Merry Christmas

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:9-12

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

We pray you have a blessed Christmas!

Praise God for His wondrous love ...

that He gave His Son Jesus to come to the world in order to redeem us.

May each of us grow to know and love Him more,

and to bring Him glory by giving Him all we have to give

and trusting Him to work in us.

"What can I give Him, Poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb,

If I were a wise man I would do my part,

Yet what I can I give Him, Give Him my heart."

(by Christina Rosetti)

We're Committed!!!!!!

Well, today I bit the bullet, so to speak, and called Traci and said "Let's do it!" Seriously, we have probably known all along that we would commit to Lacie, even though our fundraising has not reached the benchmark Haylee and Naomi had set, but it is coming along. We have something like $900 to date- enough to do our home study! So, in answer to our daughters' heartfelt desire that Christmas morning they would find that we committed to Lacie, we are proceeding full steam ahead!
I can't believe we are about to embark on this journey again. All I keep thinking about is James 1:27: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." God's clear demand of us as believers is to care for orphans and widows, and we are in God's will when we do this very thing. Our eyes are opened and we do see what we need to do. It is not an easy road- it is, as a friend who just sent us a support check stated, crazy! But following Christ, at least in the world's eyes, never seems safe, or normal, or "sane."
So here I am, writing a blog on the eve of the celebration of the birth of our Lord, who became a man to live the life we couldn't live, give His life as a sacrifice that we couldn't be, so that we could be adopted as children of the living God. We get to, in a small way, be a part of God's redemptive story as we welcome a child into our home that is as orphaned as we were before Christ.
We love you Lacie, and Lord willing, we will have you home before the next Christmas celebration!
John

Please pray for this family's loss & carry on their mission of love

Please pray for the Loux family, who is grieving the loss of their Daddy/ husband Derek Loux. He just died from a car accident when his car hit black ice on his way home from a conference to help him help others. His family recently adopted 3 special needs children through Reeces Rainbow which is how we know of them....they adopted several months before us and were a great inspiration to us.

I think the Loux family has 10 children--8 adopted (3 of these special needs) in all. Among many other wonderful things, God lead them to begin the Josiah fund with a vision to have a place for orphans where Christ is the center, where there is restoration through prayer, worship, His Word and love. While they have the hope of knowing he is with the Lord, we can't imagine how difficult it must be for those who love him....please pray for his wife Renee and their children that God will comfort, provide for and give them peace. If you would like to help carry on their mission or learn more about it, go to....




http://www.louxfamilyblog.com/
http://www.josiahfund.org/



Their family's big heart for HIm and His orphans was one of the things God used to challenge us to reach out in love to a child with Downs Syndrome....to seek to give love that is not seeking for ourselves but for another who can't give back.


We've been learning--and relearning, how God's love differs from ours... it gives without getting anything in return, which is what Christmas is all about....God giving His Son Christ Jesus, for the eternal salvation of all who trust in His name for the forgiveness of their sins.





"This is love not that we loved God but that He loves us and sent His Son." 1 John 4:10





"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

Please grab Lacie's button

A Reeces Rainbow friend graciously made us a button for Lacie to help get the word out (thanks Lu!) It came out so cute and perfect for her. If you would like to add her button to your blog or facebook, you can copy the code below and then go on your blog to layout: click on add a gadget, then html/java script, then paste it onto the text body. I'm explaining that for those like me who didn't know how to do that. Thanks for helping to advocate for this precious girl!



Grab This!
Be sure to right click on the box below and then select all.
<center><a href="http://www.childrenpreciousinhissight.blogspot.com/"><img width="100%" src="http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/WilliamtheOutlaw/Lacie.gif"/></a><br/> <a href="http://www.childrenpreciousinhissight.blogspot.com/">Grab This Button</a></center>

Help Victor find a home!!!!

There are so many precious children on Reeces Rainbow that need a home and a family. Victor is one that God put on our hearts to pray for when we were working on adopting Sean.

If he had been at Sean's orphanage we would have wanted to bring him home :) He is already 4...which means he's at high risk of being institutionalized. We are praying God will lead a family to bring him home.

