Anticipation

I can't believe it!  I woke up early this morning & found peace and quiet!  A precious commodity around here these days!  I must say though that there is a certain joy to the noise throughout our halls these days with four precious children!  God is so good and I am working on remembering how grateful I should be for his blessings. 

During my quiet time, it dawned on me - Rammy's birthday is Tuesday!  Oh my goodness!  He's going to be 4!  My baby is going to be 4!  Of course, we've been talking about it for weeks, but to actually have a moment to think about it was precious . . . things have been so fast & furious around here that I hadn't had a chance to reflect.  It has been a precious two months since my last post (still busy & chaotic & stressful but with many sweet moments also).  And now! Now!  Now, I anticipate celebrating the birth of our precious son.  I anticipate smelling my most favorite aroma - birthday candles & sweet frosting - as I set the cake in front of my son on Tuesday.  I've often told Matt that's my favorite moment . . . carrying that cake with candles lit, smelling the wax melting & the sugary frosting & seeing my sweet babies looking with anticipation - WARMS MY HEART!  I can't wait to share that moment with Rammy! 

Every month for six months after bringing him home, I have to complete a brief form & send pictures of our family to our agency, Chrisitan Adoption Services in NC.  Every time that I have to sit down to do this, I feel so burdened and annoyed  that I have my child & I'm STILL doing paperwork.  And EVERYTIME I do it, I go through all the pix for the month and my heart is warmed by them.  All the guilt I feel for not quite doing everything perfectly diminishes as I see their faces.  My sweet babies!  I may not be the most perfect mother, but it made me realize that at the end of the day there is joy.  And, memories are being made.  So here's a few updated photos & I encourage you to take a moment & just go through some photos (I would say albums, but since I haven't put any photos in an album for who knows how long . . . perhaps just scan through some files?  :-)    ).  God bless.

Also a quick update on the sweet one I know you have all prayed for.  Rammy has been on so many doctor visits since his arrival here and now attends speech therapy every Friday.  It has been a busy schedule for him.   He is taking it all in stride!  Since his hearing aids on May 20th, we have enjoyed hearing him say more words which is so fun.  We were told in reports he was nonverbal, and it is so neat to see him pick up new words and better communicate.  He is getting into that stage of repeating what he hears even though he may not be able to understand it's meaning or use yet, he is getting better at forming words.  For example, last night I sat him in  his booster seat for some ice cream (he finally started eating it Memorial Day weekend - a joyful moment for his sweet tooth mama!), and I said "oh boy!" and plain as day Ram said, "oh boy."  I don't know when we'll hear him say it again, but he is showing great signs of being able to communicate.  For now, we're at just one word at a time & working on animal sounds a lot in therapy.  He is a TOTAL CHAMP in therapy every week!  He is one smart cookie and a quick study!  Our whole family goes to the therapy, so we can model well for him (this will end once school starts which is making me sad).  We visited an incredible rehabilitation specialist and physical therapist a couple weeks ago.  The only sign of Cerebral Palsy is a little elasticity in his legs.  He ran for them & did many other things which wowed them (including lowering the physician's stool on wheels while the PT was sitting on it!); he's a master at figuring out how things work!  They both said to just keep him active and do what we've been - there is nothing (no therapy!) they would do for him - he's great!  What a relief!  We will see an Occupational Therapist to address some concerns regarding eating.  I've kept a diary & he appears to eat about 1000 calories everyday which is good but we are a little concerned at the length of time it takes him to complete a meal, etc.  So we will go for some feeding therapy.  In a nutshell, the kid is magnificent!  He has an incredible playful spirit & is so inquisitive & affectionate & such a fighter.  In the pool, he's a fish!  He even went off the diving board while his cousins visited!  Yes, that's one cool thing this past month, he's starting to meet his extended family finally!  Uncle Greg visited along with Tito Mike, Tita Michele & their 5 kiddos!  Cousins!  Yes, cousins rock!  :-) 

God bless you & yours!
Kim