Belated Birthday Post

Hello, all three readers! I wasn't able to post a birthday post for our Nathaniel Erickson on the actual day, and then Monday came. Is it Thursday already?? :) As with Shiloh and Cora, I went down memory lane on Nathaniel's birthday, and it was bittersweet. I actually have pictures of Nathaniel practically from birth, but these early pictures just remind me of the heartache of waiting all those months to bring him home. The pictures also remind me of how much we miss not having those early pictures of Adah's babyhood and childhood. Most of all, however, they remind me of Nathaniel's first mom. She has only the pictures we've sent to remind her of her adorable son born five years ago. I think of her on his birthday and pray that she survived the earthquake.

Here is the first picture we received of Nathaniel. He was four weeks old and his mom had just brought him to the orphanage. She named him Erickson, which is why we kept that name for his middle name. I was in tears for most of the day that I received the kids' pictures. I was so happy to see his healthy, chubby cheeks! Here is the first picture of the two kids together. My mom sent down outfits for them, and we sent down photo albums for them to attach to their cribs. When we went down to bring them home 21 months later, Adah STILL HAD HERS and had memorized her siblings' names (and we tease her now because she said "Cola" for "Cora" and "Abby-gale" for "Abigail" :) ).

The "photographers" at the orphanage were not known for their special abilities to catch the children at their best. :)

Here is Nathaniel with his sweet birthmom. We met her when we went down, and she was gracious, quiet, and sad. She stayed with Nathaniel at the orphanage until he was six months old. We have had no word of her since the earthquake.

Again with the skillz of the photographers. :) Here follows a sad commentary through pictures, since the children did not smile in any of them. I asked Adah why she never smiled, and she said, "I just had my hair done and my head hurt. Also, I didn't want to smile." Well, alrighty then. :) We had no idea just how smiley she was until a fellow adoptive mom went down and got a bunch of pictures of her smiling. Nathaniel was home with us for about a month before he smiled AT US, and it was just like that first newborn smile from our biological children.

The orphanage didn't care if the boys were in pink, or, apparently, whether their diapers were wet for pictures. :(

Here is one of the pictures that a fellow adoptive mom took on a trip down to Haiti. Although the background was depressing to see, we finally saw Adah's beautiful smile and we heard a heartwarming story from the mom: when she asked Adah if she knew who her brother was, she went straight to Nathaniel's crib, got him out and showed him to her. She was beginning to bond with him early on. :) As we studied each picture that was sent to us, we decided that this picture showed Nathaniel's eyes starting to sparkle a little.

After the hopefulness brought about by the previous picture, our hearts dropped again when we got this one. They just seemed to be saying, "Come, get us!" Adah looked like she had been crying, and Nathaniel looked...lost.

This is the last picture of the kids before we went to pick them up. Oh, were we ready!!

I couldn't wait to look into Nathaniel's big brown eyes and reassure him that we would love him forever and that he had a HOME. JOY!!!!!!!!! The Lord saw fit to bring us together, and we finally held them in our arms!!!

Here is Nathaniel's first experience with a slide...at the airport in Charlotte? Miami? Where were we? I hardly remember since we left Port-au-Prince at 4:30 the morning of December 7th and didn't get home until about 1:30 the morning of the 8th. Poor Nathaniel didn't have any shoes because we didn't have the heart to jam his feet back into the sandals that didn't actually fit him.

On one of our first days home, we took the kids to a playground. I can hardly believe how scrawny Nathaniel was back then - and how short! :)

First picture with all SIX kiddos!

I know I've put these pictures on the blog before, but he's just so darn cute. :)

And now, fast forward three years to a dramatic transformation...

This is our sweet, handsome, happy, TALL five year-old! What a blessing from God. He has stretched us, exasperated us beyond all imagining, and made us despair that we would ever see progress in some of his behaviors. And yet, there seems to be progress. And we continue to pray that the Lord will change his heart so that the progress is not merely outward. Thank you, Lord, for giving him to us. Thank for trusting us and for knowing that WE needed HIM in our family.

Shiloh made his crown, and Abigail decorated it. :)

Abigail has to add the little touch of abnormality to the whole celebration. Nathaniel had a "Curious George" birthday. He got three books, two movies, and a matching game, among other gifts. I anticipate reading the books about 123 times each.

Here Nathaniel is checking out his gift card from Oma. He thinks on the problem of what to buy with it about fifteen times a day, and I hope we draw closer to a decision sometime soon. :) (Yes, everyone is in their jammies. We had been out at Cora's last basketball game, then out to dinner, then out to ice cream, then home for celebrations. Jammies were in order. :) )

Nathaniel even had a "Curious George" cake! :)
Cora brought the cake into the strangely decorated dining room. Nathaniel asked for black and green to match his camouflaged wrapping paper. :)

Daniel's getting better at getting the "blowing out the candles" shots.

