Thankful

In the last week or so I have noticed a change...yes, I think things are changing with Jake but things are also changing with me.  I wish I could describe how my heart is changing but early on I just felt so much stress.  I was so overwhelmed and nervous and anxious about so many things.  Fear at times would overcome me.  I'd know that it wasn't from the Lord but struggled to think right.  But now it seems that I am finally getting into a groove and I just feel like I have had a newborn and things are finally settling down.  It's almost like the way you feel when they finally sleep through the night.  Jake has been doing that for a while (which is a huge, huge praise in and of itself), but I just have a better perspective on life.  Some of the behaviors that we saw early on are diminishing and he just blends right in and each of us is developing such a sweet and unique relationship with him.  It is so neat to watch.  Tonight we prayed before going to bed and honestly he just wants to pray and often takes over.  He somehow gets it though we are far away from describing what Christ did on the cross.  Honestly he just knows that Jesus is God, that he loves him (Jake), and that He made the moon.  But boy does he like to pray at night.  Tonight he just went on and on.  A couple of times I had to stop him and find out what he was saying.  One thing he said was "school", well that's our co-op.  He just loves going there and when he unclenched (don't know if that's a word) his eyes when I asked him what he said, he just as plainly as possible said "school".  It was almost like, "what you mean you couldn't understand that".  And then he said a bit later "moon" but it came out kind of weird so I asked him again what he said and it was just precious.  He then again very plainly said "moon" and looked even more annoyed like "what's wrong with you Mama".  Anyway, I decided to leave well enough along and he just prayed and prayed.  He is very thankful.  And so am I.

"Moooooon"

Well, a couple of things...

Last I think I posted Jake had been hit by a stick close to his right eye on the inside corner.  That began to heal and then he fell off his scooter (yes, he rides it like he's 5 or 6 and not 2) and hit the outside corner of his right eye.  It left a little gash that I watched closely and made my own "butterfly stitch" with a bandaid and that has finally healed up pretty nicely as well.  We're grateful for vision in Jake's right eye.  Jeff and Jenna very cleverly coached Jake into wearing his Cars helmet now and so that was a small step towards safety.  It was very hard to explain to him when he first got home why he needed to wear a helmet, but now he understands so much more.  It was also hilarious to watch Jeff and Jenna ride around with that helmet and fight over it and make so much over the cars on it (Jake is a transportation boy....likes cars, airplanes, trains, anything that moves...he's fascinated with them).  It was especially funny to see that helmet sit atop Jeff's head (Jeff has a pretty large head:)). 

Okay, also I have a very dear friend at our homeschool co-op that keeps helping me to take notice of other things that are the same in all languages (like car, motorcycle, and train sounds).  I realized that sounds that creation (both God's and ours) utters are in the same language.  Think about it......  So if Jake imitates any of those sounds, it's the same as our utterance of them.  If he hears a rock plop into some water and imitates the sound, it's "plop" or "ker-plop" just like the sound I make.  It's language that's different.  Words do hold power.  I wish that I could use mine to encourage more and to guard my mouth better.  I want to build up and not tear down.  It also reminds me about what the Bible says about the power of the name of Jesus and that someday all knees will bow and tongues will confess that Jesus is Lord. 

Jake's English is moving along so fast.  It is really unbelievable.  He understands almost all of what we are saying and can imitate almost all our words (though he doesn't always know what they mean).  His understanding though of hundreds of English words just amazes me.  I can see more and more each day what a marvelous addition he is to our family.  We are so blessed.  People often comment that he is blessed, but we are so blessed to have been entrusted with his life. 

