This is a cool song! With a surprise!

Steven Curtis Chapman, a Christian musician and co-founder of Show Hope (with his wife Mary Beth) just released this video. It's for a song he did for the new Veggie Tales video coming out in October. Show Hope is an organization that gives grants for adopting families-- we were blessed with one way back when we first started the process. In return, we have provided them with a few pictures and our story. We had no idea what they'd do with it, but a friend of mine of Facebook sent me this link today. Guess who's in a music video!

http://www.youtube.com/user/BigIdeaInc#p/u/0/l9ksMpwqjXQ

Disclaimer.

Ok, so if my last post about Esias had you worried- don't be. I will be capable of disciplining my adorable son-- in fact, he has already been reprimanded for going to close to the street, not sharing toys, hitting Lukey, or throwing toys at others...so no worries! I am just enjoying him so much because he is my third and i am not freaking out about "ruining" him like I did with the others! It's nice to be in a confident place in parenting (well, most of the time). Today he's had quite a rough day sharing...we've had a few "time ins" which are time outs on mom's lap because he won't sit in the chair :) So (mom) no need to worry!!

Eden Lily's First Day of SECOND GRADE! She was sort of done with Mom's fawning over her.


All three of my kiddos posing by our picture tree!

Holding up a "two" for second grade.

Smiling Elly Lyn...she's kicking it Homeschool!


He's excited, though he has no idea why...


The neighborhood kids all meeting up to walk to Garner! Yay Gators!

Quick Update, Sorry No Pics!

Things are getting crazy 'round here, but I wanted to make a quick note while I had a minute. Yesterday we had Eden's back-to-school night at her brand new school! What's even better is that it's across the street from us, so she will be able to walk with the other kids on our block. For a while, I am sure I will fret about it and walk there to get her, but she'll tell me to get outta there :) She starts second grade tomorrow!

This week I also started back doing daycare. I will have two two-year olds (one mine) and two four-year olds (one mine- soon to be 5), four days a week for 6-8 hrs a day. This will definitely help with me having a little income.

Elly's birthday is coming up in two weeks and she is all atwitter and making many lists and suggestions for her birthday gifts! We have changed our minds again and decided we are going homeschool her this year. I had such a hard time deciding, obviously since I changed my mind three times. We are going to do a kindergarten curriculum and enroll her in some recreation programs to get her involved with other kids (read: keep her off of momma's lap!).

Esias is doing great. The feeding is still very messy (orally) but he is making progress. He is starting to sometimes crunch down on the side of his mouth. Especially if I put a goldfish right in the right spot, he will crunch down on it. We have stopped the overnight feeds (YAY) and are actually sending the pump and supplies back to Home Health Care this week! That's a great step. The tube will be left in probably for a few months to make sure he keeps his weight up and over the cold and flu season, but this is good news. We feel a level of normalcy at our house that is amazing! Even though when I see another two year old, I can tell that Esias' eating and speaking are seriously "behind" I know that he is on his own timetable and he is doing awesome given what he's been through. This is the way he was made, created by the Creator who also made the stars, and that Guy made him just the way He wanted him! And to top it off, God chose us to parent him, so what do I have to worry about? If God wants me doing this job, then I can do it. And my oh my, how this child has my heart. Not sure if he will ever be disciplined. We're in big trouble :)

Speaking of speaking, he is making word-like noises...like today, he came upstairs and signed "milk" to me, which he basically uses for "drink" so I said, "How about some water?" He watched me fill his sippy with water and proceeded to flop himself onto the floor all two-year-old-like. I told him, "Don't have a fit, just sign. Sign 'no water' 'milk please momma'." And he shook his head and said, "ahh ahh." Like wat-er. Precious.

He now signs more things too- like cold and hot. Every time we get into the van (in these August temps) he signs "hot" to me. And he's so proud of his signing!

Pics from Today

The kids have been pretty well behaved lately (besides a little whining...but what's a little whining among friends?) so I decided to take some impromptu pics of them. Getting a two year old to sit, look at the camera and smile is like me making gravy. Sometimes you get lucky...and other times it tastes like cornstarch.

So here was my attempt. At pics, not gravy.

This Might Be TMI.

We've been at two different BBQs this weekend so the girls have been enjoying frolicking in the August evenings outdoors. In Iowa, that means bug bites, etc.

This morning Elly complained, "Mom, I have an itchy bum!" So Dan and I checked her out and all seemed normal, so we figured it was just bug bites or something. She got dressed up for church and as Dan was brushing her hair, she worried, "Momma, what if I have to itch my bum during Sunday School!?" I said, "Well just don't do it during Sunday School!" To that she replied, "But Mom! It's hopeless!!"

