Nathan are his hilarious laugh and the way his dimples appear when he smiles really big.

Something else I love - how much Nathan adores his Daddy! The other day Brad was out working on something in the garage while I fixed dinner. When I turned around this is what I saw:

Nathan just had to see what Daddy was up to! You should see the way that he runs to the door screaming with glee when Brad gets home - it's priceless.

I'm finding it harder and harder to remember life before Nathan :)

That Was a Lot of Fun to Fit Into One Day!

Whew! I am tired just looking at the pictures from our fun day yesterday!

We started the day with speech therapy - Nathan is doing so well and it is great to see his progress from week to week.

Then with the morning looming before us, we decided to make a tunnel out of the couch cushions. The boys love to chase echo other around and around.

Then of course I had to put a couch cushion on them and pretend to sit on them and be so surprised by how lumpy the couch was. We must have done this 20 times! And every time it got this reaction:

We took a break from playing, I looked outside and saw...

snowflakes!

I am determined this winter to embrace the snow instead of hating it, so I bundled up the boys as quick as I could (which still took for-ev-er!) and we headed outside.

By the time we made it out there, it had stopped snowing.

Sigh.

But the boys enjoyed running around a bit and got some fresh air, so I guess it wasn't a total bust!

When we came back inside it was almost lunchtime, but Matthew did something he almost never does - he fell asleep on the couch! Doesn't this look comfy?? I guess we tired him out good!

After nap and lunch we headed out to meet some friends at a nearby children's museum. It's not really a museum, more of a hands-on play place, and yesterday was free admission day. The boys had a blast! Matthew's favorite thing to do was fishing. I was a bit worried taking both of them by myself to a place like this (my fear was they would both take off in different directions) but they listened really well and it was not stressful at all. Sure did tire me out though!

I wish I could say I slept like a baby...oh wait, I really could say that - I was up every 2 or 3 hours! Matthew came down with a fever in the evening and Nathan is teething...I just keep telling myself that one day they have to start sleeping. Right??? Right?!!?!?!

A Little Secret

Do you want to know a secret? I mean, a real secret that I have hardly ever said out loud?

I was scared to death before Nathan came home. God had been at work in my heart for a long time about special needs adoption, and I knew that Nathan was my son, but still...I was terrified.

You know what I was so scared about?

I was scared about what people would say. I was scared that people would say unkind things to me about my son, because his ears look a little different, and I wouldn't know how to handle it. And deep down, I was scared that maybe I would see the differences, and they would affect how I felt about him.

That feels like an awful thing to say. It's hard to even type it. I would like to think I'm not that superficial, but I guess I just didn't know. I didn't know how our families would feel, I didn't know if it would be different raising a child with hearing loss, I didn't know what else we might face...but I knew he was to be mine.

God spoke to me a lot as I battled through this fear. One of the first things that came to mind as I prayed through these fears was a song from my childhood - "Be bold! Be strong! For the Lord your God is with you. Be bold! Be strong! For the Lord your God is with you."

And then, as the time came closer for Nathan to come home, and my fear got even stronger at times, God brought this verse to me:

"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6

There was my answer. It would be okay. Even if people were unkind (which they haven't been - yet), God would be with me and would help me to respond. He would walk this road with me, so I didn't need to be afraid. You know what? I wasn't afraid anymore. It was just that simple. I could trust in Him and know that when the time came He would give me what I needed.

I really do know that Nathan's "special needs" are not that big of a deal. I don't think about the differences when I look at him - I just see my beautiful son! Now that we are living it, we are realizing just how manageable his needs are. Actually, it has been one of the most amazing things ever to get to see him hear for the first time! Before we brought him home, I thought his special needs would be a big part of parenting him. Now that he is here I see that they are a part of who he is, but there is certainly so much more to him! He is a spunky, hilarious, affectionate, bright, amazing little boy. We are so blessed to have him in our lives and every single day I thank God for not letting me give in to the fear. Oh, what I would have missed!

I wanted to encourage anyone out there who is considering adoption or who ever thinks about adopting a waiting child...pray, ask God, and He will make it so clear to you. And once He does, don't look back. There is nothing but joy to be found in following Him, even if it is hard, even if it means facing your fears and walking into the unknown. There are so many precious children just waiting for a Mom and a Dad to bring them home. Don't miss out just because of fear.

I also wanted to pass along a website where Nathan was photolisted. It is called RainbowKids. There are children of all ages from all over the world who are available for adoption, with all different kinds of special needs. I am pretty sure that is where we will look when we're ready to adopt again...down the road...in the future...Brad won't let me talk about it yet!!!!

You can register and then log in to see the photolistings. So many beautiful children!

Captain Destructo

He has a nickname around here:

Captain Destructo!

Don't let that cute little smile fool you :)

If a toy can be in a million pieces,

Nathan likes to make sure that it is.

The train table was such a good idea...

but turned out to be a great big pain in the neck.

Matthew just desperately wanted to push trains around.

Nathan loved the noise the track pieces made when they were being

pushed around the table and thrown from one end to the other.

Not a good combo :(

Everytime I left the room when the boys were playing with it

there was screaming within minutes.

Driving me crazy!

Tonight I am so thankful for a husband

who fixed my number one

annoying toy problem

by sticking down the track!

Of course, I'm sure the boys will find something else to fight about.

But at least it won't be the train table!

