The Christmas Man

Christmas has officially started for us.  Last weekend we had four invitations to Christmas events, all on Saturday.  Two movies and two parties.  We opted out of the movies and managed to attend both parties Saturday night.  One was Ryan's work party, which was for families this year, and the other was my in-laws' annual party.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed both events, but the highlight for Paul was when Santa arrived at the first event.  We have seen Santa at the mall several times, and stopped to watch other children sitting on his lap.  I didn't know the sign for Santa right away, so we've been referring to him as the "Christmas Man," and Paul has been desperate to go sit with him.  Because this is Paul's first Christmas, he really has no idea who Santa is, or why children go visit him, but no matter - everyone else was doing it, so he really wanted to as well.  After explaining to him that he had to wait until we were with Daddy and Abigail to sit on the Christmas Man's lap, he has been waiting anxiously for the big day. 

Once Santa arrived at the party, Paul lined up with all the other kids, waited as patiently as a three year old can, and then just beamed the entire time he was with Santa.  He was not even a little nervous about the whole thing.  Of course, Santa was a bit freaked out when Ryan explained that Paul is deaf and that he would sign whatever Santa wanted to say to Paul... suddenly chatty Santa did not have much to say!  But Paul didn't care, and thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.  When it was Abigail's turn, she had a lot to say to Santa.  Apparantly, she wasn't able to tell him what she most wanted for Christmas, so he reached into his coat, pulled out a business card, and told her to email him her list... I guess Santa is technologically savvy these days! Who knew?!

After our visit with Santa, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to continue the party, even though it was already past bedtime.  Abigail enjoyed chatting with everyone there, and Paul was so tired at that point that he just crawled under the tables and chairs, playing with a train and sneaking M&Ms whenever he could.  We finally made it home when Abigail turned to me and asked if she could lay down somewhere, she was so tired!  It was a late night, but a good way to start the holidays. 

Now, we're just counting the days until the Christmas Man comes to our house!  I wonder what Paul will think of that?!

Giving Thanks

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving holiday very much this year.  We traveled up north to my parents' house on the lake where we spent the week with both of my siblings and their children, my grandma, and my parents.  All told, we had four kids, 9 adults, three dogs and a lot of fun.  It was the first time we've celebrated Thanksgiving together with three of the four kids, so it was a memorable year.

Paul had been learning about Thanksgiving at school, so he was very excited to be able to identify most of the traditional foods that we ate.  As you can see from the picture, he ate them with zeal.  My brother's son, Ian, is a year younger than Paul, and enjoys trucks, trains and cars as much as Paul does.  Ian also loved being with Abigail, calling for her as soon as he woke up each morning.  Abigail soaked up the attention, and seemed to really enjoy having another little boy to boss around play with.  My sister has a baby girl, Hanna, who charmed all of the kids, and certainly got her fair share of dirty kisses and clumsy hugs, but she managed to survive all the lovin'! 

We made it out for our annual Christmas tree hunt, and had a beautiful dry sunny day for it (thank goodness!)  Thanksgiving Day was gray and rainy, so we improvised and the kids rode their scooters in Oma and Grandpa's garage. Breakfast one morning was s'mores out by the campfire. We swapped kids' Christmas presents early, and trashed Oma and Grandpa's house. 

We all ate too much, slept too little, and made some good memories.  Looking around at the piles of laundry and toys, the fridge packed with leftovers of every kind, hearing the squeals of laughter and outbursts of tears, seeing that there were never enough chairs for everyone in the room we were in, all the chaos that a growing family brings... it was evident that there is much to give thanks for.

One Year Ago

I am thankful to be able to say that Abigail has recovered from her bout with the flu.  She had a secondary infection on top of it that made everything linger for longer than it should have, but she is now back at school and keeping up with life again.  Amazingly, neither Ryan or I caught it from her, and Paul had already been vaccinated.  I am hoping we can manage to avoid any more long illnesses this season!

It's hard to believe that just one year ago we saw Paul's file for the first time.  We sent our Letter of Intent, asking to adopt him, on Nov. 11, 2008, and now here we are, one year later.  The Lord has done so much, and been so good to us! It seems as though Paul has always been a part of our family, and is not a recent addition. When I think of what has happened over the past year, I am just amazed at the journey we have been on. What started as a tremendous leap of faith for us has turned into an amazing blessing that I can't imagine missing out on. It does make me wonder what other ways that the Lord wants to bless us, if we would only follow where He leads.

One year ago, I was obsessing over these referral pictures, proudly showing them to anyone who asked (or even anyone who didn't ask!).  I spent so much time wondering what YiYang was really like, whether he could hear or not, whether he was ready to join our family, whether he was getting good care.  Now, I get to hold this precious child in my arms each day, watch the sign language flow off of his hands and enjoy the sound of his infectious laugh as he charms everyone around him.  I get to kiss his boo-boos, and be amazed at each new sound that he hears and each word that passes through his lips.   

A year ago I wondered how Abigail would handle having a sibling, especially one with such a big age gap.  I worried about how she would adjust, and whether she would feel displaced.  Now, I love watching the two of them run around the house together, and playing and wanting to do everything the same as each other.  The bond they have is amazing, and a gift from God.  Abigail has grown in ways that I had not even imagined, becoming more confident and brave, more sensitive to the needs of those around her, and often offers insight and wisdom beyond her years.  Paul has been a blessing to her as well.

