Today as we were on our way to church, the sun was shining brilliantly through the car window. It was quite striking, actually. It has been rainy and overcast for so many days, to see the beautiful rays touching the water, skimming over the tree tops, sparkling on the road and lighting the places where the ice was resting was just a special blessing. My whole body warmed with the glow it produced.
Elisha had some sun shining right in his face..... He excitedly looked at me and said, "Mama, nun kum ou !!!!! Gdood job, nun!!!" (Mama, sun come out!!!! Good job, sun!!) As I looked back in the rear view mirror, he was giving the sun a thumbs up. Good job, sun!!
He made it through the Christmas Cantata at church this morning, staying in the service so he could enjoy the music and watch Papa sing. He clapped and cheered- even when everyone else was quiet.... :0)
I told him he had to be quiet while Paul, the narrator, was speaking. So, after that, every time Paul would start speaking, Elisha would glance up at me and say, "Paul done?" He would begin praying when others were praying, wait about 30 secs and then say,"Amen," and be ready to go on to the next thing.
I can't believe how emotional all this is for me. Three Christmases ago I was researching adoption agencies, filling out forms and beginning the process of becoming pregnant in my heart, just knowing that God had a child for us. Two Christmases ago I was laboring in my mind wondering if we had somehow missed God's calling that we were to find our son out there and adopt him and bring him home. The adoption process had been shut down for several months with no end in sight. Last Christmas.... Wow... Last Christmas was profoundly different. It was so hard to know where our son was, and know that we couldn't be with him, and not even be sure when or possibly if we could bring him home.
This Christmas. How much more real it all is for me. Not the Santa and the Ho Ho and the things we usually think of when we mention Christmas. The night, soooo very long ago, when a very young woman gave birth to a child. I look at my son many times and wonder what he might decide to do when he grows up. All these feelings that come with being a parent are amazing in and of themselves. Can you imagine if you looked at your little son, wrapped up tight, sleeping the sleep of the innocent in your arms and knew what prophecy had to say about that little boy. Oh Mary, what did you ponder??
This Christmas I am holding our son, the child of the promise to us from God. As the Cantata swelled and came to the final song, the banners waving as we sang all together to Jesus, I couldn't help a little sob escaping. Elisha was mesmerized by the flags, snuggled close to my heart, listening to the anthems being raised to Christ the Savior. Oh, my precious son, my you come to know God sooo fully. I pray constantly that we would be the parents God would have us to be to raise you to know Him as fully as you can. My precious child, I wish that could be my gift. There wouldn't be ribbons or bows enough to be able to contain it, for I am finding with each season of my life that deep abiding love from God just continues to grow and become stronger.
Thank you, God, for wonderful moments and warm sunshine to fill our hearts and the amazing gift you gave us that we celebrate now! May it all become more real to us than ever before.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Red Light- Stop
Just over the past few weeks, it has amazed us how much Elisha has grown. He is talking so much more clearly and putting more complex thoughts together.
Every time just the 2 of us head off in the car, he wants to know if we are driving to Grammalot's house, or Gwama and Gwampa's house, or to see Papa at work. He knows the gas pedal, the brake and points them out as I'm fastening him in to his car seat.
He is becoming so aware of the world around him- the "Rai comi dow from ky"- or the "No falling dow from ky" (rain and snow falling down from sky).
His big thing the last week has been the traffic lights. He says his r's with an l- so it comes out something like this......
We'll be driving down the road and come to a traffic light that is red. As I slow down, he says, "Lre ligh top!!" (red light stop!!) Followed with, "reen ligh Go GO GO!!!!" And if we happen to be slowing down for a yellow light, he says, "Ylellow ligh low down!!"
I think he is more aware of vehicles than I was in my early teen years! He pretends his potty seat is a big truck- he steps to the side, opens the pretend door, steps over the seat sideways, sits down, "closes" the imaginary door and starts up the engine. He puts his feet on my feet and uses them as the break and gas. I am totally loving his imagination. We have so many adventures!!
Every time just the 2 of us head off in the car, he wants to know if we are driving to Grammalot's house, or Gwama and Gwampa's house, or to see Papa at work. He knows the gas pedal, the brake and points them out as I'm fastening him in to his car seat.
He is becoming so aware of the world around him- the "Rai comi dow from ky"- or the "No falling dow from ky" (rain and snow falling down from sky).
His big thing the last week has been the traffic lights. He says his r's with an l- so it comes out something like this......
We'll be driving down the road and come to a traffic light that is red. As I slow down, he says, "Lre ligh top!!" (red light stop!!) Followed with, "reen ligh Go GO GO!!!!" And if we happen to be slowing down for a yellow light, he says, "Ylellow ligh low down!!"