The final tidbit that I wanted to comment on is that just about a week ago Jake took notice of the moon.  He just couldn't get over it and the next 2 hours conversation went something like this:

Jake:  "Mooooon"
Mommy:  "Yes, Jake, that's the moon.  Isn't it marvelous.  God made the moon."
Jake:  "Mooooon"
Mommy:  "Yes, Jake, that's the moon.  Isn't it beautiful.  God made the moon and God made you."
Jake:  "Mommy, mooooooooooon."
Mommy:  "Yes, Jake, that's the moon.  Isn't it awesome (here's where I started to vary by adjectives and every response thereafter just had another adjective and then I'd cycle back through....bear in mind we were shopping for shoes)."
Jake:  same thing
Mommy:  "Parker, can you talk to Jake about the moon."
Parker:  real enthusiastic in the beginning "Yes, Jake, that's the moon.  Isn't it incredible."
Jake: same thing.
Parker: same sort of conversation as I had

Well this went on all night and absolutely annoyed Parker to death as Jenna and I tried to find shoes.  Parker was spent.  And every day and night since then has been more of the same.  But this afternoon, something changed :).  Jake added "moooooon, bee Mommy".  That meant "mooon, share Mommy" which meant "mooooon, please get it for me Mommy".  I just couldn't believe it.  He thinks I can get him the moon.  It was just precious.  He really thinks I can get him the moon!  I haven't fully processed that....it's probably just a two-year old thing, but I am just thrilled that he looks to me for so much.  I might even be able to get him the moon.  Don't worry.  I haven't promised him that.  As a matter of fact, I've told him that I can't get it for him but that I would read to him a precious book about another child that wanted the moon.  I just thought it was so precious and wanted to share.

Please keep praying for this little fellow and my other children and for Jeff and I.  We feel like we are on a journey and want to be found faithful to teach this little one as well as our others all about the sweet, sweet love of Jesus.  Pray that our testimony would be strong.

Here are just a few pictures:

Parker has taken an interest in photography and has been capturing some really cool things.  Jenna took this shot, but Parker had the idea.

 Jake watching baseball, football, or some other "ball" on tv with Dad.

 Andrew has taken up soccer and is loving it!

 Here's one of tons of precious pictures Parker took of Jenna.

 All of the children at Carroll Joyner Park.  Jake's hair has been trimmed down a bit since the photo:)

Parker posing for the camera!

Boo-Boo

Well, just a quick post.  We went to watch a friend's sons play soccer tonight and as we were leaving this happened. 

I think it actually looks worse than it is.  I think it's just a little deeper scratch but will take a much closer look tomorrow since it's so close to his eye.  Some boys (not including Jake) were playing with these sticks / long weeds with hard ends and the littlest boy got hurt.  The older ones never stopped to check on the little guy but Jake started to move closer (he's got a compassionate heart).  He wasn't very close actually so I wasn't worried.  I really didn't think that much of it but the next thing I know he's screaming and running towards me.  I thought he had gotten upset at how rough they were playing but actually part of one of the sticks broke off and flung and hit him in his sweet little face.  It really broke my heart.  The amazing thing is that the cut/scratch is about a quarter inch away from his eye.  If it had moved slightly towards his eye we could have been dealing with a much more difficult problem tonight.  We are praising God that He protected Jake and that Jake wasn't hurt worse.

Now for a funny picture from earlier today...Jake and Jenna like to do this thing where they look out of the side of their eyes at each other.  The picture doesn't capture how funny he looks when he's doing this, but it is Oh So Cute!

:(

I know I blog about the silliest things perhaps....but I'm just sharing some of the sweet and memorable things going on in the Stanley household these days.

Tonight's event was a little sad to me.  It was a good day, but after a final trip to see just a few minutes of Andrew's soccer practice, the girls, Jake and I headed home and I swept Jake upstairs for a quick bath and then into his room.  While we were taking our nightly look at Jake's spider that he is amazed at, I lost my balance and began to fall over a big toy that occupies a good bit of the floorspace.  I was holding Jake and just had that out of control feeling that comes with falling.  Somehow I managed not to drop him and just stumped my toes pretty hard and will certainly have a nice bruise on my thigh, but the whole experience along with a bit of yelping, just sent Jake into a frenzy of screaming and reaching for his crib.  I realized right away that I had to get it together and was just thinking why he'd want in his crib so bad.  I figured out pretty quickly that his crib at least for the first year of his life was probably his safe place.  It was where he was most of the time and was a comfort to him.  So then to see him reaching for his crib and insistent that I let him go and in, just made me so sad.  His crying didn't stop for a while and though eventually he did calm and want to see the spider again, he didn't want anything to do with our normal snuggling routine and ended up getting in his crib without drinking his bottle.  I haven't heard a peep from him and respect that that's what he needed at the time.  I also know tomorrow brings another day and the wonderful thing about being his mom is that I get to do it all over again and show him my love and that we are here for him.  Thank you for letting me share and for your prayers. 

