Long Overdue

I'm not even sure how many people will still be following this since we've now been home for about a month! Wow; it's been a really long month...

Tomorrow is Jed's 7th birthday and so tonight we had an early celebration at Chuck E Cheese and then Red Robin. He wanted the games at one place and the food at the other. Since Nathan and I would much rather eat at Red Robin, we were happy to oblige!

Our adjustment this last month has had many ups and downs, but I'd say it has a trend of heading up now. We're just taking it day by day which all we can really do. Solomon has actually done a really good job of handling many adjustments. He is sleeping all night long and using the bathroom completely on his own now. He is definitely understanding a lot of English and is actively trying to speak as well. I would say I think Solomon LOVES american food and always is asking for "more please". He and Charlotte are little buddies when they're not at war! I think they make a good match because they are the same height and both speak limited English. We have him signed up to start preschool with Alice next week which will be a blessing for everyone I think.

We took Sol up to Doernbacher's Children's Hospital two weeks ago to meet with a new Orthopedic surgeon. Unfortunately, not much came of that appointment as the surgeon doesn't have lots of experience with Sol's type of problem. But Shriner's has us set up for an appointment in December and there's the possibility of catching someone's cancellation even sooner. So I'm praying for a skilled surgeon there that has dealt with cases like Solomon's before and who we would feel comfortable with doing the surgery. The one definitive thing that was decided at Doernbacher's is that Solomon will need amputation which Nathan had already guessed would be the decision.

All of the kids have adjusted pretty well to the changes in our family. Jed is beginning to soften up to Sol some since they've had some wrestling matches. Alice is just our mellow girl and Charlotte enjoys trying to see how much she can push Sol around. We've been keeping very busy with school and Jed's football season which just added three more weeks of games! I can't tell you how nice it will be to have football come to an end (it's been going since August). We had our first ultrasound this morning and the baby is looking healthy and very wiggly. Just a cute little peanut with arms and legs flying everywhere!

When I have extra time in my life (ha!ha!) I'll get some pics posted...

Small Steps

So this is our first post after returning home from China. We had a pretty good flight(s) all things considered. 17 hours is just a really long time to be on an airplane, especially for a 4 year old!! When we arrived to pick up the kids, Solomon got very emotional. We think he wasn't so sure about his new siblings and maybe liked the idea of having us to himself for the first two weeks. We, of course, were elated to see the kids. They had all kinds of treasure waiting to give us from going to garage sales with Grandpa and Grandma.

Everyone is getting along pretty well at this point. It's been a very long week; one that feels a lot more like 4 weeks than just one. It's been emotionally exhausting as well as physically but we're taking it one step at a time and I'm trying not to look too far ahead at this point. We know that God gave us a heart for adoption for a reason and that it will be to His glory. We have already got the ball rolling regarding Solomon's medical care and will be driving up to Doernbecker's Children's Hospital in Portland the week after next to meet with a orthopedic surgeon. Our pediatrician in town has also started the paperwork to get his application expedited to Shriner's.

I do have to say it's so good to be back in America. After traveling in China for two weeks and seeing much of the urban and rural area in the places we stayed, we feel so fortunate to have been born into such a wonderful country where we have freedoms and rights that many people will never experience. Thank you for your continued prayer for our family; the next few months will be very challenging for us as we work to get Solomon settled and prepare for the baby in May.