No way

It's been almost a month since I've posted? Wow. Time flies! Quite a bit has happened too, but I will give the condensed version.
We put Alex back on the medicines after trying to give him more time off of them. He's been doing better over the last few days. He is also taking an aquatics class for Autistic kids (as well as others), and he really likes that. He also has tumbling and horse riding once a week. He is doing well in all of them. He's doing more in one year than I got to do my entire childhood!
I wrote in April that he fell and hit his front teeth, and I think I wrote that they were starting to turn gray, meaning the nerves were dying. He could have lost his teeth eventually. We have been praying about it and they are getting whiter! We've been praying the Lord would bring life back in the nerves and it looks to be happening! Amazing! It's been one miracle after another with this child! God has such favor upon him. It really blows me away!
We have also been working on the paper work for Russia and paperwork for adoption grants. We've gotten most of it done. Assuming the Lord is going to provide the next chunk of money we need pretty soon then we should be sending in the paperwork in the next week or so! After that we wait for a referral! Once we get the referral we leave for Russia two weeks after that to go meet our daughter! It happens fast once it gets going. The time between sending in the paperwork and actually getting a referral could be a while. Then after we meet the child we will return to Russia 2-3 months later for the court date and to bring her home. It's all very exciting. My prayer is to have her home by Christmas but it's in the Lord's hands.
As far as I go, I have taken up jogging and can jog up to a 1/4 of a mile right now. I hope I can keep going. I've been busy learning Russian, and trying to keep up with a couple of other things going on here.
It's really just been crazy around here. I don't have time to write any more for now. Hopefully I will get back on here soon!

Took the Plunge

We finally signed the adoption agency contract and sent it in! And amazingly enough we feel complete peace about it. Sure it's still scary, but neither one of us are having second thoughts. God has started blessing us financially this week! We have received almost $800 this week from friends at church, and we also found out we have more money in the bank accounts than we originally thought! It's enough to pay for my upcoming doctor's appointment ($500 or so) and to send off for the USCIS, which is approval from the US government to adopt! And we'll have money leftover! Our church family are also very excited for us. So it is an exciting time for us.
And I've finally decided to add a few pictures. Some from our gardens anniversary trip in April and from our beach trip. A picture of the cake I made for my mother and father in law for their birthdays. The first few are of us trying to get Alex's picture for his passport and we ended up getting some really cute ones. 22 pictures later we finally got one that worked. lol

A change!

I actually had a few minutes to write this morning. We were at church late last night, so Alex is sleeping in.
We went back to horse therapy yesterday! What a blessing! While we were there the riding instructor came out and talked to me. He said that they have raised enough money for Alex to ride for at least a year!!! That's over $4000! As I was talking to him I could just clearly see God's hand in the situation. There's no other explanation. John wants me to write up a story about Alex that he can pass on to the people who donated, so that maybe they will see how it is helping and will be willing to contribute more on an ongoing basis. Of course I will write the story! It gives me a chance to brag about Alex and what the Lord has done! Praise the Lord!
Also the last few days we have been talking about the Russian adoption again. For awhile we felt that the Lord said to wait. Boy that was hard. The longer we waited the more our enthusiasm went down. Well, I think we are beginning to see why the Lord had us wait. I mentioned in the last post that the agency we were going with changed the "rules" on us, so that caused us to look elsewhere. We were looking for an "easy" way out, a way that didn't require much faith. Local adoption was nearly free. The Russian adoption through the other agency (before the rules changed) would have been only traveling fees which would have been doable for us. It seems the Lord is wanting to take us the more expensive route because it causes us to rely on Him 100% for the money. It stretches our faith. There is NO way possible we could come up with the money. On Monday Steve found an agency that we had never seen before. We have not seen any bad reports about them anywhere. It is a small agency, and seems to be more like a family than just a business. Steve has emailed the director twice and both times she has gotten back to us within hours! It took a few days at least with the other agency. We feel more at peace with this place, and you pay as you go so if we back out or something happens we will not owe them tens of thousands of dollars. It appears that we will either be adopting from Moscow or from Magadan which is close to Japan. If we adopt from Magadan, on the second trip we will literally be flying all the way around the world (most likely) to bring our child(ren) home!
So now that we are talking about it again and things are happening, we are getting excited again. We both have fears which can become paralyzing, so I ask for your prayers that the Lord will help us overcome. We had a chat with our pastor last night that encouraged us and reminded us that the Lord called us to do this. The Lord is good and I know that He will guide us every step through this process. I will keep you all updated!

