God knew what he was doing! PTL!

3 years ago, I was on a plane bound for Detroit to meet up with my mom and aunt for another life changing journey to China.  Little did I know that the experiences of that journey would bring me to my knees, questioning my (as well as our family's) ability to hand the challenges God set before us.  The year following the adoption of our two boys was probably one of the most challenging years of my life, in so many ways, but was also the year in which I had the most spiritual reliance and growth.  Had we known of Corban's challenges before committing to him, I am not sure we would have pursued but I am thankful God knew what he was doing because that boy needed the love of a family to see his potential.  Corban is an amazing child!  To see where he was when I met him in China to where he is today (attending kindergarten at the age of 5 and nearly keeping up with his peers) is proof that love and attention are developmentally life changing.  Thank you Lord for the challenges you set before us, without them we would miss recognizing your presence!

3 years ago...

Well, I seem to be doing well at not trying to achieve the "blogger of the year" award since this is the first post in 2014.  Big changes have happened since the last post.  This past spring we decided to put our house up for sale and move closer to family.  Everything finally came together at the end of July and we made the move, a mere 2 weeks before ALL the kids started back to school.

Tegan & Corban both began kindergarten this year!!!  Three or even two years ago, we figured we'd have to send Corban to a third year of preK but as always, that kid continues to surprise us with his big developmental strides!!!

First day of school - Angel (2nd), Tegan (K), and Corban (K)

Corban's first time riding a school bus and he loves it, he gets so excited when the bus arrived, even today!

Angel & Tegan's first time riding a bus to school!

Big sister and brothers - Kailey (6th), Michiael (10th), & Logan (8th)

The kids just completed their first 9 weeks of school and they are all doing well!  Corban is keeping up with his peers at this point.  He continues to see a private speech therapist once a week, and recently began working with occupational and physical therapists once a week to work on his weak and low muscle tone, which has impacted his hand writing ability.  After only a few weeks, we are already seeing improvements!  Socially, Corban is also progressing.  We hear that he is doing more play/interacting with peers.  Recently, I asked him what he did during indoor recess, in which he responded "played with cars".  I then asked if he played with anyone and he responded with two names!!!!  That sure made this mom's heart smile!  He loves looking at books and is beginning to read site words, just like his peers, which blows me away!   

God sure knew what he was doing when he made us this precious boy's parents!  I'm not sure who is learning more in this journey, Corban or his parents!

Let me know forget Tegan!  He continues to develop along with his peers.  He and Angel were both assessed by the ELL (English Language Learner's) teacher and both passed as being fluent in English!  Tegan enjoys trying to keep up with his big sisters, in doing whatever they do.  The boys are in different classrooms at school so that Tegan doesn't step in to assist Corban.  Tegan has been struggling with telling the truth here at home and has had some defiance issues at school, but his teacher tells me that is improving.  He has had to learn some hard lessons over the past few months regarding these issues.    

As far as surgeries, we are waiting till next year to move forward, but no date(s) has been set.  Tegan's next step will be to have a skin graft taken from behind his right ear to replace the small area of nevus that remains under his left eye - this is the same procedure Angel has had done.  As for Corban, he will have the remaining spot on his right cheek excised and possibly some scar revisions (or injections) done to revise scars on his back and sides.  And Angel will likely have some minor revisions done, as well.

With the move, we went from living on one acre, with a few baby trees, to about 6 acres with many mature trees; therefore, the kids have been able to rake leaves and reap the benefits - learning that hard work pays off with a fun leaf pile.

 What's in store for our future, I do not know but God does.  

In the mean time, I continue to advocate for nevus owners in China who wait for their forever families to find them.  If you have room in your heart and family to love one more child, please contact me.

Also, if you are the parent of a nevus owner and are seeking support, please don't hesitate to email me.

  Blessing to each of you!

Corban continues to amaze us!!!

I've been horrible at keeping up with this blog.  I really wanted to document the developmental progress of the boys, especially Corban as he continues to make huge strides but I'm not doing so well at it.  With that aside, in the past week he has surprised us and I don't want to miss out on making these notes so here is a quick note of progress:

In the past week, Corban has begun to tell us when he is done going #2 and needs help (prior to this he would just sit in the bathroom till someone noticed he had been in there for a long period).

