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