Sweet Boy

I can't stand it...I want to eat him! Luke has been so sweet the last few days that I feel giddy! Tons and tons of hugs and today he looked me in the eyes when I asked him to!! PROGRESS...

Bittersweet

I can't understand after 5 years of waiting how 10 months can go by so quickly. The first few months we were in such a fog with a new baby, a husband out of work and a 5 day long trip to the hospital after being bit by a ferocious Missouri (Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever) tick. Once Wes went back to work and I quit my job to stay home I thought time would slow down but it has not. I look at pictures from Ethiopia and tear up at the wonderful growth that has taken place in our little man.

If you didn't know Luke has had a lot trouble attaching. It has been heartbreaking for us to watch. When our baby has an ear infection he does not want us but instead he wants his bed or a bottle the only source of comfort he had for 8.5 long months. He does not like to be held and as a matter of fact it makes him fidget with anxiety most of the time. If he goes too long without eating his brain snaps back into starvation mode and he will eat until he is sick. a large crowd makes him turn into a wild man that can't control himself. In the first 6 months we just thought that this is how babies were....it is not so. We are doing everything in our power to educated those around us but even to them it sometimes makes no sense. However it is very apparent to mom and dad when Luke is "freaking out" inside. We are doing 100% attachment style parenting and we even bumped it up a bit in the last few weeks. The last few days we are starting to get more eye contact and finally has started giving us hugs. Today when a parent came to pick out their child (from my in home daycare) Luke ran to me and held on tight....we are getting there. We have other attachment issues that we are working on but today was a wonderful break through.

Luke has also fallen head over heals in love with Da Da. Friday when Wes got home from work Luke ran to him and gave out a big hug. When Wes put him down to go change his clothes Luke ran screaming across the room and laid on the floor crying. Might sound a bit ridicules to you but to us it was another wonderful break through!

So I realized today that while my baby is leaving and my toddler is arriving that it is bittersweet...Although I rarely got to hold and snuggle my sweet baby, I do get to see the progress of Patience and love break down the orphan walls that Luke brought home with him....

Good Times

All is good here....Just amazed at how fast they grow. Only our God in HEAVEN could have created a body that can grow and learn... so amazing. We feel more blessed each day.

Luke

Ahhh the time has come.....the temper tantrum! Yes Luke is a normal 17 month old toddler!! It is trying for me but good to know that Luke knows what he wants. We are all very happy and doing great. We have been talking about future kids and we are opening our hearts to be lead where God wants us to be?? Foster care, domestic adoption and any other way to help the little ones is what we want. Of course we would love to go back to Ethiopia but the cost is just too much for us to do again. We thank God for Luke everyday and know that we are being lead to where we need to be!! After a rough day yesterday Luke chilled in the tub!

The long awaited babies

Our friends Chris and Christine Burns gave birth to Savannah Rose on Jan. 3 after waiting and praying for a child for over 5 years. We went through so much with them and I cherish their support. The night that she was born I sat in Luke's room holding him while he slept and thought to myself how wonderful after all we have been through that tonight we are both holding our babies so close. God is good and his timing is perfection. Luke was a bit distracted when we went to visit last night....it seemed that Chris had a very Delicious bag of Cheese-it's that could not take his eyes off of!

Eric Ludy - Depraved Indifference

This is powerful stuff...get ready and get a tissue!

Our First Christmas Together

We had a wonderful, peaceful first Christmas together bit was a little harder than we had thought it would be. While we watched people bussel and hurry around gathering gifts for Christmas our hearts were in Ethiopia. There are little or no gifts for the Children of Toukoul or the families living in the streets. There is no Christmas dinner or family gathering for them either. All they have is FAITH if they have heard of Jesus Christ. How happy would we be if all we had was faith to go on? No home or food, no family but just a dirty streets to live in.....would we still even celebrate? It would be hard wouldn't it? Maybe this is the first Christmas that we TRULY understood what its about. I guess that is one of the best gifts that we have ever received!