Our kiddos

As you can see we have superman and supergirl living in our home now. These PJ's light up and the kids wear them around the house trying to fly. I don't remember if I told blogged about how Luke accidentally launched himself into a sliding glass door about 5 days after arriving. He has some scratches on his nose from it. It reminded us of the windex commercial. Kinda shocked him and thankfully didn't do any damage.

I think the language barrier and trying to learn a learn a new language has worn Luke out. I love this picture of him. We have one of Laci as a newborn asleep like this with a bow on her back that has a gift tag that says "From God" I think this is her twin's picture like that. He seems to be really worn out at the end of the day.

This week we can tell he is missing his former friends and life and he is clingy a little more and just quieter. I think he is feeling unsure of what is to come and so we are making every attempt to let him know that he is our son and will not leave here-EVER. He is sleeping with us and snuggles at every opportunity. Many of the adoption books we have/are reading state it is good for kids to grieve and miss what they knew as normal. So we are trying to talk on the phone to people he knew and get with the other Haitian kids. That seems to ease his mind some. We plan on calling Yvonne from Haiti who took care of him prior to coming to the States and having him tell him he is our boy and no one will take him from us. We also feel he needs to know we will see all the people he can from around here that are associated with Haiti.

Here is our trampoline with Tim and his wrestling mania. They love to get in there and just dogpile on Tim. I think having twins is a great way to get into shape. We spend lots of time running, biking, playing, giggling, tickling and eating!!

I would ask that you pray specifically that Luke could supernaturally know in his heart that he is forever ours and that there is no threat of being moved again.

Remembering...

I have not posted much about the days prior to Luke's arrival but we knew from emails he was crying some and so we chose scripture to pray over him. The Lord led us to Zephaniah 3:17-20. We have fallen in love with these verses as we have seen the fruit of God's blessing on our family from standing fast on these.
"Don't be afraid.
Dear Zion,
don't despair.
Your God is present among you,
a strong Warrior there to save you.
Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love
and delight you with his songs.

18-20"The accumulated sorrows of your exile
will dissipate.
I, your God, will get rid of them for you.
You've carried those burdens long enough.
At the same time, I'll get rid of all those
who've made your life miserable.
I'll heal the maimed;
I'll bring home the homeless.
In the very countries where they were hated
they will be venerated.
On Judgment Day
I'll bring you back home—a great family gathering!
You'll be famous and honored
all over the world.
You'll see it with your own eyes—
all those painful partings turned into reunions!"
God's Promise.

We just read these and see how God is bringing home an orphan to us. What a gathering he experienced at the airport. A great family gathering there to welcome a new life into our home! Luke has been calm and has delighted us with his presence in our home. I also love these scriptures because this paints a beautiful picture of our own eternal adoption and of how we'll all be in heaven at a great family gathering. I just wanted to post this so I would never forget what a great and mighty work we have witnessed. Luke is not here by any of our works. Glory to our Gracious God!!

School

For those of you who did not know, we decided to have Laci do some easy stuff this year for school to help Luke catch up. This morning we decided to start school. He insisted on wearing one of Tim's tie"s and a dress shirt. Courtney said they dress up over there. I have taught him how to use the computer so that I can have Laci doing one thing and him the other for now since she is ahead of him. She is learning the alphabet sounds and he is learning about firetrucks. They are doing different things until the teacher has a place to put them together on each side of her(which is me). Courtney is doing her school over on the couch so I am running between the three.

I would like to ask you to all pray for the quick sale of our home. It is becoming very difficult to maintain and we are wanting to downsize. Thank you!!