If you want to learn more about him or donate money specifically to a grant for him, please go to http://www.reecesrainbow.com click on "other angels" and look for him under "boys"

His write up on Reeces Rainbow says this about him...

This sweet little boy really needs a loving family to grow up in! He has the most beautiful blue eyes, and a glowing personality! He makes the most of his challenges, which are many. Victor is able to walk and is quite functional, despite his challenges. Victor was born with spina bifida and hydrocephaly. He has a congenital lesion of the central nervous system (spina bifida), myelocele (open ended), internal hydrocephalus compensated, and pelvic malfunction (curvature of his spine due to the spina bifida). He struggles with his speech as well. Victor sure has the odds stacked against him, but now he has a voice and hope for a family to love him through Reece's Rainbow! Please consider rescuing Victor! He is 4 now and facing imminent institutionalization. He is SO smart and doing So well, please don't let him end up a statistic!!

Giving our bread and fish

We love the story of how Jesus took the meager lunch of a little boy, of 5 small loaves of bread and 2 fish, and miraculously fed the great crowd of hungry people who had been following him.

Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks,a nd distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. HE did the smae witht eh fish. When they had all had enoght to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. John 6:10-13

I've been thinking about this, as we seek to raise funds for Lacie. We truly do not have the money for another adoption. If it is the Lord's will for us to bring her home, He will have to provide the resources and of course, He can. All we can do is offer to Him what we have and can do, and pray for Him to mulitply it. How wonderful that in this account in John that he took what they had and He supplied more than what was needed.

Its been a joy to see our children making crafts to sell...working together (usually!) and using their hands to make bracelets, angels, ornaments for a couple craft fairs the past 2 weekends. They are excited to help Lacie. They are doing what they can, and offering it to God. They are not expensive items that bring in a lot of money, but that is okay because God is able to bless it.

At the craft fairs we did pretty well... I think we made $300...some from sales and others from donations. The kids were excited...though its not much considering how much we have to raise ($24,000) , it is a start. Our bigger goal though was to get the word out to people of what we are seeking to do. We pray God will touch the hearts of people we met....to help Lacie, to think about the plight of special needs orphans, and perhaps get involved in some way (praying, giving to, sharing with others, adopting) caring for the orphans that God loves. We met all kinds of people with differing responses...some interested, some not; some indifferent, some touched and generous. We praise God for the opportunity and pray He will accomplish His purposes and be glorified.

We received in the mail our first check ($10) from someone we don't know personally... mother of a coworker... who gave money and told her mother of our cause. That was exciting. It amazes me that (John figured out) that if only 8 people gave $5 and then told 5 people who gave $5 and so on, it would only take 4 generations to raise the money needed. Its amazing how little each person has to give but so much can be accomplished working together.

We've also been touched that a couple of John's patients at a nursing home wanted to give to help with Lacie's adoption when they found out about us fundraising.....he was not able to keep the money because of job rules, but what a blessing to our family to see God giving them the desire to give from the little they have. We know God can replace & mulitply those gifts.

Thank you for reading our blog and sharing this journey with us.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to HIm be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

Giving made easier...

We have received some comments about adding paypal and chip in to our site to make it easier to give, so I have already added the paypal and will add the chip in tonight, Lord willing! Please continue to spread the word, as it will take a multiplicity of small donations rather a small amount of large gifts to reach our goal. Just 8 committed people, finding just five others, and having them perpetuate the process will require just 5 generations of passing the information and getting donors to reach our goal! Multiplication is awesome! Our goal will actually eventually be approximately around $26,000.00, but may be more if we snag another kid while there!:) It only costs approx $2500 to bring home a second child from the same orphanage while you are there. Haylee thinks it should just be $2500 for each child, regardless of how many you get! Wouldn't that be wonderful! You would think that these governments would be happy to get rid of these "unwanteds," but I guess we feed the beaurocracy:(
Thank you for your comments and suggestions, but especially for your prayers and passing the word!
God bless you all!
John

Lacie

We are prayerfully seeking to raise funds for a special little girl... whose name on Reeces Rainbow is Lacie.

below is a letter that our 11 and 9 year-old daughters wrote and send out to family and friends as they seek God's will....

