The Zoo

Let me start by sharing this video. Some friends of ours told us about the Go Fish Guys last week and Stacey found a website where you could listen to some of their music for free. Of course, our two musical clowns loved it and wanted to listen to them over and over. I filmed this on Friday night after an afternoon of listening and dancing. They almost have it down.

The big attraction this weekend was the zoo trip. It is another one of those things that we do every year together as a family. It is safe to say that Coy still doesn't know what to think about adults dressed up in costumes. The Cowardly Lion just about had Coy making a cowardly deposit in his pants. He really enjoyed opening his bag and watching candy being put into it though. He got the hang of that real fast. He really didn't seem to be phased by the other kids in costume, but the adults in costumes really bothered him.

We can't believe that Coy is not gaining any more weight than he is. All he did on Saturday was eat it seemed like. The kid seems to go to bed asking about breakfast and he seems to ask about lunch as soon as breakfast is over. We ate lunch out with Stacey's parents on Saturday and I don't know how much he ate but it seemed like a lot. Then, when we got in the van, he asked if we were going home to eat.

Caleb learned a new skill this weekend or at least some time recently. He can cross his eyes. Boy does he make his father proud. He can also make this smacking sound by shaking his finger really fast. I taught him that.

River Dance, Magic Tricks, and Hot Air Balloons

OK, another busy weekend for the Yankey family. On Friday, we went to the local high school football game because Katie got to cheer as a result of going to a cheerleading clinic a week or so ago. There was a good crowd there and we thought that she might be afraid to go out there but she went right on when it was time. She actually cheered the entire 2nd quarter of the game. I am guessing that there were about 40 other girls out there cheering with the varsity cheerleaders. I am also guessing that it will be not much more than a blink of an eye and she will be out there for real. Stacey and I both would rather have her out there than hanging around behind the stands like we saw so many kids doing at the game. Caleb, of course, liked the football and some girls that he knows from school and church were also cheering so he liked that too. We thought Coy would like the band since he likes music and the drums so much, but he did not care for the band. It may have overwhelmed him but he cried for most of the band performance.

The video is of Coy wearing Katie's shoes and doing a dance on the kitchen floor. He thinks it is funny when he wears Katie's shoes (and it is for the most part). Caleb and Katie put him up to dancing in the kitchen and I just happened to catch it with the camera. He could be the next Michael Flatley (spelling??) if he works on it.

After the soccer game on Saturday morning, we went out to eat with my mom and dad and then came back to the house to visit for a while. In the afternoon, Caleb and I went to basketball evaluations for his basketball league and then afterwards, we went shopping for Halloween costumes. Caleb, for now, is Darth Vader. We may try to talk him into being Brian Brohm before we go anywhere other than the back yard. We had a babysitter come over for a little while on Saturday night and he was outside playing kickball in his costume. I am sure that was warm. Katie is going to be the little mermaid. I am concerned that when the weather cools off (if it ever does), that she will need to wear a jacket and that might not go over too well with her. I mean, who has ever seen a mermaid with a jacket on?

Sunday, after church, some friends of ours from over in Louisville came over for the afternoon. Yes, that is two of our children goofing off in the picture when they should be smiling. I think they get that from their mother but she thinks they get it from me. I guess we will never know. This was our annual pumpkin picking adventure but last year we did not have such a good experience picking pumpkins (they were just laying on the ground, they weren't even in a patch) and everyone had already made plans to go another time with others or through school so we decided to go the hot air balloon race at IUS instead. One of the families could not go but the rest of us went to the balloon race. Again, we thought Coy would like this but he was instantly afraid. He finally did warm up to the balloons after a while but it took a little bit of time. We think he really did have a good time. After the balloons took off, we got in our van and headed home. The wind was blowing in our direction and we saw several of the balloons landing in nearby neighborhoods on our way up the hill. There was even a chance for a while that a balloon was going to land in our neighbor's yard. The balloon was actually a lot closer than it appears in this picture. My guess is that it was about 200 yards away. I still had the camera around my neck so I snapped a few pictures of it. We really enjoy the IUS balloon festival because it is not very crowded and we can get right up next to them. This last video is one of my favorites. I used to be really enthralled with magic and I learned a few, very basic magic tricks. My best one is a card trick that I do from time to time. I showed it to Caleb and Katie on Saturday and they wanted to do it over and over. The video shows Caleb, trying to do the trick on Coy while Coy is eating. Of course, Coy is not that interested in the card trick and I don't think that he knows one card from the other. It is kind of comical. The funny part is that Caleb actually messed the trick up and showed Coy his card about 3 times and Coy had no idea what he was saying yes and no to. You have to watch it to enjoy it. It is over one minute long so it may take a little while to download it.

