Dateline...

If you watched Dateline tonight, or are watching now: This is why God lead us to adopt Jonas. This is why we have always felt called to adopt a child with special needs. This is where Hannah and Micah would have ended up in almost any other country, had they been born there. In state institutions where there is NO HOPE!!!!!!!! My heart aches for children all over the world tonight that have soooooooooooo much potential, and it will never be known.

God, please forgive us for what our world has done with "the least of these"!!!

-Here is a link to photos from Ann Curry's trip to Serbia's mental institutions.
-Here is another link to an article that was written for this broadcast.

A very LONG, LONG, day...

Did I say it was a LONG day today? Here it is in bullet points:

It actually started around 12am.

-I took Hannah potty around 12am, and noticed that she had a bloody nose. Cleaned her up some, and changed her pillow case. Knowing that in the morning, before school, she would need a bath.

-7am: Got up with Micah and he told me as he was getting dressed that his stomach hurt. I gave him a malox, and he gagged and puked about 8 times. I was not sure if it was just gagging, or was he sick. I called the school to see if the stomach flu was going around, and sure enough it was. (His teacher told me tonight, that 4 kids did not go to school because they had it, she sent 2 home at lunch, and she started feeling sick after lunch. :-( ) So, Micah did not go to school.

-7:30: Got Hannah up for her bath.

-I heard Luca calling, "Hi Momma". I opened his door and found this:




He said to me, "Dump (jump) momma, dump..." So, do you think it is time for the toddler bed??? I am not ready for him to be out of his crib, he makes WAY too many messed! If we do set up the toddler bed, then we will have to anchor his dresser to the wall! :-)
Luca was VERY poopy, as you can tell by the load in his diaper, so that needed changed right away.

-It was about 8am by this time, and their bus comes at 8:15, so there was NO WAY that Hannah would be riding the bus to school.

-Jonas was wanting his bottle, so I made it and he fed himself. :-(

-Got Hannah washed and out of the tub, and she said she had to poop... :-) By this time, I had called her school and told them that she would be late to school. I just had that feeling... lol...

-Got Hannah dressed and got her breakfast. All the while, I am sure that I was stopping Luca from creating a million disasters! Oh, Luca somehow opened the door that holds all of my spices, and poored cumin on the floor. (Micah said that he did not open the door, but I don't think that Luca can do it!?)

-Jonas is crying because he is poopy too! Change him, and put him in the car.

-Finally get Hannah, Micah, and Luca in the car too, to take Hannah to school.

-Hannah arrives to school at 9:45. :-( I hour late...

-Return books to the library that are late...

-Go home to get luca and jonas breakfast.

-10:15: Jonas's PT comes for therapy. He has a great session. Started standing from sitting. She is so amazed with his progress, that she is bumping him up to 3 times/week. YEAH JONAS!!!!!!!

-After therapy, I got everyone lunch, and ready for naps. Before we went upstairs I heard Jonas scream, and Micah said, "Emergency, Emergency: Luca just pinched Jonas!!!" Sure enough, I went into the living room, and he was running to hide on the couch. Aghhhhhhh!!! Luca screamed when he had to lay down, but finally fell asleep. (He lost his last passy over a week ago, and I did not buy any more. So naps have been harder. :-( ) Jonas goes down for a nap. I set up Micah on the couch to rest during a movie so I could do some work...

-I sit down to do some work, and to write my long overdue update to GLA and all of you. The power went out in our house for some unknown reason, so my e-mail was LOST... It also woke Luca up because his fan turned off.

-2pm: Luca was screaming, Jonas had not fallen asleep yet, and Micah was awake, so I decided to load them all up and run errands. That went pretty well, because no one had to get out of the car. Micah even fell asleep for a little bit.

-We got home and waited for Hannah to get off the bus. I kept Luca from killing himself many times! :-) Hopefully cat food won't kill you, because I did not catch this until it was too late! :-)



-Hannah got home and we all went in for a snack. Luca, coming in not by choice!

-I honestly forget why now, but for some reason, Luca had timeout in his booster. I can buckle him in there. Jonas was crabby--remember he did not fall asleep during his nap. So, Micah comes and tells me, "Mom, Jonas fell asleep chewing." I go into check, and here is what I found...



