So, what do you think will break next at our house? It is truly becoming laughable around here.
Just before Christmas the latch on the third door on Eric's truck broke. On Christmas the bathroom flooded and the oven broke. The day after Christmas the garbage disposal stopped working. Yesterday my brand new steam cleaner ceased to function. And today my mostly new vacuum wouldn't work.
So what will be next? Maybe I'll offer a prize to whoever guesses correctly! LOL
Our USCIS paperwork was mailed on Wednesday and should be in the DHS office tomorrow morning. Then the waiting begins. Keep praying!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas!!
We have had a very exciting Christmas day at our house! :-)
I had a very hard time sleeping last night and it was about 2:30 AM the last time I looked at the clock before I drifted off to sleep. I figured the kids would be up about 6AM, so I knew I would be tired today. But when Ana wandered into our bedroom excitedly telling me about the packages "wrapped in gorgeous gold, shiny paper" and I looked at the clock it was 4:30AM!! I told her it was WAY too early to get up and she needed to go back to bed. That worked for about 30 minutes and then ALL of the kids were up. When we finished unwrapping the presents Christian asked why it was still so dark outside and I laughed when I told him "It is still dark because it is not even 7AM yet!" What a start to the day...
I took a nap and then we "puttered" around the house playing with presents and relaxing. One of the things Zac got were some of the Cars characters that change colors when you put them in cold or warm water. I finally got motivated to get in the shower and when I walked into our bathroom there was a waterfall running over the edge of the vanity and onto the floor! I am not sure how long they had left the water running full blast trying to make those cars change colors, but lets just say our bathroom could have been declared a flood disaster area by the state! Even the drawers in the vanity were full of water!
We finally got the mess cleaned up and I got ready. When I went to heat the oven to start dinner, the oven would not work!! Eric finally got it lit, but for a while I was afraid that we might be eating peanut butter sandwiches for Christmas dinner.
It has been an eventful day to say the least. Several times today I have thought about my friend Lorraine telling me that every time they have gotten close to bringing one of their adopted children home things have started to fall apart around their home. They jokingly say that when things start breaking they know that their next little one will be home soon, and I am hoping that is the case with us to because we got a great Christmas present today.
We are not very good about walking to the other side of the neighborhood to check the mail so we never got around to checking it on Thursday. When we finally picked it up today the final copies of our home study as well as the letter from our pediatrician asking that our adoption be expedited so that A.J. can get home to get the medical treatment he needs were both in the mail box. I have our I-800A paperwork all ready to go and it will be in the mail first thing Tuesday morning!!
This is the last big hurdle in our adoption process and there is still a chance that our I-800 could be denied. Please pray that our file will end up in the hands of exactly the right case worker, and that our approval will arrive in our mailbox very quickly. I will definitely be checking the mail more often!
Praying that your family had a wonderful Christmas spent surrounded with family, enjoying the laughter of good friends, and celebrating the birth of the Saviour! I got some great gifts today, but the greatest gift I will ever receive came when Jesus was born and died on the cross to give me the gift of eternal life.
Merry Christmas!!
I had a very hard time sleeping last night and it was about 2:30 AM the last time I looked at the clock before I drifted off to sleep. I figured the kids would be up about 6AM, so I knew I would be tired today. But when Ana wandered into our bedroom excitedly telling me about the packages "wrapped in gorgeous gold, shiny paper" and I looked at the clock it was 4:30AM!! I told her it was WAY too early to get up and she needed to go back to bed. That worked for about 30 minutes and then ALL of the kids were up. When we finished unwrapping the presents Christian asked why it was still so dark outside and I laughed when I told him "It is still dark because it is not even 7AM yet!" What a start to the day...
I took a nap and then we "puttered" around the house playing with presents and relaxing. One of the things Zac got were some of the Cars characters that change colors when you put them in cold or warm water. I finally got motivated to get in the shower and when I walked into our bathroom there was a waterfall running over the edge of the vanity and onto the floor! I am not sure how long they had left the water running full blast trying to make those cars change colors, but lets just say our bathroom could have been declared a flood disaster area by the state! Even the drawers in the vanity were full of water!
We finally got the mess cleaned up and I got ready. When I went to heat the oven to start dinner, the oven would not work!! Eric finally got it lit, but for a while I was afraid that we might be eating peanut butter sandwiches for Christmas dinner.