Duh Du (with a long u)

Today after I put Jake down for his nap and was walking out of his room, I hear this sweet little voice say "duh du".  I always have to stop and do a double take and really think when Jake talks to me.  But I knew this one pretty quickly.  It was "love you".  He said it first!!!  I was shocked.  He beat me to my line which is "have a good nap (or night if that's the case)" and then "love you".  And two nights ago, he finished his prayer with "Ahhhhmin" which was "Amen" of course.  It was very close.  Tonight as he was drinking his bottle he pointed his finger to his eye and then to me.  This is "I love you".  Jeff and I have always with our children had a code for "I love you" which is pointing to your eye, then to your heart, and then to the other person.  Jake got the first and third parts of this right.  He is such a sweet, smart little fellow. 

But have I mentioned that he is really, really busy.  Well he is!!!  As wonderful as the addition of Jake has been to us, it has also been very intense.  It's good though if you know what I mean.  I just am constantly having to refocus, revamp so much.  Just when I think I've got it all figured out....nope!!!  More change!  Anyway, it's good.  Please keep praying for our homeschool efforts.  We still feel very much that homeschooling is right for our family but it is a very, very big endeavor.....one we're delighted to have the privilege to undertake, but one that feels heavy at times. 

What's for dinner?

I started this post a few days ago and just saved it because I thought it was silly, but when I saw Jake eat tonight, I thought I might go ahead and post.  Tonight he had plain cooked chicken, lettuce, salsa, and guacomole.  Which do you think he was wild about and seemed to recognize...right, the guacomole.  He was more than ecstatic.  He just grinned from ear to ear and ate two heaping serving size tablespoons full.  That's a lot for a little guy.  We actually had some kind of chicken type burrito concoction that Jeff made up (he's really the better cook in our family), but when we saw Jake reaching for the shredded lettuce we decided to do his separately.  Then he wanted salsa and then we added the plain chicken and then he wanted guacomole.  Okay, so here's the post I started the other day.

"When we first got Jake, he wouldn't eat anything but noodles and some rice.  We'd take him down to the breakfast buffet in Guangzhou (that was one amazing buffet) and he'd just drink orange juice.  He wouldn't take the formula that apparently he took 3-4 times a day.  But after a few weeks, we could tell that despite the orphanage and foster family saying he was a "picky eater", he actually isn't at all according at least to my standards.  We used to have to warm everything up because nothing in China was cold....warm oj, NO ice cream, warm milk, etc.  But now he takes things cold....that's not like some big accomplishment (we're all a little spoiled, you know) except that he is pretty easily adapting to our foods, customs, etc.  But occassionally we'll get a little picture of what his food habits were like in China.  For example, tonight was a free for all.  I was just exhausted and couldn't even plan anything.  But I fixed Jake noodles, sliced apples, and then he saw Dad coming with a hot dog and banana peppers on it and so, of course, he just had to have some banana peppers, and then here came Andrew with maraschino cherries (I have no idea why those were out...but remember I said that I was tired) and of course he wanted some of those.  And then he saw some macaroni and cheese and wanted some of that (he hated cheese when we first got home).  And then we finished all that off with a cup of milk.  Hmmmm!!!!!  It was cold cow's milk.  Totally different from the crazy formula/pediasure mixture that I do.  Now I know not all these things are good for you, so just know that.  But I will say that it's just amazing to see how comfortable he is and how many different types of things / temperatures / textures he will eat.  And to watch him walking around at our homeschool co-op with string cheese (again not the best for you) which he hated just a week or two ago I am just happy.  Don't worry, we're not going to totally Americanize him with our fast food diet, prepackaged meals, etc.  We are slowly, very slowly making not only gluten free changes (that had to happen right away), but also trying to eat somewhat healthier.  But in the meantime, it's just good to see our little one adjusting and relating with the other children over food."