It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Before I sewed her real name on her stocking, I thought I'd give you peek at the stocking of Daughter of Purpose. I have sewn the stocking of each one of our children in a quilt-like pattern with fabrics that mean something to them. It's a lot of work, to say the least. Although I knew this one was coming I still wasn't prepared and really didn't want to go through all of that work again. I wanted to do something different this time. I came up with the American flag pattern on one side and the striped pattern of the Russian flag on one side. It was simple and I think it embraces who she is--just what I wanted. I was also glad it only took me one night to produce because as we started putting up Christmas decorations this weekend, I could tell she felt a little left out because everyone else had a stocking hanging and she did not. Speedo sewing to the rescue.

By the way, yes, we are one of THOSE families that gets out their Christmas stuff the day after Thanksgiving, if not ON Thanksgiving! It actually originated out of pure need because back in the day when Nate was primarily in the Lighting and Production world, after Thanksgiving was over we'd never see him again until Christmas day. That's was our way of life since everyone has something they need lit up at Christmas! Even though we are not subject to that schedule anymore, we still are in the habit. I don't mind it much. We get to enjoy the Season of Lights that much longer.

I am looking forward to sharing Christmas with you through the eyes of Daughter of Purpose. So far, she just knows there is a tree with lights (but I can tell she doesn't really understand why), but she has to wait on that for a bit. For now, she finds all of this decorating interesting. I can't wait to take her to see all of the houses decorated up with lights. I think I better bring the video camera for that--to capture the sheer delight I think she will have!

I hope I never forget the memory of yesterday as we opened up all of the boxes and began decorating. It was priceless to hear our older children explaining to her what Christmas was all about. It was neat to hear their interpretation of what we've been trying to teach them all these years. I know Daughter of Purpose doesn't really understand what in the world is going on and what all this Baby Jesus stuff is all about, but it will come in time.

Just one more precious moment to bore you with. One of the things the kids love about opening up our Christmas boxes is the special Christmas books that only come out at this time of year. They could not wait! As I glanced around the living room and saw each one of them looking through the books, it made me so proud to see each one of them realize that a whole new world was open to them. They could read the books themselves or at least read more of the books this year! The image of The Negotiator is ingrained in my head as he sat there on the couch reading and I could tell he was totally engrossed in the book. I love that!

Until another view of Christmas comes up...

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Fall Bike Ride

Earlier this summer, we purchased bikes and a bike trailer for everyone. We hemmed and hawed over whether we should go for such an expenditure, but I'll never regret that we did. Our thought was that the bikes are a great form of exercise, mode of transportation and easy entertainment--even if we have no money...we can still go for a bike ride! Great family fun. It's especially even more of a blessing to us because where we live there are wide trails everywhere that we can enjoy. Also, about 3 miles away from us is a huge park so today we rode there, stopped to play and then moseyed our way back home. They are actually building a park of equal measure less than 1/2 mile away and we are very excited about that, but part of me still wants to ride to the farther one just for the exercise. However, I don't think I'll get my wish. I have a feeling the new one will be my new backyard and we won't be able to get enough of it!

I wish you could see in my mind's eye what I saw today. All those beautiful trails were filled with the beauty of God's creation and creativity. Fall leaves were everywhere--from the crunch of leaves beneath our tires to the view of the colors. What made it even more memorable was the joy of seeing my family enjoying life as we rode along. You just can't be grumpy on a ride such as this! Here is Daughter of Purpose trailing along behind Daddy. At one point, she said she needed to stop for water because all of this riding was wearing her out and she needed some water! Such a comedian. She also serenaded us along the way by singing her version of "God Bless America."

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Thankful

Our Thanksgiving was really quite uneventful. We ended up hosting Thanksgiving at our house for both sides of the family. I suppose that sounds so crazy, but really...it was not a big deal for a host of reasons. One, I'm on only child and my extended family lives out of town so the total sum from my side of the family was 2 adults.

Next, Nate's side of the family boasts 3 adults right now--parents and 1 brother. His other brother's family lives out of state right now. So really it wasn't as huge a crowd as it sounds. It also was made manageable by everyone pitching in. Thanks everyone! It was fun and yummy!

Here are just a few pictures of Daughter of Purpose with her first Thanksgiving meal and a peak at what the kids found to do after our meal.

My very simple thankful thought for today is that I am thankful Daughter of Purpose is here with us in our family and no longer across the ocean!