Hi! Our names are Haylee and Naomi Adamson.

Back in 2008, we commited to adopt a little boy named Slava with Down Syndrome from a website that helps children with special needs: www.reecesrainbow.com We had also sought to adopt a little girl named Lacie (also with Down Syndrome), but she was not available when we got to Eastern Europe to adopt them. We were very sad, but we adopted Slava in May 2009… we named Sean. We love and enjoy his company. He is now 4. We saved him from a mental institution (children with Down Syndrome, at age of 4 may get transferred from the orphanage to that mental institution)

e

Now, it has been about 5 months since we adopted Sean, and it is still on our hearts to help and adopt Lacie (age 2), and maybe another boy that we saw there. We got to go to Eastern Europe and see the orphans there. We can’t forget about them—we love them!
.
“Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act”. Proverbs 24:12

We asked our parents if we can adopt them but we need a lot of money-- about $22,000. We told our family that we are praying for God to give us the money we need by Christmas/New Year. God can do anything!
Please pray for us, and if you feel led to give a donation, please do. Our Daddy has a good idea for fund raising called:
“5 for 5” and “10 for 10” challenge. This is how he explains it:

“we encourage you to give just $5.00 towards the adoption, but then please make a commitment to pass onto 5 friends the same challenge- to give $5.00 and pass onto 5 people they know, and so on. In this way, by getting the word out, we should raise enough money towards the adoption.
You could also give $10.00 and encourage 10 people to give, and, you get the picture…Note: If something happened that made us unable to adopt, the money we raise would go toward her adoption or the adoption of another child from Reeces Rainbow.”

God can bless any donation and you can help to save Lacie. If you don’t have money and want to help, you could do some jobs or have a yardsale or bakesale etc. We are making crafts to sell—bead jewelry, yarn angels and crocheted things.

Our blog is: www.childrenpreciousinhissight.blogspot.com. You can read our adoption of Sean there too.

Thankyou! Please spread the word!
Haylee and Naomi Adamson

Sweet Brother Love

I love these photos... precious!

Sean's first birthday celebration (at 4 years-old)

Yesterday, October 11th, our Sean turned 4 years-old! It was a very special day in many ways. Foremost on our minds was the reality that if he had not been adopted, he would have been in danger of being transferred to an institution since he had reached the 4 year mark. How very different would his birthday have been if he were still in the orphanage....it would have been just a regular day with no special celebration of his birth and worst-case-scenario, being placed in an institution where likely his care would be much worse and with little hope. Praise God that He worked out for this special boy to come into our family--first putting it on our hearts, then providing the money we did not have and giving us grace to overcome the difficulties involved in bringing him from across the world. I still marvel at what the Lord did, as I never would have imagined that we would do such a thing, but Gods ways are not our ways--they are far above.

We decided we would just enjoy his day and spend it doing things Sean likes. We made him some his favorite foods for meals (banana, egg, macarani and cheese, fruit, potatoes, fish)... he so loves to eat!

After a haircutt (which he tolerated amazingly well) he got to take a bath--one of his favorite things, as Sean loves water and gets himself wet at any opportunity he can. I've never seen a child so enthusiastic as he is in the bathtub! :)

The girls read him some books and we sang songs together--music is another big favorite of his. We read Psalm 139--our favorite scripture to read on a birthday, and we were reminded that God made Sean fearfully and wonderfully--just as he wanted him to be and with a special purpose, and that he sovereignly placed him in our family, knowing this before he was born...."all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."
We had fun having him open and enjoy a few presents (undoubtedly his first) and the children enjoyed giving him his own baby (he likes to play with babies of theirs).

Sean enjoying opening and reopening and reopening his musical card from Nana and Grandaddy "The Eensy Weensy Spider"

Then we enjoyed going to a local park--we fed the ducks, went for a walk, ran around, jumped in the leaves and enjoyed the beautiful weather yesterday. We saw a dog running with his owners who only had 3 legs--one of his front legs was missing (we found out from being run over by a car) The owners let us pet this happy, kid-loving dog and said he doesnt know he is

handicapped. That so reminded me of Sean.