It has been an eventful day to say the least. Several times today I have thought about my friend Lorraine telling me that every time they have gotten close to bringing one of their adopted children home things have started to fall apart around their home. They jokingly say that when things start breaking they know that their next little one will be home soon, and I am hoping that is the case with us to because we got a great Christmas present today.
We are not very good about walking to the other side of the neighborhood to check the mail so we never got around to checking it on Thursday. When we finally picked it up today the final copies of our home study as well as the letter from our pediatrician asking that our adoption be expedited so that A.J. can get home to get the medical treatment he needs were both in the mail box. I have our I-800A paperwork all ready to go and it will be in the mail first thing Tuesday morning!!
This is the last big hurdle in our adoption process and there is still a chance that our I-800 could be denied. Please pray that our file will end up in the hands of exactly the right case worker, and that our approval will arrive in our mailbox very quickly. I will definitely be checking the mail more often!
Praying that your family had a wonderful Christmas spent surrounded with family, enjoying the laughter of good friends, and celebrating the birth of the Saviour! I got some great gifts today, but the greatest gift I will ever receive came when Jesus was born and died on the cross to give me the gift of eternal life.
Merry Christmas!!
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Kartangener Syndrome
Several people have asked us lately to explain what A.J.’s “special need” is, so I thought I would post the answer here.
The reports that we have received about A.J. do not specifically say that he has Kartagener Syndrome, but they do report that he has situs inversus and that he has a history of very frequent respiratory infections. Because testing for this type of very rare disorder is not available in his country, an “official” diagnosis has never been made, but based on his medical history we are fairly sure this is what he suffers from.
The combination of situs inversus, chronic sinusitis and bronchiectasis was first described in 1904. Manes Kartagener described the syndrome in detail in 1933, and it bears his name. KS is estimated to occur in 1 in 32,000 births. Kartagener Syndrome is a combination of two different problems – situs inversus (reversal of the organs, for example the heart is on the right side of the body rather than the left) and primary ciliary dyskinesia (dyskinesia = abnormal movement).
Cilia are small, hair like projections that occur in the lungs, respiratory tract, reproductive system and in the ventricles of the brain. These cilia continually move to “sweep” bacteria, viruses, and foreign debris such as dust and smoke out of the respiratory tract. When they do not function properly it causes frequent problems such as pneumonia, ear infections, and sinus infections. Because cilia also have important functions in the reproductive system and brain people with KS may also be infertile and suffer from frequent headaches.
Kartagener syndrome is recognized by the three main symptoms of chronic sinusitis or other respiratory infections, bronchiectasis (lung damage from frequent infections), and situs inversus. Treatment focuses on prevention of respiratory infections and can include inhaled medications, tubes in the ears and long term oral antibiotics. Typically the frequency of infections starts to diminish in the 20’s and people with KS lead normal adult lives. In the worst case scenario, they may suffer from permanent hearing loss due to untreated ear infections and in extreme cases may require lung transplant due to severe bronchiectasis.
A.J. also had bleeding in his brain at birth and has lived his entire life in an orphanage, so we anticipate that he may also have some developmental delays because of these factors. But with a loving family, good health care, and educational support we have every reason to believe that he will grow up to be a “normal” young man. But even if he is never “normal” according to society’s definition he is loved and cherished by God and by our family. We cannot wait to get him home!
The reports that we have received about A.J. do not specifically say that he has Kartagener Syndrome, but they do report that he has situs inversus and that he has a history of very frequent respiratory infections. Because testing for this type of very rare disorder is not available in his country, an “official” diagnosis has never been made, but based on his medical history we are fairly sure this is what he suffers from.
The combination of situs inversus, chronic sinusitis and bronchiectasis was first described in 1904. Manes Kartagener described the syndrome in detail in 1933, and it bears his name. KS is estimated to occur in 1 in 32,000 births. Kartagener Syndrome is a combination of two different problems – situs inversus (reversal of the organs, for example the heart is on the right side of the body rather than the left) and primary ciliary dyskinesia (dyskinesia = abnormal movement).
Cilia are small, hair like projections that occur in the lungs, respiratory tract, reproductive system and in the ventricles of the brain. These cilia continually move to “sweep” bacteria, viruses, and foreign debris such as dust and smoke out of the respiratory tract. When they do not function properly it causes frequent problems such as pneumonia, ear infections, and sinus infections. Because cilia also have important functions in the reproductive system and brain people with KS may also be infertile and suffer from frequent headaches.
