Oh, how we miss you!!!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Way to Go, Gav!!!
Gavin chose to have a Reece's Rainbow birthday party. Instead of receiving gifts for himself, he encouraged his friends to give a donation for a special orphan in need of a family. Only a few friends were able to attend, but they donated $30. Gavin had fun choosing a child to sponsor.
He chose handsome and happy Aleksey in Eastern Europe. You can see his sparkly blue eyes at Reece's Rainbow. Here is the link. http://www.reecesrainbow.com/angelboys.htm (scroll down a bit to find him) This wonderful boy is 3 years old, and he desperately needs a family. He was born with spina bifida, but he has so much potential.! In a loving family with therapy and support he could have a great life. If he does not find a family by the time he is 4 or 5, he will be sent to a mental institution where he will get no love, attention or stimulation, and no schooling! Please consider saving Aleksey from that kind of life!
Thanks, Gavin, for making a great choice! May the Lord bless you for your generosity.
He chose handsome and happy Aleksey in Eastern Europe. You can see his sparkly blue eyes at Reece's Rainbow. Here is the link. http://www.reecesrainbow.com/angelboys.htm (scroll down a bit to find him) This wonderful boy is 3 years old, and he desperately needs a family. He was born with spina bifida, but he has so much potential.! In a loving family with therapy and support he could have a great life. If he does not find a family by the time he is 4 or 5, he will be sent to a mental institution where he will get no love, attention or stimulation, and no schooling! Please consider saving Aleksey from that kind of life!
Thanks, Gavin, for making a great choice! May the Lord bless you for your generosity.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Happy Birthday Gavin!!
Yesterday we celebrated Gavin's birthday. He is easy to celebrate! I so wanted just one more, but I was trying to be content with three. Driving home from work one evening I suddenly KNEW I was pregnant. An amazing joy washed over me. The dates did not make sense and it was too soon for a pregnancy test, but I just knew. A week or so later the pregnancy test confirmed it, HOORAY! I was a little concerned about Dan's reaction so I hadn't told him yet. He already knew, too.:) He actually seemed more excited than ever before.
Somehow the question of planning always came up. People asked if he was a "mistake" or an "oops". What a horrible thing to call a baby! I called him our Bonus baby, an unlooked for reward. I once overheard Gavin telling our friends, "God knew my Mom needed one more baby so He gave her, me. I'm her Bonus boy." I sure am glad we never called him a mistake!
Gavin is confident, outgoing, and funny! He is happy to tell you that he has an amazing vocabulary which is true. Otherwise, he is a very typical little boy. He loves to play with weapons of any kind. Swords are by far his favorite. When Gavin was 3, I walked into the living room to hear him shout, "A sword, a sword! My kingdom for a sword!":)
He is as dramatic as the rest of the family. He has a sweet little singing voice, too. This past winter he played Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol. It was a huge part for a 7-yr.-old!! He had to sing a solo and a duet. It was alot of work, but he did it! He was adorable with his perfect British accent.:)
Today is Gavin's turn to spend the day with Mimi and Bump(Dan's parents). They will be picking him up anytime. They will spend the day at Uncle Chuck's camp on Sebago Lake. All the cousins and kids will be there. Gavin may try tubing today! After a fun day at camp they will go out for dinner at Cole Farms and finish with a stop at Frozen Custard! Have a great day, Gavin!!
Somehow the question of planning always came up. People asked if he was a "mistake" or an "oops". What a horrible thing to call a baby! I called him our Bonus baby, an unlooked for reward. I once overheard Gavin telling our friends, "God knew my Mom needed one more baby so He gave her, me. I'm her Bonus boy." I sure am glad we never called him a mistake!
Gavin is confident, outgoing, and funny! He is happy to tell you that he has an amazing vocabulary which is true. Otherwise, he is a very typical little boy. He loves to play with weapons of any kind. Swords are by far his favorite. When Gavin was 3, I walked into the living room to hear him shout, "A sword, a sword! My kingdom for a sword!":)
He is as dramatic as the rest of the family. He has a sweet little singing voice, too. This past winter he played Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol. It was a huge part for a 7-yr.-old!! He had to sing a solo and a duet. It was alot of work, but he did it! He was adorable with his perfect British accent.:)
Today is Gavin's turn to spend the day with Mimi and Bump(Dan's parents). They will be picking him up anytime. They will spend the day at Uncle Chuck's camp on Sebago Lake. All the cousins and kids will be there. Gavin may try tubing today! After a fun day at camp they will go out for dinner at Cole Farms and finish with a stop at Frozen Custard! Have a great day, Gavin!!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Spotlight on Garrett
Garrett is fifteen and just successfully completed his freshman year at Edward Little High School. This was his first year as a full-time public school student. Two years ago he started begging us to let him go to public school. We wanted to let him, but knew he had his work cut out for him if he were to be prepared for college prep courses.