They're Listening.

I was in the kitchen organzing some paperwork and I heard this from the girls' bedroom:

Elly, dumping out her can of pennies and other coins on the floor and spreading them out: I'm rich! I'm rich!

Eden: No you're not rich.

Elly: Eden, Daddy said that if you have one pair of shoes, you're rich in the whole world.

Bless their hearts, they listen.

Esias Denies Everything.

My son made me a lovely drawing for my birthday!

New Pics

!
We went to visit our goods friends Lindsay and Jeff and she was kind enough to snap some pics of us. They live near a college so we shot in front of a pretty fountain. As you can see, the girls and Esias enjoyed the water! I was soaked afterwards but it was fun! Thanks Linds!

Both of these quote came from lunch today...

Eden: Mom, what are you talking about?
Me: Oh, just talking to Dad about grown-up stuff.
Eden: It probably has to do with federal prison.

---

Dan: Eden, why is there a piece of chicken in your napkin? Was it gross?
Eden: It was mushy.
Me: It was probably wet from something on your plate.
Eden: Yeah, from peach juice.
Elly: I think it was diseased.

Ellyquent.

I was putting temporary tatoos on Eden and Elly (we only had two) and after doing Eden's just fine, I ruined Elly's. I said, "OH ELLY! I am so sorry!" And she said, "That's ok Mom. A kindful answer turns away the raft."

Sign of the Times

Esias is signing more and more. His list of signs that he uses regularly:

Milk
More
Cheese
Please
Sorry
Bread
Night Night
Up
Down
No (shakes head)
Yes (nods)
Food
Banana
Cookie
Ball
All done
Bye Bye
Shoes
Help

Some signs we are working on:
Cracker
Sign
Play
Sister
Boy
Girl

He is usually really good at picking them up, it's just up to us to continue using them! He really enjoys being understood and is really proud of himself! We are using some videos called "Signing Times" from the Grant Wood Parent Education Library. It's really helpful and the big girls love it too! Dan and I want to take a sign language class together soon if possible. It could be like date night and learning something important all at once :)

At our last therapy session they suggested we work with some picture cards for Esias to point at so he can communicate with us even further, and see if knows some more abstract ideas. He's doing really well in therapy.

Back to Africa!

Dan is going back to Ethiopia in September on a Vision Trip to see how our church can partner more permanently with Yezelalem Minch. We have been communicating with Birtukan (our gracious hostess in Addis as well as the visionary for YZM) and she gave us this list of needs. If any of you want to join us in collecting this material, please let me know! Here's the list:

2 Oral Thermometers and 500 refill covers
600 quart-size ziploc baggies
500 bandaides (any brand, assorted sizes preferred)
600 antibiotic/bacitracin ointment packets (www.amazon.com)
650 gauze pads (any brand, assorted sizes preferred)
600 individually wrapped alcohol wipes
300 toothbrushes (any brand, small head with soft bristles preferred)
100 travel size tubes of toothpaste
40 people to donate $18 for feminine products*
1 blood pressure cuff

Many people offer clothing donations, which are great, but some of these "consumables" are more needed and more difficult to get in Ethiopia. Shoes are always welcome though!

(Some of these may already be done, as they had an announcement at church the past two weeks. But the more the merrier, in my opinion!)

*It makes more sense to buy these in-country because they cost a lot less. A month's worth of supplies for one girl would cost less than $2 in Addis Ababa.

Blog Slacker!

I have been seriously slacking! Not that there aren't funny things going on around here, they just move too quickly from one to the next :)

Tube News.

A few people have asked about the tube feeding. Earlier in the spring I had said we might be able to get rid of the tube totally in September. As of now, I am pretty sure that won't be the case. It's not that anything is wrong, it's just that he is going through that normal two-year-old phase of not wanting to sit and eat his meals. He eats about 1/2 of what he used to eat (or less)! In order to be able to get rid of the tube feedings, Esias has to keep his weight steady for two months of no feedings overnight. So far, we haven't been able to get rid of his overnight feeds because of his finicky eating patterns. His weight is steady between 27-28 lbs but it's down from 29. I think it's fine, he looks great to me. The tube is not so bad though, we feed him overnight and don't really have to think about it any other time. The tube site looks great and is not hard to maintain at this point. I am not too worried about it. We'll be done when we're done! At this point it is nice to have the tube option for those days when he does not eat well! Sometimes I wish I had one for all the kids!