I think he is more aware of vehicles than I was in my early teen years! He pretends his potty seat is a big truck- he steps to the side, opens the pretend door, steps over the seat sideways, sits down, "closes" the imaginary door and starts up the engine. He puts his feet on my feet and uses them as the break and gas. I am totally loving his imagination. We have so many adventures!!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
What a month.....
Wow!! I can't believe how much has happened since the last I posted- hang in- this is going to be a long post...... but lots of pics :0)
When we went to visit Papaw in the hospital (wow- it has been well over a month ago now!!) Aunt Linda and Uncle Gary were there. Elisha was having a little bit of a problem saying Uncle Gary's name, so we made it a roar like a lion.... Uncle Ggggrrrrreeeey. As we were preparing to go to my Mother-in-law's family's Thanksgiving dinner, the weekend before Thanksgiving, I was telling him the names of some of the people he knew that would be there. We did all our immediate family first, then named some of the aunts and uncles.
Wasn't even thinking about the time in the hospital- but Elisha remembered. As soon as I said Uncle Gary- his little face lights up and he says, "Unka Ggggrrrrrreeeey." It is so precious!! We laughed so hard. He keeps coming up with it. We'll be driving along the road, and he'll say, "Unka Grrrreeeyy."
Had a great time with all Tim's family on his mom's side. They had seen Elisha 2 days after arriving home from Russia (for the family Easter celebration), so were able to see how much he has changed. It was nice to see everyone and spend time together.
We drove over to Columbus on Thanksgiving Day and had dinner and spent time with Papa, who had to work. The guys at the firehouse do a great job putting together some delicious food. We had a fun time in fellowship with everyone. One of Tim's coworkers and his wife brought their daughter in. When all the guys on duty got called out for a run, Elisha was quite content playing with his new friend, Gabby. He also had a blast playing "Gettem" with the Captain.
Grant would lay on the couch pretending to be asleep. Gabby and Eli would run over and wake him up- he'd come roaring down like a bear after them, they'd run across the room and into my arms, giggling, screaming, screeching. At one point, Elisha must have felt a little overwhelmed. He stopped mid run and turned around and waved a little hand to Grant and said, "Hi!!" After we got over our laughter from the abrupt change, and Grant stopped being the bear and smiled and waved hi back, Elisha turned and ran as fast as he could across the room to me. He did this several times. We were all laughing so much!!
Then he got to help Randy play his guitar. He just loved to be around all the guys, seeing his Papa on a duty day. What a lot to be thankful for!!
The next morning, we headed out for PA to visit with my folks. I was sooo excited to see them. They are waaaayyyyy too far away!! (and yet, it really isn't that far) Elisha talked about being excited to see Gwama and Gwampa. My dad likes this a lot better. When we first got home, he thought it would be great to be called the Russian form of Grandma and Grandpa- Babuska and Daduska. Unfortunately, it came out as BooBoo and DooDoo. Then it was Gwama Dudu. So, he is very content with Gwampa now :0)
Charity and Brian were in to visit, too. It was sooo good to see them. We talk on the phone, but they have only seen Elisha the one time at our family reunion in July. It was fun to watch the interactions with one of my siblings. Looking forward to Christmas when we can all be together, even if only for a few days.
Here is Elisha, playing the Fisher Price drum my Mom has had since my sisters were small. Sorry about the mirror, Dad.... lol Elisha's calling card..... :0)
Mom had some Kid's Craftsman tools for Elisha- he sure loved that- a tool belt and hat and all those tools. He was banging away on the little tool table talking about being "Jus li Papa!!"
Here are Elisha and Mama, enjoying being with the family...
Once we got back to Ohio, we had to get it in gear to get our outside decorations up. We wanted to be able to make this a very special Christmas for our little guy!!
Elisha and I went out to "help" Papa put the lights up around the house. Well, Papa and Mama got most of it done while Elisha napped. After nap, he came out to "help."
The look says it all, doesn't it? Wowowow!!
A few days later, we had some snowfall. So, one day, while Papa was at work, we got all bundled up and went out to play in the snow. The Russian grannies would be proud. Our son was bundled up so much- we thought we should call him "Randy," the little brother on The Christmas Story.
He went down and got his wheelbarrow out and was taking wood from the wood stack into the house- "Jus li Papa does!!" He had so much fun, and it was amazing to see the attention to detail he has. He'd tap the log off several times on the ground before putting it in his wheelbarrow to get the dirt off.
I have been thinking of my Grandma soo much lately, so when Tim told me he had to stay over and work last Saturday after being gone for work all day Friday, I decided to load up the car and take Elisha to Grandma's house for the weekend.