Picnic Day, Huber's, and Comments

We had quite an amazing weekend. To say that we were busy would be an understatement. Friday night, our friends, the Dorschs' came over to visit. Then, we had soccer on Saturday morning, the Hopeful Hearts Picnic for lunch, and then the neighbors had a Halloween party for the kids later that afternoon. On Sunday, we went to church, out to eat, to Target, to Huber's, and then to Dave D.'s football game. We had a flat tire on the way home from Huber's too.

At the Hopeful Hearts Picnic, we got to meet lots of kids that have been adopted from Ukraine and their new families. There were several neat families and kids that we met but one of the most amazing to me is this little boy in the picture with Caleb and Coy. His name is Max and is about 2.5 years old. The thing that is really neat is that he is from the same orphanage as Coy. His parents came and got him about a month or so after we were there. I doubt that they saw each other much because of the 6 month age difference but there is a chance. We also met a little boy named Eli. He is about 5 years old and his parents keep a blog too. If I get really industrious, perhaps I will post a link to their story as well someday soon. We also got to talk to a few couples that are in the process of adopting. Even though we were there only 7 short months ago, it seems like a lifetime ago.

The highlight of Sunday for Coy was by far and away the tractor ride at Huber's. He is definitely on a tractor kick. He even prays for tractors at night.

I have changed the comments settings to allow anyone to make comments on the blog. I wish I had gone in there and done this earlier. I just never looked around. Now, if you see something you like and want to comment on it, you don't have to be a member to post a comment.

Who is Perfect?

This is something that I have been meaning to do for a long time but have just now gotten around to doing it. I don't know what prompted me to do this now but here it is. It reminds me that none of us are made perfect. Some of our imperfections are more obvious than others but none of us is perfect. I have to admit that I am sometimes hard on Coy. It is not because he deserves it, but it is because I believe that he is capable of so much that I expect much out of him, just like I do our other two children. I hope that he realizes that I don't expect him to be perfect. I definitely don't want to exasperate him. I do my best to quick to praise him abundantly when he does do the right things and I try to shower him with touch and kind words at every opportunity but I have to admit that I am not perfect. I am not the perfect father. I try to be the best father that I can be but I make many mistakes. I am so glad for grace and the fact that no matter how many mistakes I make as a father, that God's glory and grace and can do great things through me, despite all of my shortcomings.

This picture was taken when Coy was about 10 months old or so. He had his first surgery in Ukraine when he was 11 months old. We guess that the picture that we saw of him in the SDA office was taken shortly after his surgery was performed. The picture that we saw at the SDA was a bad angle of his face and it made his nose look even more distorted than it actually is. I am so glad that God didn't allow our shallow attitudes towards appearance to get in the way of putting another very beautiful, wonderful boy in our family.

Underwear

What is it about running around the house in your underwear that is so exciting? I am not sure that I quite understand it but I can tell you this, it has to be the highlight of the week for three year old boys when their mom and dad let them run around the house in their underwear. Coy even wore underwear (and other clothes too) to school today and he apparently had the same pair on when Stacey picked him up this afternoon. That is about 6 hours of staying dry and clean. He has been going to church and CBS in underwear for a while now because that is only 3 hours and if someone knows to take him, he can pretty much stay dry all day. He hasn't really come to tell us too much that he has to go but he does stay dry. He has had lots of success staying clean lately too. He does a good job of telling Stacey when he has to go but he doesn't do so good of a job telling me. I watch his body language and try to guess when he is going. If he is outside and having fun, he won't stop what he is doing to go inside and take care of business. Either way, he really loves to run around the house in his underwear. It is priceless to see the smile on his face. I am not sure what that food is on his face, but whatever it is, I am sure that he enjoyed it.

His favorite foods tend to be yogurt, pizza, peas, green beans, and anything that you can dip into Lee's honey mustard sauce. He doesn't clean his plate everymeal but we don't have any problem getting him to try any food that we put in front of his face.

Coy was the spotlight student today at school. He took a picture of himself on Grandpa's tractor and he took a toy school bus. He lives for watching Katie and Caleb get on and off the school bus. In the afternoon, Stacey has stopped going out too early because when they go outside, Coy doesn't play, he just sits in his chair and waits for the bus to come. He loves to sing the song about the wheels on the bus. You can ask him what the babies on the bus do and he can tell you. You ask him what the drive says and he says "move on back." It still helps if you know what he is trying to say but it is getting easier and easier to understand what he says.

One of my favorite times this week has been watching Caleb, Katie, and Coy all playing together. They have been playing this game where they run through the kitchen and then into Katie's room and just before Coy gets to Katie's bed, Caleb will push him and he jumps on to Katie's bed. He laughs and laughs and then they do it all over again. We normally wouldn't let them run through the house but they were having such a good time, that we allowed it. The best part was later that night during our prayer when Caleb thanked God for allowing him to have that fun time that day with his little brother and sister. Thank you God for giving me each time with all of them and Stacey too.

Happy Birthday

Well, we had a big day, that is for sure. The biggest bummer is that I didn't do a very good job of capturing the day in pictures. Hopefully somebody that was here will send us some good pictures for me to post.