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Seven

A few weeks back, we had some family pictures done to make sure Daughter of Purpose was included. There were so many good ones that this was the best I could do to get them on here for you to see! Sorry some of the heads are cut off in some of the pics. I wish I could figure out how to get http://www.bighugelabs.com/ to not cut off our heads! I am going to put a photostream from Flickr that will have these pics so just in case you'd like to see our head--you can click on those!

These pictures were done by my friend, Candice, over at http://tomakehimknown.blogspot.com/. She and her husband are adopting from Korea. As a fundraiser, she is willing to come and practice her new-found love for photography on your family if you will make a donation to their adoption fund. For us, it was a win-win situation. We got the family photos we needed to take and we also get the privilege of knowing we are helping one more orphan come home to their family! Candice gets to practice her photography and be one step closer to bringing her daughter home! If you'd like more info on this fundraising opportunity, please let me know!

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

The Physical Bond

It's funny the things we've had to teach and not teach Daughter of Purpose. She certainly didn't need us to teach her how to say "no" or how to put an attitude behind her words. Those came automatically, but yet the strangest things we have had to teach her. Things we take for granted. Some silly and small, but some quite large and sad in a way. Sometimes in just one day, I come across both.

Last night I introduced her to Clementine Tangerines. I peeled one and served it to her. She just bit into it like any other piece of fruit. She had no idea it came apart in sections. I had to show her that. Meanwhile, I served oranges for lunch today. I noticed Daughter of Purpose gnawing on her orange and something just wasn't right. I can't remember exactly what she said to me, but it alerted me to the fact that even she knew something wasn't right, but she didn't know what. It was the peel! Silly me, I forgot to remove it for her and took for granted that she knew to not to eat it, yet it was an easy fix.

On the flip side of the coin there are things we have had to teach her that just make my heart sad. We have had to teach Daughter of Purpose about the part of love that expresses itself through touch. I can't say that I think she was completely deprived of touch. She snuggled right up to the kids from the very get-go. It's the natural physical bond between parent and child that we've had to teach her. Even though I am not a terribly physical touch person, I never realized how much I took that bond between me and my children for granted. They all have snuggled up to me since the moment they were born. My biological children have had moment after moment to wrap themselves up in my arms and to study me and for me to to do likewise. I know them and they know me. It has never occurred to them to NOT throw their arms around me, curl up in my bed with me in the early morning hours or to grab my hand as we are walking along.

On the other hand, I don't think it ever DOES occur to Daughter of Purpose to do such. I think she probably has noticed the other kids, but hasn't known if it's okay for her. So in an effort to teach her about the bond that exists between a mother/father and child, along with many other things, we have begun allowing Daughter of Purpose to take an afternoon nap with Nate and I each Sunday afternoon. (Note: we tried this earlier on but she immediately took this napping as a "right" and not a privilege and would throw a major tantrum on the days we were unable to nap with her so we had to back pedal, but now we feel she's ready and understands that it is not an expected thing day after day).

I wish you could've been a fly on the wall the first time she ever napped with us. It was hard for me to keep my own eyes closed so that Daughter of Purpose would follow my example. Yet as she lay there between Nate and I, I could tell she was just laying there like, "Pinch me! Is this real? Am I really sleeping between a Mommy and a Daddy?" She never did sleep that day. I know she was tired, but I think she was too excited and didn't want to miss one moment of taking in this nap with a Mommy and a Daddy. It was just too precious as she lay there and I could tell that she was trying to decide if she should attempt to put herself out there and try to wrap her arm around me or not. She would cautiously and slowly lay her arm around me and wait in expectation. I don't know what she thought would happen, but there was definitely some apprehension. It was sort of, "Is this okay to do this?"

As I lay there I would sneak a little peek every once in awhile and I would see that she was intently studying me and Nate. Sometimes she would just lay there and, again tentatively, play with my earrings. Other times she would gain her confidence and rub my arm. It was such an indescribable moment that as you can imagine...I never got any sleep that day either. I didn't want to miss anything either.

As we've purposed to teach her about this bond and as her time with us as a family has lengthened I've noticed her relax in a myriad of ways--ways that I think signify her bond is tightening. I love those moments when she looks up at me with her arms stretched upward signifying she wants me to pick her up. I love those moments when she presses in close to me when she's uncertain about an unfamiliar situation. I practically shed a tear of joy when we are in a crowd and feel her little hand reach up and grasp mine for security and for someone to help her steady herself. I practically melt when I'm holding her and she lays her head on my shoulder. These may seem like little things to you, but, oh so precious and sweet to me. I won't even get into what it does to my heart to see her do the same with her Daddy and to watch that bond tighten. That's another post for another day.