Lots of news!

Oi. I didn't mean to go a month! I haven't been on the computer much at all, which has helped me get other things done, but when I was on I had to pick and choose what I was going to do. I don't figure many people (if any) read this so I had to let it go. Lots of things have happened so I will try to cram as much into this post as I have time for!
I'll try to go in chronological order. First off, Steve and I went to the Fort Worth gardens for our 6th anniversary. We usually go on a trip but money was tight. We had a good time and got some pretty pictures. When we got home, the babysitter told us she broke Alex. They were running around outside and he fell and kissed the pavement. He had a busted bottom lip, cut upper gums, and a loose front tooth and a crooked front tooth. When we saw him we thought it was really bad and that he might need to go to the ER, but Steve cleaned him up and tried to turn his crooked tooth back. Alex was a champ! He had done all his crying when it happened (a couple hours earlier) and he never complained about it! He only said twice that his mouth hurt and that was the next morning. So he handled it better than I expected. His loose tooth tightened up again and his crooked tooth isn't that noticeable (just to us). It could have been so much worse so we are very thankful!
He seems to have a lazy eye or something like that going on. For a few months his left eye has been turned in at times. Any of you reading this, I ask for your prayers for his eye. If it continues we will get it looked at.
Another way the Lord has had His hand on Alex is with the horse riding. Last Wednesday was his first Wednesday of not riding. He has a rocking horse and all day he dragged that horse around the house! I showed him how to "feed" it and brush it. He had hardly ever played with it before that day, so that showed me that he knew he was suppose to ride Richie that day! I was glad to see the connection but so sad that he couldn't go. Later that afternoon his PT, Suzanne, called and said some sad news turned into good news. The riding instructor's mom had died. He requested that instead of sending flowers etc, that friends and family donate money to the therapy center. Then he said all of the money that comes in is to go to Alex's riding fund! Can you believe it? I was going to cry on the phone. They had already gotten over $1000! That's at least 12 more weeks of riding! I was/am so excited! Praise the Lord! Even friends who don't know the Lord know that it is only He Who could have worked that out! The riding instructor has only seen Alex a couple of times, and that money probably could have gone to so many other things. We are truly blessed and I am so excited for Alex!
Those are the two major things that have happened. We are in Houston at the moment. Steve had a business trip that started in Austin, then San Antonio, and now to Houston. We are going home today. We've been gone a week! We are hoping to go out to the coast before heading home so that will be nice. Alex has only been on a beach once and he liked it (who doesn't?). We spent about four days with my family while Steve was working in San Antonio, so that was fun. Alex came out of his shell and his speech was amazing! He is talking so much more now.
On the adoption front, things are changing. We went to a foster/adoption meeting a week ago just to see if we would be intersted in doing that. Fostering does not seem easy to me so I will need to pray more about that. Adoption isn't either but at least once you have the child you don't have to worry about them leaving. We received an email from the Russian agency we were looking at and it turns out (because of the economy) the funding requirements have changed and are no longer things we feel we can handle (more than three kids, children older than we feel comfortable taking in etc). So for now, unless the Lord drops $50K in our laps to get one child, it looks like that is on hold. We still feel He laid that on our hearts, but the timing is not now. All this could change, so we will see. We are praying about local adoption and I am going to the doctor to make sure nothing is wrong before trying to get pregnant again.
We could be moving in 6 weeks since our lease is up. Something else we are praying about. So I need to get busy cleaning up the house when we get back.
I guess that's about all my news. I will try to post pictures soon and try to get back to posting at least once a week!

Craziness!

Last week I limited my time on the computer to the absolute minimum for several reasons, so I haven't blogged much. It's been really busy anyway.
We had just gotten over the flu when Alex got pink eye and I got sinus/upper respiratory infections. Fun, fun! He's doing better now, but is complaining about his ears. If he's still complaining tomorrow I will have to call his doctor. I am getting better too. Just tired and feeling weak.
We learned that the funding for Alex's horse therapy will be over at the end of the month, thanks to the economy. I am going to look into a couple of other possibilities. One is 40 miles away, and free. The other is closer and not free, but I don't know how much it will cost. I was sad about him losing his funding because he enjoys it so much and the people there really like him, but it is very very expensive and there's no way we can keep taking him on our own.
I have felt in the last couple of weeks that the Lord was about to bring some changes. I don't know what kind but I've just had a feeling of expectancy. I do hope there is some change for the good.
Alex is doing really well with the Alphabet. I took pictures of things around the house with the letter next to the object. He has really caught on quickly and knows almost all the letters except 2-3. Next we will work on letters and reading short words. He's been playing better with kids and is more active since getting off the meds. But he has been more temperamental the last few days too.
He's also been falling asleep in the evenings on the floor or in my lap. I've included one of the pictures.
I babysat two kids this week, which I never do because I don't like it. I have never liked it. But it wasn't too bad and we survived. I watched a 4 year old girl and a 1 year old boy. It made me realized how blessed I am with Alex. They weren't bad kids, but they are "normal" outgoing and therefore more active and bouncing from one thing to the next! I'm not used to that. Alex has a good attention span.
Here are some pictures of the week. It will probably be another week before I get to check in again, unless some great happens, then I'll get back here sooner.