Those of you who know Garrett have probably noticed that he is kind of clumsy, slouches alot, and isn't great at most sports. If he has written you a note, you will have noticed that his handwriting and spelling are very poor. Here are the labels to match those difficutlies- coordination disorder, low muscle tone, fine motor impairment, dysgraphia, specific learning disability in written language and spelling. You may also have noticed that Garrett has an amazing memory for Bible verses, jokes(not necessarily funny ones), and movie lines. He is also very good at learning accents and song lyrics. The label for that is highly to profoundly gifted auditory memory. He can still recite entire scenes from a play he did in 7th grade!
Armed with these labels we set to work. It was amazing to see how hard Garrett ws willing to work to achieve his goals! First we met with Lori, our wonderful OT. She se up a new plan with Garrett, he jumped right in without complaint. He was already swimming 3-5 times a week which helped tremendously with the coordination and strength issues. Finally, I found, Phonetic Zoo, by Andrew Pudewa. I would highly recommend it for auditory learners. Garrett's spelling improved by 4 grade levels and he only got through 2/3 of the lessons!!! The last piece of the puzzle was writing. I was relentless in making him write, write, write.
At the end of 8th grade we met with his high school guidance counselor. I had to push a little to get Garrett enrolled in college prep courses, but it was done, pending his test scores and a writing evaluation. His test scores came in above grade level, and the English teacher felt his writing was only slightly below average. He did it! We are so proud of him!!
Garrett is a fun, outgoing kid who loves to perform. This past year he played percussion in the school band, and sang in the school choir. He was also very busy in the theater. Garrett has had large roles, but is perfectly happy to take any part on or off stage. This year he was involved in:
Annie Get Your Gun with CLT, Guys and Dollswith EL Players, A Christmas Carol with CLT, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with Kingsbridge Theatre. He had small roles in each of these shows. He had some wonderful auditions, and we are so proud of how well he handled his disappointment at not getting the parts he really wanted. He had a great attitude and earned the admiration and respect of all the adults he worked with.
Garrett's other passion is swimming! He may not be the fastest swimmer on the team, but he is probably the most loyal. No one could have been prouder to wear the Red Eddies uniform. Garrett was the only freshman to get a time in every event. He placed at the regional meet and went to the State championship as an alternate. He had a great season, especially considering he lost 3 weeks of practice to a bout of pneumonia!
He is enjoying the summer. Most of his time is spent at home, but he does have a cool job. He gets to go out on "sting" operations with a sheriff. His job is to try to buy tobacco products. If he succeeds, the sheriff goes in and fines the store. Other than work his only activities have been youth group. He attends 3 at 3 different churches. It is great for him to network with Christian teens. He is hoping to join a teen worship team at our church.
Those of you who know Garrett have probably noticed that he is kind of clumsy, slouches alot, and isn't great at most sports. If he has written you a note, you will have noticed that his handwriting and spelling are very poor. Here are the labels to match those difficutlies- coordination disorder, low muscle tone, fine motor impairment, dysgraphia, specific learning disability in written language and spelling. You may also have noticed that Garrett has an amazing memory for Bible verses, jokes(not necessarily funny ones), and movie lines. He is also very good at learning accents and song lyrics. The label for that is highly to profoundly gifted auditory memory. He can still recite entire scenes from a play he did in 7th grade!
Armed with these labels we set to work. It was amazing to see how hard Garrett ws willing to work to achieve his goals! First we met with Lori, our wonderful OT. She se up a new plan with Garrett, he jumped right in without complaint. He was already swimming 3-5 times a week which helped tremendously with the coordination and strength issues. Finally, I found, Phonetic Zoo, by Andrew Pudewa. I would highly recommend it for auditory learners. Garrett's spelling improved by 4 grade levels and he only got through 2/3 of the lessons!!! The last piece of the puzzle was writing. I was relentless in making him write, write, write.