Back at home with Daddy, Sean enjoyed playing with Daddy--being swung around and lifted on

knees...which always gets him giggling.

The kids danced to classical music together (another favorite of Seans as well as the others) and had some balloon fights. Then after dinner, Sean had his first birthday cake and icecream. He was in heaven, and you should have seen how he scraped his bowl clean!

Aside from probably wondering why Mommy was taking pictures all day long, I think he had a good day and loved the special attention. I know it is one we will not forget. Just a typical birthday of doing fun things together as a family for us, but something new and very different from any other "birthday" for Sean.

One month-old--what a difference a family makes

Today our baby Aidan is one month old. Our family celebrates this little but first milestone and wonder where the time has gone! The kids shower him with kisses and delight in singing him "Happy Birthday!" He is adored by all--Mommy and Daddy and each of his 6 siblings. He has that baby acne right now all over his face, head and chest...but still he is beautiful to us. He is getting alot more alert when he is not sleeping--which is wonderful, except over the night...last night I didn't get much sleep :( but its amazing how God enables a mommy to still function and so love her baby.

I was pondering his "one month" and I began thinking about how different life was for our Sean...then Vladik when he was one month-old in the Ukraine. He was left at the hospital after his birth because he has Downs Syndrome and put in the Maternity ward. At one month he was placed in the orphanage where he would spend his first 3 1/2 years. There was no celebration of a family over his milestone, no siblings delighting over holding him, no Mommy to nurse him or comfort him with the voice he heard while in the womb, no Daddy to hold him gently in his strong arms, noone to truly delight in him. I can't imagine what it must have been like for him, a baby, designed by God to be nurtured and loved by a family, to be thrust into a large orphanage with many other babies/children and many, constantly changing caregivers. Even if they were kind, attentive, and cared about him, which I'm sure some did, he was not loved deeply like only parents or a family can. There was noone whom he could depend on to always be there for him. He was one of many to feed, diaper and care for. And of course that is the best scenario--it may have been worse as it is at some places for orphans (especially disabled ones), we don't know.

I wonder how difficult it must have been-- maybe still is-- for his birth parents to give up their child and leave him, after carrying him full term and giving birth to him. We do not know why exactly he was left, though have learned that it is common there for people to place a child with any (even a mild) disability in the orphanage, partly due to financial strain and lack of resources for children with disabilities as well as the stigma of disability. Some think they can not handle it and some believe they will be better off if they are adopted. I have never given birth to a disabled child and while I know there are challenges, we believe that every child is made by God and is precious in His sight. We thank God that his birth parents gave him the gift of life...no small thing, as we learned through a Ukrainian christian couple who run a life care center for pregnant moms, that many doctors encourage abortion of babies even if their disability is as mild as a cleft palate, which is fixable with surgery. Still, if a disabled child. like Sean, is not adopted they are transfered to a mental institution...usually around age 4 ...and they often do not survive long.

So on Aidan's one month birthday we realize how blessed Aidan is, and we remember how many, many children do not have such love --love that God intended for a mother and father to give to their child. We also remember what Sean lacked and what he had to deal with from a young age. While he is a blessing and joy, there are many things he does that we don't understand and that are a challenge to us--some due to his disability but also some that he developed to survive with out the consistant love of a family and the constant presence of many other needy children his exact age (without the cognitive and physical challenges he faced) There are things he undoubtedly failed to develop because of these conditions also. It is so easy to live in the moment of challenges and be discouraged and forget the big picture....of why he is the way he is and why we adopted him; of his value in God's sight and his potential with love.
I thank God for showing me this through Aidan, and I pray that He will help us to remember this more and better show Sean the love, acceptance and encouragment of a mother, a father (and brothers and sisters) which every child needs.

Wednesday the 11th will be Sean's 4th birthday--stay tuned!

Here are some photos of one of Aidan's first outings....to Patoka Reservoir. (He was only a week old then :) The kids and our dog Donner enjoyed exploring and it was a beautiful day. Nana and Danielle are with us too.

Our new baby is here!

