Changing Faces

The most amazing sight to see during the past 7 weeks has been the utterly amazing transformation in the physical appearence of this little boy. Having posted the most recent pictures of Elijah, I thought it would be an experience to post a few of the pictures from our first trip for everyone to compare the boy we first met in the orphanage with the boy we know now and see everyday. There is no mistaking the difference. No more blank stare. No more tension locked up in his face and his whole body. Those eyes that once looked so scared I now get lost in for minutes at a time. To those who wonder what the importance of "setting the lonely in families" is, look at the face of this little boy and know that he is finally where he was always meant to be, and the look that you see has been a long time coming but is here to stay...

JP

Scroll down at all the pictures below that I've posted since we have been home to see the difference (my favorite of Elijah is still the one with his brothers in Home Depot aprons. It sits on my desk at work and I find myself staring at it for minutes at a time...doesn't help me get any work done for sure).

The Video is Finally Here!!!!

After over 6 weeks of trying, I finally have been able to make the video I made of Elijah while in Russia available for viewing. Please click on the following link:

www.myspace.com/parkadoption

Click on "Videos" on the left-hand side of the screen under where a picture of me would normally be. Make sure to turn on the audio, as there is music that goes with it. I hope you enjoy (and that it's not a let down after all the build-up). Please feel free to share it with any friends and family. Hopefully it can inspire a few people as well...

JP

Window Faces and Treacherous Eyelashes

It's been over 6 weeks since we picked up our son, and we are falling in love with him more everyday. Yesterday I was talking to Sara, and we both agreed that there have been times when we have forgotten that we ever brought him home from an orphanage. That he was not a physical part of our family for the first 2 1/2 years of his life. It all seems so natural now. I know that this will only continue as time goes on.

Elijah finally had his first doctor's appointment last Thursday. Other than a little heart murmur that he will grow out of, by all outward appearences he is in perfect health. His measurements make him Joe Average and his physical development appears to be normal for his age. We are keeping an eye, or ear rather, on his speech. We know that learning a new language throws a wrench in things, but we are not quite sure his talking is quite up to par for his age. We are probably going to have a consultation with a speech therapist in the next few months. We are waiting for all of his blood tests to come back, but we expect everything to come up normal there as well (He was a trooper through the shots and blood draw. That didn't stop the tech at Children's hospital doing the blood draw from asking mom if she was going to cry. He also assured mom that the only thing Elijah had to worry about was tripping over his eyelashes when he walked out of there. If you haven't seen those things in person, the pictures don't do them justice).

Honestly, it is the little things that you notice that truly remind you that God knew what He was doing when He picked Elijah for our family. The older three boys love to wave at me out the window when I leave for work (sometimes they'll get up as early as 4am to see me off, and then head back to bed). We make faces at each other until I drive off. We've been doing it for years. Not sure how it started. It's just one of those family things that happens. To my joy, the last time the boys saw me off Elijah joined them at the window. He didn't know the routine, so he just stood and smiled at me while I made faces at him (he'll figure it out soon). But I can't tell you what it did to my heart and what it meant to see my 4 boys together doing what they do best, being my goofy boys. This boy's gonna do alright.

We are in the birthing stages of starting an Adoption Support ministry at our church. We want to be resource for others who have adopted, are adopting, or are even contemplating adoption. We feel that God's story lived out through our adoption of Elijah needs to be shared. If it can help bring one more homeless child to a forever family, it will all be worth it. We are always available to anyone if they have questions. Feel free to direct people to our blog if they are interested.

Also, keep praying for foreign adoptions, as they were dealt another blow just recently. Another Russian adopted child died tragically and accidentally just recently, and two more organizations have lost their accredidation as a result. With the situation in China looking more bleak by the day, we can't help but feel like there is a battle going on. The way I look at it, adoption must be something very important if Satan is doing this much to try to stop it. All the more reason we should stay dilligent and be a voice for the voiceless...

JP

Don't Believe Everything Your Read

During this adoption process, we did lot of reading and a lot of research to try to prepare for the challenges that would face us as we brought Elijah home. We always felt pretty confident with how we raised our first three boys, but we knew that it was going to be a little different with Elijah (developing attachments, forming bonds, learning rules and the structure of our home). But there are a few things that we came across in our reading that we had fully prepared ourselves for, but have turned out not to be true.

One of these things that we were told was that since Elijah was adopted, our love for him would be different than our love for our three biological boys. Not that we wouldn't love him. Just that it would feel different because we did not conceive and give birth to him. And I fully prepared myself accordingly. However, from the moment I met him I felt like he was my own. Like he had been my own his whole life. Like we had given birth to him. I chalked that up initially to the "honeymoon phase" common to adopting families. However, as I sit here over a month and dozens of fits later, the honeymoon is over and that feeling hasn't changed. I love my son with every ounce of my being. I love him no differently than I love my other three boys. When I hold him it feels the same. When I kiss him it feels the exact same as when I kiss my other three boys. I would step in front of a bus for him if it came to that, without a moment's hesitation. And not because it is what I know I should do. But because I love my son. To all those out there wondering if it feels different, it doesn't.

Elijah continues to adjust well. He is picking up English very quickly, and we are able to communicate with him for pretty much everything. He continues to grow more attached to us, as well as his brothers. He still gets nervous in large groups of people and reverts to his "Cedric the Entertainer" routine, doing anything for some attention. But at home, he is just a happy, content, relaxed little boy.

This weekend he hit his first wiffle ball by himself! Not long until he's turning double plays...

JP