This is suppose to be his mad face.


His Macaulay Culkin Impression or surprise face.


Didn't take a nap.


Proving to be much like his father.

A Newsy Note

I read a book called Raindrops on Roman and it's about a mom's journey to help her son recover from Autism and SPD (sensory processing disorder) both of which Alex has been diagnosed with. She talks about the "skills and drills" she used to bring her son out of it. Of course she worked with her son 10 hours or more a day, and I can't really do that. But I have been working with Alex a couple of hours a day since Saturday. Even in this short amount of time I have seen his imaginative play increase and he has learned the first four letters of the alphabet. So I know it's working. We have a long way to go. For example, he will not play at the park. He refuses to do anything, except feed the ducks. I need wisdom and direction on how to push him (leave him alone and everyone's happy), when to push him, and how to teach him. I know the Lord will show me. I believe He has given me a door to go through and I need to push through even when it gets tough.
Also last night we went to church as we usually do on Wednesday nights. We were prepared to study Galatians as we have been doing the last few weeks. Instead Pastor Rick feels led to pray. He gives us some of his prayer requests and then goes around the room asking us for ours. I'm thinking, "If we are praying for all these requests individually, then it's going to take all night and we won't get through much of Galatians." That's exactly what happened and how awesome it was! When it came to my turn to share my prayer request (and I have several) I ended up just giving a praise report that Alex is almost off of his medicines because he is doing so well. They were all encouraged to hear that and praised God. During prayer time, a friend named John, thanked God for the work He is doing in Alex. John then went on to pray a beautiful prayer of encouragement and blessing over Steve, Alex and I. I wish I could remember it, because it was so appropriate and timely. He prayed about our adoption plans also. A little later Pastor Rick started praying about adoption and before he could get very far he had to stop; he was so moved by the Spirit. At first I didn't know if he was talking about human adoption or adoption in Christ. When he continued praying he was talking about human adoption. The Lord had been speaking to him about it this week. He cried out to God for all the children all over the world that need homes and love. He prayed for Steve and I and for the ministry opportunities in adopting etc. That was the confirmation Steve and I were seeking the Lord for! We had asked the Lord to speak to both of us at the same time! He did! After prayer time had to come to an end (it was getting late), Pastor Rick looked at Steve and I and said, "So what is going on with you two and the adoption?" He said it with the expectation that God has been working through us and that He is going to do mighty things through us. I couldn't even speak. I was still crying. lol. God IS doing something in this situation, and He wants us to adopt and may be moving even more people to adopt as well. It was just an awesome time. I wish I could put it into words better, but all I can say is that God is moving and we are in a time of expectation! We will probably be signing with the agency this weekend, I would assume by Monday, unless the Lord has other plans. We know now that we need to do this! We do need prayer for direction and for specifics. Once we sign with the agency, we need to let them know how many kids, what ages, whether to do the children on the waiting program (certain ages and of 2 or more children, and paid for except traveling expenses.) or to just adopt one (a lot more expensive!). I know the Lord will reveal things in time. For now He wants us to be in a constant state of prayer, seeking His face, and doing the things He has already set before us. I am excited to see what the Lord is going to do! I see now that fasting does make a difference and it makes me want to fast more often. There are several things that I have been praying about for years and they have not changed. I am wondering if fasting will work in those areas also. It wouldn't hurt to do it. If all that happens is that I get closer to God then that's all I need! I will keep you all posted!

