The first few nights Isaac had to sleep with mama. He was so sweet and would wake up several times and put the covers on me! God knew that I needed to see his dear soul to get me through the days to follow. On day 2 or 3 we experienced a very different side of Isaac. (Here I pause to pray “Dear Lord, help me write this post in a positive manner and to bring Glory to YOU!) We saw the skills that Isaac had used to survive abusive foster homes, the orphanage and almost 14 years of never being loved. The last 10 days in Ch*n@ were down right miserable. I am ashamed to admit, but at times I had no hope of this working out. I wanted to give up and hide. I prayed constantly to just survive and for wisdom. I prayed that I could tell this little boy that I loved him every day without it being a lie. Guess what? He delivered! Within the first week home I saw change that I believed we might never see. Did all the behaviors miraculously disappear…..not by a long shot and some of them may never. We are okay with that. God brought us on this journey and I know he will see us through. Do we ever doubt if we are the right parents for these children? YES, but only for a moment and then God whispers Peace be still.

Isaac opening his mail from Gma and Big Pap!

Warning: Major Fashion Fail, dirty hair alert!! I am only posting these pictures because these two have had the most difficult time adjusting to each other…..and well….whatever it takes to have a few moments of peace between the two of them….sigh!!

Opening a box from Auntie El and Uncle Ash……SUGAR COMA!!!!! Thanks Sis!!

Learning how to serve others at Uncle Denver’s house. This boy is always soooo close all the time that he is constantly being whacked in the face with something….hopefully it never results in an ED visit!

A Glimpse into our day…..I am doing laundry when a very distressed teenage boy runs in the house “Monny, ummm, Evalena….uhhhh…..drink very dirty water” Not overly concerned, but needing to respond to his call for help I dutifully walk outside to find the twins drinking out of a mud puddle! Me not surprised at all, “Girls don’t drink that water, it’s yucky” “but mommy Remi(our dog) is drinking it”

I walk into my bedroom and find a half eaten hotdog on my dresser…..I’m not sure which is more disturbing, the fact that it’s there in the first place or that I am not overly alarmed about it. Later I am hanging clothes in one of the lovely pURPle rooms in this house and Pippi asks me (serious as a heart attack) can K and R come over sometime, because we are starting a band!!!….WHAT!!! She is 6! “OK, what instrument are you playing?” “The drums”…..me, “we don’t have drums”. “Oh, its okay we just use pretend instruments” Then later to her sister, “What would be a good name for me when we play in our band” That conversation went on so long that it became a high pitched whine in my ears! Today she told me they had to drop out of the band because they are just too busy with other stuff!

Theo to Isaac “I’m a girl so you can’t watch me get dressed”…….hahahahaha! Bless his heart we definitely need to toughen him up a bit, but not too much.

The boys had their International Adoption Clinic visit on October 8th. We left early in the morning when it was still dark. Isaac saw the stars for the first time in his life. WOW!!! We are so spoiled. A couple days later he came running in and in his excitement had daddy convinced that 2 plains had just crashed outside…..it was just the jet streams shimmering in the sky. He had never seen them before. It is the little moments of amazement that I think of when things are tough. We have learned a bit about  Isaac’s past that helps explain some of the issues we are faced with. THERE IS HOPE…..He loves his soft blanket and stuffed animals. He learned quickly how to tuck his stuffies in just like mama tucks him in. I could go on and on, but the important thing is that PRAYERS ARE BEING ANSWERED IN A BIG WAY! TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!

I am guessing there are thousands of dollars worth of decay in this mouth. We are brushing religiously and using Black Walnut.

You may notice one very unhappy boy in this picture. It is tough being disciplined for behavior that you know isn’t acceptable

Riding with Uncle Darad!

Isaac had quite a bit of written English in China and is very willing to learn English. Theo on the other hand isn’t interested in learning at all. He is slowly picking up a word here and there. He is a little parrot, but has very little understanding of what the words actually mean.

Both boys have more issues medically than we anticipated….prayers are coveted in this department, as this is all so overwhelming emotionally, mentally and financially. Thank you! We have our first specialist appointments the last week of October. Isaac will need oral surgeries for sure and Theo will have to have another operation on his left knee. These will be held off in order to figure out all of the surprise diagnoses. He has a whole list of limb deformities, possible cardiac issues, Failure to Thrive, malnutrition(we are working on this), hip issues, MAJOR DRAMA, etc.

I will leave you with this happy note. Theo has fallen asleep the last three nights in his mama’s arms. The first night was an ugly struggle. The last two nights he has been content to be rocked!! PTL!!