Ronda

Rolling Hills

What a fun day!! We had a blast looking at all the animals. Luke loves monkeys and Laci likes the pink flamingos. She asked how do they walk with just one leg. It is a beautiful place in Salina and was fun to ride on the tram and walk around. Here are some photos. On the way home Luke just cried and cried and was holding his head and acting like he was going to throw up. He did this the other day and I have deducted that he gets carsick. We stopped got him out and he just said "bien bien" which means good, good. I think he liked the air. So we'll have to watch that. I sympathize with him as I get that way too. And with airbags he can't sit in the front. Maybe he'll get used to it. I never have and I am 40 so???? Pray for him as he adjusts to our confinement of carseats and backseats.

Here are some photos of our day.
Ronda

I don't know

Yesterday was an Incredible day. Luke likes the incwedibes. SO we watched it 2 times. Ok so maybe that is a lot of TV but it was nice to not chase both him and Laci around for awhile. Also thought it was funny that when we were reading stories for bed, I asked him what a picture was and he said, "I don't know" Just like that. Kinda neat. He probably spoke in English about 25% of the time yesterday. I can tell he is really understanding. It is pretty cool to see the light turn on.

He came into our bed at 3 am(seems we have this as a ritual already) and wet it at 5 so I am up, showered, and ready to start the day. The kids will get up and I"ll need a nap! We are meeting Tim's parents in Salina at the Salina Wildlife refuge so it should be a fun day.

I can feel God's presence hovering over our home. What an awesome feeling to see how Jesus loves our little children.
Ronda

Another fun day...

Today we met our friends with another set of twins, Han and Hud at playland. Luke loved it and just ran around and played. Hud took his swords and so they had to stay in the van but I imagine those two will have a blast together. Thanks Leslie for making us have another successful outing!!

I finally made it to Wal-mart and got pictures and frames to put around of Luke. He keeps seeing baby pics and says, "Luke as a biby(Baby)" I wish we had some. I pray that somehow God would provide that so we could have them for him. I have one of him at probably about 2 years old but none of him as an infant. Since he was not placed until about 2 1/2 there probably aren't any but we can just expect some sort of miracle. I am anxious for him to wake up in the morning and see a big wall frame with all of his happenings in one short week.

He had a sad time today and said some of the names of his Haitian friends. He kinda whined and cried. We looked at orphange photos and ones of the kids who are here close by. We need to schedule another play day so he can see he has not been deserted. He likes to snuggle when he needs comfort and we just stroke him and tell him we are sorry he is sad and we love him. It is kind of heartwrenching. We know he will grieve for him homeland and want to let him know it is ok to be sad. That is hard with the language barrier. Somehow God always uses Laci to make him feel better. I think she knows what she helps her when she is sad. Today she brought him a red popsicle. That is like a massage for me!! Then she turned on his favorite video and asked him to come sit with her. She just puts her arm around him and kisses his cheek. I took a picture because it is so sweet to see her feel bad for him. Today I told her that he does not know we won't leave him and so he is scared at times. She said , "you've never left me and so I'll just tell him." Someday we will be able to do that. Another family that adopted a Haitian boy about Luke's age said that in 10 months he totally forgot how to speak Kreyol and sounds exactly like an American. Makes me kinda sad to think that will disappear but I know that is how he will become united even closer to us.

Tim is off at noon tomorrow so we will post pictures of the trampoline that is compliments of my parents from the proceeds of the pumpkin patch.

Have a blessed weekend.
Ronda

More memories to remember

I thought of one other thing that happened yesterday to confirm Luke is one smart guy. The kids were out playing and I said ok two more minutes he looked at me and said no ten more minutes. Ok so I think he is understanding and figuring out pretty quick. Laci is doing much better. I think she is realizing that she is not losing her place in our hearts. Last night she slept in her own bed and wanted the door shut. Luke spent his last night on our floor. We are going to try to transition him to his own bed. I am desperately in need of about 24 straight hours of sleep. He is pretty noisy.

Some cultural things we want to remember. He opens the door for the girls, ties our shoes, cleans up his dishes, washes out his washcloth after he bathes. Has mastered riding his bike. Can braid hair, tie cool knots, and is extra gentle with little kids. What a sweet little guy!