the "bee hives"

Today, just before seminar, I received a call from Will's daycare telling me that he woke from his nap with an intense case of hives. I immediately left work to pick him up and sure enough, he had massive hives on his back, stomach and neck. I couldn't figure out how he got them--but they were intense. Think of a donut that is bright red and you perhaps have a visual of the hives. We picked up some Benadryl on the way home and within an hour, the hives were pretty much gone. I racked my brain trying to figure out how Will contracted hives and eventually came to the conclusion that his undershirt must have accidentally been washed with my clothes. I still use Dreft detergent to wash Will's clothes because of his "sensitive" skin. The medicine made him a bit (just a little bit) sleepy. Will's response was that he didn't feel well and so needed to be in his pajamas and stretch out on the couch. The "sleepiness" worked for awhile and after a bit, he was running around as one of the pictures suggests! I guess he does take after me!!! (I seem to react the opposite to drowsy and non-drowsy medicines!)

In the early evening, Will overheard me chatting on the phone about his "hives." So, in a conversation with Megan, he told her that he had bee hives. This evening in prayer, he prayed this prayer--"Heabenly Vater, please take away my last hive. Thank you, Jesus. Amen" Again, as he is making it his practice, he is now voluntarily praying about "real" things instead of listing items that are in his room or toys he has played with. Like most mothers, I'm treasuring these types of actions in my heart (and of course sharing them on this blog.......)

I'm attaching another photo of Will that was taken this weekend. I was watching the news and he decided that he needed to watch his Leap Frog word movie so he "could learn"--This concentration was accentuated with the "hot chocolate mouth ring" after coming in from playing in the snow.

Monday, monday

We had a fairly quiet weekend--I'm still "fighting" some kind of cold--I took some non-drowsy medicine which essentially knocked me out. I'm feeling better today.........

We had a couple of moments over the weekend that gave me pause as to how Will is maturing and how grateful I am that the Holy Spirit is working in him. On Saturday, as he sat down to eat his breakfast (let him eat in front of Mickey Mouse on tv), I saw him fold his hands and bow his head and thank God for his food. I think that I was so touched because I hadn't asked him or reminded him--he just did it.

The other moment was when Will decided that he needed to bring his Bible to church. In the evenings, we have been going through the book, Teaching Little Ones About God. It always has a biblical reference that we read. Lately, Will has been enjoying this time. Will enjoys finding the story and then always wants to know where in his Bible (as in point to it mommy), we are reading. In church, he then wanted to follow along where the pastor was reading. We had tried taking his Bible to church before but he didn't seem interested.

Kristen (current student teacher), Rachel, and Mandy (graduated) came over for dinner after church. It was nice to see them as they seem connected to me through my niece, Megan, who also graduated and who is their good friend. They love Will and of course he plays that one up.

I continue to read several Ukraine blogs. I pray for this child and for the process. I know that I have to trust God is His timing-I want to, but I also want this waiting process over -- I want us all to bond as a family..........

Since the day was much warmer when we got home @ 4--Will and I walked to the playground. He worked a little at the "big" climbing wall, but it ended up being too cold--so we left. Will still looked cute at the rock wall.

IT'S FRIDAY..........

All I can say is yippee!!!! I had two board of trustee meetings to attend today--I confess that I didn't stay for the whole time in either meeting. I was able to just take care of odds and ends. I do need to focus on class prep on Monday though......

I came home fairly tired and Will and I had grilled cheese sandwiches. I just didn't feel like cooking!!! I've been pretty faithful working out on the treadmill-Will entertains himself on the third floor while I'm on the treadmill, so it works out!! I watched The Last King of Scotland this evening! It's a pretty intense movie-I think that I like it.......

Another day....

Will is in bed--busily singing and doing almost everything he can do to delay going to sleep. We were interrupted three times by the phone while we were having family worship and bedtime stories. He has been trying this "delay going to sleep" mode since we returned from CA. Fortunately, he has been sleeping during nap time at his pre-school. I think he is one who doesn't need that much sleep.

