Long Night

Well, it looks like we may be in for a long night Gideon has been trying to fall asleep, or maybe that is trying to not fall asleep for the last 2+ hours. I thought I would take a few moments and add to the blog for the junkies out there.

This week has been pretty good overall. Nina seems to be settling in a school a bit. [Thanks to those who responded about an English tutor. We are following through on that] This week has been much better than the previous 2. I am trying to keep in mind that next week may be a down week again. There is no straight forward progress . . . I guess that can be said about all of us.

Gideon seems to be a little harder to handle this week, but I think he is paying us back for the weekend. Some of our friends kept the kids for most of the day on Saturday and then brought them to church on Sunday morning. Nina saw us Saturday night, but Gideon did not see me 'til 10:00 the next day at church and didn't see Bruce until about 2. Soooo, we are dealing with it. [Right now I would be happy if he just went to sleep!]

I will also say that this week seems to be going a little bit faster for me. A good thing in and of itself. Please keep praying for us as we continue to settle in and adjust. Pray for Nina as she continues to work through adapting to the new environement and grieving for the old. Pray we will be able to get Gideon into the therapies he needs. Pray that Bruce and I will have wisdom and patience.

Got to Go, Gideon is screaming for me
Peace, BLN&G

March 1

Well, we have passed the one month mark at home. Gideon is making great progress. He pretty much cries every time I leave him. He also gets upset when we leave Nina at school in the morning. His behavior continues to improve. He often chooses to control himself instead of disobeying and is even doing better on the hitting and biting front. Now if we could just get him to stop scratching and pinching. . . well one step at a time.

Nina has hit the frustration stage. She told me she has no thought of returning to Ukraine but she is very frustrated and angry this week. I think we are going to seek out an English tutor for her. I don't know if a Russian speaking or ESL tutor would be better. Please give us a holler if you have suggestions or experience in this. We are very glad to receive input. Pray for her as she makes this hurdle, we are told it is a common one that older children go through.

I am doing much better this week than last. Bruce is as well. We are just a touch sleep deprived.

As always your prayers are coveted. I have felt a true sense of God presence and purpose in our circumstances. I don't know the purpose at this time, but I know it has all been God's timing.

Sorry so short, but it grows late and I have miles to go . . .

Peace,
BLN&G