Seasons

Lately, I have felt overwhelmed by so many things going on in my life. There have been some challenges at my job, returning home after vacation and settling back in, Natalie adjusting to a new summer class at the day care and most recently the decline of my sweet cat Selah.
It has been hard on me. I am up a lot of nights with Selah and that in turn causes me to be tired and my level of patience decreased. But God is faithful and it is his grace that is sustaining me through this difficult time. She has good days and bad days and this week seems to have a lot of bad days. I suspect the end is drawing near and as much as I don't want her to suffer, I already feel the loss. She has been a sweet, sweet cat and has lived in 10 different places with me. Two of those years she lived with my mom while I was in Romania. Those of you who have pets know just how much a family they become to you.
It is hard for Natalie to understand why her mommy seems sad and the whole concept of death is far beyond her ability to grasp. We have talked about my father (especially Sunday on Father's Day) and how he died and is now with Jesus.
In her child like way, Natalie tries to comfort me and often tells me how much she loves me. Because after all love does cover every thing and makes everything better and she is a child who has a lot of love to give.

On June 1, she bumped her bottom tooth with a marker and knocked it loose. That tooth had been loose the week before vacation, the week of vacation, the week after vacation and this week we started on the 4th week of being loose. She ate corn on the cob the other night and still that tooth hung on. Today I had a dentist appointment and got some instructions from the hygienist and tonight that tooth is sitting in a special tooth "cup." We have talked about the "tooth fairy" and she understands that it is "pretend" but we still put the tooth under the pillow. I so want her to understand the difference between pretend and real. Her love for Jesus is real and I want her faith to grow. Because she was "older" when she came home, I feel it is important to be careful in how I present what is real and what is pretend. I can dress up as a princess but that doesn't make me a princess. On the same hand, it doesn't make me one, but it sure is fun to pretend (when I am playing with Natalie) that I am one. So we can have fun pretending about the tooth fairy, Santa Clause and other things that will come up. But when the difficult times come, I am so grateful that I don't have to pretend that there is a God who cares about me and the ache that is in my heart for Selah. He is real and he is able to give comfort and peace.

As I go through these seasons of changes including Natalie loosing teeth and starting school, I am reminded of the scripture found in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven-
A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.

What comfort there is in knowing the God who created a time for each event in our lives and the seasons that we pass through and grow through.

Boston Pictures

A True Red Sox Fan
Chilling out at the Cape with Tess and Tina

Make Up applied by Natalie on the way to the Cape

On the famous Swan Boats with our friends Lynda and Tess

Hanging out with Mrs. Mallard!

Vacation

Don't you love those vacations where you feel like you have been away from work for a very long time? That was how I felt. It was fine to go back to work though it would have been nice to have one more day at home to get everything caught up. Our time in Boston was great. It was a good combination of getting together with old friends, seeing some of the major sights in Boston and just having some true relaxation time. I must confess driving in Boston was a bit of a challenge. I had forgotten what traffic at rush hour is like!!!
Towards the end of the week, Natalie began to talk about going home and missing Bashka. It was neat to see how much she was missing her grandmother. My friends were all wonderful and spoiled her!!
I was also able to meet up with my friend and former neighbor Todd who was the "push" behind me in the adoption process. It was also great to meet his son who I have not met yet.
It was also neat to see people at church I had not seen in 4-7 years and it was as though no time had passed. I didn't recognize many of the children as they had grown so much and I had to ask my friends who they belonged too!
Natalie graduated from her school program right before we went on vacation. Yesterday she started in her new class for the summer and seems to be doing well. They will be swimming during the summer and she will also begin swimming lessons.
I will post some pictures over the next week of our trip.

