Swinging in the Sun

Leif is our eighth child, a long awaited blessing from our Lord.   He has eight siblings, and they adore him.  Well, maybe Dante is a bit conflicted sometimes, but that's ok.  Leif is loved.

And Leif loves.  He loves his brothers and sisters.  They are each his.  If Amelia is holding Kimberly, he tells her "My baby!".  If Zachary is remonstrating with Micah, Leif steps in and says, "My Micah!".

Leif loves his yard, his home, his animals.  He collects eggs every morning with Zachary.  He plays in the sandbox with Amelia and Sunny.  He yells to be pushed on the swing, and Daddy and I drop what we are doing to spend that time with him.

Every little boy, every little child, should know love. Warmth. Hugs. Swings.  Parents.  Family.  Holidays and Birthdays and...

...and abandonment?  An orphanage?  A mental institution?  These are what Vytas has and is facing when he turns 5 this month.

He desperately needs to be loved.  To be adopted.  If I had $15,000 to add to his grant and pay for his adoption, I would not hesitate. But I know it is not realistic for me to think we can adopt him.  However his family is out there, and he needs prayers, he needs his grant fund to go up to help the his parents adopt him.

In these photos he is clearly stimming, because he has no sensory input except what he gives himself.  My Dante also stims, because his autism causes him to need sensory input.  Every photo of Vytas is reminiscent of Dante, and it breaks my heart  to think of this little boy so desperate for a hug or a kiss that all he can do is repeatedly tap his hand on his mouth, and probably bite himself too.  With sensory input and lots of therapy, we have been able to significantly reduce Dante's autistic behaviors, but Vytas does not get therapy. 

Please pray for Vytas, that God would be with him while he waits, that his grant fund would continue to go up, and that a Mommy and Daddy would adopt him soon.

Girls' Night Out

In the six weeks since my last post, we have been busy just living life.

Kimberly now pushes up to sitting by herself, and loves to go outside in the sunshine.  She still just crawls on her belly, but since she is over 20 pounds now that belly is a lot to lift up!  She is off formula and on goat's milk, and her weight has gone up...it is so nice to see her filling out.  The fresh milk is so good for her!

We thought we had a sinkhole in our back yard, but discovered instead it is an early 1900's septic cistern, with timbers the size of railroad ties over it, covered by 10 inches of dirt--- we never knew there was a 9 foot diameter 5 foot deep hole under our ground--- until one of the beams gave way and we suddenly had a hole.  Jamie and Zachary filled it in and have covered it back up.

Last week Jamie and I escaped for 2 days, going up to his parent's cottage in New Hampshire.  We took Amelia and Leif with us and had a wonderfully relaxing time, and even stopped at Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory on our way home.

Next week is our Georgia trip!!  Micah and Amelia have been practicing relentlessly for the USA Gymnastics Special Olympics Championships in Marietta.  Sunny is on the same team they are on, but when the coach asked for team members who would like to go, I did not suggest Sunny.

I know they are supposed to have fun at Special Olympics, and anyone with a disability can participate, but I expect my kids to earn the right to do some things.  And I feel that Sunny did not earn the right to go to the Championships.  She can be quite stubborn at practices, and even at last year's Summer Games she had to be cajoled into doing her floor routine.  I think she does that on purpose, and enjoys being coddled and the the coaches wheedling her into participating.  (The amazing coaches certainly have more patience with her than I do, because at last year's Summer Games I had to fight the urge to march down onto the mat and tell her to do her routine now or go change out of the leotard.)

However I realize this means Sunny is missing what is sure to be a weekend full of fun, with the plane ride, the hotel, the restaurants and the actual event!  Nikita certainly has made it known she know she is missing out on all of that!  (Nik loves any chance to travel and see new places.)

So last night Nik and I took Sunny to see Disney on Ice.  She had not seen all of the Disney movies that were represented, and never uttered one word the whole time we were there, but I know she had fun....she has had that silly fairy hat on ALL day today!

God is good!