Been sick

Well, the last week of flu season and we got the flu. Thankfully we are almost over it. I am ready for next week to get here because I will be feeling better and I can get back on a schedule.
We went to the neurologist today for Alex's last appointment. They are such wonderful people! We will miss them, but they did say that even if Alex gets sick or we have a concern we can still call them and come in. So he's pretty much our pediatrician too! I am glad they are open to that because I trust them and Alex seems to like them. Everything seems to be going great with Alex. He will be getting off his medicines now. They said if he starts going crazy (hopefully not literally) after a few days they may have to put him back on it for awhile longer. They think he'll be fine though. He may have to go to a neuro-opthomologist? to have his eyes looked at. One of them tends to go in for a moment when he shifts his eyes to a different object. He's also become more sensitive to light. They were amazed at how much he was talking and how much he's grown. They also gave us vitamins to help with his digestive tract.
After dinner, Steve took apart one of Alex's toys to fix the microphone. Before this Alex has wanted nothing to do with his daddy at all. Tonight he has been "helping" daddy fix his toy. It's been great to see! I guess I need to find some more broken toys! Ha ha. Here's some pictures!
Oh and he also fell asleep on the floor today which is unusual:

Had a busy weekend

Alright I finally have some time to upload some pictures and a video or two. Here's Alex riding Richie last Wednesday. He loves this and looks forward to it every week. He stands, rides on his knees, rides backwards etc.
And here's a video of two lizards fighting or something in our backyard. Sorry it's not the best video. I was filming through the back window.





We went hiking on Saturday at Glen Rose State Park. It was pretty fun. Alex enjoyed playing in the river. All the pictures are on Steve's camera, so I don't have any to post right now.
Sunday we went to church and lunch, then we all took naps. I guess being in the sun on Saturday wore us out! All in all it was a pretty good weekend.
Tomorrow Alex starts tumbling class again, so I will get video of that. I think he's bored right now so I'd better end this. Hopefully it won't take me as long to post again.

Need to sign

Alright so I am afraid to commit. Especially when children are involved. The agency and the home study lady (for the adoption) are waiting on us to give them the go ahead. But I'm scared. Once we apply and the process is started, there's no going back. I've been praying and praying for direction from the Lord. I got two small confirmations a couple of Sundays ago, but I am like Gideon and I want to put the fleece out again just to make sure. God has not closed any doors, but my fears tend to paralyze me. Please pray for us as we make the next step in this process! I just want to do God's will.
I didn't do much again today. I am really struggling with depression. I never get down and stay down. I don't know what's going on. I have set some goals (weight loss wise) that I started today, so maybe having some goals will help. Also I don't like cold weather. I tend to curl up in a ball and stay there. It's suppose to turn warm again next week, so maybe I will get out and work on my car and go for walks again.
Alex got a good work out with his OT this evening. He has weak muscles, especially his stomach, so the OT put kinesio? tape on his tummy and back which forces his muscles to work. He got a little hyper after that! She got him to do quite a few things so I hope it wore him out enough so he will sleep in a bit in the morning. :)
That's it for tonight!

A Busy Week

I did not have time to post earlier this week. My mom and two brothers came up for a visit. We had a good time. Alex enjoyed the attention and having playmates. He really needs some siblings!
Tuesday was an 80 something degree day so we went to the Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose and saw a few dinosaur prints. There's really not a lot to do out there unless you like to hike. Steve and I do, so we are wanting to take an overnight trip out there and go hiking some time this spring.
Wednesday it turned colder (high of 51) and rainy, so it was an indoor kind of day. We did take Alex to his horse therapy, which he loves. He rides backwards, standing up, on his knees etc. It has really helped him on a lot of ways. We are truly blessed to be able to take him there!
This morning my mom and brothers went home and Alex and I went grocery shopping. I've just been hanging out today. I need to get busy again tomorrow. We have the Women's Bible Study in the morning. That's always a blessing, even though I don't always feel like going.
Alex did really well with my family here. He turned into a pill after they left though! He has had some strange behavior lately (bobbing his head around and, I guess, acting like a car), so I am hoping that means he's about to go through another growth spurt of some kind. Maybe I mentioned that in my last post. Anyway, it's kind of weird. Maybe I'll get it on video. Ha ha. Ah, life with an autistic/sensory child! Always entertaining. :) That's it for now. I'll try to post pictures/videos soon. Not sure how to do that but I'll figure it out!

TGIF!