Far Too Long

It has been way too long since I have posted. Life is just busy and I find that I am constantly behind on emails, laundry and house work. So I guess I have joined the ranks of many other families. There were several families that adopted around the same time and I used to daily check their blogs to stay in touch. Now I find I go weeks without checking in. Life has actually slowed down just a bit as the major renovations are done in the house. Natalie and I are looking forward to an upcoming vacation to Boston in less than 2 weeks. I consider Boston the start of the adoption process and here we are coming full circle.
We had some touch weeks with behavior issues but Natalie has settled back into a routine and is doing well. Last weekend we worked in the yard and she was such a big help. She is always talking about her birthday which isn't until July. Not only is she smaller than most of her classmates, but she is also younger. Next week she will "graduate" from her More at Four program. It is hard to believe that she has gone through a whole year of school without any major changes. In her first first 6 months home, she was at home for a month and then in 3 different day cares (due to location and aging out.)
Several weeks ago Natalie went to her kindergarten screening. I was really happy to find out that she was only 1 year delayed in her language skills. When I think that she has been speaking English for only 1 year I think she is doing really well. We have started having "school" every day at home for about 15-20 minutes a day. She enjoys this time and hopefully it will help her to catch up a little more. She continues to grow in so many ways. Instead of describing what they are, I think I will just post some pictures of our recent events.




At the museum

On the train

At Ripley's Aquarium

At the beach

At the zoo

Easter Sunday

Just Cute!

9 Lives and the Mercy of God

Its been a while since I have written and we have been nonstop busy. Two weekends ago we went to the zoo and last weekend we went to the beach. What a great time watching Natalie collecting "shesells." We also went to an aquarium and saw "sharps." I will write more about that soon and post some pictures. I have also been continuing my inside renovations and now that all the painting is done, I am trying to put the house back in order.

The last several weeks have been quite emotional. Without going into a lot of details, basically my almost 20 year old cat Selah got sick and just when it seemed like she was getting better, we had to make a 2:00 AM trip to the emergency vet. I was sure I was going to have to make a decision that I did not want to make. Last year about this time, she had lost a lot of weight and was not able to eat. It turned out that she had an abscess tooth. They put her under and were able to pull it and she bounced back. At that time I felt so thankful to the Lord for allowing her to pull through and continue to gain weight and do well. On our trip to the vet, I just kept praying for wisdom to make the best decision and for God to give me peace. I did not want to see her suffer and was willing to let her go if it was in her best interest, even though my heart was breaking. Twenty years is a long time and I have a nephew who is just one month older than Selah. The vet was able to hydrate her and I was able to bring her home. The next several days were touch and go, but she steadily got better. Today she is pretty much back to herself. She is eating and drinking and just doing well. I am so humbled by God's mercy in allowing me to have her even longer.

Our Heavenly Father does care about what is important to us. I am so grateful and want to give the Lord glory and praise for touching my sweet Selah and healing her. He IS good all the time!

One Year Ago-HOME!!

I can't believe that we have been home for one year. The time has flown by. It is hard to remember when Natalie only spoke Russian and did not really respond to the name Natalie. In some ways it has been a hard year, but not because of Natalie but because of life and so many changes. But Natalie has adjusted well and I really believe has bonded well. I'm not sure what was going on last week and the beginning of this week, but Natalie was really just pushing things both at home and school but now is back to her sweet self. I tend to think that as her language has grown so have her emotional stages and she was just working through that.

Today I wanted to make it a special day, so I managed to get off work early and we headed to McDonald's for a sundae and play. She only ate a small amount of her ice cream (which is very unusual) and then played for about 30 minutes. I had planned for us to run a few errands, but she began complaining of her belly hurting. We came home for awhile and she took a long nap. Then we were off running the errands which included picking out a special toy. She chose a little doghouse with a play dog. Once we got home she began complaining again and the poor baby had about an hour of dry heaves. My plans for several other fun activities got put on hold. But now she is sleeping peacefully. I am just in awe that a whole year has gone by. My life is richer and Natalie is more precious to me than ever! She has grown in so many ways. I love seeing the changes, but in some ways I just want to freeze time and slow everything down and enjoy every moment.!