Brothers

We Are Back in the States

We arrived last night around 12:15 AM. Got home around 1 AM and to sleep at 2 AM. Woke up at 5:30 AM. We are tired but wanted to let you know that we arrived home without issues (just VERY tired throughout). Your prayers for safe and comfortable travel we answered. Johnny did great - complaining only once and that didn't last longer than two minute (it was because we gave him his formula cold instead of warm or room temperature) - God is good! We're going to try to take a nap right now to make up for lost sleep and get our bodies slowly adjusted to the time change.

Thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement!

We have the visa

Praise God! We have the visa and are ready to travel now. All the paperwork is done! Now to get through customs and immigration in the States.

We are looking forward to being home!

Johnny sleeping next to me

He was shoving me off the bed last night...

Visa - Coming Soon

We went today to get the visa and the work we had to do today took about 2 hours. Johnny came with and did very well - it was like an airport situation and he sat very calm. They had not finished the visa today, so we'll have to go back there.

Johnny has been sleeping better every night as well as eating better every day. He seems to have a crabby time after dinner and before going to bed. He doesn't seem to like any position or activity. His crabbiness is not very significant or extreme. His cry is not loud or painful (this is a significant blessing to me personally).

We are looking forward to being home!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our First Night with Johnny

Last night went well. Johnny has a cold that has progressively gotten worse over the last 2-3 days, but he slept well last night by getting up at midnight and 4 AM to eat. He ate OK (not a lot) and then went back to sleep well. He laid between Tina and I cross-ways - I got his feet and Tina got his head. Tina and I slept better than expected - a grace of God!

He seems to be enjoying the peace and quiet - although that could certainly be words that we are putting into his head/mouth.

We have a few paperwork related things to finish up before we can begin to think about flying home. I don't think that our date will change from our original plan so we are about a week away from being home. We hope you all have a great Thanksgiving in the States!

We have him!!!

A Good and Busy Day

We have had a good day. Pretty tiring (more than expected), but very good! I'll write more tomorrow afternoon (in about 24 hours). We thank you all for your continued prayers! Have a good Monday evening!

Orphans

This trip has led to many experiences. Some of the more significant are related to orphans. The things that I write about here are not be critical of Johnny's orphanage, but of orphans and their care.

When we adopted Louey, we had visited the orphanage on two separate occasions before picking him up for the last time on the third visit. Those first two visits to the orphanage were fairly quick as we picked him up each time to bring him with us for a week or so.

Coming to Serbia to get Johnny has necessitated that we spend a significant amount of time in the orphanage. That has allowed us to see, just a little bit, into the lives of the children that live there.

The things that they do and see each and every day, rarely changes. They have little, if any, interaction with another person (child or adult). We have seen a couple volunteers come in to play with them, however, it seems as if the children don't know how to play. On one occasion, the young Serbian volunteer told us in English that the child didn't like to play. It was quite obvious as the child just sat still, not even looking at the toys that were brought in front of her.

Another older child with Down syndrome was sitting on her butt on the floor rocking forward and backward. One swing forward went too far and she hit her head quite significantly on the thinly covered concrete floor. She sat up after that looking a little confused and then continued to rock. As with Louey (I don't think that Johnny has learned this yet), they learn that it is pointless to cry because no one will come to help.

A young child with Down syndrome has a crib that he stays in all day long. I thought to myself that he was blessed to have a crib that wasn't quite level, allowing him to slightly rock the crib (which seemingly allowed for slightly more entertainment value).

There is a young girl (7?) who appears blind and is a room all by herself. Day after day, she tries to find something to do. She seems active, but has nobody to interact with and very little to do. They keep the lights off, but I suppose since she is blind there is no reason to keep them on. It just looks all the more careless without the lighting.

There has been a young child crying multiple times a day on the floor when Johnny is (there are 5 floors). Additionally, we had to wait a half hour in the lobby of the orphanage one day and there was a newborn crying endlessly the whole time. We have no idea if there was someone trying to comfort the baby or not. But, what we have seen (or rather, not seen) in the eyes of some other children seems to indicate that little interaction takes place. The children seem to lose their life - there is no flame, not even a spark, that appears in some of the children. We heard that baby crying and thought of the potential of that baby growing up to have the same lack of spark because of the lack of love.