Moments Like These

I feel like we missed Fall!

We have been sick

and tired

and stuck in the house

for far too long!

Today we decided to get outside

and enjoy the beautiful weather

while it lasts.

Plus, we wanted to tire these cuties out!

Do they ever have a lot of energy!

So we went to a local state park,

and we walked,

and we kicked leaves,

and we chased each other around.

We climbed,

and we ran,

and we laughed really hard!

We played at the playground

which to our delight was completely empty!

We walked down to the lake

and threw rocks into the water

and tried to keep Nathan

from jumping in!

It was so good to be together,

just the four of us,

with no distractions and no noise.

Just time to breathe

and enjoy being together.

Moments like these

are the best.

They make all the other stuff

melt away,

and all that's left

is a sigh of happiness.

Learning to Not Hyperventilate

Confession: I hate mess.

Like, I even hate the kinds of messes that kids are supposed to make. Washable markers on their hands, paint getting anywhere but the paper...stresses me out. I'm not sure why, when I know I can just clean it up. Maybe I'm actually just really lazy and want to avoid extra cleaning :)

Anyway, I've decided that enough is enough - I need to loosen up and let these kids make more messes! We have started doing a lot more art projects, as well as some new activities that are a little messy but tons of fun.

The boys love playing with rice, beans, rocks, stones...they have been having a great time practicing pouring, scooping, and using tongs.

We have lots of chances to talk about colors and patterns, although Nathan could care less!


I'm not really that worried about them learning through these activities, they are so young and we are really just playing and experiencing different things together. They just love it and the best part of all...

They play in the same room without fighting, taking each others toys, or yelling! We practice taking turns, and I get to enjoy some peace and quiet while two little boys actually sit still for a while :)

A Fun Week

What a fun week it has been!

The highlights:

We had our final post-placement visit with our social worker for Nathan's adoption! She will now file our paperwork with the courts here and we should soon have a date to go to court and finalize the adoption! Although this little guy is already ours in every sense of the word, it will be so nice to have the legal aspect completed. We hope to finalize in December and then to have a big party to celebrate.

I have never really been "naturally crafty", but I am pretty good at stealing, er, borrowing ideas from other people! This week we were learning about the letter "B" so we did a couple of crafts to go along with our theme. My favorite was these butterflies the boys painted. They are just coffee filters painted and then a pipe cleaner for the body. We also learned the sign for butterfly!

Last night we had our first official popcorn and movie night! Of course, I am paranoid so the popcorn was broken up into teeny tiny little pieces...but the boys loved it! We watched the new Winnie-the-Pooh movie and had a lovely night together as a family.

Things are going so well these days, and I think the hard times have made me appreciate this goodness even more! Sleep is going really well and we are now up only 1 or 2 times a night, which is totally doable. I had to fill out a final progress report today for Nathan's adoption and it is just so amazing to think of how far we have come in the last five months. I am so thankful for our little family!

Brotherly Love

I laughed so hard when I saw this picture,

because it is exactly where we are right now!

Nathan is totally sold on this brother thing.

Matthew...not so much!

Although, the other day Matthew did something that made me think

these two are turning into real brothers.

He broke something (and I saw him do it), and when I asked him

if he broke it, he responded,

"No, Nathan did it!"

Brotherly love indeed :)

New Hearing Aids

Thursday was a big day for our littlest boy - he got his new hearing aids!

We found out when Nathan had his CT scan done that it might be possible for him to wear ear-level hearing aids (with a molded piece in his ear, a little tubing over the top of his ear and the hearing aid behind his ear). The audiologist really wasn't sure how well they would work with his ears but she wanted to give it a try since he would be able to hear even better with these than the BAHA.

To be honest, I was a little skeptical and annoyed that we were making yet another change for Nathan. He has been through so many changes, and I just didn't want to fight him about one more thing. He had started taking off his BAHA hearing aid (the softband) frequently, so I battled him about that, plus making him wear the eye patch has become really difficult. I wondered if these hearing aids would be just another thing like that.

Nathan did so well at the appointment. He was so still and silent - not the Nathan I have come to know and love!!!! I told the audiologist I needed to show her a video of what he is like at home because she wouldn't believe how busy and noisy he is :)

We got a loaner pair of hearing aids to try out, and we still have the BAHA loaner as well just in case things didn't go well with the ear-level hearing aids. The blue piece is the ear mold and we got lots of fun stickers to put on the hearing aids.

It has been two days now, and I can tell you that we will probably not go back to the BAHA. For Nathan, these ear-level hearing aids are amazing! I noticed right away that his hearing is a lot better. I started doing little tests when he wasn't looking and couldn't believe the things he is responding to now. He can hear me whisper! He responds to his name the first time! He was hearing well with the BAHA and this is just one more boost for him. I feel like his language is just taking off and it is amazing to see how quickly he is learning new things.

The only rough thing so far with these hearing aids has been putting them in. He has screamed and sobbed through that each time until today after nap. It's so hard when you know that you are upsetting your child but you also know that you're doing it for their own good :( I was so thankful that after nap today he was just quiet and calm while I put them in! He has not tried to pull them out at all (yet) which is also great.

I love my handsome little man! I am so thankful for the excellent medical care we have access to and that he is doing so well. This Thanksgiving will certainly be a meaningful one for us as we continue to be amazed at all that God has done for us.