Aidan
Christian
Adamson

Just a quick post to let everyone know that our baby boy -- Aidan Christian--was born on Friday, October 9, 2009 at 12:48 pm. He is precious and looks alot like our other children. So far he has dark brown hair (alot of it) and brownish eyes. Some of us are hoping he will stay that way and look like John and Naomi (as the rest all have blue eyes)...we will see!
We thank God for His many provisions --of providing friends to care for our children quickly, for John to be with me when labor began (2 in the morning), for our good friend Danielle who is here with us for a few weeks helping us and was a doula at our birth, and now my mom was able to fly out to spend the week with us. We're also thank ful that God enabled us to have a natural and healthy birth, and especially, that Aidan is finally here! We have been having snow storms here already so it was another blessing that the roads were clear when we had to travel. It is beautiful but we do look forward to it warming up a bit this next week.

This is what we came from the hospital to...6 kids and Danielle anxiously waiting to get a glimpse of their new brother...

Nana's visit

Love at first sight

Another good checkup

Once again, we paid a doctor lots of money to tell us Sean is just fine :) .... his visual exam with an opthalmologist revealed that he is slightly far-sighted (which is normal for his age) and while he has a slight astigmatism, he doesn't need any correction at this time. He did not see any lazy eye either so he doesn't need any intervention or glasses right now. That was really good news! He was a trooper waiting a long time and getting the dilating eyedrops, and it is always neat to see how engaging he is with who ever is examining him.

We are moved in now and still organizing. The children are enjoying learning about taking care of our dog, Donner, and planted their own gardens, and trying to enjoy the remaining warm weather here before the cool weather begins! Sean has been enjoying the sandbox and swing, and loves wrestling with his big brother.

His new big word and sign is "Jesus" which for now he says "eeaa" and signs it in sign language... and when we tell him Jesus loves you, he points to himself and gets a big smile. I don't know how much he understands but I know God can give understanding and faith to anyone. He has been doing very well with learning to sit for family devotions and at our church fellowship services, and of course, loves the singing and the instruments that are played then. He continues to use more and more signs to communicate with us (and baby dolls) which is neat. We hope to take him to the swimming pool this week-- that will be quite an experience as he gets SO EXCITED with water.

We should be getting our computer maybe this week and hope to get internet at our new place shortly, so hopefully we can keep more updated and add pictures again.

New Home....

We have been so very busy since we came home....looking for a bigger place to live, then packing, then moving, and now unpacking. We had been praying about whether to just stay where we were renting (though it was cramped we were doing it!) but we got notice we needed to move out in one month, so that was a definite answer to that prayer. We called about a rental we'd seen that we'd liked and it was already rented, but God graciously provided that same night another rental up in the Black Hills that is a beautiful area, the rent was amazingly reasonable, and the landlord very kind. It even has a creek (the kids are excited)! So, thankfully we didn't have to look anymore, but had to pack pack pack! We just moved on the 1st and have boxes everywhere, but we are out of the other house and it is cleaned finally. It has been an exhausting month.

Now we are trying to unpack in the midst of everyday life. I am amazed how well Sean has done despite all of the busyness and change since he came home only 2 months ago...and I am so looking forward to eventually getting into a routine and just living...if that makes sense. Of course, then there will be a new baby! I am due on October 10th and it is coming very fast! I'd hoped to load ultrasound pictures but it hasn't been possible with our computer down, but we are expecting a little boy! Jonah is thrilled....2 brothers in one year (counting Sean)!

Sean is doing well. From what they could tell from his hearing test, his hearing is normal or just below normal--part of it is pretty subjective so its hard to tell for sure since his communication is limited. That was good news. He will have his vision and eyes tested this month as well but he seems to do pretty well. We are amazed how well he has picked up sign language and is initiating trying to communicate more. He loves to play with babies (especially Annabelle's baby that makes noise) and it is neat to see him sign to talk to the baby.

Our family has another new member.... "Donner" a male collie puppy, 4 months old. Living in the Hills, we decided having a dog around would be a good idea for the kids protection and our landlord agreed to let us have an outdoor dog. All the kids are enjoying playing with and training our puppy.




























We are excited that another family is now traveling in Izmail to adopt a boy from the older orphanage. We sent some letters and pictures back to let them know how Sean is doing-- it seems so long ago since we were there, though it hasn't really been that long. We're excited for them...please pray for them!