The day started out with a soccer game at 10. Then after the game, we had lunch with some of our family. At about 1, people began to show up to enjoy the bouncer that we had rented for the day. It was one that had an area to bounce, a slide, an obstacle course and an indoor basketball goal. The kids really enjoyed it. At about 6, we ordered pizza for everyone that was still here. Stacey and I did a rough count of the folks that came by on our way to church this morning and we counted a total of 80 folks that came by. It was almost 8 PM before the last ones left.

Coy had not been feeling good the last few days before Saturday. He had a respitory infection and was coughing a lot. He did pretty well on Saturday and actually feels pretty good today.

We really didn't know how many people may come by on Saturday so we had 2 cakes the size of this one in the picture. A few families brought cakes and cookies too. We were able to eat all of this one but there was a ton of the second cake left at the end of the night. We pushed the cake as hard as we could but there was a lot left.

Our kids were dragging today after the big day yesterday. We just sort of hung around the house after getting home from church. We all went out a couple of different times to enjoy the weather.

Every birthday is a blessing. Whenever any child in our family has a birthday, it almost always brings me to tears remembering how they have grown up and seeing how they have matured. This birthday was no different. Even though Coy has not been with us that long, he has grown a lot (mentally and physically). And when I thought back to what his birth must have been like and what his previous birthdays may have been like, I couldn't help but crying about that too. I would like to think that there is a lady and man in a small town outside of Donetsk Ukraine that remembers September 15 and wonders and maybe cries on this day too. We have no idea if they celebrated their birthdays in the orphanage or not. There were so many kids and they had so few resources that I know that they could not have had the excess that we had. Coy is a lucky boy but we are very lucky too. Not just because we have Coy, but because we have so many family and friends that have supported us through this and lots of other things too.

This is a picture of Coy enjoying his cake just minutes before he throws it all back up. He mainly just ate the icing and that , mixed with all of the mucus that he had been swallowing must not have sat well with his belly so up it came. It didn't seem to slow him down any but I don't think he ate any more cake after that. I am sure that if we had put it in front of him, he would have given it another try.

First Day of Pre-School

Coy had his first day of pre-school this week. As with most things like that, he did an awesome job. Being around other kids doesn't seem to phase him at all. Gee, I wonder why?? He does a good job of separating from Stacey which in most cases would be good but in his case, it is OK. The best part is how excited he gets when he sees her after she is gone for a while. He generally gets excited when any of us come back from being gone for a while but he especially gets excited about seeing Stacey.

Coy has a SSN# now. We have been going around and around with the Department of Homeland Security over his passport. It is a L O N G story so I won't go into it but the short of it is that they have lost some of his paperwork and they have sent some of it back to us and told us that we have to resubmit. The best part is that they don't take phone calls. The office that lost it is in New Orleans but the customer service number is not in New Orleans and when we call to talk (not complain yet, just talk) they tell us we have to write a letter to New Orleans. On the other hand, we were able to take some of the documents that they did send back to us and get his SSN# within a week. We would have loved to have done this sooner but we sent the paperwork we needed to get his SSN# off to the Department of Homeland Security to get his US passport.

Be glad if you are a 6-7 year old soccer player that you don't have to play this team. They won their first game today 6-0. Caleb scored 2 goals and Katie scored 1 goal. Every kid on the team did a great job. Normally, there will be one or two kids that you just can't reach but this team is full of really good kids. Most of them I have coached at least one year and a few of them I have coached for 4 years now. The parents are really good too. That is good.

This is Coy's version of "This Little Light of Mine" Of course it is only the "I'm gonna let it shine" part but it is pretty good stuff. He does such a good job of learning the songs and he loves to sing and do motions to songs.

We got some test results back in the last week or so that show that Coy still has his parasites in his intestines. The Dr. doesn't seem to be too concerned about them so I guess we won't be either. They sent us the test results in the mail and we looked them up on the internet and they don't seem to be too harmful so we don't think that there is any real need to worry. It is dientamoeba fragilis trophozoites. He also has entamoeba coli cysts and blastocystis hominis oranisms.

Don't forget that we are having a Happy Birthday/Welcome Home party for Coy on Saturday. NO GIFTS PLEASE!!!!! But please come by anytime after lunch and get a piece of cake and wish Coy a Happy Birthday. Also, if you are able to stop by, please PARK ON OUR GRASS. Our driveway won't be able to hold everyone and our grass is as hard as our driveway. Even if we get 3 inches of rain this week, our yard will still be plenty hard to drive on and the only thing you would kill would be the weeds.

This is Coy riding his big wheel down the hill, backwards no less. If we had a nickel for everytime that he has dragged that thing back up the hill and ridden it down again, we could just about pay for his surgery. He loves to do this. One of the best parts is that he still belly laughs everytime he does it.

Coy's speech continues to improve. He is really improving on his colors too.