For the display of His splendor

I call Ana our "beauty from ashes". Here's why...

(Video from April 2011 - during one of our daily visits to the orphanage)

This picture was taken 1 year after that video. Do you believe it is the same child?

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me,

because the LORD has anointed me 

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness from the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

and provide for those who grieve in Zion-

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

the oil of joy instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise instead of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the LORD

for the display of his splendor.

-Isaiah 61:1-3

Staycation

We opted for a staycation this summer. We decided to check into a hotel in downtown Portland and explore our own city for a weekend. Here are some pictures from the trip:

We rode the train from the suburbs to the city

Checking out the view

Preparing to enjoy a snack from St. Cupcake Galore...one of our favorite downtown institutions

Mmmmmmm cupcakes :)

Trains, buses, and streetcars oh my!  A little boy's dream come true.

Waiting for the streetcar

They don't know how to play chess, so they made a house instead :)

Checking out the river front

And now I am all caught up with blogging. Hip hip hooray! :)

Happy 5th Birthday, Alex!

As I look at my little blond-haired, blue-eyed boy I cannot believe he is 5! It hurts to think about the nearly 4 years of his life we missed, but we are joyful that he is here now and that we are here to celebrate this milestone with him. The last year has been an incredible whirlwind, and this little boy has made some tremendous progress.

To describe Alex I would tell you that he is a genius trapped in the body of a developmentally disabled child. I have seen him outsmart typical children, find clever ways around rules, and masterfully find trouble every day. Like most children, he has come to feel most comfortable at home. I know this because his EI teacher once told me that he needed to learn to stand up for himself more. What?!?!?! She asked me if he got bullied a lot at home (apparently there was a little girl in his class who used to knock him down a lot). My response shocked her: "actually, Alex is the bully at home".

Alex is a sneaky bully with his sister and an all out warrior with his brothers. Upon coming home over a year ago, Alex grew fond of taking things right out of Ana's hands. Ana never complained so he only got caught sometimes. Well, once we figured out what he was doing and he realized that he would get in trouble for this his little brain started working. He decided that it would be fine to trade Ana. He would find some other random toy and hand it to Ana while he pried what he wanted from her other hand. Again, he was disciplined for this. So he moved on to an even more sophisticated trick. He will now grab the baby stroller and walk it over to Ana and motion for her to put her toy (usually a baby doll) in the stroller, acting as though he is doing her a favor by taking her baby for a walk. After she complies he saunters off with the stroller and the toy that he wanted. Alex knows he is doing wrong by taking Ana's toys, because as soon as he catches a glimpse of mommy or daddy he runs the toy back to Ana in the hopes that he can save himself from discipline.

With Trey and Luke, however, it is a different story. He knows he can't pull those tricks on them and he knows that his tiny 27lb frame can't out muscle them either. It doesn't stop him from being like a little dog bitting at their heels though. In true little brother fashion he likes to antagonize and see how far he can push them. And over time he has grown less afraid of confrontation with them. I was shocked one day when Trey and Luke were "sword fighting" to see Alex run into the middle of their duel swinging a vacuum hose at them. He was laughing and yelling as he ran straight in. I had to pull him out for fear that he was going to take somebody out. Trey and Luke were only playing and not really trying to hurt each other. Alex was not familiar with those rules, and I think he would have had them both on the ground crying with the way he was intentionally swinging that vacuum hose.

The boy is a born performer and L.O.V.E.S. the spotlight!!! He is never shy and craves attention. I'm not sure he ever met a stranger in his life, which is really frightening as a parent! But he often leaves people smiling. He is a sweetheart who loves to kiss and slobber all over us :)

Making birthday cupcakes

Birthday boy

Blowing out the candle

Opening his homemade cards from Trey

Performing with his new microphone from Nana

Happy 5th Birthday, Alex! 

We love you!

Mean Mommy!

I am pretty sure that Ana's first sentence will be, "my mommy is so mean, because she makes me jump in the bounce house, play at the park, build with blocks and do puzzles". Somebody call social services! Picture in your head, if you will, a lazy child. Before now, I pictured a pre-teen video game addicted boy (sorry for the stereotype). I figured the way to fix it would be take away the games. At that point they have to find something else to do, right? What if there is nothing to take away, because you child would rather sit and stare at walls than do anything else?

How do you conquer laziness for the health and well-being of your child? I don't know if we are right, but our answer has been to fight through the tears and the tantrums and to continually require things of Ana...no matter how much snot or how many screams she manages to conjure up. We make her complete form puzzles before lunch, pedal her trike if we are outside, climb the jungle gym at the park, jump in the bounce house on rainy days, and build with blocks if she simply cannot find something productive to do on her own. She is not the only kid we require these things of, but usually the other three don't need any prodding to play. My other kids are more likely to have tantrums when we have to leave the park, not when we pull up to it.

I wish every day wasn't a fight, but it is. I can't escape it unless I am willing to give up on her, and I am not. Every morning I wake up and think, "drill sergeant Hagler reporting for duty". Maybe one day it won't be so hard, and maybe one day she will understand that I am doing all of this for her own good, but even if that day never comes I will keep fighting the fight for her sake.

In case you think I am exaggerating, here are some pictures to prove I'm not.

I asked Ana to build with some big legos...and she screamed.

Crocodile tears because we are at the park and I won't let her stand and do nothing.

"I can't do it"...except that she can. She can climb that rock wall just as fast as the boys. She just doesn't want to.

She loves the swing, but in this picture what you can't see is her kicking her legs and crying because I am not pushing her high enough.

What is more fun than a bounce house in your very own living room? Apparently Ana thinks that sitting on her bottom is more fun.