We've been home just over a week now. I've got so much I'd like to post on here that this may get kind of unorganized, but I'll just blame it on lack of sleep ;)
First of all, we want to thank everyone who has done so much for us this first week home. And some right before we got home. Not only did a local church have a railing and gate put on our front porch for us, they had their youth do missions work at our house as well. They mowed, weed eated, and washed our house. They tried to pressure wash it but there just wasn't enough pressure from our spring box so they actually scrubbed it themselves!! What an amazing thing to do for people most of them have never met. Then just a couple days ago the pastor from that church and his wife stopped in to see if there was anything else we needed done! As we talked, we stated that what we could use mostly is just help with things around here, just extra hands. So two days later as I was rocking Jackson I got a knock on the door. It was the pastor saying that he had 3 teenage girls to come in and help me with some household chores if that was okay with me. Ummm, of course!!! :) Their church was having a clothing drive and had more than enough young people show up to volunteer so he thought of us and our needs and brought them over!!! What an amazing blessing. So they helped me clean the kitchen and bathroom, they vacuumed and dusted the house, folded and took care of laundry, and played with the boys while I finally got to unpack the rest of our stuff!!! It was great!!
Our church family has also been bringing us meals every night which has also been a tremendous blessing. I never realized how much the jet lag and time change would affect me and my moods!! Throw in two little boys who don't understand what is happening or most of what you are saying to them, who are also dealing with jet lag and a time change, and wow!
So how are the boys settling in? Well, it's still a work in progress ;) Quite honestly, I don't remember much at all of those first couple of days. And the next couple after that, well, they were hard. But we expected them to be. The boys world has been turned upside down, we are first time parents to children who have been through things we don't understand or even know about, and we are all figuring out this family thing. What I didn't really expect were some of my reactions. I'm not going to go into personal details, but I will just say that no matter how prepared you are for things to be hard, you can never know what it is like until you've been there. I will also say that I never once thought that we had made a mistake. I know this is the family God created us to be and I know that He is there with me every step of the way. I need only acknowledge Him and lean on Him.
We are just now finally settling into somewhat of a routine. And it has become clear to us that Jackson thrives on routine and doesn't do so well just now with chaos and commotion. So we have decided to limit the amount of visitors, especially children, for a while. This also means that we will be taking the advice of a dear man we met during this process, to keep his world small and to grow it gradually. Right now his world is our house (not even the whole thing), and our front porch. While he does better going out than having people in, it still disturbs him, especially if the attention is on him. What this means is, for now, pretty much staying home unless there are doctor appointments to go to. It also means no play dates for a while so please pray for me as I will, of course, be home bound with the boys. After being in Ukraine for 8 weeks it is very hard for me to not get out and see people that I have missed. We may try church next week to see how he handles that. It would be great if he could, but we are not going to rush it just for our own selfish reasons.
As far as being a big brother, though, Jackson is doing great!! Yes, he throws toys at his brother, often clocking him directly in the head (for not being able to see well, he sure has great aim from across the room!! lol), but he is truly just trying to play with him and give him toys to play with. If Josiah is crying, Jackson will bring him his favorite toy or just come talk to him. He is learning to tickle him and be gentle with him. He will even go up to him and play with him by doing things that I do to Jackson while we play, like pretending to eat his toes :) He also is not afraid to tell him no or to cut it out if he's doing something Jackson thinks he shouldn't be doing!
Jackson is also starting to use more English words. He says brother now, which sounds more like bubba but that's okay :)
We have discovered that: Jackson loves dogs and cats....Josiah does not! Jackson likes baths...again, Josiah does not! Both boys are happy and smiley when the wake up. And parents don't get nearly enough sleep to keep up with a one year old and a three year old!! So thanks to the wonderful young ladies who helped clean my house, I was able to get a nap in this morning while the boys slept!!
I'm sure there is much more that I am missing, but it is now 9pm which is when my mind turns to mush and I can barely remember my name! LOL
I am posting this now, but soon after will be having Joel add pictures. I apologize for our lack of pictures of late, we've been a little busy ;)
we even got Niko in one!