A year ago, Ryan worried about whether our marriage might falter under the pressure that having a special-needs child could bring.  Now, we doing better than we ever have before.  We share the load and appreciate our quiet times together more.  We have a like-mindedness that comes from walking through the unknowns together, and he is the one person I always know really "gets" it, both the struggles and the joys.

I am thankful beyond words for how the Lord has chosen to bless us.  Our lives are busier than ever, changed in almost every aspect, and more full than we could ever have imagined when we accepted that file one year ago.  It makes me smile to wonder about what the next year might bring... Our God is amazing!

We've Been Hit

It's officially arrived in our home.... Abigail has the H1N1 virus.  I was so hoping to avoid it, but here we are anyway.  Paul received the first vaccine for it last week at school, so I am hoping that he will be immune enough to it that he won't get it, but Ryan and I are wide open.  Abigail has a low fever and a painful cough.  She is doing well most of the time, but when she coughs, it often reduces her to tears, it hurts so much.  It's so hard to see my girl suffering. We got her in to the doctor early this morning to confirm everything, and he told us it should not get much worse for her, so we are thankful that she seems to have a mild version.  I ran to the grocery store this morning, and am doing my best to prepare in case Ryan and I get sick too.  So thankful that we have a pretty healthy family and that this is not a big deal for now, just more of a pain.  Another week, another challenge, it seems!

Halloween Pictures

Happy Halloween!

Ryan did make it back from Las Vegas safely, and this week we got back into our "normal" schedule.  It is so good to have him home again!  At least we can be exhausted together... :) 
Remember Paul's friend Sara from China?  On Sunday we got to go celebrate her fourth birthday - her first birthday home with her family too.  It was a lot of fun to be there for her special day.  But while we were at their house, Paul scared the daylights out of everyone there.

Matt and JoEllen have a partially finished basement where the kids play, and Paul and Sara were on their way down the stairs.  They had some dress up shoes on (yes, my son wears heels, but that's another post for another day), and Paul must have slipped.  He tumbled all the way down the wooden stairs to land on the concrete floor.  It was sickening to hear the thumping each time his body hit a step all the way down - he was right at the top when he fell.  Matt and I raced over there, not knowing who had fallen, and Matt got to Paul first.  He was crying, but okay.  I was there a half a second later, but of course, when Paul talks about it now, he always says that he fell and Mr. Barnes came to get him... I get no credit in the story!  (Matt's legs are longer, or I woulda beat him, I know it!) All I could think of after I knew that he was okay, was "he has a chip in his head, he has a chip in his head."  His implant shut off after the impact, but it all seems to be functioning fine now.  He had a pretty good lump, but I think God must have had an angel protecting that side of Paul's head.  I swear I just want to have this kid wear a helmet all day... 

We also had our audiology and speech therapy appointments this week.  It's been several weeks, and Paul has made so much improvement since our last visit.  He has only been activated for two months now, but the speech therapist said that he is functioning at about at 6-8 month old level.  Whoo-hoo!  His signing is getting better and better too, it is definitely not holding him back right now.  I am so thankful he is doing so well!

That's about it for now.  Paul is napping in preparation for trick or treating tonight.  It will be fun to take him out and Abigail is just beside herself with excitement.  She will be dressed as a Snow Princess (appropriate for the weather today!), and Paul is going as James the Train.  Should be an experience!  I'll post pictures when I get a chance.  Happy Halloween!

Surviving The Week

First off, I am giggling as I type this, because I just noticed that there is a picture on my last post where Paul's "Built for Speed" shirt is partly covered, so all you can see in bold is "PEED"!  A proclamation about where we are in potty training, for sure! Ha!

This week has been getting better each day.  Paul had a tough time sleeping for the first few nights that Daddy was gone, and was up in the wee hours for far too long.  But, nobody else got the stomach flu, Ryan's plane did not crash, and I've discovered Boston Market's 2 Kids Eat Free after I spend $6 promo.  Yes, life is good.  Ryan will be home tomorrow evening, and I am so looking forward to seeing him again!  He is an essential partner in this parenting thing, but more than that, I've just plain ol' missed him...

I also wanted to post an update about how Paul is progressing with his listening and speech.  He is really paying attention to environmental sounds now.  He tells us every time he hears the clock chime, and yesterday he was excited that he heard an ambulance coming from far away.  He asks what sounds are all the time.  He is also making great efforts at speech now.  He clearly says "uh oh", "choo choo" and "more", as well as making consistent sounds for things like airplane, car, bus, and several animals.  He is progressing much more rapidly than I expected.  He also shocked me the other day when he came home from preschool and proceeded to write his name!  He is so proud of himself, and it's wonderful to see him being such a little sponge.

Abigail is doing well too.  She is done with soccer now, much to her dismay, but is a Brownie, so that gives her meetings to look forward to.  She asked me to teach her to write her name in cursive the other night, and has filled several pages of her notebook practicing.  I think she feels very grown up being able to read and now write a little in cursive.  She's also been composing many poems in her journal - it's so sweet to see into her heart.  I am blessed by these two wonderful kids!