Without prompting, he has been singing the lyrics to his Sunday School Christmas program song, which he didn't even sing at the program two weeks ago, he just danced on stage.  I have also noticed that sometime he will start singing a song because of a related word, such as, a week go, while putting his socks on, he started saying "I got my socks on, I got my socks on" which is portion of a silly song our older kids have been singing, over the last month.

Then today, for the first time, he sat down on a stool at the kitchen island and told me he was hungry!!!!!

As we opened presents Christmas morning, we all mentioned how different he is this year.  Last year, he threw huge fits each time it was his turn to open presents.  He had no interest in following along in the "fun" of opening presents, he just didn't get it.  This year, other than his stubborn side showing a few times, he took his turn and understood the concept!!!

He has come so far in the past year.  There was a time during the first 18 months that I wasn't sure he'd ever even get to where he is today!  I really believe that the Medability, multi-sensory therapy, program that we have been doing with him for the past year has made a huge impact on his progress!      

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and pray you all have a New Year filled with much Joy!

Somewhat Organized Chaos

The title pretty much sums up our life now a days. 

Tegan is a non-stop talker, singer, or noise maker.  He does his best to keep up with his sisters and is very disappointed if he is not allowed join them.  He is in his second year of PreK and will be more than ready for Kindergarten next year, despite having a June birthday.  The only special service he is receiving is a little work with a speech therapist.  He is understood my most people, but we are concerned that he is a little lazy with certain sounds and want to be sure it doesn't stem from the Chinese he was already speaking. At this point it just a short term intervention.

Corban is a totally different child than just a year ago.  I believe the multi-sensory therapy (Mendability) we have been doing with him has really helped in that process.  A year ago he was saying only a few words and did not do any requesting of anything.  Today, he can put together short sentences, knows the letters of the alphabet and each of their sounds, colors, shapes, numbers, and has recently been saying "I want ....", which I was beginning to wonder if he'd ever request things!!!!!  PTL!!!!  He is in a special education preK class, works with a school speech therapist and a private speech therapist.  He catches onto things pretty quickly and keeps his teacher on her toes to challenge him.  He still has a long way to go in socializing, he still prefers to do his own thing, most of the time; therefore, he will probably go to PreK for a third year.  

Corban's demeanor has improved quite a bit, as well  He still gets upset for the weirdest things but it is much less than it was and he rarely does any sort of self-abusing anymore.  He seeks our attention and asks for hugs or kisses.  He rarely plays with toys like they are meant to be played with and gets mad if you try to show him how to play with it.  Lately, he just sits on the couch with a book, flipping through the pages and rubbing them.  I have gotten to the point of encouraging him to play because I'm not a fan of him just sitting all day but then he breaks down.  This is beginning to wear on me.  He was beginning to do imaginary play at one point but seems to have reverted (if anyone has any experience with this, please give me some guidance).  Redirecting him to play with something does not work for him, he just gets upset and shuts down

I'm sure I've forgotten lots of things but those are the highlights. Please let me know if you have any specific curiosities about how things are going.  Since I decided to pursue grad school last year, I just haven't had the time to keep up with the blog.  I am currently almost half way through my first internship, which allows me a little free time and will then start my second round of 6 classes in the spring.

We had both boys baptized in July just before their final (I'm hoping so, anyway) round of expanders were removed.

  

Two years ago I stepped foot in China for the 2nd time!

Corban's 1st day of PreK - Sept 2013

Tegan enjoying Family Fun day at Church - Sept 2013

Two years ago from today, I arrived in China to meet two precious boys - I was tired from the long flight and half day time change, anxious for the three weeks ahead of me, still yearning for the little girl that was so close yet so far away that I just wanted to hold and say "we love you",  already missing my family, and unbeknownst to me at the time, in for a major life change.  I am so extremely thankful for the two beautiful women (,y mom and aunt) who traveled with me and helped me get through the first two weeks of that trip.  They were my rocks when I was unsure if our family was prepared to handle the unexpected challenges that Corban presented.  Today, although the journey has not been easy, I am grateful that God chose us to see the potential within Corban; that all he needed was a family who would be his rock and would challenge him to bloom into the person God made him to be!  Tegan and Corban - God has BIG plans for you and we are blessed to watch both of you blossom!

Expansion Journey #2

Preparing to watch their first Homecoming parade, days before surgery! 

