Home two weeks...

Sam continues to delight, frustrate, scare and amaze us.

We've been home two weeks now and we are definitely getting into a groove. We usually spend the mornings working on home school activities and have Dr appointments or play time in the afternoons.

On Monday our washing machine was repaired. This single event greatly (GREATLY) improved my disposition.

Sam's bowel issues seem to, for the last few days at least, stabilized....apparently it just took a while to adjust to American sausages...

Unfortunately Sam has developed a fever that he can't seem to shake...That keeps me awake at night. (He sleeps much better than I do by the way.)

We go back to the pediatrician tomorrow and to the ortho Dr on WED. Dr visits are very scary for Sam. In his short life Sam has spent way too much time in hospitals. In addition to Spina Bifida, Sam had repeated pneumonia infections and repeated fractures to his legs...So you can imagine hospitals and DRs offices are not pleasant for the little guy.

I am, as Chip puts it, a Nervous Nelly and if left to my own devices would be in the UCC every day. Thankfully my MD neighbor and Nurse sister have instructed Chip to call them before we carry Sam to the UCC.

Sam is an interesting combination of mature and delayed..His cognitive and creative abilities continue to surprise us. In three weeks he has learned all of his colors and shapes and letters. He even knows 90 % of his letter sounds..amazing. He can count to thirteen and can add up to ten. He entertains himself for hours with elaborate and specific scenarios (Ex: The plastic snake bit our stuffed dog and an imaginary spider-both of which required an ambulance ride -in the back of a dump truck to the hospital and intense medical treatment. In the end the snake was repentant and forgiven...)

Yet his social skills are similar to that of a three year old. His favorite game is to pretend to hide and for others to pretend to look for him..and pretend to surprise him. For at least the last eight months that Sam was at the orphanage, he was the only child with verbal skills..so I guess he has spend much of his life in solitary, pretend play?

Behaviorally, we really keep pinching ourselves and wondering if this is still the "honeymoon period". He has an occasional fit (once every two or three days) . His fits last only two or three minutes and consist of a few tears and minimal resistance. Then he recovers and "rucks on". His dad tells him to ruck up", to "move out" and to "take the hill". I'm really not sure what all that means but Sam seems to understand..Must be a guy thing??

To be specific please continue to pray for Sam's fever and for our Drs appointments this week (Mon and WED).

Again thank you for your continued support and especially your prayers..
Love,
K

Our first week home

We've been home a week now and I can't remember what this house was like before Sam. He continues to amaze and amuse us every day. He sleeps through the night, in his own bed and his diet is slowly expanding. Almost hourly he surprises us with new words--some of which, like his new favorite "stink-pot", we'd rather he not learn! Oh and yesterday Sam rode in the "lift" (which we no longer call an "elevator") without any problems.
That is not to say that we haven't had our moments..Day one home our washing machine broke, days two, three and four, Sam had a bad case of diarrea! Broken washing machine and diarreah= bad combination!!! Thankfully our washing machine is still under warranty and will be repaired on Monday-I might break out in to an alleluah chorus -
Sam apparently feels secure enough in our family to have an occassional temper tantrum-which so far, only last only a few minutes.
Sam loves the independence of his wheelchair--it's the smallest one they make and he is so cute in it. He had a blast using it at Walmart yesterday. Unfortunately, the wheelchair bothers his back so we can't use it for more than about an hour a day.
We had our first regular DR visit this week and Sam handeled it like a chanmp. We have been referred for appointments for neurology, ortho, and urology. These appointments are scheduled over the next few weeks.
So, again, we appreciate any prayers we can get for Sam- especially re medical appointments we have in our immediate future.
Many of you have requested that we continue to blog medical updates. So we will keep it going for a while longer. That way we can be specific about our prayer requests.
Thank you! Thank you ! Thank you!
love,
K

We made it home!!

Whew! We arrived home at about three o'clock this am. We experienced delays on every leg of the journey home, but WE MADE IT!!
Unfortunately, to the five year old Lithuanian ear "elevator" sounds like "alligator"--add to that the mystery of how people disappear behind those strange "alligator" doors and it was terrifying to our little guy. With much prayer (mostly through clenched teeth) we made it through each airport (including Chicago-Dysfunctional-O'hare) with all our carry-ons, the jogger and Sam --and never used an alligator....With a little less intensity Sam also expressed his dislike for the security checks. We prepared him for the actual plane ride but we did not anticipate the "alligator" issue..Certainly not our first or last parenting mistake...Live and learn..
On the positive side Sam actually enjoyed the very thing we expected to be the most frightening----His laughter made take offs and landings fun for us and hopefully a few people seated around us.
We arrived in Charlotte almost four hours late but my dear family waited at the airport to greet us. Because of faithful friends- someone picked up our car when we left and it was waiting for us that night when we returned, so that we did not have to pay parking fees while we were gone..
Even at the late (early hour) our final arrival home was perfect--The ride home had been dark and I think Sam was a little nervous. (He softly sang to himself most of the ride home). As we pulled into the drive the lights were on and our house was decorated inside and out. His nervousness immediately turned into laughter when he saw the balloons and otehr decorations..We foolishly thought we would be in bed within an hour--almost four hours later we were still showing our delighted little boy all the nooks and crannies of his new home..
We also returned home to FOOD--- basket and coolers full--A HUGE blessing this morning when Sam wanted his sausage and juice--
We probably have one or two more posts because I'm sure I forgot something--
Thank you to all of you.--Your prayers and support have sustained us in this journey.
Love,
A very tired K

Hooah!