A Healthy Heart!

We have been doing well here...just busy with the daily life routine as well as prayerfully looking for a different place to live as we are tight in the house we are currently renting. We'd appreciate prayer for God's direction for us and what is best for us right now.

We took Sean to the cardiologist yesterday for an evaluation and echocardiogram and EKG.
The doctor was very nice and has had alot of experience with children and adults with Down Syndrome. He said that Sean, like about 50 % of children with Down Syndrome, does NOT have a heart defect....his heart was perfectly healthy and did not anticipate his needing any kind of intervention in the future regarding his heart. Praise God! We knew if he had any heart issues they were probably minor, given his ENERGY level, but we wanted to make sure...so that was a relief to hear. He did very well at his visit...the radiologist and nurse were very good with him and (aside from not liking the electrodes on his chest) he sat rather still as she talked and sang to him...music always quiets Sean right down, it is amazing.

Next up will be the audiologist and the opthalmalogist! We've needed to take our time with his visits since John had so much time off and do not want to overwhelm the family, so each one we get done is a blessing to know more about our little boy and his needs. He is doing very well...he especially loves playing in the kiddy pool and the sandbox, and he had fun getting dirty when we were planting some plants....that was interesting! Our biggest challenge is when its time for him to come out, making sure he doesn't escape the yard, and keeping him out of the water/dirt when its not playtime! We are working on basics of him learning to obey Mommy and Daddy and to not yell or hit (or bite) when frustrated. It is getting better!

We had the privaledge of meeting some other families with children with Down Syndrome over the weekend at a support group of Ups of Downs here...it was nice to get to talk to other families and I'm sure they will be a great resource for us. Our children really enjoyed playing and helping a couple of the other younger kids there, as well as taking their little brother around Storybook Island (a neat playground based on nursery rhymes/children's stories) ....what a blessing they are!

Please help bring Daisy home!!!

Another family adopting a child from Reeces Rainbow needs help! Their paperwork is finally submitted overseas but they do not yet have sufficient funds to bring their little girl home.

The little girl they hope to adopt has Down Syndrome and her name is Daisy. We just read that she was just transferred out of the baby orphanage to the institution.... where conditions and the care they receive are often not very good and some do not survive.

Please help raise money to bring her home!! They have a short time to raise funds and are praying God will provide for this precious little girl who has a family ready to love her and give her a home.

WE thank God that our Sean was rescued before he was transferred and we pray the same miracle for Daisy.

Her adopting family's blog is http://www.ahousefullofboys-julie.blogspot.com/
You can also click on her picture on the button on our blog if you scroll down along the right side, you'll see her picture. This will lead you to her family sponsor page on the Reeces Rainbow website.

Thankyou, and spread the word!



The Adamson Family

We got through week one :)

Well, our first week back at home was a whirlwind because most of the children (with the exception of little Elsie) came down with a bad virus, having high fevers and some respiratory symptoms. Mommy is worn out from taking care of everyone while also trying to unpack and get things in better order! We're looking forward to the coming week now that everyone is pretty much better and the sunshine is back, so we can get outside more.

Sean is adjusting pretty well here. He is having to learn to not get out of his bed, to eat or drink what is given to him, and (at times) not to hit or bite, which we saw was common at the orphanage. He is also learning more signs to help him communicate and he occasionally tries to say words (so far "more" and "Hayee") He is a big eater...I think he would eat the whole bunch of bananas if we let him and is quick to sign "banana" or "more" for more food. Jonah has been enjoying his new wrestling partner (he's waited a long time, having only had sisters) --it is so cute to see them having a great time together. He's also been a great help to play with Sean (a fellow early bird) while Mommy rested from being up with sick kids this week.

We took Sean to his pediatrician appointment early in the week. He was found to be pretty healthy and thankfully his blood tests came back normal! He was blessed to not have suffered from malnutrition at the orphanage, as many others that we know, though we hope that with a healthy diet that his nasal congestion will improve. He needs to see a cardiologist to check out his heart, as well as an opthalmalogist and audiologist and get evaluated for therapy in the near future. We're going to take it slow so its not overwhelming!