The GREAT thing of today was having the opportunity to meet with Julie, a niece of Adel Aiken, a colleague and friend. Julie is a missionary to Ukraine and I was thrilled to be able to share and chat with her about my plans in Ukraine. I certainly hope that my appointment will be when she is there. Since she works with university students, her "furlough" is when students are off, rather than taking a year off at a time. I gleaned a bit of insight from Julie on aspects of Ukrainian life and culture. I am thankful for the chance to chat with and meet Julie.

Will had his hair cut this afternoon. He looks so grown up---The couple of pictures I'm adding here are of him this evening, proudly displaying his Saturn mobile that he made in school and the other is verification that he is learning how to shovel snow!!!!

Back at this blog thing????

I cannot believe that I spend so little time actually writing on our blog--I think of "things" to write frequently and (obviously) never sit down to write down my thoughts.

Work has been hectic since returning from Christmas break! Hopefully, I will have less meetings to attend by the middle of February. The myriad of meeting seem to consume so much time at work that I "feel" that I have very little time to meet with students who want to meet with me.

I've been a bit anxious with our Ukraine adoption. While I pray for the child I believe God has in store for our family, I confess that I have to beg God to help me in my obvious anxieties. I've read so many blogs lately in order to familiarize myself with what to expect--I'm beginning to overly try to look at this adoption from a very flawed perspective. I read on one blog this evening about Ps 20. The writer is in a "waiting" mode for their departure date. In her blog, she quoted from Ps 20:
May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings
May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.....
but we trusts in the name of the Lord our God....

For those of you who know me, this is one of my favorite Psalms. I think that God, through the working of the Spirit, brought me to the blog that had this Psalm quoted. As I was praying on the treadmill earlier this evening, I asked God to help me in my anxiety. I take comfort in the truth of this Psalm.

As for the adoption process, I received an email from Dave Daulton today. My dossier is in Ukraine, translated and ready for submission. Evidently, the SDA (national adoption center) is next accepting dossiers for submission on Feb. 4. I pray that the time of the appointment will be known soon and that it will be in the middle of May. I (notice my plan....) would love to go to Ukraine in May and return home in June with Will's brother. This timeline would give us some time to bond before having to return to work.

I will try to establish the discipline of blogging--I think it will be helpful when I'm in Ukraine.

Thursday already???

Well--it seems as if we've had a long week. Will wore his new "Christmas" suit to church--Mom was right--He looked quite handsome! (Will wore the suit for the cousins Christmas picture while I was at Kentfield Hospital) I enjoyed seeing everyone again. Of course, so many people asked about Robert and continue to pray for him and our family. After church, Will, Evie Hemphill and I went to Mrs. Hemphill's apartment at the RP Home in Pittsburgh. It was good to visit her and see her new digs!

Monday--we did the oil change thing with the coupon from the dealership! Will was fascinated with all the cars. It took over an hour, but Will was in great spirits. The weather was so warm--almost 70-so, we went for a walk and then played at the playground.

The tree and all the decorations came down on Tuesday. I had expected Will to be upset because he had repeatedly stated that the tree should always stay when I mentioned taking ti down. Perhaps the trick was to get his help! We also did a Costco run. Evie came for dinner and as we finished, Ryan stopped by. Will practically bounced off the wall to see him. They both left around 8 and I had a longer time getting Will ready to go to sleep!

Wednesday was the the BIG SHOCK DAY!!! Will had to go school for 8 and half hours and I went back to work. While I got a bit done, I had a leadership team meeting all afternoon!

So, here we are today! Back at work----I have almost finished my syllabi, but my computer at work went bonkers!!!!! I hope to finish the syllabi tomorrow! After picking up Will, we headed to the bank, where I withdrew a little money as I try to save up the cash that I will need to take to Ukraine. We then headed to WalMart where I found a children's table and 2 chairs on clearance! Will is thrilled. He finds that it is a great place to do his puzzles! Speaking of which--Will seems to have taken to puzzles. I'll have to keep my eye out for puzzle sales!