We are not naive enough to think that all of these kids should be constantly entertained or provided with things to do. What should an orphanage do? What do the orphanage workers do? Should they be interacting with the children when they are not preparing food or changing diapers? Is that "job" of volunteers?

I think of the things that I used to spend my money on before we decided to adopt (and even now). I think of the things that I used to spend my time on before we decided to adopt (and even now). I cannot think of anything better to do than to spend it helping these children.

Frosty morning at the orphanage

How the day went...

God is great! Things went awesome today and there was no debate about anything. That, coupled with the signature, made for a very nice day. We are in the planning phase of the last bits and pieces that have to be finshed up, so we have kicked into "administration mode." We are hoping that we'll be able to get home sooner than we had originally planned.

We sincerely appreciate everyones prayers - God is the only one that could have made such a change in interaction from one day to the next possible. Thank you! Praise God!

Paperwork Signed!!

One step left now - a little trip to another city on Monday to finalize the adoption and then it is all left to the US Embassy to get us his visa. We hope to fly out Thursday or Friday.

Praise God!

Feeding Tips from the Experts

Know when your baby is full

When your baby stops sucking, closes his or her mouth, or turns away from the nipple or bottle, he or she may be full — or simply taking a break. Try burping your baby or waiting a minute before offering your breast or the bottle again. If your baby is ready to end the feeding, he or she will resist more vigorously.

Consider each feeding a time to bond with your baby

For babies, feeding is as much a social activity as a nutritional one. Your baby's growth and development are based, in part, on the powerful bond that forms during feedings. Hold your baby close during each feeding. Look him or her in the eye. Speak with a gentle voice. If you're using a bottle, resist the temptation to prop it in your baby's mouth while you do other things. This could lead to choking or tooth decay — and a missed opportunity to build your baby's sense of security, trust and comfort.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-baby/PR00057/NSECTIONGROUP=2

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Try smaller, more frequent feedings. Feeding your baby too much can contribute to spitting up. If you're breast-feeding, limit the length of each nursing session. If you're bottle-feeding, offer your baby slightly less than usual.

Check the nipple. If you're using a bottle, make sure the hole in the nipple is the right size. If it's too large, the milk will flow too fast. If it's too small, your baby might get frustrated and gulp air. A nipple that's the right size will allow a few drops of milk to fall out when you hold the bottle upside down.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-baby/PR00044

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Why are babies vulnerable to choking?

Choking is a common cause of injury and death in children younger than age 1, primarily because their small airways are easily obstructed. It takes time for babies to master the ability to chew and swallow food, and babies may not be able to cough forcefully enough to dislodge an airway obstruction. As babies explore their environments, they also commonly put objects into their mouths — which can easily lead to infant choking.

Sometimes health conditions increase the risk of choking as well. Children who have swallowing disorders, neuromuscular disorders, developmental delays and traumatic brain injury, for example, have a higher risk of choking than do other children.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/infant-choking/MY01224

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Is your baby ready for solid foods?

Breast milk or formula is the only food your newborn needs. Within four to six months, however, your baby will begin to develop the coordination to move solid food from the front of the mouth to the back for swallowing. At the same time, your baby's head control will improve and he or she will learn to sit with support — essential skills for eating solid foods.

Most babies are ready to begin eating solid foods as a complement to breast-feeding or formula-feeding between ages 4 months and 6 months. If you're not sure whether your baby is ready, ask yourself these questions:

Can your baby hold his or her head in a steady, upright position?

Can your baby sit with support?

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-baby/PR00029

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Avoid power struggles. If your baby turns away from a certain food, don't push. Simply try again another time. And again. And again. Repeated exposure can help ensure variety in your baby's diet.

Know when to call it quits. When your baby has had enough to eat, he or she may turn away from the spoon, lean backward, or refuse to open his or her mouth. Don't force extra bites. As long as your baby's growth is on target, you can be confident that he or she is getting enough to eat.

What about juice?