First of all, we want to thank everyone who has done so much for us this first week home. And some right before we got home. Not only did a local church have a railing and gate put on our front porch for us, they had their youth do missions work at our house as well. They mowed, weed eated, and washed our house. They tried to pressure wash it but there just wasn't enough pressure from our spring box so they actually scrubbed it themselves!! What an amazing thing to do for people most of them have never met. Then just a couple days ago the pastor from that church and his wife stopped in to see if there was anything else we needed done! As we talked, we stated that what we could use mostly is just help with things around here, just extra hands. So two days later as I was rocking Jackson I got a knock on the door. It was the pastor saying that he had 3 teenage girls to come in and help me with some household chores if that was okay with me. Ummm, of course!!! :) Their church was having a clothing drive and had more than enough young people show up to volunteer so he thought of us and our needs and brought them over!!! What an amazing blessing. So they helped me clean the kitchen and bathroom, they vacuumed and dusted the house, folded and took care of laundry, and played with the boys while I finally got to unpack the rest of our stuff!!! It was great!!
Our church family has also been bringing us meals every night which has also been a tremendous blessing. I never realized how much the jet lag and time change would affect me and my moods!! Throw in two little boys who don't understand what is happening or most of what you are saying to them, who are also dealing with jet lag and a time change, and wow!
So how are the boys settling in? Well, it's still a work in progress ;) Quite honestly, I don't remember much at all of those first couple of days. And the next couple after that, well, they were hard. But we expected them to be. The boys world has been turned upside down, we are first time parents to children who have been through things we don't understand or even know about, and we are all figuring out this family thing. What I didn't really expect were some of my reactions. I'm not going to go into personal details, but I will just say that no matter how prepared you are for things to be hard, you can never know what it is like until you've been there. I will also say that I never once thought that we had made a mistake. I know this is the family God created us to be and I know that He is there with me every step of the way. I need only acknowledge Him and lean on Him.
We are just now finally settling into somewhat of a routine. And it has become clear to us that Jackson thrives on routine and doesn't do so well just now with chaos and commotion. So we have decided to limit the amount of visitors, especially children, for a while. This also means that we will be taking the advice of a dear man we met during this process, to keep his world small and to grow it gradually. Right now his world is our house (not even the whole thing), and our front porch. While he does better going out than having people in, it still disturbs him, especially if the attention is on him. What this means is, for now, pretty much staying home unless there are doctor appointments to go to. It also means no play dates for a while so please pray for me as I will, of course, be home bound with the boys. After being in Ukraine for 8 weeks it is very hard for me to not get out and see people that I have missed. We may try church next week to see how he handles that. It would be great if he could, but we are not going to rush it just for our own selfish reasons.
As far as being a big brother, though, Jackson is doing great!! Yes, he throws toys at his brother, often clocking him directly in the head (for not being able to see well, he sure has great aim from across the room!! lol), but he is truly just trying to play with him and give him toys to play with. If Josiah is crying, Jackson will bring him his favorite toy or just come talk to him. He is learning to tickle him and be gentle with him. He will even go up to him and play with him by doing things that I do to Jackson while we play, like pretending to eat his toes :) He also is not afraid to tell him no or to cut it out if he's doing something Jackson thinks he shouldn't be doing!
Jackson is also starting to use more English words. He says brother now, which sounds more like bubba but that's okay :)
We have discovered that: Jackson loves dogs and cats....Josiah does not! Jackson likes baths...again, Josiah does not! Both boys are happy and smiley when the wake up. And parents don't get nearly enough sleep to keep up with a one year old and a three year old!! So thanks to the wonderful young ladies who helped clean my house, I was able to get a nap in this morning while the boys slept!!
I'm sure there is much more that I am missing, but it is now 9pm which is when my mind turns to mush and I can barely remember my name! LOL
I am posting this now, but soon after will be having Joel add pictures. I apologize for our lack of pictures of late, we've been a little busy ;)
first time in the air...well, almost in the air!
car seat...what the heck is that?
This is a rare sleeping moment!
Poor Josiah, passed out!
Josiah with his favorite page of his favorite book!
First time ever feeding w/o a bottle
His bib lies, he does miss a thing!
Yay... You are doing GREAT! Hang in there.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you have so much support. That is awesome! Things will settle down as time gets on. I've noticed that at about the 6 week mark things seem a bit easier. Hopefully that will be the case for you too.
ReplyDeleteHave you joined us on After the Rainbow yet? If not let me know and I'll get you connected. Also, please don't hesitate to contact me if there is anything I can do for you.
Blessings,
Rachel Whitmire
Post-Adoption Care Coordinator
Reece's Rainbow Down Syndrome Adopiton Ministry
rachel@reecesrainbow.org
www.reecesrainbow.org