Daughter of Purpose is learning much, but so am I. I have learned how such little things can be so easily taken for granted. Until she came along, I never knew I was taking those things for granted. As we purpose to teach Daughter of Purpose what it is like to have a physical bond with her parents, I will purpose in the like manner to not take these moments for granted with my children whether biological or adopted.

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Shriners Results

The visit to Shriner's on Friday was good. They fit her for another brace. The short of it is that they don't want the few muscles she has in her quads in her right leg to atrophy by wearing the larger brace all the time. So they fit her for a shorter one (below the knee) to wear part of the time so she still gets the support, but the thigh muscles get some work. Yep, you understood it right...she will have two braces for her right leg. One AFO and one KAFO. Wouldn't you know that instead of "blue with kitties" she chose her new brace to look like the American flag. Fitting in so many ways, but especially because she can spot an American flag from practically 3 miles away. She's an expert at spotting them and will tell you so every time she sees one!

The neuromuscular specialist also set her up for a procedure that will allow them to figure out exactly what muscles/nerves are working/not working and while they are in there to try and "wake" some of them up. They will need to sedate her for the procedure because of her age. They will not be cutting her open, but they will be poking needles in and out of each nerve/muscle and think that at her age, she won't sit still and she'll freak out over the needles. So it's actually not a huge deal procedure--no recovery time and she'll leave the same day. It's just for her benefit to sedate her so she's not traumatized. This procedure will help the doctor confirm his thoughts that it is indeed polio that has caused her muscle weakness. There's a lot of things he checked her for, but the main thing that makes him believe it's polio is that the areas of her body that are "out" are asymmetrical. If it was neurological or genetic, it would be symmetrical he says. He will also learn while he's doing the procedure as to whether we have hope of muscle re-generation over time or not.

The procedure is scheduled for a few weeks from now. It is right before an insanely crazy weekend that we already have booked solid. It's really not the perfect situation, but our only other option was not until February. We feel like this procedure is exactly what we've been waiting for so crazy or not, here we go!


Not only would we covet your prayers for this procedure, but we would greatly appreciate you praying for Daughter of Purpose to stay well. Any inkling of illness and they will not be able to do the procedure.

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

The Big Visit

Tomorrow we will be headed to Shriner's Hospital for Daughter of Purpose to see the Neuromuscular Specialist. Apparently this doctor is very hard to get into because he's at the top of his field. He comes over to Shriners from UC Davis.

To be honest, we're not really quite sure what to expect. She has been referred to him in hopes that he will help us narrow down what has caused the decreased muscle tone in Daughter of Purpose's legs. She has definitely improved since arriving and it is not in the regions of her body that the Russian orphanage told us it was. It is only in her legs and her right is worse than her left. What we hope to learn is what is causing this and what is her long-term prognosis. A big question is whether or not there is anything that can be done to regenerate those muscles. We also need to learn if it will get worse over time. We will need to know if and what can be done for her.

Please pray for this visit. It's in the morning. We are trying to not be too hopeful so we're not discouraged, but yet at the same time--this is a big deal! God knows our daughter better than we do so we ask that you pray for God to use this doctor to show us what can be done for Daughter of Purpose. We feel like this journey for Daughter of Purpose has been fraught with doctors shrugging their shoulders because they haven't known what to do with her. We would really like some answers for once! Please don't forget Daughter of Purpose tomorrow.

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

School Has Begun

This week has begun a new phase in the life of Daughter of Purpose. When she came home in May, I had planned on giving her at least a year before I did any formal education with her. I figured she'd just work on learning English this school year. As she progressed, I thought maybe I'd work in some preschool activities in the Spring. Well, we haven't even made it to Thanksgiving and I officially began school with her this week.

You see, last week she brought me a piece of paper with her name on it. She wrote her name herself. She taught herself how to write her own name.

A few weeks back, I called up the stairs to her and asked her what color shirt she was wearing. In between when I did that and she answered, I remembered what she was wearing. I knew she had on a red shirt and black pants. This was her response to my question, "I wearing red on top, Mama, and black pants." I was amazed at her ability to respond with the right colors.

Just yesterday, I was counting down to something (I can't even remember now what it was) from 5. It went like this, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1." I was done. Daughter of Purpose pipes up..."Mama, you forgot zero. Zero next."