Today wasn't too bad of a day. Bible Study was canceled this morning because the pastor's household has the flu. :( So I had to go get a needle stuck in my arm for more blood work to check my hormones and go pick up my meds and Alex's meds. Alex and I went to the park too. Instead of wanting to play on the swings and slides, he wanted to go feed the ducks. Seems a little odd for a child to not want to play on the equipment but I'm not going to argue. Ha ha.
Alex has been in a funk the last few days. He likes to pretend he's a car, and he drives around the house. That's fine, but he's been doing in a lot more the last few days. His Occupational therapist came over tonight and said she believes he's about to go through another growth spurt. He went through a spurt just a few weeks ago (lots of crying and screaming) and overnight his speech improved quite a bit. So we'll see what kind of spurt he goes through this time!
I have been feeling better mentally the last couple of days. Now if my physical will just follow! We're planning a walk to the park in the morning so maybe that will jump start something. No other big plans for the weekend. Just hanging out and going to church.
So yeah, that was my day. Nothing exciting really. Be back soon for more updates! Exciting or not! LOL

Kind of tired

Today was a bit of a trying day with Alex. He wasn't horrible but he had some moments. He won't let daddy do ANYTHING for him, and I am not exaggerating. If Steve even turns on the bathroom light for him so he can go, Alex will go into a screaming rage and will not go. Well, he started that this morning. He has to have things exactly the way he's always had them, down to having the step stool in the right place to go to the bathroom! He has not wanted to use the bathroom upstairs without sitting on his potty seat. He will go standing up downstairs just not upstairs. I bribed him in every way imaginable, and he only screamed and refused to go. Finally before bathtime I told him to go standing up and then he could put the color tablets in the tub to make it change color. That was motivation enough! Whew! I hope it continues to go well.
I have just been wanting to eat and eat. I didn't have sweets at all in February except a piece of cake at the beginning. I've had ice cream since getting off the sweets fast and now I want it all the time. I have to get my eating back under control! And get more exercise!
I actually got very excited this evening about adopting! I had a dream the other night about our 4-5 year old girl and our boy about 3 or so. Obviously we don't know how old the kids will be but that's about how old they were in the dream. It was within a few days of bringing them home and the girl was grieving (which is a good sign) and the boy was happy and playing with toys and running around. I know it's not going to be easy or perfect, especially with a sensory child like Alex. We did order a CD and book today that will help us be able to communicate with our kids when we bring them home. I can't wait to get started learning more Russian. It's hard but I am enjoying it!
I guess that's all the news for now.

Gonna Try It

Okay, so I am not the most faithful at blogging, but I will give it a try!
I will start the blog with our 2008 letter to catch people up on what has been happening with us 15 months.

2008-A Year of Growth

2008 was a hard year for us, as it was for many. It was a year that challenged us, and it caused us to grow and rely on the Lord in ways we had never experienced before. We have seen His grace and His mercy at work in our lives, and have experienced His joy, comfort, love, peace, faithfulness, and patience.
January was a relatively quiet month. We were trying to recover from the holidays and getting ready for a big family vacation in February. Also about this time we decided to start trying for another baby. In the beginning of February, we went to Disney World with Melissa's family. The first two days were fun, but then Steve got food poisoning and spent the next 36 hours in the hotel room. He recovered quickly and was able to join us again. The night before we were to fly out, Alexander was sick to his stomach also. God's grace covered us as we made the trip home with a sick little boy. The week after returning he started having horrible tantrums that would last for hours. People kept telling us that it was just part of the terrible two's, but we knew in our hearts something was not right. He was also doing strange things and he quit talking. He was having stomach and digestive issues as well. In the middle of February, after a Wednesday night service, the Pastor Rick and his wife Mercedes had us stay so they could speak with us. It was about Alex. They believed he was autistic. We both denied it at first, but over the next few days we started to see what others had been seeing for a few months. We later came to find he also has a sensory disorder (he's sensitive to light, sounds, and touch.)
In March, after doing some research and finding out that treating Autism can be very expensive, we did the only thing we could afford to do. Alexander went on a very strict diet, and after four days, he was a perfect angel. The tantrums disappeared and he seemed to "wake up". When Melissa started adding food back into his diet, she quickly found wheat and dairy to be the offenders. Once on the gluten free, casein free diet Alexander started coming alive again and was showing signs of improvement. During this time Melissa's dad whom she hadn't seen in seven years came down to visit for a few days. Alexander had his first motorcycle ride. We're not sure that he liked it since he headed straight for the house when he got off, but he talked about it for a long time afterward.

