Sorry for the Long Silence

I really do apologize! Especially since I left on such a tired and traumatic note last time. I can't believe it has been a month since I grabbed a few minutes to write down what's going on.

Let's start with Gideon. He is doing well. We have started going to a mother's day out program close to my work. That means I get 8 whole hours a week to myself!! Alright so far those hours have all gone to Holy Week and Easter preparations at church, but it is still 8 hours a week where I remember who I am without kids around -- okay that's not really true because even when they aren't with me I am still thinking about them. Hmmm, that sounds very Mom-like.

But I am supposed to be talking about Gideon. He is doing well at MDO. He never wants to go, but when we get there, he leaves me at the door and has a great day. Then he usually sleeps in the car while we go get Nina from school. We did have a BIG BIG melt down the first day he went because I told him he was going to go to school that day. The only school he knew was Nina's so he thought he was going with Nina to school. When he finally understood that he was going to a different school he cried and screamed for 10-15 minutes. Many prayers were said that morning. Other than that, he continues to eat like he is 10 or 12 rather than 4. My parents were here last week and he ate roughly 6 meals a day. We have joked that he eats like a hobbit (See the first Lord of the Rings book or movie to get that reference). But he has grown over an inch and added 6 or so pounds since the medical exam in Kiev.

I should also mention our round with a 24 hour stomach virus. It was 3 Wednesdays ago. He got sick in the car and was burning up with fever when we got home from picking up Nina from school. [Doesn't that complete the official Mom initiation?]. Bruce was working late that night so I had to call into church and get someone else to cover my teaching responsibilities that night. The up side was that for the first time, he sat in the rocking chair and snuggled with me for over an hour. Nina went to church with Bruce's parents that night, which was also a good thing. Gideon spent most of the night either asleep on the couch while I watched a movie or throwing up. Luckily for us he slept through the night and was back to himself the next afternoon. But since then he has been much more open and affectionate with me and everyone else as well. It was like he finally learned that touch was good.

We continue to make progress in behavior as well. He is learning self control although he will still try to bite, scratch, and hit when he is put in time out. But even there he is learning to control himself. He has even learned to use the sign for "Sorry" and will use it appropriately. The other thing we are working on is not throwing when he is angry. We are still trying to get him evaluated for his speech delays and see if there are other therapies he might need. I am having to learn to be a pushy mom to get that done.

As for Nina, she is doing well. We have hit the homesick for Ukraine stage. She didn't want to eat American food, even those foods she previously said she liked. She began lounging in her clothes from Ukraine and complaining that all her friends were in Ukraine and she had no friends here. Sometimes you could remind her that she had friends and sometimes you couldn't. Help came from an unlikely source -- Russian chat rooms. Bruce and I have been a little nervous about this, but she has seemed much happier since she started chatting on-line. It gives her a connection to her old culture and the ability to have casual conversation without the mental effort it takes to have those in English. We have and continue to talk to her about the dangers and not giving out personal information and she understands (as much as a 16 year old can) and talk openly with us about who she is talking to and what they are talking about. It does take some asking to get her to talk, but we don't have the sense that she is hiding anything from us. We also feel blessed that she has made contact with a couple of Ukrainian families here in town, including one that has a 19 year old daughter. The girl is reported to be a strong Christian and is following through on contacting Nina. If this is a good as it seems to be, it is exactly what we have prayed for. The girl is old enough to have more maturity than Nina but young enough that Nina can see being in her shoes. Hopefully God's hand is in this and the young woman will be able to help Nina through the rough spots.

Bruce and I are doing alright, we're just really tired. We are so grateful to my parents who came up last week for spring break. It gave us a lot of help with the kids and the house. My Dad put in some fencing and a gate that finished the encloser of our back yard so Gideon can now be contained in it. At least till he learns to climb the fence. We even got a date night last week! Bruce said a couple of weeks ago that he thinks we are finding our stride as a family, and I think he's right. We are getting in the grove that will carry us through the rest of this school year.

Pray for us as we consider the possibility of moving closer to Bruce's work to shorten his hour long commute

Pray for Nina as she deals with her homesickness for Ukraine

Pray that we will find the help and therapists we need for Gideon

Pray that Bruce and I will have the energy to parent them as they need and the wisdom to know what to do.

Peace of Christ,
BLN&G