Well, if those things don't make it clear enough that obviously Daughter of Purpose is ready for me to purposefully work with her, here's a little more case in point. I will not kid you, last week was a tough week for Daughter of Purpose. She had a stuffed up nose and I learned very quickly that if she does not feel well, she does not listen and obey well either. I asked a few friends if they wanted to lease her awhile, but there were no takers. So I had to do some thinking about what may be going on beside being sick. This is what I came up with.

Every day we do our schooling from 8 am- 2 pm. That means that pretty much from the moment that Daughter of Purpose rises in the morning until lunch time, she is unintentionally pushed off to the side while I school everyone else. She's usually playing with one or more of her siblings, but by about 11:00 am each morning she's done with them and makes it very clear with her behavior that she is trying to get my attention. She is crying out for me to spend some time with her. Well, I thought I had remedied that by making sure that I put her down for nap and spent time reading books to her before I returned to finish off schooling with the other kids. Lately this has not been enough.

So with all of these pieces in mind, I started preschool with Daughter of Purpose this week and I was right on. She is more than ready. She ate it up and kept asking to do more school. I had prepped quite a bit, but apparently I will need to prepare even more for this upcoming week. Off we go on a new adventure...

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Another Story

For another story about Daughter of Purpose, go to Mommy Map. Instead of posting in both locations again, I thought I'd just provide you the link.

http://mommymap.blogspot.com/2008/11/missing-point.html

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

First Time Fall-Time Fun

The older kids in our family did a good job of getting Daughter of Purpose all worked up about the fall-time activities. She was so excited, but really had no idea why. It was pretty funny...I can only imagine what the anticipation of Christmas will do to her since that will be a new experience too.

Nate was such an awesome dad and tackled pumpkin carving while I was gone one evening this week. I made Mini-Me promise to take pictures since Nate's hands would be busy. I think she did a great job. I loved what Nate helped Daughter of Purpose pick out for her pumpkin carving. I asked the kids if she seemed to like the whole carving thing or whether she seemed grossed out, but they said she was fine with it. Whew!

As stated before, the kids absolutely love dressing up so this holiday comes with much anticipation. I do have to say that I appreciate their willingness to be creative and accept homemade costumes and now they even pride themselves in putting their costumes together with stuff around the house. Really can't express my thankfulness for that enough because getting 5 costumes together can be an overwhelming task! So we arrived at our church's Pumpkin Patch carnival with Indiana Jones, a cowboy (who called himself George Washington--go figure), a fairy princess, a bat and a laundry basket. At one point, Mini-Me took off her laundry basket in order to jump in the bounce house so I was stuck holding our dirty laundry! Sheesh! It follows me everywhere!

Daughter of Purpose, in her normal fashion, relentlessly asked me all day when she would be able to put on her fairy princess outfit. Finally, the moment arrived and she was beside herself. She seemed to enjoy the time at the Pumpkin Patch and being able to play all of the games.

The moment during all of these festivities that sticks out in my mind the most involves cotton candy. Obviously Daughter of Purpose has never had cotton candy before, but I didn't really think about it until I handed her a stick of it and she proceeded to just carry it around with her. It was like as if she was wondering why I handed this to her, but simply did it because she trusts me and Mommy must have a reason! After awhile of her just walking around with it in her hand it dawned on me that she didn't know she was supposed to eat it! So I stopped and showed her how to pull off a chunk and eat it. She downed it after that, but I just had to chuckle...who would've thought that I'd need to instruct her about something as common as cotton candy.

At one point, one of the older church members said to me, "You know she's stealing the heart of this church, don't you?" I just smiled because I want that to happen--not that I want it to be about her or us as a family--by no means. What I wish for more than anything is for her to steal enough hearts that more people become open to adoption and are willing to give an orphan a family--their family. God is the Father of the fatherless and I believe He delights in "setting orphans into families." (Psalm 68:5-6a)

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."

Transcripts of Indiana Jones

I've gotten many a question as to what Daughter of Purpose is saying in the Indiana Jones video. Here goes an attempt to translate for you. I don't promise that it will make logical sense!

"Go!"

Singing of the "Indiana Jones Song" (words are just his name over and over)

Mommy - "What're you gonna do Indiana Jones?"
"I'm gonna kill da bad guys because da bad guys is dead."
Mommy - "What weapon are you gonna use?"
"I can't because everybody using it."
"Oh! You there!"
"Hey! You over there!"
"Hey! I'm gonna get you."
"You going to die."

Shooting

"I gonna get you ee ("and" in Russian) I can jump--really jump."
"I gonna fight you...fight you."

Runs away to get the bad guy.