You can offer mild, 100 percent fruit juices when your baby is age 6 months or older. Juice isn't a necessary part of a baby's diet, however, and it's not as valuable as the original fruit itself. If you offer juice to your baby, make sure it's pasteurized. Limit the amount your baby drinks to 4 to 6 ounces (118 to 177 milliliters) a day, and serve it in a cup. Too much juice may contribute to weight problems and diarrhea, as well as thwart your baby's appetite for more nutritious solid foods. In addition, sipping juice throughout the day or while falling asleep may lead to tooth decay.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-baby/PR00029/NSECTIONGROUP=2

Proverbs 2:6-8

6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.

Rough Day #2

I don't want to seem like I am always complaining, but it was a pretty rough day. And I don't really want to not post something today, so I will post just a little bit.

To start, when we arrived at 9AM we found that Johnny was not there. He was at the hospital having his eyes checked. So we went back to where we are staying. This wasn't too big of a deal.

The rough part came when we went to feed Johnny this afternoon. I don't want to get into the details, but please pray for us and the feeding situation over the next few days. There is a difference in opinion that may be caused by cultural differences. We will need the Lord's help if we are going to continue - our strength alone will not be enough (and hasn't been enough thus far).

The Lord is my strength and shield; in him my heart trusts and I am helped. Psalms 28:7

A Great Joy

Today, we had a great interaction with Johnny!

He has a special rattle that fits around his arm and he is pretty protective of it. He is really good at being able to manipulate his arm and hand to keep the rattle on his arm.

We put another rattle on his other arm and pushed it right off. We were impressed. As we went to try it again, he put his hand out to take it again and then went right at trying to get it off again. We made a game out of this. Here is a quick video:

Happy Birthday Gramma

Truth, Hope and our Faithful Lord

We pray your word today great, faithful, heavenly Father. Walk us through, keep us from temptation and deliver us from evil, for yours is the kingdom and the glory and the power forever and ever.

TRUTH:

"We cannot help being exposed to the assults but we pray that we may not fall and perish under them" Martin Luther

HOPE:

Hold fast our confidence Lord Jesus and our boasting in our hope in you (Heb. 3:6b)

"Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you...Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious." Amos 5:14-15

"But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream." Amos 5:24

FAITHFUL GOD:

"The LORD is faithful in all His words and kind in all his works." The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down." Psalm 145:13b-14

"The LORD is good to all and His mercy is over all that He has made." Psaml 145:9

"It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed" Deuteronomy 31:8

"In you the orphan finds mercy." Hosea 14:3

As our dear pastors have instructed our hearts......LOOK UP! LOOK UP!

Rough Day

It was a pretty rough day. We were so busy, we didn't come back to our place for lunch like we normally had in the past. Additionally, we used the bathroom at about 8 AM and didn't go again until we got back around 4:45 PM (don't try this at home). Our time at the orphanage was the most challenging yet. The paperwork is continuing in its process and we should know more about the timing of the finalization adoption process within the next couple days. We have felt your prayers today. Your continued prayers for Jovan's health and the finalization of the adoption process are appreciated! I would write more, but I am wiped.

For Little Josh Plath

Josh, this is me telling Johnny about your faithful prayers for him. "One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts." Psalm 145:4

A great elevator for boys to be in...

McDonalds

Monday Afternoon

We have had a pretty rough day - very emotionally draining.

We have been in discussions with the doctor and the various nurses regarding the best feeding method over the last two days. We have not made a ton of progress. Yesterday they seemed to be understanding what we were saying and moved a bit toward our suggestion, but today the disagreement continued and they pushed their method on us a bit. We are trying to understand the best way to move forward knowing that he is not yet under our parental direction. Tomorrow will mostly likely prove to be another challenging day as the doctor will be in the orphanage (she was not in today). Please pray for a result that will benefit Johnny and not cause him any harm. Please also pray that the adoption can continue inspite of our resistance thus far to using their method of feeding. We are trying to understand if we should just bend - knowing that their method may be used for only a few more days until we finish the adoption. At the same time, we do not want their method to cause any damage to Johnny. This has been pretty complicated up to this point and I am obviously being a bit vague, but I feel that it is best at this point to keep it that way on the blog.

Embassy

We made our second attempt today to finsih a few things up at the American Embassy only to be told that they are not open from 12 to 2 (it was 12:09). Friday was Veterans Day and they were closed - I guess we should have guessed that, but being out of country we weren't thinking about American Holidays. We are hoping to go tomorrow morning before going to the orphanage.

