Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Chris has a birthday!
My wonderful husband turned 26 in January! We kind of spread his birthday out over the whole month and had several small celebrations. We gathered with others at our work for lunch in my adviser's lab. I made Chris Reece No-Bakes, something he had wanted for a while but I never got around to trying.
The next weekend we were able to go to our local Sushi place and celebrate again! Afterward we went to the free movie night on campus and finally watched RED, a movie that several of our friends really liked.
I'm so thankful for my hubby who has supported and encouraged me through thick and thin!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Friends from Kentucky!
One of the hardest things for me about moving to Florida is being so far from friends and family. So I get really excited when any of them have a chance to come and see us! Our friends AJ and Adrienne have a much longer winter break than we do at UF so they thought it would be a good opportunity to come visit us!
AJ had visited Florida with his family when he was younger, but Adrienne has never been here or seen the beach. I really wanted them to have a good time so I made out a list of all the options I could think of that were relatively close and within all of our budgets., plus we found some new places to go so Adrienne could shop at some places we don't have in Kentucky!
The first day went well, the boys (AJ and Chris) did 'manly' things! They went for a hike at nearby Payne's Prairie and saw buffalo, wild horses and gators up close and personal! Then they explored a nearby pawn shop, something they have both been wanting to do, and a local game shop. Adrienne and I shopped around Gainesville, first at the mall then at some smaller places Adrienne had found online. One was a really neat shop that had all kinds of treasures, from vintage hats and jewelry to new or refinished finds, it was a fun adventure!
The next day we were going to ride up silver river with Granddaddy but AJ came down with a serious stomach bug and Adrienne had several of the symptoms too. So we spent a lazy day around the apartment eating soup and watching TV. They introduced us to a fun series of movies that were made in the 30's and 40's entitled Thin Man. They are about a retired investigator and his wife and how mysteries always seems to find him. We really enjoyed watching them and are trying to finish the series on our own time now.
The third day AJ wasn't back to full snuff but feeling well enough to come along, so we headed out because we all really wanted Adrienne to see the beach! We headed to St. Augustine for the afternoon and had a great time, neither Chris or I have been to St. Augustine before and we really look forward to going back and exploring it more fully.
Before we went home we got supper at a pub in town there. I wasn't sure I'd eaten Irish food before and jokingly wondered if Mom's cooking counted. Surprisingly it almost did! I had some yummy Irish stew, Chris had fish and chips, Adrienne had the same plus some clam chowder (which I have to take Dad to try) and AJ had bangers and mash (the only thing I don't think mom has fixed, it was sausages on top of mashed potatoes with brown gravy). It was all really good and I recognized a lot of other menu items as well.
The last day came and our friends had to fly out from JAX that evening. Before leaving we took some time in Jacksonville to shop at some places that I didn't think I had enough money to walk into! But we had a lot of fun looking around and Adrienne found some fun clothes, as well as spoiling me with a purchase or two.
We are so looking for ward to when our friends can come again and hopefully see more of Florida!
AJ had visited Florida with his family when he was younger, but Adrienne has never been here or seen the beach. I really wanted them to have a good time so I made out a list of all the options I could think of that were relatively close and within all of our budgets., plus we found some new places to go so Adrienne could shop at some places we don't have in Kentucky!
The first day went well, the boys (AJ and Chris) did 'manly' things! They went for a hike at nearby Payne's Prairie and saw buffalo, wild horses and gators up close and personal! Then they explored a nearby pawn shop, something they have both been wanting to do, and a local game shop. Adrienne and I shopped around Gainesville, first at the mall then at some smaller places Adrienne had found online. One was a really neat shop that had all kinds of treasures, from vintage hats and jewelry to new or refinished finds, it was a fun adventure!
The next day we were going to ride up silver river with Granddaddy but AJ came down with a serious stomach bug and Adrienne had several of the symptoms too. So we spent a lazy day around the apartment eating soup and watching TV. They introduced us to a fun series of movies that were made in the 30's and 40's entitled Thin Man. They are about a retired investigator and his wife and how mysteries always seems to find him. We really enjoyed watching them and are trying to finish the series on our own time now.
The third day AJ wasn't back to full snuff but feeling well enough to come along, so we headed out because we all really wanted Adrienne to see the beach! We headed to St. Augustine for the afternoon and had a great time, neither Chris or I have been to St. Augustine before and we really look forward to going back and exploring it more fully.
