A "first" birthday celebration

Guess who turned 3?



Lily May Adamson....on September 19th


Naomi holding the cake so Mommy could get a picture before Lily put her hands in it....that took a few tries!




Lily love




Aidan enjoying all the excitement





Sean is always excited for a birthday! Cake, icecream, singing...he's getting used to this...




"Who ate the icing off the cake Mommy?" hmm...I wonder.... why are your teeth BLUE?





We were so happy to have her home with us (less than a month) before her birthday and to be able to celebrate with her...undoubtedly it was the first time she'd ever had a birthday cake and icecream, or sang happy birthday, or had any gifts, or had people give her special attention and give thanks ...because she had been born into the world.
We just had a simple family party but our kids really enjoyed it and we will never forget it!

Thanks to all that helped make it possible for Lily to be surrounded by a family on her 3rd birthday, instead of it marking one more year closer to living in an institution. She is a tiny thing...the size of a 2 year-old, but she is eating much better and starting to drink better too. She can be so very stubborn but so very sweet too...her kisses are from Heaven.

Pray for and be a part of Ethan's miracle

Friends of ours who have adopted from Reeces Rainbow are seeking to save the life of a precious little orphan "Westley" whom they will call "Ethan."

He has Down Syndrome as well as other medical conditions and he is in desperate need of a surgery that they won't do there. They need to raise the money for their adoption as well as get their dossier together by November...which will take a miracle. God did a miracle to help them bring their daughter home earlier this year...a little girl with Down Syndrome who was about to be transferred to the institution. When the family adopting her were unable to bring her home, God led our friends the Malones to go get her and He provided to make it happen. He also provided abundantly in so many ways to make the adoption of our Lily and Joshua happen. You can go to older posts to read all the details.

Will you join us in lifting this precious boy, and his family who is standing in the gap to get him home to get the surgery he desperately needs? Please grab their button on the righthand side of our blog (for Ethan) and as it says, pray about how you can be a part of Ethan's miracle.

If you click on the button you can read more about Ethan, his situation, and how you can help!

We're still here....getting adjusted!

Just wanted to write a quick post that we are still alive here :).... just getting adjusted!

Lily is adjusting well so far. She is very cautious but sweet and enjoys attention...the girls (and Jonah too) like to carry her around. I taught her how to kiss on our first trip so whenever she is face to face and being held she says "ma" and gives a kiss....so sweet. She is doing much better with eating...she seems to like to eat anything now! Lily is a peanut so hopefully she will gain weight now that she is eating better. Drinking is another thing...she does not like to drink. She was given drink from a spoon after lots of soup in the orphanage so maybe she just isn't used to it. Sippies didn't work and cups end up getting all over here so I started using a baby bottle and she's done a little better with that. Please pray that she will get enough liquids in her and learn to drink more...and enjoy it. She does like to put plastic and paper in her mouth for some reason. She is learning not to pinch but to touch gently.

Joshua has been doing better at nighttime....if he wakes crying he will usually go back to sleep if we turn him back over onto his back. Sometimes it is hard to tell if he is crying or happy unless he is really crying hard. His feeding takes a long time --that has been the hardest thing as we currently have 3 that need to be fed (since Lily was fed everything at the orphanage...but she is learning to self feed finger foods.) WE've started feeding him part of his meal with a spoon--which he doesn't like (he cries ) but he is taking some in that way. The rest he gets by a bottle. I know it will take time for him to get used to it and using his tongue and mouth a different way. I found a great article that gave some feeding tips until we are able to get him therapy. Even at the orphanage he prefered certain foods they said so he can be a stinker about it but I have seen some improvement.
Joshua needs his position to be changed or he gets sore (he had several pressure sores at the orphanage that have healed up) and he seems to like attention as well (what child wouldn't?). It has been neat to see the children giving him attention or telling Mommy when he needs something. They are learning to help take care of him. He really likes being outside in the sunshine and seems to like the carrides too.

We read on Reeces Rainbow email group how a girl, Olga, just passed away after being transferred to an institution. It is so very sad and we know that that would have been Joshua. He was due to be transferred as soon as there was room (we even heard they wait for someone to die to be able to transfer others) and he was eating from a spoon, which they'd already started doing. He would never have survived there.

Yesterday we went to the beach and while Joshua couldn't swim or make sandcastles like the others, he enjoyed being there...just the different sounds, the fresh air, the warm sunshine, and the beauty (we don't know how much he can see yet)....
I was reminded while we were there how all he saw before was his bare crib and the window and how great it was that he could just be here.


Please pray for us as we get adjusted and pack for our upcoming move in October.
I'll try to post pictures very soon!

First night, first day

Elsie is so happy to finally have "Lacie" home-- she's not understanding the fact that we changed her name to Lily, but thats okay!