The trip went well, didn't get lost (this is funny if you realize I've been traveling there for over 30 years- but I usually sleep through parts of the trip- I've only driven it a few times by myself) and Elisha seemed so excited.
We stopped at Flying J to get gas as we started out (for only $1.53!!! a gallon) and as we were coming out of the convenience store and I was buckling him in, he started to wave. I looked over and saw a pretty unkempt man, missing several teeth. One I would be hesitant to be around in an unknown area. Then, as I watched, his face- one minute gnarled and foreboding- changed. He began to smile from his toes out! Such joy on his face- it made me smile. He leaned over and gave a little finger wave back to Elisha as he was getting into his beat up old car. Once he got seated, these boys, separated by generations, joined by a smile, began waving at each other again. Thank you, God, for these glimpses of you that I see through the eyes of a child!
When we got there, he warmed up instantly with Grandma- Grammalot to her great grandchildren. He remembered where he slept when we were there last and was as comfortable there as he is at home. I had been concerned that it would take a long time to warm up to her, and then be time to come home- but not so. He slept so well for naps, as well as at bedtime. What a blessing!!
He surprised both of us, Grandma and myself, when he remembered where everything was. He went over to the small table Grandma has set up in the kitchen. It is an older table with a drawer in it. This is where Grandma keeps her silverware. Elisha went right over to it when it was almost time to eat to get the spoons out. Amazing......! He was at her house for 2 nights back in April and then again in July- with 70 other people there for a family reunion.
One of his favorite games there was for me to chase him and him run right into Grammalot's arms as she sat in the chair. There is a ramp going up from the living room into the rest of the house. He loved running up and down it. I was able to get some video of that- but it takes soooo long to upload video and pics, not sure if I'll have the time to post it or not. He also loved eating next to Grandma. I loved watching them. He'd just look over at her and put his head on her arm, then look up and smile and grin.
We went to church with Grammalot on Sunday. They had their children's Christmas program followed by a soup and sandwich supper afterward. It amazed me to realize that the tables that Elisha was able to run under, barely ducking, in April, were now about level with his shoulders. Hard to believe how much he's grown.
Here he is giving "Grammalock" lots of hugs and kisses as we prepared to leave.
After I got home from work on Wed, I got out the sugar cookie making supplies and Elisha and I baked Christmas cookies. What a hoot!! It was a lot of fun. Papa came up just as we finished cutting out the last cookie. When we finished dinner, I threw together some butter cream frosting and then did something that very rarely happens. I let Elisha lick the beater.
You could see the yumm on his face. After the first lick, he seemed a little uncertain- I said, "Are you done?" and he grabbed the beater and thoroughly enjoyed licking a little off each tine. AAhhhhh... the joys of Christmas baking....
Papa took him upstairs and gave him a bath while I started frosting the cookies. They made it downstairs as I was halfway through with the cookies.
Here is Elisha helping Papa put the sprinkles on the cookies. Most of his conversation was a sort of question the whole evening.... "Lya ea cookie now???" "Lya ea cookies now??" (Elisha eat cookies?) At one point, as I'm getting the remaining frosting out of the piping bag, Tim putting away the camera, Elisha walked over, dragged over his stool, said, "Lya ea cookie." (Notice the period here. I realized later it wasn't a question.... :0) As I'm saying, "No honey, not now- we'll eat some tomorrow," I look over and he has a cookie in his hand and is taking a bite. lol . ... I have to admit, they are pretty good :0)
Ok- now I can sleep at night. I've had these thoughts floating around my head for a month now, wanting to write them down, put up pics, etc.
It has been quite hectic around here, and also quite emotional for us. A wonderful woman we never met, yet feel we know quite well through our adoption agency, lost her battle with cancer this week. Or should I say won her battle and now has a new pain free body. Such a courageous, positive, amazing woman- I rejoice for her and weep for the rest of us still here. She was such a shining influence and great encourager. She and her husband adopted their son from the same orphanage that Elisha is from, a little over 3 years ago, and her lists, postings and pictures made the area seem familiar to us and gave us that little extra we needed to be able to prepare for our journey. We are keeping her husband and 3 children (2 just adopted this year) in our prayers.
So, we are 1 week away from Christmas. What are you doing to prepare your heart and homes? May the most amazing gift of all, the greatest gift ever given fill your heart, mind and homes this year. May the stress we've made of the season fade away, the greed our culture makes normal dissipate and the loneliness cease. May we gather everyone around us close and remember the reason we celebrate this season to begin with.
