It’s amazing how quickly times goes by. In a few days we
will be to the three month mark since Aubrey and Micah came home to us. In some
ways it feels like they have always been a part of our family and in other ways
it feels like we just barely got home!
We have been so amazed at Aubrey and Micah’s ability to
adjust to family life. Sure, there are hard days but overall things have gone
very smoothly. We have always been teased by friends whose children are up at
the crack of dawn since our children sleep until 8:00 or even as late as 9:00AM
most mornings from the time they turn a year old. We have assured these friends
that once we adopt, surely we will be rising with the sun as well since we
wouldn’t be blessed enough to have two more late morning sleepers. You can
imagine our surprise when both Aubrey and Micah slept until at least 8:00AM
each morning while we were in Bulgaria. We figured it was just a fluke. But,
the jet lag didn’t seem to phase them and they were taking regular naps and
sleeping right along with our other children within days of getting home! So
thankful!
They are also great eaters! Micah only eats pureed food
since that is what he was given at the orphanage and he doesn’t yet know how to
chew. Aubrey began eating solid foods within a day of leaving the orphanage and
hasn’t ever looked back! She shows us her appreciation for her newfound food
with a resounding, “Mmmmmmmm” at almost every bite! We will be working on
transitioning Micah to solids and encouraging Aubrey to feed herself.
We have spent much of the last few months getting Aubrey and
Micah back and forth to Pittsburgh Children’s hospital to get them caught up on
all the medical visits. It’s amazing how much we needed to look into since they
went without routine medical care for their first years of life. One specialist
just kind of lead to another and before we knew it the calendar was full of appointments.
We are finally at the end of the appointments and we are thankful that things
will start to slow down a bit. They are at a good place physically and we are
so thankful for good reports from their doctors.
We are so proud of Olivia, Sawyer, Collin, and Makena and
how they have invited Aubrey and Micah into the fold. They have proven to be
excellent brothers and sisters to their two new siblings and we are constantly
in awe of how God knit their hearts together even before Aubrey and Micah
arrived home. We were expecting the turmoil we have experienced as a family in
the past whenever we had foster children placed in our home but we experienced
none of that. As a matter of fact, within days of Aubrey and Micah coming home
Olivia and Sawyer were already asking when we would be adopting again! J
Adoption is not easy but it IS worth it! It is a
joy to see the changes happening in Aubrey and Micah as they move
out of their shells and come to enjoy life in a family more and more. It is
also good to recognize the changes that God is making in our own hearts as he
teaches us every day to become more like Him as we care for our children, both
biological and adopted.
"The most difficult things I have done
in my life have been the best things I ever did." ~ John M Simmons