Home Sweet Home

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are finally home! We left for the airport early on Saturday morning to discover that there was a mix-up with our airline reservation...only Elsie and Annabelle (the 2 youngest) were on the flight we thought everyone was one-- the rest apparently had been on the early flight. After much time, they were able to get it worked out for all 8 of us to fly out later in the afternoon. We had to get booked for a connector flight out of Denver the next morning but they put us on standby for a flight home Saturday night just in case it opened up.

After enjoying a lunch with Nana and Grandaddy (who thankfully were able to stay and help us with the children while we worked our tickets out and got our many pieces of luggage checked), we said good-bye and got on our flight there. Unfortunately for me, Elsie had already napped at the airport so Mommy didn't get a much needed nap on the long plane ride to Denver (after staying up late packing). Thankfully, they were able to work out seats for us together in groups. The older girls enjoyed sitting next to a young mom with her 6 month-old, the boys (including the big one) got to sit together, and the little girls and Mommy. We ended up being able to be put on the connection that evening-- it was a bit stressful and tiring but we were glad to be able to get home and save the extra money it would have cost us to stay over at a hotel. Some of us did not like traveling on the very small, 30 some passenger airplane which had alot of turbulence--but it was short and we made it safely home at 6:30 pm (8 :30 pm EST that we were used to). Praise God!! We were so glad to get off that airplane for good! Our good friends the Lautenschagers met us there with our family van...and a wonderful homemade dinner too :) We were all very tired when we got home and quickly unpacked the car, ate and went to bed. It felt so good to be in our own beds. Thank you for praying for us. Our long traveing l adventure has finally ended and we're looking forward to getting re-settled here in our home :)

Pictures of some of Sean's "firsts"

**Below are some photos of some firsts from Sean's first week or so home. (They are kind of in reverse order) Enjoy! Also, in the previous post are some belated pictures of his homecoming.

We are doing well here....awaiting our flight home on Saturday afternoon. We are enjoying some time together here...we walked around historic Annapolis one day and went to see Mount Vernon (George Washington's home) another. Today we recuperated :) and started organizing our stuff for traveling. Its amazing how your belongings can multiply when staying with grandparents :) though I definitely overpacked for our trip! Packing for 2 months for 8 people for cold and warm weather made it challenging but we learned from it.

We are pleased with how Sean is adapting to our family and our not-so-routine life right now. He is picking up some sign language well (more, all done, please, come, thirsty, and some food signs) which is really neat to see him communicating besides his ennthusiastic "HI!" that he often says. We has enjoyed being here at Nana and Grandaddy's house and we look forward to showing him his more permanent home (as he's been in many places the few weeks). We hope to see some friends and enjoy some time with family before we finally head home as a family. Its exciting that we are almost there! Please pray for our travels and the transition ahead as John returns to work--we have loved having him with us! :)

First restaurant in the US (he loved chips and salsa--and let us all know it)




First time seeing animals at a farm

First Merry-Go-Round ride :)

First kid's train ride (vs. the overnight trainride he went on in the Ukraine)

First time at Taco Bell :)

First time in his carseat

First time with his own (complete) family!

and having a helium balloon :)

Homecoming pictures at last!

Here are some belated pictures of the day they brought Sean Paul home (May 22nd) and we were all reunited, after John/Daddy and Haylee being gone since April 19th (and Traci/Mommy having been home for 3 weeks awaiting their return with the rest of our children. It was a blessed reunion--and such a relief and joy for them to be home. God is good!

John, Haylee, and Sean (behind John in a carrier) finally coming out of customs with their luggage, after waiting over an hour for them.

Our sweet Haylee finally home!

Elsie has "her Daddy" at last :)

Sean playing with his helium "Welcome Home" balloon

A happy Mommy & daughter

The children loving on their new brother Sean

Greeted by Grandaddy (& Nana)

Sean getting some energy out after a very long flight

THE ADAMSON FAMILY--TOGETHER AT LAST!

Riding home together...

Sean's first time in the carseat....

Sean and Elsie did not last long before they were fast asleep :)