Tina speaking: I must of had enough at this point because when the guy telling us the US Embassy wasn't open from 12 to 2 I burst out "you have got to be kidding me"....the look on the guy's face said I was being ....ah...how do you say it "American." I laughed pretty hard about this. Laughing is good!

Food

On a nice and distracting (to us) note...we tried out a McDonald's and it was the same but different. The food tasted the same, but they had some food that isn't in the States. They had some flat strips of potatoes that could be purchased instead of fries and they had triangles of cheese (Brie?) which we tried out. It was pretty good and brought us a little memory of the food in America.

Internet

The internet works a little differently here. One option is to pay for the amount you send/receive. We had gone over our limit and so we had one of the two guys take care of it for us. Now we have more to use, and thus, this post.

Monday

The internet at where we are staying is out right now. We'll be looking into it. Right now this post is going out from the orphanage.

We are having some struggles with things, but know that God is the one who brings things to pass. Saturday was a very low point for us, so on Sunday the Lord brought us some relief and lifted our spirits a little bit. Progress was made with some of these things yesterday as a result of being able to slightly communicate with the doctor who was working at the orphanage Sunday. We are still very concerned and want to get him into our hands and into the States ASAP.

Lord willing, we'll be making good progress this week with the paperwork. It will prayerfully be a good week.

Thank you for praying for us!

Dinner

Mama got him to sleep

Bottle Burst

This Afternoon

This afternoon went pretty good. We arrived just a bit late and picked him up right away. They gave us his food to try to feed him and we were doing our best to go slow. I had to ask and push twice to allow Tina to hold him while she fed him instead of setting him in the bouncy-like chair. She went as slow as she could, but the way they altered the special nipple, it was rendered to a useless squirt-gun - it might as well be a syringe.

We brought our un-altered version of the same nipple and tried to feed him with it. It went amazingly well. He was able to suck and Tina was able to slowly squirt the food into his mouth at the same time as his sucking and swallowing - at a much slower, more reasonable rate. Unfortuantely, what they put in the bottle had clogged up the nipple. While Tina was pushing the nipple to get it to go, it burst open and got her and I wet with the formula (and some of it was running down the wall). It was a very hilarious mess and we have the pictures around this post to show it.

After switching back to the nipple they gave us, we continued feeding him using their method because we had no other choice. He ate roughly seven ounces in an hour of the twelve they were ready to give him (that they fed him yesterday in about 2-3 minutes). There was four ounces left when we were checked in with and the worker took away what was left.

We have a new plan of action for tomorrow and, Lord willing, things should go a little better and Johnny will get his much-needed food from his Mom. Thank you for your prayers - we are in better spirits about tomorrow morning.

This Is Not Our Home

Serbia or the US, this is not our home. That is about all I/we can come up with regarding our visit this morning.

It is the weekend and it is our understanding that most adopting parents do not visit on the weekends. We picked up Johnny from his room at 9am and walked to the visiting room. He was acting noticably different. After about a half hour, it was starting to become clear that he was hungry. From what we were told, they normally eat at about 8:30am and then again at about 11:00am. As witnessed yesterday, they also give him a "snack" in between those times.

Nobody came to give him a snack and, through our best efforts to keep an eye out, it didn't seem like any other child was getting a snack either.

At about 10am Johnny seemed to be in a bit of pain, though without cries. He was making a sound that he hadn't in the past and near 11am he was pulling his knees to his stomach - from what I know, that would indicate a fair amount of pain (to put it lightly).

I called the social worker to ask about normal meal times and confirmed the timing - it appeared that the snack was missed.

We watched and waited to give him back until just after 11am when they started to prepare the bottles. It was a little unsatisfying to us to see that it appeared that all he was going to receive was a bottle of juice as opposed to some sort of formula.

It was very painful for us to see him in pain for what appeared to be a lack of food. I thought we were going to struggle with the method and we ended up struggling over the availability and content. We have concerns about what they are feeding him and are not too surprised at his lack of ability to put on weight. It seems apparent to us why he is not. We hope and pray that God will continue to sustain him up to and through the day we get to manage his food - the what, the how, and the when.

And this is just one child's plight. There are many more circumstances going on each and every day in orphanages around the world (and some circumstances, which we have seen this trip and in Haiti, happen outside of the orphanage).