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| Deciphering directions... |
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| Finally the beach! |
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| Piggy-back ride? I don't mind if I do! |
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| We brought a picnic and the seagulls though it was for them! |
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| Spiffy light house! |
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| Giant wrench used to work on parts of lighthouse! |
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| At the top! |
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| It cast a cool shadow! |
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| We climbed a lot of stairs, going up was scarier than coming down. |
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| There were lots of boats all over the place. |
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| Unfortunately we were to late to visit here, Next Time! |
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| Really tasty food! |
The last day came and our friends had to fly out from JAX that evening. Before leaving we took some time in Jacksonville to shop at some places that I didn't think I had enough money to walk into! But we had a lot of fun looking around and Adrienne found some fun clothes, as well as spoiling me with a purchase or two.
We are so looking for ward to when our friends can come again and hopefully see more of Florida!
A new dress!
So I am still playing catch up for 2011, but hopefully I will be up to date soon! One of the things that happened earlier this month was one of my friends, who also came to visit us, bought me a dress I had been eyeballing for sometime! I love getting mail and especially packages, so I was super excited when I received an unknown package addressed to me! I have been able to wear the dress twice now and it fits great, but I haven't had a camera either time! The picture below is from the website but hopefully I can get one of me up soon!
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| Its a fun dress that's kind of vintage, Love it! |
Sunday, January 23, 2011
An old challenge for a new generation...
When previously asked about our plans for a family, Chris and I always answered that we want to be finished with school, Chris in a job and feeling fairly stable before bringing children into our lives. Far from being questioned we were always praised for the maturity of this decision and then told deplorable tales of parents who didn't make such a 'good' decision and the hardships they were now facing, until last summer that is.
Over the summer we listened to a conference hosted by Vision Forum that challenged our views on the timing and control of child bearing. This included questions we had never asked, or been asked, and points about birth control and parenting we have never encountered before. It challenged the idea that we should be in control of how many children our marriage brings in to the world, it exposed the motivation behind such control, it pointed out that the church's stance on birth control of any kind has been historically negative and the Catholic church still (mostly) holds that negative stance, but mostly it quoted verse after verse and applied other commonly accepted Biblical principles to this touchy subject.
I was crushed at the prospect that we might have been disobeying the Lord for the last four years and we were both convicted that we had never laid this question before the Lord. Out of all the things we had asked Him and all the decisions we had laid at His feet, we had never even considered asking Him when we should have children or how many we should have. We followed the culture in the assumption that we should be in control of that and the 'responsible' choice was to prevent children until we were 'ready'. Hearing the same thing from the church we never questioned this decision. Looking at it point blank we realized how foolish that was and committed the next five months to prayer, study of God's word and seek counsel from family and mentors in our lives.
Our study revealed that children are a blessing and inheritance from the Lord. Over and over again you will hear this in scripture, not only that but we see example after example of families longing for children and rejoicing when they are entrusted with them. Looking through church history we consistently see theologians denouncing the prevention of children by any means, only until the late 50's did this stance begin to change. From Luther to Calvin to St. Augustine to church father's I previously didn't know about, the stance was that children are a blessing and it was a grave crime against the Lord, the unborn, the church and your wife to try to prevent them. We saw how other principles of scripture could/should apply to this area of our life but we just hadn't considered them previously. The main one that hit me was the exhortation to trust the Lord. We are told from the pulpit to trust the Lord with our calling, who our future spouse will be, with our finances, to provide a job, but never with how many children we are to have. We also became sadly aware of how many Birth Control pills and methods actually work as abortifacients, causing the early abortion of of conceived babies before they can implant into the uterus. Finally, this study through scripture revealed that families are one of the ways God increases His kingdom. Yes, people converted to Christianity from outside the church are precious and valuable members, but Christians who were raised in a Christian home have such a huge advantage! We can tackle questions that possibly our parents weren't able to get to, we have great examples to learn from for all areas of our life, and we can skip some struggles our parents had to endure and learn from because they told us about those.
We received conflicting counsel from the people we sought out. Some encouraged us to completely trust the Lord with this area of our lives, some said we should keep doing exactly what we were, and several counseled us to follow a 'middle' path of not using the pill but possibly using other methods of control.