Quick update--C and I just had a moment --or rather 45 minutes--- of sheer panic--I realized that I left some tax forms that we needed at home..Fortunately, the Family Law Center rep (Dear Elona) and our Bethany reps--(God bless them all) saved the day!!

Hooah (that is Army-speak for "good job" and a whole lot of other things as well..) to the folks at Bethany and the Family Law Center!!

As we mentioned, we fly to Warsaw tomorrow. Wish I'd brought my camera tonight because I have some great pics of Sam and his box which has now morphed into a fishing barge--He continues to surprise us with his creativity! Unfortunately "The Box", which is on it's last leg anyway, will not make the flight to Warsaw--

Prayer warriors, please pray that we get through this last hurdle in Warsaw without any more glitches.

Love ,
K

Monday --hot chocolate

Top two pics are from yesterday. One at our favorite resturaunt and one at the cathederal that is NEVER open--The snow melted a little yesterday so we had fun getting out a little more.

The bottom pic probably looks nasty but it was surprisingly good! Chip ordered Hot Chocolate to drink and was served what appeared to be melted chocolate bars- yum!!

This may be our last post before we return home. We leave tomorrow for Warsaw and I do not know if we will have internet access there. We are staying at the downtown Marriot -which was recommended by friends. A big plus to this hotel is their reportedly soft toilet tissue! I'm not joking and I really hope it is true!

So that is all the news of from our corner of the world..

Love to you all! K

The Lord's Day 4 Februray 2007

Kristin assigned me blog duty this morning. Not much to report. We have 2 more full days in Vilnius: Sunday (today) and Monday. Tuesday afternoon we will fly to Warsaw; we'll be there until Thursday afternoon when we'll fly home, God willing. These days in Vilnius have been a blessing in that they have provided uninterrupted time with Sam. We've had no distractions. However, Kristin and I both are ready to get home.
Kristin and Sam had a great time last night constructing a taxi, which morphed into some type of heavy construction tractor, from the box in which our stroller was shipped. Sam has an active little imagination. His creative mom turned what was fast becoming a boring moment into a couple of hours of great fun. I think Kristin is going to try to attach some pics from that event.
Today will be another day much like that last few, although we will try to get Sam into a church. (You may recall that he told our guide that his mama won't take him to a church where God lives.) I'll get up at 1 am Vilnius-time in order to catch the Super Bowl - hopefully. The "WorldSport" network carried the NFL playoffs; maybe they'll carry the Superbowl, too. I don't think I'll make Sam get up and watch it with me; he probably wouldn't appreciate the father-son bonding time.
Grace and Peace,
Chip

Time for Telly Bye-Bye

Sam (Michelen Man) and his dad at the computer cafe. I can hardly wait to return to South Carolina where I won't spend 20 minutes layering everyone up to go outside.

I can NOT believe that I actually have an opinion about this.... but I have a favorite Telly Tubby--the green one who can dance the best--Dipsy. C's repeated prayer of late has become, "Please let it be time for 'Telly Bye- Bye' " Seriously--we are doing well and just dealing with the annoying, mundane problems of life..which is wonderful...

Can't wait to get home and see most of you soon.. Thank you again for your prayer and support. Love, K

pics I tried to add to last post--

Friday- FEB 2, 2007

About a week ago winter hit Lithuania in earnest. The snow is piling up everywhere. Rather than salt, they tend to "dirt" the roads and sidewalks here. They don't really plow the roads or shovel the sidewalks-they just kind of ride/walk on top of the snow. I've only seen two snow plows and one of those was at the US Embassy yesterday. Unfortunately the jogger is wider than the narrow paths created so I'm getting a real workout. Praise God however, the jogger continues to hold up even though it is often pushed through 18 inches of snow.

When we are out, which is usually several times a day, the boy looks like a Michelin Man - unable to bend his arms for all the layers.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon (ALL afternoon) at the US Embassy. Sam was incredibly patient--well, patient after I declared that he "would not get on the floor-and that was a FACT!" He understood that much English and after that resigned himself to sitting in my lap or a chair. There was a slight hiccup with our paperwork at the Embassy but the Vice Consulate (who appeared to be all of 16 years old!) helped us out.

All is well here. Ready to get back to the States though. Miss you all--Love , k

PS Computer is acting up today and will not show pics--sorry K

last set of pics for today-

One pic is Sam scaring his Daddy in his wolf mask..

As I type today Sam has set up his army men on the large window sill here at the computer cafe-There is a constant monologue with these plastic figures--has been going steady for 25 minutes...His Army men are all in front of (instead of behind ) the defensive barriers. It is taking every bit of restraint in his father to not move them ...Looks as though we will not get an earlier flight--so should return home late the night of 8 FEB..Love K

pics day 3 and 4

pics from 3rd and 4th days- when they let us take him to our apt for the day. In the first he is laughing and playing ball with his daddy..

pics from our second day with Sam

pics- first meeting

Well adding pics wasnt nearly as difficult as I had imagined!!! Wished I figured it out before now--These pics were from our first meeting. i will try to add more--love, K