Don't worry, I swept his mouth so he would not choke on the peanuts... :-)

-I started dinner and was interrupted probably 50 times by Luca doing something. He honestly is non-stop messes. I have tried everything, but he is all boy and is so curious of the world. He is also seeking attention because I have to help Jonas a lot! When I get to a breaking point, which I was at today, I do not cry, I start shutting down. I can't keep doing this. Luca is so high energy, that if I am doing something with another kid, he is getting into something! I can't even sit down with Hannah and Micah after school to do homework unless he is still sleeping. Don't get me wrong, he is a great boy, but he is soooooooooooooooo 2 right now! I know that it is a phase and it will pass, but what do I do now? So, I called a friend that works in the admissions department at Taylor University Fort Wayne Campus, to see if he knows anyone who would want to come over a couple hours in the afternoon to help out. Primarily with Luca, so I can do homework with the kids and cook dinner. Taylor University is a Christian University and it is about 6 blocks from our house. I am willing to pay, but it would be awesome too if a student needs community service hours or needs experience with special needs children. Please pray with me that God brings on the right person! I hate asking for help, but I need it!!!

Fall is a big transition for our family: Ryan is home with us all summer, and when school starts, he goes back to work and jumps right into coaching his schools' girl's volleyball team. It is a BIG transition for us!

-Hannah did not like what I made for dinner, so she went to bed without. That is a rule at our house: you can choose for breakfast and lunch, but I only cook one dinner.

-When Ryan got home about 5:45 he could tell that I was wiped, so he took all 3 boys for a walk and I was able to do Hannah's homework with her. He is the BEST! They came back, got baths, and everyone was in bed by 8pm. Luca screamed for a while because he was so overtired!!! I was out of lactose free milk for Jonas: he was crying in his crib, so I ran to the store and got soy milk. On the way home I stopped at Wendy's to fill my void with a frosty and they gave me the wrong kind... oh well, it was still good... :-)

-I got home and everyone was asleep except Jonas. I made him a bottle and went up and snuggled him and he drank it and we cuddled and just loved on each other.

Thanks God for a good ending to my VERY, VERY, VERY long day...

---So, since it is 10:55, and I am going to bed earlier tonight: you will have to wait until tomorrow to see the update on Jonas. Please pray that we have a better day tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks--Rebekah

**I am too tired to proof read this entry, so I hope it makes sense...

15 weeks...

15 weeks ago today, Jonas and I landed on US soil. The time has flown by so fast! A lot of you have asked about how he is doing, and I am going to do a BIG update tonight.

But for now, I will leave you with these pics that I just took minutes ago. I was just staring at how peacefully he was sleeping, and how BEAUTIFUL he is! It is amazing HOW DIFFERENT his life is now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you God for blessing our family with this amazing boy!!!!!!

Out of the mouth of babes...

So, we were on our way to Micah's soccer game, and Hannah was concerned that she was going to "starve to death" while she was there... Micah, with complete seriousness, says, "Hannah, don't worry, they have lots of snacks at the "CONFESSION" stand!

I nearly peed my pants laughing! Which honestly does not take much, since I have carried 3 babies to term, that have weighed 9 lbs. and over at birth.

But, that is a whole other blog... :-)

Photos from the past...

Jess Mayhew, one of Jonas's volunteers at GLA, and now a friend of mine, sent me these photos yesterday. He has grown SO MUCH in the last year! She volunteered with Jonas at the end of last summer and into early fall. One thing about my boy; once you are with him, he will never leave your heart!!!

Thanks Jess for the pics... Another link to Jonas's past.

Very cool article...Cooking Blind...

NISSA BENJAMIN | FOR THE MIAMI HERALD
08.09.08 -- Allen Preston and Celia Chacon from "Cooking Without Looking" make cheesecake filling during a demonstration in Macy's inside the Aventura Mall. Both Preston and Chacon are legally blind. Preston has Myopic retinopathy and Chacon has Retinitis pigmentosa.

Celia Chacon has been cooking and baking since she was 6, so when she lost her vision in 1996 to diabetic retinopathy, she was determined to adapt in the kitchen. It took time, but eventually she learned to feel, smell and even hear the ingredients.

''I can hear granulated sugar, powdered sugar and even brown sugar,'' she said during a cooking demonstration Aug. 9 at Macy's Aventura Mall.

Chacon shares her techniques on the public television show, Cooking Without Looking, which is geared toward the blind and people with limited sight. Chacon and her co-hosts, Allen Preston and Annette Watkins, showed the Macy's audience how to bake a cheesecake.