God is still good! This is not our home.

Faith

Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky; no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God’s strength had you not been supported amid the water floods. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too.

Let not this, however, discourage those who are young in faith. You will have trials enough without seeking them: the full portion will be measured out to you in due season. Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the result of long experience, thank God for what grace you have; praise him for that degree of holy confidence whereunto you have attained: walk according to that rule, and you shall yet have more and more of the blessing of God, till your faith shall remove mountains and conquer impossibilities.

From Spurgeon's Morning and Evening

Various

It seems that it has been such a long time that Tina and I have been away from our children and alone together. I feel like I am falling in love with my wife all over again. The grace of God that I see in her is wonderful. One of the things that I see is something that feel myself - an unexplainable love and affection for Johnny.

We have seen other children both on websites and in this and other orphanages, but when God puts a child on your heart, it's a miraculous thing. We felt pretty attached to Johnny from the beginning of seeing him in pictures as well as real life and now even moreso after spending a couple of days with him. The time goes fast and the connection seems very strong from his side and I know it is from our side.

People have asked "Why Louey" or "Why Johnny," but that is something that is difficult to answer. What God does between a child and his mother and father is amazing. There is something unexplainable by me that connected both Louey and Johnny to us - something inside. We see other children and hope better for them, have sympathy for them, but a sense of love and responsibility fell heavy on my heart for both Louey and Johnny (speaking only for myself - Tina may feel the same way but she is sleeping and I haven't asked her about this detailed part yet).

Praise for God

As I was laying in bed before typing this, I was amazed at what God has done in answering your prayers and ours.

I was feeling the cold come on quickly and it has basically amounted to nothing. I was concerned about having to blow my nose and about coughing while both in the meeting with the officials and when visiting Johnny, but there has been none of that.

The connection that we feel and Johnny's response to us was something that we had prayed for and know that others have as well. This has gone better and more quickly than we expected.

Johnny's medical condition has been another prayer request. Though he seems to be skin and bone without much meat to him, God has sustained him this long. We asked about his weight and they have indicated that he hasn't been gaining much (and not losing any). We were expecting Johnny to have a few more immediate needs and have been surprised by his current condition. He had some skin issues/infections that seemed to be completely cleared up now. It was indicated at one point that there was a concern about traveling with him because of his strong cry, but we have yet to hear him cry...it doesn't appear that it is easy to make him cry. He has a calm demeanor.

During the meeting, a few folks were talking in Serbian and I asked our driver later on what they were talking about. It turns out that they were concerned about our continued interest in Johnny after they explained all of his past and current medical condition(s). They listed everything that he has and everything that he may have because of his Apert syndrome and then were asking this question among themselves. We told them how appreciative of them we were because of all that they have done for him. We also told them how we felt - that his condition was actually a bit better than we expected (this was before seeing him - and after we saw him, we still feel this way and probably even moreso). We indicated to them at the end of the meeting that we were still very interested in adopting Johnny. This meeting was another topic for prayer of ours and a request we had made to others.

It was really comforting to see the concern within the Serbian Adoption Unit for Johnny and the outcome of the adoption. One person in the Adoption Unit particularly told us on the side that this would be the last and only time that we would see him as we would have no further necessary contact with them after the meeting. He asked that we send him a note and perhaps a picture after we arrive home. He seemed genuinely interested in seeing that Johnny got placed into our family.

Things are going so well and we are praising God for all that He is doing in all circumstances! Thank you all for your prayers!

Children at Home

We were able to use Skype and Facetime to see and talk with our children back home yesterday. It was great to see them and they appear to be doing very well. Tina's parents are doing a great job managing them while we are gone. They are all doing well in school and are excited to meet Johnny when we come home.

Time to get some more sleep...it's 2:30 AM Serbian time.

New Dad

End of Day Two

We had a great second visit. When we arrived, he was still sleeping, so we went to the room in which we normally spend time with him. We talked about 15 minutes or so before they brought him in with us.

We were talking in English with the social worker, who has been very helpful in translating during our last few visits (a gift from the Lord), when they brought him in to us. They brought food for him as well and showed us how they feed him.

