Healthy Children

Well, the hard part is over, we think. Actually, the hard part didn't seem that hard at all. I am sure that if you ask Coy about it, it definitely was not pleasant but we were expecting much worse. The surgeon was able to close his palatte in one surgery. During the pre-op visit, he had warned us that it might require a second surgery since his opening was so wide. I looked in his mouth tonight for the first time and it was amazing. Except for the stitches, it looks like a normal mouth. It is truly amazing. Coy has been amazing too. Other than some minor irritability when his pain medicine runs out, he has been quite the trooper. Since coming home, he has felt well enough to go outside and swing and ride on his big wheel. I figure that any child that is strong enough to survive in an orphanage in Eastern Europe for 2.5 years is more than strong enough to endure minor surgery in the US healthcare system. Also, spending any amount of time at all in a hospital helps me to appreciate our healthy children and how fortunate we are to have such healthy children. Some of it can be attributed to how well Stacey took care of herself both before and while she was pregnant, but the overwhelming majority of it belongs to the grace of God. I don't see how folks with children that are seriously ill can handle the hospital life. I guess if it comes down to that or else, you do whatever you have to do to help your child in any way that you can and you really don't think about anything else. I am ashamed for the times that I have taken our kids health for granted.

Thanks for all of the prayers for Coy. Katie and Caleb prayed for Coy while he was having his surgery and when I called my mom to tell her that the doctor was able to close his mouth with only one surgery, Katie immediately cheered and said, "My prayer has been heard." She is quoting a Bible verse that she learned in CBS "Do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard." She said that she had prayed for Coy to only need one surgery for his pallete, and her prayer (and lots of other prayers) were heard. What a joy it was to tell Katie that the Creator of the Universe heard her prayer and to be able to let her know that he listens to her. Of course, we have to remind her that his answer isn't always yes, but He does hear her, and He does answer her according to His will. It was good for her to be able to see that in a tangible way. Some naysayers may claim that Coy's surgery would have been the same regardless of Katie's prayer to God. I would say bologne. God chose to answer her prayer and I am glad that He did. And I am glad that He hears me tonight when I thank Him for our healthy children, all three of them.

Bike Riding

I guess it is something about kids that attracts bikes to their butts. After starting out slow this summer, our kids have really taken to riding their bikes around the driveway, over to the neighbors driveway, around the house, back around the neighbors, over to the other neighbors, etc. etc. etc. You get the idea. Coy stays on our driveway but he is really improving on the pedaling. When we first got home, he rode everything and walked it with his legs. We assumed that he had never pedaled anything. But by watching the older kids and trying and trying on his own, he has really improved. Our friends gave us a $40 gift certificate to Wal-Mart so we used it to buy Coy a bike that was just his size. He really likes it.

We have had a few bike mishaps but nobody has gotten seriously hurt yet. Just a few scrapes and bruises, which is to be expected. We insist on their helmets but not elbow and knee pads. Caleb has started to ride a bigger bike that uses hand brakes and has gears. His legs are just a little too short to get off of it gracefully but he does a good job of it. Katie uses the basket on her bike to take things that she makes to the neighbors. She likes to give her cards and art works away.
































Coy likes to eat. I think we have mentioned that here already. His pickiness is picking up some. I guess that trait is something that we unintentionally teach our children. Not that he is picky by any means, but he has stopped blindly eating everything in front of his face. He does do a good job of corn on the cob though. Stacey's mom gets THE BEST corn on the cob. All of our kids like it.

Coy's surgery is on Monday. We haven't tried to explain to him what is going to happen. I don't know if there is anyway to explain to a child his age (even without the language barrier) what is about to happen to him. At our pre-op visit on Thursday, the doctor informed us that the hole in the top of his mouth may be too wide to correct in a single surgery. We will be staying at the hospital on Monday night while Caleb and Katie stay with my parents. We have to be at the hospital very early on Monday morning so Caleb and Katie will be going down to Springfield late on Sunday night.

Please pray for Coy and the surgeons. If it is past the 23rd, please pray anyway. I am sure that even after the surgery, that we are going to need all the prayers that we can get.

Looking Back

Believe it or not, we have not taken any pictures yet this week. We did have a fun night on Wednesday night though. I took off to go to Coy's Dr.'s visit and we got out earlier than expected so we came home. We flew kites, went and got ice cream, played tag in the yard, and shot basketball. We used a gift certificate that some friends gave us to buy Coy a bike and a helmet. He is still getting used to pedaling but he likes sitting on it and watching Caleb and Katie ride their bikes.

The people where I work took up a collection and gave Coy a $100 savings bond. Actually they gave us the cash to get him one since we are still working on a SSN for him. They also gave a $100 donation to Hopeful Hearts, which is the ministry that helps orphans in Ukraine and they also help parents to adopt those orphans. They also gave us a photo album to fill up with pictures of our family.

The pictures that I have posted are of the US Embassy in Kyiv. It was less than what I had envisioned. In such a beautiful city, I was expecting the US Embassy to be an impressive building but it reminded me more of a "temporary" building that was made from trailers. There were still lots of people standing outside wanting to get in. The security to get in was pretty tight but the complex was so small that if someone wanted to cause trouble, they could easily do so from the outside.

God Bless America

The Fourth of July took on extra special meaning for me this year. I always knew that living in the US was a privilege but I didn't realize what a true privilege it is. I wonder sometimes what people that live in our country think is the reason that our country is so blessed. I wonder if they think that we, as Americans, are smarter and therefore, more deserving than other humans in other parts of the world? I wonder if they think that we work harder than others do and that makes us more deserving than others? I wonder if they think it is our innovation, our resources, our capitalistic nature, or our everyone has an opportunity reputation that makes us such a privileged nation?? I, for one, believe that we enjoy our status because of the way our founding fathers built this nation on Christian values and Christian beliefs. I believe that God has blessed this country because of the way that generations before us have trusted in Him. The generations before obviously weren't perfect but they were looking to the perfect Father. Also, there has been an enormous amount of sacrifice given for our country. As a young man and a father, I struggle to think about what it would take for a man to go to another country and fight to keep those at home free. I think it would take a sense of something greater than self. I wonder how many in our country today would still have that sense of something greater than self when needed. I am still proud to be an American, even if America isn't perfect. I will take it over any other country that is out there today. But I do hope that America will remember soon enough why it is such a wonderful country. Because for those that have been given much, much is expected.

Take for example, chocolate doughnuts. What a privilege to be able to eat chocolate doughnuts on occasion. Not that they don't have chocolate doughnuts in other countries but to sit at your kitchen table and to be allowed to enjoy a chocolate doughnut in your own special way is a true freedom.

Caleb and I went to a birthday party tonight and we were late getting home. Stacey and Katie had already put Coy to bed when we got here. Stacey told me that Coy prayed for all of us by name tonight at bedtime. He loves to pray (probably because at the end of most of our prayers is food). He does like to pray at bedtime too. Of course, we usually can't make out what he is saying but apparently Stacey and Katie both were able to recognize our names in his prayer. We pray for our children by name in front of them every night and I guess that he has heard us doing that and is just repeating what he has heard.

Coy didn't care too much for the fireworks that come with the 4th. We had some small ones at our house on Tuesday and he seemed to like those OK but then we went to some friends' house that were letting of fireworks and after about the second big one with a loud bang, he was saying/signing "all done" and was crying and was ready to go home. Some of it may have been that he was tired too but he definitely didn't want any part of those fireworks. I remember our other children being like that at that age as well.