We love you, cheeky monkey! Happy 5th Birthday! May we celebrate MANY more with you.

Catching Up

These pictures hadn't been downloaded when I posted about Daniel being ordained as an elder. I had to add them because they show Daniel in his natural environment...surrounded by lots of guys discussing theology for hours on end. Granted, I'm a pretty big talker, but Daniel can outlast me any day. On this particular day, I think we were at church from 9:30 until about 5:00 (not that I'm complaining, because clearly that would not be holy. :) I'm just saying I was EXHAUSTED when we got home. :) ). Here are the elders and deacon from our sister church along with our pastor and Daniel. Don't let the picture fool you. They only stopped talking for the five seconds it took to take the picture. And talking and talking and talking...

And yes, still talking. (Oh, I make fun, but I'm SO grateful to these men because otherwise Daniel would try to talk theology with me. I'm pretty well-versed, but it's not a HOBBY with me. :) )

Love this picture that Shiloh took of Daniel:

Here's the audio link of Daniel preaching last Sunday in our afternoon service on Joel. He says that years of briefing in the intelligence world are going to be have to be unlearned for preaching. He is used to putting out as much information as possible in the shortest amount of time possible, and he's a fast talker. I told him not to worry about the fast talking bit, but do try to take breaths occasionally. He did a great job, though, and he learned so much just by reading and meditating on Joel for about three weeks before the sermon.

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=22811921311

Transitioning: My stepfather, David, came for the ordination service, and it was really special to have him there. When he came, he brought gifts for everyone. One of the gifts included a make-your-own moccasin kit for Cora. How handy that she just so happens to have a Sacagawea outfit to match! :) Here is the complete outfit...

The next set of pictures come from Cora's basketball game and the awards ceremony they held after the season concluded. We have had so much fun watching her that we're actually sad the season has ended. She had a great first experience...her coaches were excellent, the team really came together well, and they had a 7-1 record for the year. I wish Upward Bound would do tournaments, but I think they hold to the "everyone's a winner" philosophy. :) Our coach didn't hold to that philosophy, though, and helped the girls to get over their loss with his matter-of-fact attitude about it. I appreciate that.

Shiloh was in control of the camera the whole time, and it was a good thing. She actually got a video of the basket Cora got in the game, but I can't get it to upload yet because the file is so huge. I have to buy the software to cut it, unless someone else has an idea of how to do it??

Here is a picture of the team after their last victory. It came down to a shot made by one of our girls in the last ten seconds. What a great ending! I asked the girl if she heard me yelling, and she said, "yes" pretty emphatically.

I wish we could hand-pick this coach for next year, but they don't let you do that. Bummer.

Each team was called up to be recognized at the awards ceremony. Our girls were having a good time. :) Cora's best friend Ava couldn't make it to the ceremony, so we're missing a girl.
The girl on the right CRACKED US UP the whole season. She might not have a particular talent for basketball, but boy, she had fun playing. She would also smile right at the girl she was defending the whole time, thereby using psychological warfare to annoy her enough to cause her to make errors. Very tricky. She actually handled the ball a little at the end of the season and dribbled without double-dribbling. She was just cute.

The last installment of pictures comes from my birthday. I *thought* we had nothing planned because life has been so busy lately, and I'm not very high maintenance when it comes to these things. I just wanted some pretty stationery, so that was my only request. Well, when I arrived home with the kids after LOTS of errands, Daniel was already there and something was in the oven. He said, "Get ready. We're leaving in fifteen minutes to go out to dinner. Shiloh's watching the kids, they're having pizza, and the neighbor is coming over to check on them." That's right...it's a whole new world, folks. We officially have a daughter who is BABYSITTING AGE. Oh, my. I can hardly stand the giddyness. I was a little nervous about Nathaniel, but Shiloh had a phone so I knew she would call if there was trouble. We went out for a SCRUMPTIOUS Indian meal complete with rice pudding (my favorite dessert). When we came home, the house was dark, and the kids jumped out to say "Happy Birthday!" Then they led me to the dining room with my eyes closed. Cora and her crew of four had decorated the dining room while Shiloh baked and decorated a cake. Adah wrapped the presents, and Abigail made some cute signs. It was...wonderful. I felt completely and utterly spoiled. AND they pulled it off without me suspecting anything. (Daniel would say this is no great feat.) I love those little and not-so-little people, and I love my man for putting this together in the midst of a lot of busyness for him. He's amazing.