I have been reading a lot of Ukrainian adoption blogs. I'm feeling a bit anxious--will we have a healthy younger brother for Will? How long will I be in the Ukraine? When will I go? I so want to fall on my knees and truly feel as if I've handed my anxiety over to His grace. But, sadly I hear my old nature rattling around with fear to fully hand the adoption over to God. Fearful because of wondering if the learning I need will involve going through struggles. In ways, I suspect that I internally understand Paul's view of what i want to do I don't do, etc. Dear Lord----be with the child that you are preparing for our family!

Christmas cont.

As I mentioned earlier today, I would write about our Christmas. We celebrated our Christmas at home on the 18th. (I worked on the 17th and 19th) Will awoke to a new bicycle under the tree and a couple of puzzles. He was excited. I got the bike at Costco and the directions said that it would take 15 minutes to put together. One hour and 45 minutes after I started--it was done! To be fair, I think the directions were poor!

We celebrated an early Christmas as a family on Saturday, the 22nd, at Kentfield Rehab Hospital. We were all happy to be with Robert and Kathleen. As we sang Christmas carols, Robert began to cry during Silent Night. I don't think anyone had a dry eye. It was a happy and sad time celebrating in this way, but somehow the family is closer.

I was sick with stomach flu on Christmas day and so stayed at mom and dad's as everyone else headed to Mike's. I was glad to see Will and Chloe open a few presents in the morning. They were happy and thrilled that Santa had eaten the cookies and Rudolph had eaten the carrots!

Dad and I visited Norman Goehring on Wed. I was shocked to see Norman a year after being diagnosed with ALS. He seems to have a good attitude and while he had a speaking trach, it was hard to understand him. On Thursday, Dad, Cheryl and I went back to Kentfield. We had a good time with Robert and were there until Saturday, On Sunday after church, I had a chance to visit with the Keys family. Monday, Mom and I took Chloe back to Kentfield and spent New Years Eve with Robert and Kathleen. We left for Fresno on New Years Day. Will enjoyed time with Grandma on my first trip to Kentfield (one night at Megan and Paul's), Cheryl and Bus' on second trip and one night and Mike and Teresa's. Wednesday evening, we were able to visit my McGee aunts before heading back home.

So, here we are on Saturday......Will and I went to Geneva's basketball game. I'm slowly getting back into being in this time zone.

January 2008

Wow! I haven't posted since November-hard to believe! Perhaps one resolution for the new year is to be faithful in writing in this blog. We arrived home from CA on thursday evening. Lynda Szabo picked us up at the airport. This flight was much smoother than the flight days out to CA. We left for CA on Dec 20 and arrived on the 21st. We had to spend the night in Denver because our flight to LA hadn't arrived and by the time we were scheduled to arrive in LA, we would have not made a flight into Fresno. Regardless, we left the airport @ 10 pm and arrived at the Marriot at 10:30 pm, courtesy of United airlines. Will LOVED spending the night in a hotel. We had tried to fly standby on a direct flight to Fresno, but only one spot was available. The women at the desk took pity on a mom and three year old and so we stayed at the Marriot. I had no brush, but did have makeup in my carry on. Will slept well until 5 am--I dosed a bit through the night! We left for the airport at 6 and eventually arrived in Fresno at 1 pm on Friday, the 21st. I'm thankful that Will is a great traveler--he was excited the whole time.

I'll write more about our Christmas in CA later. For now, I'm excited that the final piece of documentation that I needed for the adoption came early this week. I was waiting on a notarized state police clearance. I overnighted the CIS approval (notarized of course) and the state police clearance to Dave Daulton yesterday. The next step is to have the entire dossier apostilled, translated, and sent to Kiev. I continue in prayer for the child that God has picked out for our family.