At the end of this time we came together with the conclusion that we definitely should not have as much control over this area as we have. Chris was especially convicted by the realization that this is not a new question, that church fathers discussed and counseled on this throughout church history and ultimately who are we to stand and argue with them? Not saying the church fathers were perfect and got everything right, but when facing such a united front you really need to have a good counterargument, and we really didn't find one. I was especially convicted by the thought that I might be denying the Lord in a way He might want to use me, that I was saying 'no' to potential blessings He might want to entrust us with. I was also convicted that I do my best to trust the Lord in every other area of my life and yet have been withholding this from Him.
So as of January 4th we stopped the pill!
That's as far as we have gotten however. We aren't going cold turkey. We have decided to use other forms of control for at least 6 months, partly to get my body healthy (I have had some minor health quirks while on the pill), partly because we have heard of lots of ladies who have suffered miscarriages after only being off the pill 3-4 months, but also because we aren't positive what the next step should be. We are both convicted that we shouldn't have as much control as we have with the pill, but we aren't as united on how much control we should have. So we are going to be praying some more over the next few months and hopefully we will be more united at that time. If not, we will follow what Chris thinks best since, as the head of our family, he is ultimately responsible for our welfare and thus deserves authority to make that final call.
We are not sharing this decision to guilt anyone into making a similar one. We are sharing because of the fact that no one had presented us with these questions or ideas before and we wish they had! Since the softening of the church's stance (well the Protestant churches) the pulpit has gone silent on this issue and it makes me sad. I do not think that what we are doing now is for everyone, but I do think that it should be a conscious, prayerful decision couples make, not just something we do because everyone else is doing it. Yes it might seem strange, but isn't that to some degree what we are called to be as Christians? Strangers in a foreign land?
One of the questions we are still grappling with is what to do about the stewardship question. We are called to be good stewards of our means, but does this include controlling how many children we should have when we are concerned about providing for them? So far our answer is no, children don't fit into the category of something we should steward in that sense... but it is still tempting to use that excuse! We are scared of the prospect of having children while I am still in a PhD and Chris is still working on His Masters, please don't think we haven't thought about the implications and challenges that would pose! But we are also confident that this is where the Lord is leading us, and where He has pointed the way in the past He has always provided so we are trusting Him to do the same here.
Over the summer we listened to a conference hosted by Vision Forum that challenged our views on the timing and control of child bearing. This included questions we had never asked, or been asked, and points about birth control and parenting we have never encountered before. It challenged the idea that we should be in control of how many children our marriage brings in to the world, it exposed the motivation behind such control, it pointed out that the church's stance on birth control of any kind has been historically negative and the Catholic church still (mostly) holds that negative stance, but mostly it quoted verse after verse and applied other commonly accepted Biblical principles to this touchy subject.
I was crushed at the prospect that we might have been disobeying the Lord for the last four years and we were both convicted that we had never laid this question before the Lord. Out of all the things we had asked Him and all the decisions we had laid at His feet, we had never even considered asking Him when we should have children or how many we should have. We followed the culture in the assumption that we should be in control of that and the 'responsible' choice was to prevent children until we were 'ready'. Hearing the same thing from the church we never questioned this decision. Looking at it point blank we realized how foolish that was and committed the next five months to prayer, study of God's word and seek counsel from family and mentors in our lives.
Our study revealed that children are a blessing and inheritance from the Lord. Over and over again you will hear this in scripture, not only that but we see example after example of families longing for children and rejoicing when they are entrusted with them. Looking through church history we consistently see theologians denouncing the prevention of children by any means, only until the late 50's did this stance begin to change. From Luther to Calvin to St. Augustine to church father's I previously didn't know about, the stance was that children are a blessing and it was a grave crime against the Lord, the unborn, the church and your wife to try to prevent them. We saw how other principles of scripture could/should apply to this area of our life but we just hadn't considered them previously. The main one that hit me was the exhortation to trust the Lord. We are told from the pulpit to trust the Lord with our calling, who our future spouse will be, with our finances, to provide a job, but never with how many children we are to have. We also became sadly aware of how many Birth Control pills and methods actually work as abortifacients, causing the early abortion of of conceived babies before they can implant into the uterus. Finally, this study through scripture revealed that families are one of the ways God increases His kingdom. Yes, people converted to Christianity from outside the church are precious and valuable members, but Christians who were raised in a Christian home have such a huge advantage! We can tackle questions that possibly our parents weren't able to get to, we have great examples to learn from for all areas of our life, and we can skip some struggles our parents had to endure and learn from because they told us about those.