Annabelle showing Lily her bed (and wanting to sleep with her too)




Look who is pulling up to stand...he's growing up too fast





So precious....little girls loving on their sister





Big sister carrying Lily around....Lily LOVES it





Naomi with her happy baby brother



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Joshua in his crib...probably happy to stretch out!





Sean checking out his new brother and roomate...and showing him how a musical toy works.





Lily in her bed (a packnplay so she doesn't roll out...which she did frequently on the journey home)




Joshua in his highchair






Lily playing with her feet





I took this picture so we can remember how thin Lily is when she came home to us...hopefully she will start eating more and with good nutrition, be a more healthy weight and flourish. She is eating better, but does not like to drink--we have to be creative to get liquids into her.




In contrast....here is our stout big boy Sean we adopted last year!





Our sweeite pie!




I had to take a picture of our Elsie...who we found in this position, fast asleep on top of the girl's bookcase. So funny--and we were thankful she didn't fall off. She is not usually a daredevil either, so it was quite a surprize.




These pictures are dark but I had to document that the first day --believe it or not-
Sean, Joshua, and Lily all went right to sleep for a nap! I was amazed... jet lag probably helped some, but it was great.



Joshua





Lily





and Sean!

It was such a blessing for all of us to be in our own bed our first night. That hard time of separation is finally over and now we can get adjusted to life with 9 children! As John says, our quiver is very full and we will need the Lord's wisdom, strength and love as parents to so many blessings.

Everyone slept through the night except Joshua...who woke up crying hard...and I found him soaking wet from his diaper too full, needing a change of clothes and a bottle.. he had not drank near as much as usual on the flight home so I was glad he took a bottle. Then he settled right down to sleep..thankfully the other boys didn't wake up.

The next morning John went in to work a little late (couldn't convinve him to stay home) so we enjoyed breakfast together...my daughter Haylee was excited to cook omelets for us all. It was quite a moment having all of us at the table for the first time...it will take some thinking to do to figure out the best set up so there are helpers near those who need help. LIly is used to being fed everything by a spoon...even drinks...so we are working on getting her used to some self feeding (right now she throws it off) and using a sippy (which she hates and doesn't seem to like to drink...maybe since she had so much soup in the orphanage?) Joshua eats from a bottle with a nipple cut to allow a thicker drink (baby food and formula or juice mixed together, or blended up soup)...he is doing pretty well with adjusting to this. At the orphanage he had a lot of blended up soup, formula with potatoes or fruit in it, tea and juice and porridge. We look forward to getting his swallowing evaluated later this month.

The house was a flurry of excitement with the little girls (and JOnah) carrying Lily around who doesn't play with toys yet (only throws them) but LOVES the attention. Joshua is pretty content and happy unless he is hungry, wet or tired. He likes being with everybody even though he can't communicate and we don't know what he sees or hears...it is obvious he is happier when he's with the family.
Sean seems to really like his new brother and sister too--he's sweet and curious..and he was showing Lily how to push a popper and handing it to her. HE also tries to push the stroller and he lectures Lily to eat her food!

I'm realizing I will need to get to bed earlier and up earlier so I can have some quiet time and to be organized for our busy household. Please pray for us as we all get adjusted here. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Arrival pictures

Here are pictures of our family's homecoming with Lily and Joshua! They had a very long journey....about 25 hours, leaving Kiev at 5:35 am (8:35 pm our time) and arriving home at 9:26 pm our time. What a sweet reunion it was! THey were so relieved to be home and we were so happy they were finally home. Lily and Joshua did pretty well considering what they went through and we are so thankful. It was a late night by the time all the Adamson crew got to bed, but it was such a wonderful feeling having all of the children and us in our own beds again. Somehow we managed to fit everyone and everything in our van. Believe it or not, not one of the kids slept in the next morning!




Our crew picking up the bags






Jonah talking to his little sister, Lily..."remember me?" You can't see it in the pictures, but she was all smiles...even after such a long trip! I think she loved all the attention of the kids.




Mommy hugging her babies!





Elsie with her Daddy





Mommy so happy to have her girls back!





Joshua glad to be off of that airplane (he didn't like being so upright in the plane) and in his more comfortable stroller





Lily riding on Daddy's back





Tired baby with his big sister





Sean--always happy for a little excitement and to stay up late!





Annabelle pushing her brother Joshua--and happy to finally meet him!





Lily taking it all in (tired girl)





Haylee happy to see her baby brother (who had just fallen asleep and woke up again with all the commotion)

We are home!!

Hi all,
I just wanted to let you know that we are home!! We had a good rest after being up like 20 hours. And, we are happy with our full house!! 9 children and 2 adults now :) I will post pictures later!

Haylee