It was a little difficult to watch him eat because they seemed to feed him too quickly. We understand that because of the number of children, the workers don't have time to spend a great deal with each child. He managed to swallow and breathe while the food was being squirted into his mouth. It sounded a little raspy as they did it, but at no time did he ever cough or choke. Tina is looking forward to tomorrow morning when she will be allowed to feed him - during which time she plans to go much slower.

Tina brought a baby sling that wraps around her and Johnny. It took just a little bit for him to get used to it, but after a few minutes he was resting his head and beginning to sleep. One thing that we noticed was that he seemed to be refluxing less than he had yesterday or this morning. Tina is thinking that there is a possibility that Johnny, too (just like Louey), was ruminating as opposed to refluxing. When seemed comfortable, he seemed to stop bringing food up. If he were being moved around or left alone, he would bring his food up. We'll continue to keep an eye on this. It a great providence of God to have dealt with Louey and learned through him and his process so that we are able to help Johnny, too.

His cleft palate seems fairly small and minor compared to some that we have seen on the internet. There is less than a quarter (maybe and eighth) inch gap between the left and right side of his upper mouth (palate) and it starts about a half inch after two little front teeth that are showing themselves. I am thinking that he may be able to get suction with the front portion of his mouth. We'll see what tomorrow brings...

Tina is making dinner right now and looks and smells great! I'll post some pictures soon.

Thank you all for your continued support! God is good!

New mom

No Video

It looks like the video doesn't work on the Blog. So I guess we'll have to go without it. I'll add more pictures later.

We saw Johnny this morning and things went well. He seems to be making more eye contact and interacting well. He has a rattle with a looped handle that fits around his hand and arm. If you try to take it from him, he does quite a bit with his hand and arm to stop you from taking it.

We saw how they feed him one way. They showed us how he eats from a syringe. They put in a fruit juice and water. Johnny has a reflux problem, too. Louey has showed us many things with that, so we have a head start there (praise God).

More later...

Video

Lunch!!

Friday Morning

For those of you who prayed for better sleep for me, THANK YOU! I didn't imagine that I would make it through the night without waking up, but I did. I got GREAT sleep last night. Prayer works - no doubt about that! Tina slept good, too.

It's nice to have time to process yesterday's events. We have had a lot of time to talk about our experience and the differences between adoption with Louey and adoption with Johnny.

I hope to write more later...as we get adjusted to our routine here, I'll be able to find more time to write. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Another smile

The Amazing Visit

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made." Psalm 139

Johnny took to us very well. He was truly enjoying being in our arms and was comforted by our embrace. He started to fall asleep but it was time to go back to his room. So we hope tomorrow he will be able to sleep while we hold him.

We visited him right after the ministry meeting, went for lunch and then went back at 4:00 to visit him again and this time he smiled for us : ) It is our understanding from the meeting that people that visit him frequently haven't been able to get a smile from him. I know that is a gracious answer to your prayers from our loving Lord who fills us with all things good.

Tina

Our Thursday

We are here! Tina slept vey well. I did not (and that's after being awake for 34 hours).

After exiting the airport, the two guys we were expecting were right there waiting for us. It reminded me of the day we moved to Haiti when Johnny, the Haitian (as opposed to our Johnny), was practically jumping up and down when he saw us exit the airport. We took a quick ride around town and then stopped at a supermarket to grab some food. We then headed to the place where we will be staying.

The place where we are staying is very nice.

I'll be writing more later. I am going to try to get a nap in before we go to the ministry meeting and then see Johnny.

Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, and comments! Your support means a lot to us. We thank those of you, too, who offered to help with our children back at home! We'll let you know if we need to take you up on your offers.

Blessings to you all from Ken and Tina!

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The above information was written the morning of Thursday. Our internet went out and we were not able to post.

We are now back from our busy day of a meeting with the Adoption Unit of Serbia and the officials from Nis. It was a big and busy day. We got to hold Johnny for a few hours and we'll be going back daily for at least 4 hours per day. It sounds like there is a possibility of coming home sooner than we expected, but we'll see what happens.

I'll write more probably tomorrow morning (we are 7 hours ahead of the US central time zone).

Again, thank you for your prayers! He seemed to enjoy our company and the folks in the orphanage seemed to think that he was taking to us well. This is an answer to prayer - thank you!