In April we began to set things up with Early Childhood Intervention. They work with kids under 3 who have Autism, ADD, ADHD, etc. Before the therapy even began Alexander began to make strides in progress and each week the case workers were amazed to see how much progress he was making. We realized at that point that we were watching a miracle happen in our son. He soon became all the therapists' favorite, and God's favor was upon him in everything. April 26th was our 5th anniversary. Melissa's family watched Alexander overnight so Melissa and Steve could go to the Hill Country in Texas and go hiking.
May was relatively quiet. The therapist were coming out about once a week to work with Alexander. In June and July he took a couple of tumbling classes and an art class. He excelled in the tumbling class and really liked it.
At the beginning of July, Melissa miscarried, not realizing she was pregnant. Also in July, we were blessed with the funds to take Alexander to a neurologist who specializes in children with sensory disorders and who are on the Autism spectrum. Dr. Ronald Morton ran some tests and we found out that Alexander had what they call supra-hearing, or the hearing of a dog. He had learned to block out loud sounds. He would respond when we would whisper to him, but he would not respond well when we called to him. The doctor put Alexander on two antivirals, one for DNA and one for RNA. These antivirals help clean out the nervous system. They told us the first 6 weeks would be hard. Alexander would regress. They were not kidding! We saw all his progress between March and July disappear! We wondered if this was really going to work. After 6 weeks we did see a little improvement. By week 9 we saw more improvement.
August came and Melissa and Alexander went to San Antonio for a week, while Steve was on a missions trip in Russia for ten days. Melissa teased Steve about visiting an orphanage and coming home with a baby girl. Obviously, it doesn't happen that quickly, and Melissa was not really open to the idea. She wanted her own kids first, then maybe they would consider adoption.
By the beginning of September Alexander was completely potty trained. In mid October Alexander came down with strep throat and that turned into scarlet fever. It was a couple of weeks before he was better. He had also regressed in his behavior, and it took him about three weeks to get back on track.
In November, Alexander turned 3 on the 18th and a week later he began hippotherapy, which is therapy done while riding a horse. He really likes his horse, Richie. He gets excited about riding him and about getting to go over the railroad crossing to get to the therapy center. During this month, Melissa had a heart change about adoption, and we began to talk about it some. We spent Thanksgiving weekend with Melissa's parents, and the Monday after we returned, Melissa found out she was expecting again. Two hours later she began having complications and was put on strict bed rest. Steve's parents came up to help with Alexander and to take him to his therapy. They also made meals and kept up the house. The last part of November and all of December was an emotional roller coaster. Melissa relied on the Lord as her Rock and her strength. He filled her with peace and spoke to her through His Word. Christmas day, when Melissa was 8 weeks along, she lost the baby. We did not know until the following Monday because God's grace, comfort and peace had covered her. Even in her anger and disappointment, Melissa found it in her heart (and she still doesn't know how) to continue to praise God for being her Rock and for His grace upon her.
That is our year in a nutshell. We look back on this year in amazement. We have witnessed God's hands performing a miracle in our son and in our lives as He worked on our hearts. There were times we wanted to pull our hair out, and many times we found ourselves on our knees. We have had moments of laughter and moments of heart wrenching pain, but the Lord was there through it all. He was and is our Rock.
As for 2009, we pray it is a year filled with hope, good news, and more miracles! If the Lord wills, we will hopefully be expecting again a little later this year. We are also moving forward with the plan to adopt from Russia, unless the Lord closes that door. We are learning from other peoples' experiences that it can be a hard, long road but it will be worth it once we have the child in our arms. I know if it is the Lord's will He will provide the finances to do it; He will lead us down a smooth straight path, covered in His grace; and He will lead us to the right child. We expect continued progress and growth in Alexander as he continues his diet and his therapies.
Lord, we pray for our dear friends and family, that You will bless them and keep them in 2009. We pray for a desire to be in each one of their hearts to seek Your face. We pray that in times, good or bad, that they will learn to rely on You and trust You completely in the work You are doing in each of their lives. We pray for Your peace, Your comfort and Your joy to be with them everyday. Thank You Lord for our loved ones. Please protect them, keep them safe and bless them. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Since this letter was written, we have continued on in the adoption process and are about to submit our application to the agency. Things could happen very quickly or it could take a year and a half. We are trying to remain open in gender and age as much as possible to allow the Lord's will to be done in our lives. We would like at least one girl and for the children to be under the age of 6. As of right now we are trying to adopt two children. It will be an adventure to say the least. We welcome and covet your prayers as we go on this journey.
Alex is doing great. He's much more active and his speech is coming along quickly! We praise the Lord for the changes we are seeing in him! We believe in a complete healing in his body.
I am pretty sure I will not post everyday (we aren't that exciting around here), but I will try to post often so keep checking back!