We received conflicting counsel from the people we sought out. Some encouraged us to completely trust the Lord with this area of our lives, some said we should keep doing exactly what we were, and several counseled us to follow a 'middle' path of not using the pill but possibly using other methods of control.
At the end of this time we came together with the conclusion that we definitely should not have as much control over this area as we have. Chris was especially convicted by the realization that this is not a new question, that church fathers discussed and counseled on this throughout church history and ultimately who are we to stand and argue with them? Not saying the church fathers were perfect and got everything right, but when facing such a united front you really need to have a good counterargument, and we really didn't find one. I was especially convicted by the thought that I might be denying the Lord in a way He might want to use me, that I was saying 'no' to potential blessings He might want to entrust us with. I was also convicted that I do my best to trust the Lord in every other area of my life and yet have been withholding this from Him.
So as of January 4th we stopped the pill!
That's as far as we have gotten however. We aren't going cold turkey. We have decided to use other forms of control for at least 6 months, partly to get my body healthy (I have had some minor health quirks while on the pill), partly because we have heard of lots of ladies who have suffered miscarriages after only being off the pill 3-4 months, but also because we aren't positive what the next step should be. We are both convicted that we shouldn't have as much control as we have with the pill, but we aren't as united on how much control we should have. So we are going to be praying some more over the next few months and hopefully we will be more united at that time. If not, we will follow what Chris thinks best since, as the head of our family, he is ultimately responsible for our welfare and thus deserves authority to make that final call.
We are not sharing this decision to guilt anyone into making a similar one. We are sharing because of the fact that no one had presented us with these questions or ideas before and we wish they had! Since the softening of the church's stance (well the Protestant churches) the pulpit has gone silent on this issue and it makes me sad. I do not think that what we are doing now is for everyone, but I do think that it should be a conscious, prayerful decision couples make, not just something we do because everyone else is doing it. Yes it might seem strange, but isn't that to some degree what we are called to be as Christians? Strangers in a foreign land?
One of the questions we are still grappling with is what to do about the stewardship question. We are called to be good stewards of our means, but does this include controlling how many children we should have when we are concerned about providing for them? So far our answer is no, children don't fit into the category of something we should steward in that sense... but it is still tempting to use that excuse! We are scared of the prospect of having children while I am still in a PhD and Chris is still working on His Masters, please don't think we haven't thought about the implications and challenges that would pose! But we are also confident that this is where the Lord is leading us, and where He has pointed the way in the past He has always provided so we are trusting Him to do the same here.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
A Hard Truth for the New Year
So this is the time of year for reflecting on the past and planning for the future, a time for assessment of where we have been, resolutions and renewed determinations. As you well know this last year has involved a lot of changes and growth for me and my family, and while I like to think I've done well through all of this, genuine evaluation shows me lacking in several ways that I hope to change through God's grace.
When the Lord called us to Florida I obeyed, but not really willingly or happily. I think I kept hoping that this was going to be temporary, that like the story of Abraham and Isac God would change his mind and open a different path. But that never happened. Quite the opposite, we have had multiple affirmations that this is where God wants us right now. Instead of soothing my spirit this actually made me angry with God for a time. In spite of all the blessings and provisions and conformations, I did NOT want to be in Florida, and I was angry at God for making me stay. I always suppressed these feelings and didn't even acknowledge that I was feeling this way until shortly after we got back to Florida and it all came pouring out while I was talking with Chris about how hard it was to leave the family and come back to the intense schedule of school. I felt awful when I realized what was going on in my heart and the pride and rebellion I was finding there. What a lot of it boiled down to was I didn't think God had our best in mind, that I knew better than Him but He just wasn't listening. So one long, hard night I poured it all out to the Lord, I explained every little thing I was mad about and confessed my pride and fear. It was exhausting and my amazing husband helped me get through.
After all that as I looked back over the last few months I could see how that hidden resentment had been coloring my life. I have been enduring, or surviving my time here instead of finding contentment and joy where God had placed me. I haven't been giving my best to my projects, school or new relationships. I've been withholding my heart from being too connected to this place or the people here, always lamenting in my heart how much better life would be were we somewhere else.