All I can do is post pictures -no text :-(

Smile

Heeeeere's Johnny

We made it

John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

Early Morning Catch-up

As I thought would happen, it's a bit difficult to sleep. I just woke up around 2:30, I believe on my own and around 2:45 I heard Louey call for Mom. I got up to see what he needed and he asked for cake. Cake is his favorite. Though it's near the last time I'll see him for about three weeks, I didn't get him out of bed to have cake - we don't have any cake even if I was feeling generous with food.

Background - Catching up with the Schlorfs

Speaking of food, for those who don't know, Louey has had an issue with what we calling "urping." If you read through this blog (there is a lot of boring car stuff to read through) you'll find that we went from thinking that Louey was sick, to thinking that Louey had acid reflux, to thinking that Louey was "urping" on purpose. Among the many, we saw a doctor early this spring who tossed out the term "rumination." This turned out to be an amazing gift from God because until then, we were concerned that we making up some of his symptoms - no other doctor suggested this term if they knew about it.

The Mayo Clinic defines rumination here which is exactly what Louey was doing. That same doctor recommended going to take a few pictures of his esophagus and stomach. Those pictures revealed that he was damaging his esophagus with the stomach acid in addition to the visible marks and scaring that was left on his tongue.

What the Mayo Clinic recommends for various forms of treatment did not work for Louey. He was not interested in any additional breathing when it happened because he wanted to ruminate. He didn't respond well to negative consequences because he would go to another room or do the best he could to mask that he was doing it - we couldn't (any longer) watch him like a hawk and attempt to pick out the times he was ruminating...it was wearing away at our relationship with him.

We saw a surgeon who spoke of performing a nissen fundoplication. The Mayo Clinic website shows a couple diagrams, but this website describes the procedure which is commonly used for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) best like this:


A Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication is done in patients who are being treated for reflux disease (or GERD), Barrett's Esophagus or for correction of a hiatal hernia. The surgery is done through the abdomen. Five small incisions 5mm a piece are placed on the abdominal wall. A small camera is placed through one of the incisions and surgical instruments are placed through the other four. The top of the stomach is wrapped around the bottom of the esophagus. This will create a new "valve" between the esophagus and stomach to prevent reflux from occurring.


We had the first procedure performed in the summer. The surgeon stated that they hadn't had one fail. She also stated that she did not have a patient who wanted to ruminate. Louey was her first failure. He somehow blew apart the stitches in the stomach around the esophagus.

The second surgery was just performed at the end of October when they used an extra stitch, for a total of three, to hold the stomach. And they used some metal clips to hold the stitches. And they grabbed a meaty chunk of the stomach, too. The surgeon was funny as she told us that she said to herself something to the affect of "take that" or "you aren't getting through this one little guy."

During the first procedure, we were feeling like this surgery was a bit over-the-top. In researching failed proceduresa, we had come to realize that the alternative would be much worse. If we had let him continue to ruminate, his esophagus would have been eaten through which would would have required that part of his colon be used to replace the destroyed part of his esophagus - that sounds much worse that the nissen procedure.

So far, after about a week, the second surgery seems to have changed his eating behavior. When he once wouldn't stop eating nor show that he was full after a meal, he is now turning down food that is on his plate and he is visibly full. This has got to have a psychological impact on him because I am betting that this has never happened to him before. We are doing our best to make him feel OK about leaving food - that he doesn't have to worry about not eating it all. Thus far, God has been gracious (he is always gracious) in providing food for our family and Louey hasn't had to worry about his next meal since being with us in July of 2008.

We'll continue to catch up later. I should probably get my sleep - I don't usually sleep very well on a plane. I pray that what I have written above helps someone else diagnose rumination as it would have been very helpful to us to have know about this syndrome while we were in Haiti - not that we would have been able to solve the problem, but able to understand and not be overly-concerned about Louey's urping (relatively, of course).

The Second Journey Begins

I wish there was more time to write details, but perhaps that will come later...

Tina and I are leaving for Serbia tomorrow. We have a meeting scheduled with the Serbian officials on Thursday and we hope to see our new son Thursday as well. We have been getting lots of things done this last week or two as we anticipated having a travel date soon. We actually thought that it would be in a couple weeks, but on Friday the Lord was please to move us along quickly. We anticipate being there for about three weeks.

