Christmas Pictures

Here are some random pictures from Christmas.  Caleb was so excited and happy about all of his gifts.  Peyton seemed to like some of her gifts but was a little overwhelmed at the two family parties away from home.  She shuts down in large crowds and around people that she hasn't seen very often, especially men, so it was hard to get her to smile.  I'm also gonna have to work with her on how to accept a gift.  She just shows very little emotion and I think that she is thankful but just doesn't know how to express it.  Since she is so shy it is hard to get her to say thank you to the giver.  So many things to teach and learn.  I have come to realize I can't assume things with her.  All that aside, she is doing so well for someone that chose to leave everything she knew just 2 short months ago. 

Enjoy the pictures and I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. 

~Tina

  

Two Months Home

Peyton and Caleb have been home 2 months now.  They are better than we could have ever expected them to be.  They are so laid back and just go with the flow.  There is still much to teach them and sometimes I wonder why they were never taught to do this or that.  Then I stop and just pause to be thankful that we are the ones that get to teach them.

Sweet Peyton is really starting to talk alot more now.  Like a typical girl, there are some clothes that she doesn't like and won't wear and doesn't mind telling me, "Me no like."  I just assumed since she was once an orphan she would be thankful to have clothes to wear no matter if they appealed to her or not but alas, I am used to raising boys so what was I thinking. She seems to be doing well at school as far as I can tell by the worksheets that come home.  She is in the 5th grade so that she can socialize with kids her age but she is pulled out some during the day to work on learning the alphabet and letter sounds and to help her get caught up with math.  She is at about a 3rd grade level in math and at the beginning for everything else because of the need to learn English.  She is enjoying school and seems happy to go.  I took her for an eye exam and she will need glasses.  She is nearsighted and was seeing double out of one eye.  When the doctor put lenses up to her eyes the amazement on her face that things were not blurry anymore was so funny.  She is so excited to get glasses. Next up is the dentist but I haven't scheduled that appointment yet.  We are taking the doctor's visits slow with her because it is rather traumatic.  I have talked with her about the dentist, her teeth and that she will need her teeth worked on but she is not happy about that.  Every little test or procedure equals pain in her eyes and so I am going to have to do a little more talking with her before we go.  This girl has come a long way in 2 months and it is so fun to experience life with her.  And yes, everyone assumes she is my biological daughter and they can't believe it when I tell them she is from Ukraine. 

Little Caleb always has a smile on his face.  He understands most of what we say now but can't speak much English without prompting.  I have been working with him on writing the letters of his name and he does pretty well for never holding a pencil or being taught anything.  We are hoping in January to start him at the same preschool Carson is attending.  He still is so excited about having a cat and is doing better at holding and touching her nicely.  He seems to have an ear for music and someday I want to give him the opportunity to take piano lessons.  I took him to the eye doctor and he did so well.  He is a little farsighted and I will take him back for a follow-up visit in a couple of months to see how we need to procede.  He will also need to go to the dentist and I think I will take Peyton along so that she can see what to expect.  He is just the sweetest little boy and has not once looked back to where he came from.  He is happy and content with this life and there really has not been much adjustment needed with him.  For that I am so thankful. 

Here are some random pictures of the last week or so.  Enjoy.

~Tina

Yes, Carson does like his candy!



wrestling with big brother, Theron



Theron traveled by train to visit his girlfriend for Chrtistmas.
He opened his gifts early and the kids couldn't wait to watch.





We were at a family dinner and who should arrive but Santa. 
Carson, sitting on my lap, was just a little leary of him so
mom's lap was the best place to be.

That is Peyton behind the tree crying because one of the
two littles running away from her just threw a snowball
at her face.  Oh the joy of little brothers.

A few seconds later she was ready to take a picture.

Caleb giving the snowball a plane ride.

It was so fun watching them work on this together.

       

The Butterfly

I've never told about this part of our adoption before, so here it goes. 

When we saw Peyton's picture for the very first time it was on the Horner family's blog.  I followed their blog for the almost four months they were in Ukraine adopting their kids.  During this time, Alecia found comfort in God showing her His presence through butterflies. 

As we were pursuing the adoption of our kids, butterflies took on a special meaning for me as well.  There were many moments of discouragement and frustration, questioning why things were happening the way they were, and just really needing to see or feel God's nearness.  Everytime I needed to see, God brought a butterfly.  It might have been a painting on a wall; an embroidered butterfly in a frame at our hotel; Peyton's friends at the orphanage drawing butterflies; someone we came in contact with having a butterfly design on their clothes; the taxi driver having butterflies on the seat cover; to yes, even real butterflies on our many walks to the orphanage.  God is awesome like that and everytime the butterfly appeared I had such a peace in knowing that God was so near.  I felt like He was showing me everything was ok, no need to worry, just trust what was going on and His timing. 