The majesty, the drama, that quiet night, soo long ago when all creation past and future collectively held its breath at the cry of a newborn baby- the Lord incarnate- so weak and lowly. May your heart and mind hear his cooing and that amazing baby laugh and relax this season.
Looking forward to posting pics and stories of our first Christmas as a family of three.......
When we went to visit Papaw in the hospital (wow- it has been well over a month ago now!!) Aunt Linda and Uncle Gary were there. Elisha was having a little bit of a problem saying Uncle Gary's name, so we made it a roar like a lion.... Uncle Ggggrrrrreeeey. As we were preparing to go to my Mother-in-law's family's Thanksgiving dinner, the weekend before Thanksgiving, I was telling him the names of some of the people he knew that would be there. We did all our immediate family first, then named some of the aunts and uncles.
Wasn't even thinking about the time in the hospital- but Elisha remembered. As soon as I said Uncle Gary- his little face lights up and he says, "Unka Ggggrrrrrreeeey." It is so precious!! We laughed so hard. He keeps coming up with it. We'll be driving along the road, and he'll say, "Unka Grrrreeeyy."
Had a great time with all Tim's family on his mom's side. They had seen Elisha 2 days after arriving home from Russia (for the family Easter celebration), so were able to see how much he has changed. It was nice to see everyone and spend time together.
We drove over to Columbus on Thanksgiving Day and had dinner and spent time with Papa, who had to work. The guys at the firehouse do a great job putting together some delicious food. We had a fun time in fellowship with everyone. One of Tim's coworkers and his wife brought their daughter in. When all the guys on duty got called out for a run, Elisha was quite content playing with his new friend, Gabby. He also had a blast playing "Gettem" with the Captain.
Grant would lay on the couch pretending to be asleep. Gabby and Eli would run over and wake him up- he'd come roaring down like a bear after them, they'd run across the room and into my arms, giggling, screaming, screeching. At one point, Elisha must have felt a little overwhelmed. He stopped mid run and turned around and waved a little hand to Grant and said, "Hi!!" After we got over our laughter from the abrupt change, and Grant stopped being the bear and smiled and waved hi back, Elisha turned and ran as fast as he could across the room to me. He did this several times. We were all laughing so much!!
Then he got to help Randy play his guitar. He just loved to be around all the guys, seeing his Papa on a duty day. What a lot to be thankful for!!The next morning, we headed out for PA to visit with my folks. I was sooo excited to see them. They are waaaayyyyy too far away!! (and yet, it really isn't that far) Elisha talked about being excited to see Gwama and Gwampa. My dad likes this a lot better. When we first got home, he thought it would be great to be called the Russian form of Grandma and Grandpa- Babuska and Daduska. Unfortunately, it came out as BooBoo and DooDoo. Then it was Gwama Dudu. So, he is very content with Gwampa now :0)
Charity and Brian were in to visit, too. It was sooo good to see them. We talk on the phone, but they have only seen Elisha the one time at our family reunion in July. It was fun to watch the interactions with one of my siblings. Looking forward to Christmas when we can all be together, even if only for a few days.
Here is Elisha, playing the Fisher Price drum my Mom has had since my sisters were small. Sorry about the mirror, Dad.... lol Elisha's calling card..... :0)
Mom had some Kid's Craftsman tools for Elisha- he sure loved that- a tool belt and hat and all those tools. He was banging away on the little tool table talking about being "Jus li Papa!!"
Here are Elisha and Mama, enjoying being with the family...Once we got back to Ohio, we had to get it in gear to get our outside decorations up. We wanted to be able to make this a very special Christmas for our little guy!!
Elisha and I went out to "help" Papa put the lights up around the house. Well, Papa and Mama got most of it done while Elisha napped. After nap, he came out to "help."
The look says it all, doesn't it? Wowowow!!
A few days later, we had some snowfall. So, one day, while Papa was at work, we got all bundled up and went out to play in the snow. The Russian grannies would be proud. Our son was bundled up so much- we thought we should call him "Randy," the little brother on The Christmas Story.
He went down and got his wheelbarrow out and was taking wood from the wood stack into the house- "Jus li Papa does!!" He had so much fun, and it was amazing to see the attention to detail he has. He'd tap the log off several times on the ground before putting it in his wheelbarrow to get the dirt off. I have been thinking of my Grandma soo much lately, so when Tim told me he had to stay over and work last Saturday after being gone for work all day Friday, I decided to load up the car and take Elisha to Grandma's house for the weekend.
The trip went well, didn't get lost (this is funny if you realize I've been traveling there for over 30 years- but I usually sleep through parts of the trip- I've only driven it a few times by myself) and Elisha seemed so excited.