It's strange to look at my last few blog posts and see the date. We were thinking at that point that we would be traveling, but that's not the plan that God had. A lot has happened since January.

I'll be posting updates as we travel. We appreciate everyone's prayers for the safe trip and our safe return home!

3rd Row Seating

As we think about, and go about, preparing for our upcoming adopted child's arrival into our family, we had been looking into options for transportation. The new one's arrival will mean that we are a family of 6. Our newest vehicle can seat six, but it would be a little crammed. (Though, we realize that our peception of crammed has been significantly altered since we lived in Haiti - many Haitians would feel to be in luxury and love to drive or ride in a vehicle that had only as many people as seat belts).

This is one of those stories that is better lived than told, but I will tell it to bring glory to God and allow us to look back in the blog, as we often do, to remember God's goodness.

Our newest vehicle (1996 GMC Suburban) was a government vehicle and doesn't have the third-row seating. There is rubber floor thoughout and hand crank windows (things we love). As we looked for a different vehicle online, we found ourselves praying about and considering a minivan around the price range of $10-12k. We let this sit in our minds for a day or two and it didn't feel good. The thought of putting that much money into a vehicle just felt like too much. We do like our Suburban, too.

Two days ago, we started looking at 3rd Row Seating for the Suburban and on Ebay, we could find used ones for about $300 plus shipping and new ones for $1k+. A little steep, but cheaper than buying that minivan.

Friday night at about 9:30-10:00 (1-2 hours past my bed time), killing a half-hour before bed, I decided to browse the free stuff on Craigslist. At roughly 9pm, someone posted a 3rd row seat for free for a 1996 Suburuban and lived 15 mins away from us. This may not seem like a big deal, but this was amazing to us. These things are not exactly as available as ipods and honda civics and for it to be for a 1996, and so close, and for FREE! God seemed to be pointing us in this direction.

Though we were up at 4AM, I decided not to call right away and waited until 9AM. When I called, the gentleman said that it was sold. I was pretty disappointed because it sure seemed like God had appointed this seat for us because of the timing and "coincidences." After about a short while of praying and remembering that "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 I had gotten over the disappointment. God is good - 3rd row seat or no 3rd row seat.

Accepting the situation, I had gone about the day. I took Kayla and Carter (and Kayla's friend) out ice skating around 3PM. As we were packing up to go in the warming house, my phone rang. It was the guy with the seat. The person who had called earlier did not come to pick the seat up. PRAISE GOD!

I immediately left the kids at the warming house to walk home...no I didn't. I dropped them off and headed on my way.

I was prepared for holes and all sorts of other things with a free seat. When I got there, the grey leather seat was in great condition (the kids will be on grey leather while we are on blue vinyl, haha). I thought that I was going to have to buy and install brackets, but there was a spot for the seat under the rubber floor, so we put it in right away. The guy and I started talking about trucks and looked at my grill and headlights. He looked closer and told me to wait. He came back with three headlights from another truck of his that he didn't have any longer and gave them to me. God is good! Though everything was free, I wanted to bless him in return and I gave him all the cash I had on me, $38. Not much, but all I had in cash. He seemed pleased to get the stuff out of his garage. I was definitely please to have a 3rd row seat - providing for seating for 9 people now.

I have slight concerns that our family of 6 may be a family of more because of this additional seating, but I'll not think about that now... God's grace is sufficient if He chooses to give us more. I certainly don't feel adequate.

Waiting

When we left for Haiti and the Baptist Haiti Mission in June of 2008, we believed that, based on the timing of other Haitian adoptions, we would be there 6-12 months - with 12 months being unrealistically long (we padded it as an unlikely, worse-case scenario).

As we struggled to endure the 14th to 17th months of waiting, I know we did not do as well as we could and should have. God was certainly teaching us many things during this period.

This is something that I wish I had read ahead of time: Spritual Muscle Development.

Adoption Update

I am going to refrain from posting specific updates regarding the adoption until it has been completed. I'll give lots of updates and photos when we return. We have no date planned but are thinking now that it will be near the end of February or beginning of March.

Many blessings from the Lord have been given to us through friends and family - prayer, financial, and other ways. We serve a great a capable God!

Blessings to all!