At the end of 8th grade we met with his high school guidance counselor. I had to push a little to get Garrett enrolled in college prep courses, but it was done, pending his test scores and a writing evaluation. His test scores came in above grade level, and the English teacher felt his writing was only slightly below average. He did it! We are so proud of him!!
Garrett is a fun, outgoing kid who loves to perform. This past year he played percussion in the school band, and sang in the school choir. He was also very busy in the theater. Garrett has had large roles, but is perfectly happy to take any part on or off stage. This year he was involved in:
Annie Get Your Gun with CLT, Guys and Dollswith EL Players, A Christmas Carol with CLT, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with Kingsbridge Theatre. He had small roles in each of these shows. He had some wonderful auditions, and we are so proud of how well he handled his disappointment at not getting the parts he really wanted. He had a great attitude and earned the admiration and respect of all the adults he worked with.
Garrett's other passion is swimming! He may not be the fastest swimmer on the team, but he is probably the most loyal. No one could have been prouder to wear the Red Eddies uniform. Garrett was the only freshman to get a time in every event. He placed at the regional meet and went to the State championship as an alternate. He had a great season, especially considering he lost 3 weeks of practice to a bout of pneumonia!
He is enjoying the summer. Most of his time is spent at home, but he does have a cool job. He gets to go out on "sting" operations with a sheriff. His job is to try to buy tobacco products. If he succeeds, the sheriff goes in and fines the store. Other than work his only activities have been youth group. He attends 3 at 3 different churches. It is great for him to network with Christian teens. He is hoping to join a teen worship team at our church.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
More Positive Responses
I dropped off some paperwork at the adoption agency today. The secretary acted very happy to see me. She told me that everyone in the office is really excited for us. Now that vacations are over they are going to try to speed things up. Hooray!!! She also said every single employee asked why we did not choose to adopt domestically if we were interested in a special needs child. The social worker gave them my answer and they were all impressed.:) It was the same answer any of my Reece's Rainbow friends would give. I am sure I wasn't impressive with how I said it. I just asked if she was aware of how special needs kids are treated in Eastern Europe. Even though she said yes, I reminded her of the institutions they are sent to where they get no love, no attention, no stimulation. Even though Andres isn't in a horrible place like that, he still doesn't have a Mommy and Daddy and siblings to cherish him.
It felt nice to see her enthusiasm. It makes me a little less nervous about not being "good enough" to pass. It was also great to think they would try to "hurry things up". Nothing in Maine gets hurried much.:) Maybe our sweet boy will be cherished sooner than we thought!
It felt nice to see her enthusiasm. It makes me a little less nervous about not being "good enough" to pass. It was also great to think they would try to "hurry things up". Nothing in Maine gets hurried much.:) Maybe our sweet boy will be cherished sooner than we thought!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Responses
I am beginning to get positive responses from friends and family about our adoption of Andres. We did get some very positive initial reactions from many people, but most just seemed shocked or confused. It was disappointing. Maybe people needed to let the idea sink in?
Yes, we are working to bring home a child with Down syndrome. Yes, he really will turn 10 on September, 17. Yes, we really have thought this through, and we have an idea of what we are getting ourselves into. No, I don't think it will be easy. No, I don't know all the answers, but I am being faithful to the Lord's call. No, I am not crazy, and no, I am definitely NOT a saint! Just ask Dan and the kids.:)
My sweet and true friend Steph made my day just by being honest. She admitted to being a little nervous because she wouldn't know how to treat Andres. She has not had much experience with special kids. I know she will be wonderful with my new son because she will love and except him for who he is! She will know how to treat him as soon as she meets him. She is a pro at dealing with little boys, and after all, Andres is a little boy.
One of my co-workers was very open in asking, "why would you want to do that?" A few weeks have gone by, and now she is full of questions. "How did you pick one child over another?" - I didn't, God picked us for each other. "How will you teach him English?" - I don't know! It's scary!! I'm learning as many Estonian words as my brain will take in. But, my favorite response came today when I was saying how scared I am that we won't pass the homestudy. "What, are you thinking? You must be crazy to think that!":) That comment made my day, too.
My boss, a new mom who can't even talk about the adoption without tears in her eyes, asked for an update. She was just beaming as she talked about how lucky Andres is to have our family waiting to bring him home. She is so happy that he will have a family and schooling and opportunities to enjoy life. It felt great!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
