Upcoming Ukraine Trip

I am so excited that a trip is planned for March to help out in the orphanages in Ukraine again. As you might remember, this is what started our whole adventure with Lance. (For more details on that, please go to the first posts on this blog.) Thursday night was the first meeting to get the details planned. It looks as though there will be two physical therapists (Kym and Kate), at least one speech pathologist (Carmen and possibly Amy and Kristy) and Amanda, our trip coordinator. We would love to have a pediatric occupational therapist!! Unfortunately, I will probably not be able to go on this trip due to John Michael's work schedule. I have to say that discussing the trip at the meeting brought up a lot of good memories and I long to go. I would love to see the people, be completely drained from working for them all day, and love on the children.
Please pray for:
-proper preparation (planning, gathering, and most importantly the hearts of those involved)
-funds to serve these children and caregivers as Christ would have us
-safety
-any role you might play

We love these people- adults and children. They desperately need to know that God has not left them. He knows them intimately, as he does us. Each and every one of them. Instead, He tells us to reach out to them. Psalm 139 reminds us that he knows our every thought, every move. There is no where we can go to hide from Him. We are all made perfectly. Sometimes that is hard for me to comprehend about myself. I can only imagine how these orphans must feel. What a privilege to share that love.

OOOKra!

Happy Saturday!
It is still cold here, but nothing like the last two days. The sun is shining and we might actually get into the 50's today! Still a great day to sit for a few minutes with a cup of coffee though.
While the boys are out trying to tame Lance's mane I thought I would check in and share my favorite thing Lance is doing this week.

Monday night or so we had him swinging in his new swing and he ended up taking a tumble out and scratched his back on a box left over from Christmas decorations. (Yes, we were a little behind.) It looked like it was going to be pretty painful and started swelling so I grabbed the quickest cold pack I could...frozen okra. At the time he was crying and fighting the cold touching his back. When he calmed down a bit he became very interested in the 'cold pack.' We showed it to him and explained that it was okra. Since then he has randomly called out "Oookra" when he gets really excited. I'd love to know what that translates as in Lance language, but it must be something good. :o)

On the subject of communication, Lance has started back with a picture book (PECS) to help others know what he is trying to say. He is pretty proficient with it. That gives me hope for his future communication/comprehension even if he is unable to speak as clearly as we would hope.

Back in the swing of things

Good Evening! Today has been a great day. Actually, the past week has been fabulous with Lance. He is opening up and I can not wait to spend more time with him each day. He is making an effort to be around us, communicate and play. That may sound like a simple thing, but for John Michael and me, it is HUGE. Lance has been known to want to spend hours by himself, not wanting to interact, and it was really starting to take it's toll on us. In fact, Christmas eve I had a heart-to-heart with God while taking a walk. I pleaded for Lance to show interest in life around him. I also asked God to open my eyes to all the talents and gifts Lance possesses. He has completely changed our relationship. I know it sounds crazy, but it is true. It wasn't overnight- but what...6 days instead. I believe more than anything, I am able to see how truly amazing Lance is now. He, in turn, can sense my passion for him. Please don't take that the wrong way, I have always loved Lance and wanted to be around him, but frustrated by things I couldn't change. We pray daily for him, his health and development, but maybe I needed to truly be on my knees and not trying to control the situation.

Our time at home is a blast now! It became more apparent today. I took him to school after a long Christmas break. Typically Lance LOVES school and asks to go daily. So, I thought he was going to be ecstatic today. Also, he never cries when we leave him with people. We arrived at school, went to his classroom, opened the door and the flood gate opened. He clung to me, crying "no, no, no, mama". I can not explain how my heart was breaking and somewhat rejoicing at the same time. I did consider taking him back with me, but realized that would not be a very good idea. (They called 30 min later and reported he was doing well.) Needless to say I was chomping at the bit to pick him up today. Then this afternoon/evening was a ball. I am posting a few pictures so you can share a little of the joy.

JM was standing half way in Lance's tunnel and I was pushing Lance with the swing around his torso. We fixed it so that Lance was swinging into the tunnel to his daddy. I think he would have asked to swing all night.

Once taken out of the swing he jumped onto his horse. He literally rocked himself to sleep on his horse. So much so that we took this picture with a flash and he didn't flinch. The funniest part is his little body was still moving back-n-forth about a centimeter at a time. What a great time!!