On September 28th, the boys had their second set of expanders placed.  Tegan had three placed, one in the back of his head, one in his neck and one in his forehead.  Corban had two expanders placed in his back.

This is how Corban's back looked just before round #2.

This is how the expanders looked the day after being placed, one on the left and one on the right side of his back.

This is Tegan the day after surgery, not a happy camper.

     

 (Above ) This is about half way through expansion.

     

    

(Above ) At their max

     

Good 'ol Papaw joins us on surgery day for entertainment and moral support!

   

Corban post surgery.

And drum roll.....Tegan's amazing results.....

And Tegan, today after removing all drains and a bath!  

Below is a before.

Once again, Dr. B has amazed us with his abilities.

Praising the Lord that we had a smooth round of expansion!!!!

Time to catch up...

Life with 6 kiddos sure does make time fly, so much so that there has been little time for me to keep up with this blog.  Where should I begin....

Well, on top of everything, this spring I decided to apply to grad school and after 3 months of my application getting misplaced, I was accepted in early August to a 100% online program to earn a Masters in Social Work!  I started my first 8 week class August 27th and just finished my second class on December 16th!  Earning A's in both classes!!!!  Now that I'm half way through my winter break, I've found a little bit of time to do some catching up on the boys' progress.

Corban and Tegan began three day AM preschool just after Labor Day.  This took some adjustment for Corban who struggles with changes that aren't done on his time and for his teacher who I'm sure has never had to work with a child who has been has strong avoidance behaviors, as I knew it would be.  Tegan fell right into the routine and loves it.  He admires his teacher, Mrs. B, and tells me often how pretty she is.  We are thankful the preschool has been willing to work with us and Corban's concerns.  

First Day of Preschool!!!!

On September 28th, Corban and Tegan had surgery, in Chicago, to have their second sets of expanders placed.  I'll make a separate post about that.

On October 10th, Corban's big brother, Michiael, and I took him to the University of Iowa Clinic to have an Autism evaluation completed.  It was a long day of testing.  In the morning, we spent over an hour with a pediatric physician answering many questions about the mannerisms Corban presents that brought us there and his history.  We then had about 90 minutes for lunch and returned another few hours with a psychologist and speech therapist.  Thankfully, the latter two worked together, completing the appointment sooner than we anticipated.  We received reports from each of the specialists about 2 weeks later.  They did not diagnose him as autistic but said that he had strong concerning avoidance behaviors.  Anytime he is pressured to do something new, that is not on his terms, he throws a huge fit, will hit is hand (or sometimes just a finger) on something saying "owe" to seek attention.  He had other behaviors before this (throwing himself backwards to the floor, hitting himself in the head with a toy) but those faded and this one started about May of this year and we saw it many times a day.  

At home, this behavior has not worked to his advantage and the psychologist agreed with how we were dealing with it.  We ignore the behavior, not feeding him the attention/response he was seeing and continue to work with him in completing the task presented to him.  With new people he encounters, he tests this behavior; therefore, we have to tell people not to give in to him.  This presents a challenge at preschool because there is only one teacher for 8-10 (depending on the day) kids; therefore, she does not have time to be persistent with him, we tried to make this point with AEA in May during his initial evaluation meeting, but they thought exposure in a regular preschool would be all he needed to make progress.

After a few weeks in the preK, the AEA contacted us about checking in on Corban to see how he was adjusting.  After observing him, providing the teacher guidance on working with Corban and then the reports from his autism evaluation, they quickly decided they needed to do a reevaluation because he was not progressing like they had hoped he would.  (When they called me in October, seeking permission to do the reevaluation all I wanted to say was "We told you this is what was going to happen," but I instead did a little happy dance and said "most definitely because we were going to request you do a reevaluation") Don't take this wrong, I wanted Corban to succeed but after seeing, what we already knew was likely to happen, my heart broke that we had wasted all this time.  All I want is what is best for Corban and right now that is a special education preschool equipped with adequate staff and teachers who know how to work with "challenging" behaviors.  Thankfully, we had his IEP meeting on Dec 12th and he has been accepted into the program and will begin on January 7th! YAY!

Batman (Corban) and Spider man (Tegan) for Halloween!

That is the quick overview of what has happened over the past four and a half months.  I will do more specific posts following this one.  Thank you for checking in on us even though it's been quite.  God Bless!