The Body of Christ
Well, we’ve been home for one month and I can say that never has the body of Christ been displayed in our lives more than it has in the past month. This has been the hardest, most joyful month and I seriously don’t think we would have survived without those of you who have stepped in front of us, beside us, and behind us to care for us. It is really overwhelming and humbling to say the least. We have had friends providing us with meals, cleaning our house, and grocery shopping for us. It is going to be a rude awakening for me when I have to start doing these things again. I treasure each person for each task they have done for us. They have sacrificed time and energy to serve our family. They have ministered to us in an amazing way by allowing us to focus on attaching with our son and adjusting as a family of four.
Speaking of attaching, it is going well. Haven actually attached to Chris first. That was interesting since all of his nannies were female. I guess he just loved having a daddy. Attachment with me has taken longer, but we have made progress. He sleeps on me now and will let me rock him to sleep. For the longest he would push away from me when it was time for bed. So this has been huge for us. He loves his big sister so very much and is always looking around for her and flashes a big grin when he sees her. He recognizes our voices and is he is beginning to be soothed by being in our arms. I think he likes us. We definitely like him and are more than thrilled that he is in our family.
We started baby food hoping that it would help him to go longer between feedings. He is eating great, but still wanting a bottle every 2 hours even throughout the night. So we continue to battle exhaustion, but that is our only complaint. Our little man is so worth it. He loves to talk and is rolling over both ways now. He likes it when daddy sings a song about him and Story dances for him. He is such a happy baby, just very serious about mealtime!
Story absolutely loves being a big sister! She is a big helper. She loves to get clean diapers, play with him, entertain him, and show him off to her friends and teachers. My little fashionista picks out her brother’s outfit every day. To be completely honest she has had a hard time adjusting, but has never shown any aggression towards Haven. It’s all been about mom and dad not being able to give her all the attention she used to get. So, she has been spending some time pitching fits and hanging out in time-out. The behavior specialist we’re working with has told us that all of this is completely normal and shouldn’t last long. We’re ready for this to be over. It’s been very difficult to balance knowing when to give her more grace because this is a big adjustment and knowing when to discipline her because she knows that it’s unacceptable to act like this.
We would really appreciate you praying for wisdom in parenting her through this phase.
I just wanted to say thanks again to each of you for the part you have played and continue to play in our adoption journey. Chris and I had a dream to adopt. For us, it began as separate desires when we were teenagers. God brought us together in college. When we were engaged, my doctor told me it would be very difficult for us to have biological children. While this was hard to hear, we were both relieved to discover that each of us had a heart for adoption and had always wanted to adopt children one day. We had one domestic failed adoption in 2008 and one month later found out we were pregnant. Having Story only made our longing to adopt a child stronger. We dreamed of being a family to a child who needed a family. And now that dream is a reality. Many of you have prayed for us, donated money, donated items for an auction and garage sales, donated time, talents, and other resources. You have given us swings, car seats, clothes, strollers, bouncy seats, diapers, wipes, and anything else we could possibly need. While I understand that not everyone is called to adopt, we are all called to care for orphans. We are overwhelmed with gratitude for how you have cared for orphans through our family. By donating, praying, and scrubbing our toilets you have helped and ministered to us in tremendous ways. You have cared for an orphan. An orphan that now has a family. We love our community and are so blessed to do life with our friends and family. Thank you for being the body of Christ to us!