All the ingredients were placed on the counter: cream cheese, eggs, sugar, lemon and vanilla extract. Preston added three eight-ounce packages of cream cheese to a food processor as directed by Chacon and searched for the ''on'' button with his finger.

''On is usually next to off,'' Chacon explained.

The processor blended the cream cheese.

''The sound is changing,'' Preston said.

Preston has myopic retinopathy, which only allows him to see images of contrasting light, he said. Watkins has Stargardt's disease, a form of macular degeneration that has robbed her central vision. During the television show's segment ''Food for Thought,'' she interviews guests who've recently lost their sight.

On the set, Preston provides humor and Watkins helps pass the ingredients.

Hearing the cream cheese flow smoothly, Chacon and Preston knew it was time for the next ingredient. They gradually added one cup of sugar and four eggs. Chacon gave Preston a warning not to spill the eggs.

''Watch it!'' Chacon said.

''Watch it? I can't watch it,'' Preston said, jokingly.

The cheesecake was popped into a 350-degree oven, but the 65 or so audience members didn't have to wait for a taste. Chacon had prepared two strawberry cheesecakes for the presentation the night before, one regular and the other low-fat sugar-free.

Dominic Poli, 83, said he enjoyed the presentation and the cheesecake.

''It was tasty,'' said Poli, a retired physical therapist from Hallandale Beach.

James Leider, 51, said he will close his eyes the next time he cooks to empathize with Chacon.

''We are so blessed to be able to see,'' said Leider, a real-estate broker in Sunny Isles Beach who likes to cook.

Though the presention was geared toward fans of the kitchen, it also was intended to open people's eyes about capabilities of the disabled.

''It shows that a handicapped person can do great things,'' Poli said. ``They're an inspiration.''

Chacon encourages blind people not to give up their passion just because they can't see.

''Make whatever task a challenge and try to defeat the challenge so you can perfect yourself,'' she said.

Cooking Without Looking is partially underwritten by Nova Southeastern School of Optometry and is taped in Boynton Beach. The third season won't begin until sponsorship is complete. In the past, the show has aired in North Miami-Dade on Channel 15 and Comcast Channel 25. Previous shows can be viewed at www.visionworldfoundation.net.

First day of school...

How is it here already??? This has had to be the fastest summer ever!!!!!!!!! Hannah started 2nd grade today and Micah started full-day Kindergarten. It was strange sending Micah to school, knowing that I would not see him again until this afternoon! I was sad that it was here, but I did get a lot done today while the boys were napping. :-) I took Jonas and Luca to the zoo this morning, and we had a lot of fun. It is really easy just keeping track of 2 kids instead of 4!

Here are some pics from this morning. The other little boy in some of the pictures is Jared: Micah's friend and next door neighbor. The other little girl is Jacey, my niece. Ryan's sister lives 2 housed down from us. Both kids had a great day, and they were both in bed by 7:30 tonight.

Blogging break...

I will not be blogging much this week, if any at all. Believe me, it is not from a lack of blogging material, I have more material now than ever, with all of Luca's antics, it is lack of energy and ambition after chasing Luca all day long. Honestly, he is more challenging right now than my other 3 kids combined: and they all have special needs. It is also the week before school, and we are all getting back to our routine after being gone for 9 days. Ryan has started going into school this week,(He is a 6th grade math teacher), so that presents more challenges for me at home.

Honestly, I cannot leave Luca alone for more than 1 minute, or he is into something. Maybe I will blog later this week about the disaster that he caused yesterday. Even though I was furious I took pictures... Let's just say that it involved 24 oz. of honey,my floors, and a dining room chair with cloth seats. SIGH..............

Tomorrow I will take Micah into "drop-in" day for kindergarteners at his school, and then thursday and friday I will take Hannah into her school to get oriented with where her 2nd grade class is, and to get to know her teacher better. I can't believe that summer break is almost over, but both kids are excited about going back to school. This will be the first year for Micah to go for the whole day. He still naps, but we have been trying to ween him from that.

So, fare well for now: I will be back soon!

Okay, I'm done, I promise...

Jonas's 1st ice-cream cone...

Jonas has had ice-cream before, but this is his 1st "official" cone. For some reason, he thought that the whole experience was hysterical!!! Whether it was his tongue being cold, actually licking the ice-cream, or the orange sorbet flavor, he LOVED IT!!! He seriously was cracking himself up with this ice-cream cone! I wish I would have had my video camera to fully capture the moment.

Me and My Girl...

I LOVE THESE TOO...

And some more...

More pics...