Well, today when Peyton got home she was so excited about a little gift she had made at school.  She said it was for me and daddy.  Since I had just opened the gift Cash had made, I decided that we would wait until Gary got home so he could open Peyton's gift.  She was ok with that as she has become just a little smitten with her daddy.  Before I show you what her gift was let me just say that I have had some things going on in the last couple of weeks that I have been frustrated about and just a little discouraged.  But God has given me this verse:

Psalm 37:4-7 - Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord: trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your rightousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.

And, once again, a butterfly, Peyton's gift.

Awesome God!




 

 










I have another short story I have to tell.  I listen to Christian radio and also some Christain cds and well, I have probably wore out my Mandisa cd as my kids know alot of the words to her songs.  There is one particular song that I sometimes skip over because the kiddos have their favorite song that they like to hear and it is not at the top of their list.  The name of the song is Free and free is repeated alot.  So one day as I was driving along and in my own little world the Free song was on and I hear this little voice in the back saying free everytime he hears it.  And I thought, yes you are sweet Caleb, you are free, an orphan no more.  I said that to him and he just grinned.  The other little ones wanted to know what I meant and I explained to them that Caleb now has a family and he is free to be all that God intended for him to be.  They were so excited and now when this song comes on they say, Caleb, you are free.

Oh, and one more thing.  My sweet Carson (ok, sometimes he is just so onery) singing for you.  I know it is not a Christmas song but it too cute not to share and yes I started laughing and I think you will too.

~Tina    

What's New?

We have a new kitten, Ms. Kitty.  The kids just love her except Caleb doesn't quite know how to play nicely with her yet.  He gets so excited and pulls her tail or squeezes her fluffy coat.  Cash said, Mom why does he do that?  Why can't he just touch her nicely?  I explained to him that Caleb has probably never seen a kitty in real life and he is just so excited to finally be able to touch one.  We saw plenty of dogs at the orphanage that were not treated nicely by the older boys but never saw any cats.  He just doesn't know how he is supposed to treat her so we have to teach him.

We finally got the kids in for a well check at Children's Mercy.  We wanted to go there because they had someone who could translate for us.  We knew the kids would need at least some shots and so we thought it would go better if someone were there to tell them what was about to happen.  Well, I can't say as it mattered much, pain is pain in any language.  Peyton was glad to have someone to talk to but thought that we had brought them there to leave them.  What?  Absolutely not!  Not in a million years precious girl!  It really was chaos in that small room.  Imagine, Gary and I, Peyton, Caleb, the translator and 2 nurses in a 10 x 10 room with medical equipment in it.  Not alot of room to move around.  One nurse was asking me questions about the kids while I had been given 3 pages each to fill out and I was trying to console Peyton while the translator was telling me what she was saying and the first nurse was still trying to get me to answer questions and I was trying to make sure Caleb wasn't touching all the buttons.  Just chaos.  We did find out that Peyton is definitely going to need her eyes checked as she could not see anywhere near 20/20.  I was shocked at how big the letters were before she could tell what they were.  Caleb is going to need an x-ray of his back.  He has a bump next to his spine down on his lower back.  He also has some breathing issues, allergies and slight asthma or chronic bronchitis as they called it in Ukraine.  So we have some medicine for that.  Caleb was so funny while they were getting ready to give him a shot. He sat there and said, (as translated) I am a big boy and I am not going to cry.  He didn't cry much but Peyton on the other hand didn't do so well.  She was very emotional and was crying before she even saw the needle.  I am not sure how much it helped that the translator was wiping her tears with a tissue trying to get her to look the other way and shushing her.  We were just so glad when it was all over. 

On Sunday afternoon Gary was getting ready to leave the house and go feed hay to our cows.  Carson usually always goes with him as he is quite the farm boy.  This time Peyton was just standing there watching Carson leave with daddy when I noticed a look on her face.  I said Peyton what's wrong?  She said, I want to go with daddy.  I said, of course you can and away she went to get her shoes.  She was so so excited to ride in the tractor.

   










And tonight we decorated the Christmas tree.  The kids were so excited to see all the ornaments that we had to hang on the tree and to hear stories about some of them.  As I watched them hang the ornaments one on top of the other at times I just let them do it.  Normally that would have really bothered me but you know, in the whole scheme of things, it doesn't really matter.  It was worth it to see how happy they were.  And when we were done and the angel was on top of the tree and the lights were turned on, the amazement on their faces was what I will always remember.  But what I liked most of all, Peyton actually called me mom tonight for the first time and I am sure the look on my face was priceless.  

~Tina