Kartagener syndrome is recognized by the three main symptoms of chronic sinusitis or other respiratory infections, bronchiectasis (lung damage from frequent infections), and situs inversus. Treatment focuses on prevention of respiratory infections and can include inhaled medications, tubes in the ears and long term oral antibiotics. Typically the frequency of infections starts to diminish in the 20’s and people with KS lead normal adult lives. In the worst case scenario, they may suffer from permanent hearing loss due to untreated ear infections and in extreme cases may require lung transplant due to severe bronchiectasis.
A.J. also had bleeding in his brain at birth and has lived his entire life in an orphanage, so we anticipate that he may also have some developmental delays because of these factors. But with a loving family, good health care, and educational support we have every reason to believe that he will grow up to be a “normal” young man. But even if he is never “normal” according to society’s definition he is loved and cherished by God and by our family. We cannot wait to get him home!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Someone Said...
"If we truly believe that all human beings are created in the image of God, this forces us to place a high value on human life. Every child deserves to be raised in a loving family environment with a mother and father. It was never God’s original intention for millions of orphans to be sharing beds in crowded institutions or sleeping alone somewhere on the African prairie."
Tom Davis in “Fields of the Fatherless”
Tom Davis in “Fields of the Fatherless”
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Facts and Figures
Some people see the world in black and white, concrete terms and this post is for those people.
It is estimated that there are 147 million orphans throughout the world.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest population of children who are orphans (49 million or 12% of all children)
Roughly 500,000 children live in the U.S. foster system. About 1/4 of these children are legally available for adoption.
There are over 1.5 million adopted children in the United States
Every 18 seconds another child becomes an orphan
Children who age out of the foster care system at age 18 face a sad future. By their mid-20s less than half will be employed, more than 80% of the men will have been arrested, 68% of the women will receive food stamps, and only 54% will have earned a high school diploma
Children who age out of the orphanage system in Europe at age 14, 15 or 16 face equally bleak futures. 60% of girls will turn to prostitution just to survive; 70% of the boys will end up on the streets or in jail; and 15% of these children will commit suicide within 2 years of leaving the orphanage.
Research has shown that adopted children “consistently thrive in loving homes” (CAFO, 2011, para. 2). Parenting any child is full of challenges, but adopted children are just as likely to thrive as biological children
And for those of you who are not so concrete, I offer this.
One little boy who is waiting for his Mommy and Daddy. Just one of many.
It is estimated that there are 147 million orphans throughout the world.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest population of children who are orphans (49 million or 12% of all children)
Roughly 500,000 children live in the U.S. foster system. About 1/4 of these children are legally available for adoption.
There are over 1.5 million adopted children in the United States
Every 18 seconds another child becomes an orphan
Children who age out of the foster care system at age 18 face a sad future. By their mid-20s less than half will be employed, more than 80% of the men will have been arrested, 68% of the women will receive food stamps, and only 54% will have earned a high school diploma
Children who age out of the orphanage system in Europe at age 14, 15 or 16 face equally bleak futures. 60% of girls will turn to prostitution just to survive; 70% of the boys will end up on the streets or in jail; and 15% of these children will commit suicide within 2 years of leaving the orphanage.
Research has shown that adopted children “consistently thrive in loving homes” (CAFO, 2011, para. 2). Parenting any child is full of challenges, but adopted children are just as likely to thrive as biological children
And for those of you who are not so concrete, I offer this.
One little boy who is waiting for his Mommy and Daddy. Just one of many.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Someone Said...
"Time and experience have taught me a priceless lesson: Any child you take for your own becomes your own if you give of yourself to that child. I have borne two children and had seven others by adoption, and they are all my children, equally beloved and precious."
Dale Evansadoptive parent
Dale Evansadoptive parent
We have had several people ask us if we are sure that we can love a child that is "not our own". I am never sure exactly how to answer this question because I know that before we started the journey to adopt I would not have understood the answer myself. The reality is that AJ is already "ours" and we already love him even though we have never met him! I know this makes absolutely no sense if you think about it logically, but I can tell you with certainty that it is the truth. I cannot explain it, so I am not even going to try!
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