I know its ugly, but I tell you all of this so you can understand why I am making the commitments I am for this next year, why they are hard for me and so that maybe you can keep me accountable and encourage me along the way. I know I cannot do the things I desire through my own strength, that it is going to be an act of God through me, but I also know that I have a role in this process and I have to submit to His work in my life.
James 1:2-3 says "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." I didn't used to think this verse applied to my life because I thought in order to count as trials you had to go through something extreme like cancer or severe persecution. You know trials with a capital T. As I work through this issue of being content where God has put me however, I see a broader application of the word 'trials'. Trials can happen in the everyday, seemingly mundane choices we make. Do I snap at my spouse or do I use kind words? Do I bemoan my lot in life or do I roll up my sleeves and work cheerfully? Do I despair or get angry when my school schedule has to change, or do I accept it graciously and plan as best as I can around it? Do I focus on the negative in my day or look for the positives and gifts the Lord sends my way? Do I watch that program that I know can make me discontent or steal my time? You don't have to be a Christian in a Muslim country to have your faith tested, trials come to us on a daily basis and it is these smaller trials that prepare us for the capital T trials.
So with all this in mind I have several big goals for myself in the coming year. Yes I do have a few of the typical weight and lifestyle goals, but they have been overshadowed in the last week by my renewed awareness of this area of my life that is in much more need of renovation. As it turns out Philippians may be my theme book in 2011!
Goal # 1 - Renewed joy in my life. "Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say Rejoice!" Phil. 4:4 I know we all know this verse but it really hit me the other day that somewhere along the line I have lost most of my joy. I have allowed my joy to depend on my circumstances, so it has not been a secure joy. I want this verse to be true in my life that I can always rejoice in the Lord.
Goal # 2 - Contentment in where God places me. "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am in." Phil. 4:11 So this sort of connects to the previous goal with some modifications. I have struggled with contentment on various levels for quite some time. I want to be content wherever the Lord leads me, and with whatever circumstances that involves, and for now that is Florida.
Goal # 3 - Allowing the peace of God to fill me and letting go of my fears/worry. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6-7 I love to plan, but my planning often leads to worry, stress and fear. I don't want my life to be defined by these things! I should find peace and rest in where God has brought us and the fact that He has it all under control, instead of freaking out that my life isn't going how I thought it would. Being peaceful for me is going to mean a lot of letting go and trusting the Lord for what He will do in my future (yeah it does all seem to funnel back to trust again, you'd think I'd have learned this lesson by now right?).
Those are my three heavy goals for the next year. I covet your prayers as I move forward in anticipation of what God will do in my life as He continues to mold and make me.
When the Lord called us to Florida I obeyed, but not really willingly or happily. I think I kept hoping that this was going to be temporary, that like the story of Abraham and Isac God would change his mind and open a different path. But that never happened. Quite the opposite, we have had multiple affirmations that this is where God wants us right now. Instead of soothing my spirit this actually made me angry with God for a time. In spite of all the blessings and provisions and conformations, I did NOT want to be in Florida, and I was angry at God for making me stay. I always suppressed these feelings and didn't even acknowledge that I was feeling this way until shortly after we got back to Florida and it all came pouring out while I was talking with Chris about how hard it was to leave the family and come back to the intense schedule of school. I felt awful when I realized what was going on in my heart and the pride and rebellion I was finding there. What a lot of it boiled down to was I didn't think God had our best in mind, that I knew better than Him but He just wasn't listening. So one long, hard night I poured it all out to the Lord, I explained every little thing I was mad about and confessed my pride and fear. It was exhausting and my amazing husband helped me get through.
After all that as I looked back over the last few months I could see how that hidden resentment had been coloring my life. I have been enduring, or surviving my time here instead of finding contentment and joy where God had placed me. I haven't been giving my best to my projects, school or new relationships. I've been withholding my heart from being too connected to this place or the people here, always lamenting in my heart how much better life would be were we somewhere else.
I know its ugly, but I tell you all of this so you can understand why I am making the commitments I am for this next year, why they are hard for me and so that maybe you can keep me accountable and encourage me along the way. I know I cannot do the things I desire through my own strength, that it is going to be an act of God through me, but I also know that I have a role in this process and I have to submit to His work in my life.