We stopped at Flying J to get gas as we started out (for only $1.53!!! a gallon) and as we were coming out of the convenience store and I was buckling him in, he started to wave. I looked over and saw a pretty unkempt man, missing several teeth. One I would be hesitant to be around in an unknown area. Then, as I watched, his face- one minute gnarled and foreboding- changed. He began to smile from his toes out! Such joy on his face- it made me smile. He leaned over and gave a little finger wave back to Elisha as he was getting into his beat up old car. Once he got seated, these boys, separated by generations, joined by a smile, began waving at each other again. Thank you, God, for these glimpses of you that I see through the eyes of a child!
When we got there, he warmed up instantly with Grandma- Grammalot to her great grandchildren. He remembered where he slept when we were there last and was as comfortable there as he is at home. I had been concerned that it would take a long time to warm up to her, and then be time to come home- but not so. He slept so well for naps, as well as at bedtime. What a blessing!!
He surprised both of us, Grandma and myself, when he remembered where everything was. He went over to the small table Grandma has set up in the kitchen. It is an older table with a drawer in it. This is where Grandma keeps her silverware. Elisha went right over to it when it was almost time to eat to get the spoons out. Amazing......! He was at her house for 2 nights back in April and then again in July- with 70 other people there for a family reunion.
One of his favorite games there was for me to chase him and him run right into Grammalot's arms as she sat in the chair. There is a ramp going up from the living room into the rest of the house. He loved running up and down it. I was able to get some video of that- but it takes soooo long to upload video and pics, not sure if I'll have the time to post it or not. He also loved eating next to Grandma. I loved watching them. He'd just look over at her and put his head on her arm, then look up and smile and grin.
We went to church with Grammalot on Sunday. They had their children's Christmas program followed by a soup and sandwich supper afterward. It amazed me to realize that the tables that Elisha was able to run under, barely ducking, in April, were now about level with his shoulders. Hard to believe how much he's grown.
Here he is giving "Grammalock" lots of hugs and kisses as we prepared to leave.After I got home from work on Wed, I got out the sugar cookie making supplies and Elisha and I baked Christmas cookies. What a hoot!! It was a lot of fun. Papa came up just as we finished cutting out the last cookie. When we finished dinner, I threw together some butter cream frosting and then did something that very rarely happens. I let Elisha lick the beater.
You could see the yumm on his face. After the first lick, he seemed a little uncertain- I said, "Are you done?" and he grabbed the beater and thoroughly enjoyed licking a little off each tine. AAhhhhh... the joys of Christmas baking....
Papa took him upstairs and gave him a bath while I started frosting the cookies. They made it downstairs as I was halfway through with the cookies.
Here is Elisha helping Papa put the sprinkles on the cookies. Most of his conversation was a sort of question the whole evening.... "Lya ea cookie now???" "Lya ea cookies now??" (Elisha eat cookies?) At one point, as I'm getting the remaining frosting out of the piping bag, Tim putting away the camera, Elisha walked over, dragged over his stool, said, "Lya ea cookie." (Notice the period here. I realized later it wasn't a question.... :0) As I'm saying, "No honey, not now- we'll eat some tomorrow," I look over and he has a cookie in his hand and is taking a bite. lol . ... I have to admit, they are pretty good :0)Ok- now I can sleep at night. I've had these thoughts floating around my head for a month now, wanting to write them down, put up pics, etc.
It has been quite hectic around here, and also quite emotional for us. A wonderful woman we never met, yet feel we know quite well through our adoption agency, lost her battle with cancer this week. Or should I say won her battle and now has a new pain free body. Such a courageous, positive, amazing woman- I rejoice for her and weep for the rest of us still here. She was such a shining influence and great encourager. She and her husband adopted their son from the same orphanage that Elisha is from, a little over 3 years ago, and her lists, postings and pictures made the area seem familiar to us and gave us that little extra we needed to be able to prepare for our journey. We are keeping her husband and 3 children (2 just adopted this year) in our prayers.
So, we are 1 week away from Christmas. What are you doing to prepare your heart and homes? May the most amazing gift of all, the greatest gift ever given fill your heart, mind and homes this year. May the stress we've made of the season fade away, the greed our culture makes normal dissipate and the loneliness cease. May we gather everyone around us close and remember the reason we celebrate this season to begin with.
The majesty, the drama, that quiet night, soo long ago when all creation past and future collectively held its breath at the cry of a newborn baby- the Lord incarnate- so weak and lowly. May your heart and mind hear his cooing and that amazing baby laugh and relax this season.
Looking forward to posting pics and stories of our first Christmas as a family of three.......
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