James 1:2-3 says "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." I didn't used to think this verse applied to my life because I thought in order to count as trials you had to go through something extreme like cancer or severe persecution. You know trials with a capital T. As I work through this issue of being content where God has put me however, I see a broader application of the word 'trials'. Trials can happen in the everyday, seemingly mundane choices we make. Do I snap at my spouse or do I use kind words? Do I bemoan my lot in life or do I roll up my sleeves and work cheerfully? Do I despair or get angry when my school schedule has to change, or do I accept it graciously and plan as best as I can around it? Do I focus on the negative in my day or look for the positives and gifts the Lord sends my way? Do I watch that program that I know can make me discontent or steal my time? You don't have to be a Christian in a Muslim country to have your faith tested, trials come to us on a daily basis and it is these smaller trials that prepare us for the capital T trials.
So with all this in mind I have several big goals for myself in the coming year. Yes I do have a few of the typical weight and lifestyle goals, but they have been overshadowed in the last week by my renewed awareness of this area of my life that is in much more need of renovation. As it turns out Philippians may be my theme book in 2011!
Goal # 1 - Renewed joy in my life. "Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say Rejoice!" Phil. 4:4 I know we all know this verse but it really hit me the other day that somewhere along the line I have lost most of my joy. I have allowed my joy to depend on my circumstances, so it has not been a secure joy. I want this verse to be true in my life that I can always rejoice in the Lord.
Goal # 2 - Contentment in where God places me. "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am in." Phil. 4:11 So this sort of connects to the previous goal with some modifications. I have struggled with contentment on various levels for quite some time. I want to be content wherever the Lord leads me, and with whatever circumstances that involves, and for now that is Florida.
Goal # 3 - Allowing the peace of God to fill me and letting go of my fears/worry. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6-7 I love to plan, but my planning often leads to worry, stress and fear. I don't want my life to be defined by these things! I should find peace and rest in where God has brought us and the fact that He has it all under control, instead of freaking out that my life isn't going how I thought it would. Being peaceful for me is going to mean a lot of letting go and trusting the Lord for what He will do in my future (yeah it does all seem to funnel back to trust again, you'd think I'd have learned this lesson by now right?).
Those are my three heavy goals for the next year. I covet your prayers as I move forward in anticipation of what God will do in my life as He continues to mold and make me.
Bowling Green Sweet Bowling Green
So while we were up North we really wanted to spend some time with our friends in Bowling Green! My friend Sarah was kind enough to host us while we hooped from her place to several other friends houses too! Even though we weren't able to stay long it was so refreshing to visit with our friends and catch up on what was going on in their lives! While there we also caught up with Rashae and Mylo and AJ and Adrienne (and got to see their new apartment). We were also able to go to Yuki's (a favorite sushi restaurant in BG) and drive by our old apartment. It was a little sad to see the place but Chris reminded me of all the good memories we made there and that it is appropriate for us to move on. Wherever the Lord may lead us we will always have a soft spot in our hearts for Bowling Green, a place where we made many lifelong friendships, had our first home and did a lot of growing up!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
The newest brother...
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| Alex loved making a snowman! |
Alex had a challenging start when he first came home, he ended up pushing the other children away and making life relatively hard for himself by insisting on doing stuff his way, but he has grown a lot since then and some better qualities are showing through.
When we first got to Mom and Dad's Alex was very quiet, we got hugs and he would answer our questions, but he didn't initiate conversation. We were surprised at the kids descriptions of how active Alex normally was and after a week or so he must have gotten comfortable and we could see what they were talking about! He is constantly moving, and once his shyness wore off he always wanted to know what you were doing, whether on the computer or cooking he had questions! He also loves television and video games! As soon as he would get in from chores he wanted to know if it was his turn to play, Mom had to limit him some but we all got some fun in, especially with some of his new games from Christmas!
His English has improved by leaps and bounds, and apparently he learned really good phonics skills while in Ukraine. Chris and I would be taken off guard when he would sound out a long or unfamiliar word and then ask us what it meant! While he doesn't have the vocabulary to match the phonics yet, the phonics will really help as he continues to learn how to read English.
His relation skills with the other kids has also improved, but they are somewhat hesitant around him now due to his earlier behavior. I knew this would be a possibility and that this will pass as Alex continues to become part of the family, but it is still hard to watch sometimes. Some exciting improvements however include his heartwarming concern for little brother while he had appendicitis and how much he has started to play pretend with Hannah.
In short it has been an intense adjustment for the family, but it is all part of the growing pains of adding a new brother, and the joys of seeing him interact positively are quickly outpacing the hard times.
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