Yes, it's a cheesy picture, but I actually like it. We're already in our jammies and Abigail decorated the chair with her fleece blanket in honor of the birthday "queen." The fireplace is on, and I'm right where I want to be on my birthday - with my family in our cozy home. Thank you, Lord, for another year together.

My Man

Last weekend was busy, full, and lots of fun. It culminated in Daniel's ordination service as an elder in our church on Sunday, and what a joyous day that was! It has been a privilege to see how the Lord has grown Daniel in the faith - he is not the man he was when I met him, and what a wonderful thing to see the Lord work in someone you love! Here are some pictures on our pastor's blog from the day:
http://www.jeffriddle.net/2011/02/crbc-elder-ordination.html

The visiting pastor's wife must have a great camera, because she captured some beautiful moments. Our pastor and the elders from our "sending church" prayed over Daniel - words that only he could hear - and Daniel said they were powerful prayers.

He says that they don't have a secret handshake, but I don't believe him.

Basketball Update

So far, the only game that Cora's team has lost is...

the one that our pastor and his whole family came to watch. :)

Today, with Opa attending, Cora's team won 20-11, and Cora made two baskets!! I told her I had a dream that she made two baskets, and she said, "I don't think that will ever happen, Mommy." I'm always glad to be proven right, and this time doubly so. :)

Heather, we continue to be impressed with the Upward Bound program, staff, and organization. Our coach is pretty great, too, and I'm so glad for that with this being Cora's first experience.

Now off to Jackson's Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet. What a fun weekend for Opa to be here!

Previously Undiscovered Pictures!

Daniel finally found his camera the other day and decided to see if there were any pictures on it to download, and behold! There were! He took these during his annual hunting trip to his parents' farm in TN. Each year he brings two of the kids to spend time with his parents, which means they get some one-on-one time with their grandparents. Which also means they get ALL the sweets their little hearts could desire. It takes about two weeks to detox when they come home. The first two pictures were taken on our piece of land, located about a mile and half from his parents'.

Here are the Bobbsey Twins with Grandpa and Hamma (pronounced Humma, but not spelled that way - don't ask me why. I just married into this family). Although he looks a little stern in this picture, kids and animals LOVE Grandpa. They just had a dog adopt them, because I think there's some sort of dog underground where word passes around about nice people who are open to more pets. They named him Hooch, and he's living up to his name.

Here are more pictures of the girls on our land. And if you thought that these pictures gave me a heart attack when I saw them, why yes, you would be absolutely right. It's better if I don't know what goes on while they're in TN.

I asked Adah if she was scared to climb that high. She looked at me quizzically. It's not a stupid question, is it? C'mon.

I love these last two pictures of Daniel with his girls. They look so cute, and he looks so...redneck. (His hat says SHOOTERS, by the way, not HOOTERS. In case you were concerned. His daddy gave him that hat, and he loves that MidSouth SHOOTERS hat.)

Night, y'all. I must get my sleep, because we have sickos in the house who might need me during the night. I mean sick people, not weirdos. (okay, never mind, we have those, too)

A Post All Its Own

This is what we call in our house, "Worshiping the Fire God." This is where you can find Roscoe every day, and woe to you if you try to get between the fire and him.

More Time Travel

I had such a good time looking through photo albums for the post on Shiloh's birthday that I decided to do the same for Abigail's. Looking at the albums brought back all the wonderful memories of adding our precious daughter to our family, the friends we met while in England, our wonderful church family, and the experience of living in England. What a fun reminder of God's goodness to us over the years.

Of course, the following picture provided a not-so-wonderful reminder of the long and difficult labor I had with Abigail! We should have known that she would end up being contrary from her refusal to COME OUT ALREADY. :) In this picture, I had been in active labor for about 24 hours (I was smiling between contractions :) ). We finally ended up going in at about 1:00 a.m. Monday morning. Then we walked and walked and walked the halls while they offered me tea and toast. :) Abigail got into trouble about mid-morning and then got into serious trouble. The midwife ordered the doctor to give me a C-section. They would have to put me under general anesthesia because it was an emergency and I didn't have anything in at the time. I hope I will always remember the look on Daniel's face when I turned to him in fear and anxiety. He looked back at me with a wonderful smile and said, "I will see you both afterward. Do you hear me? I WILL see you later. I love you." He had the privilege of holding our daughter first and then introducing her to me when I woke up (which was MANY hours later - they tried to wake me up and couldn't because I was just so EXHAUSTED :) ). She was smaller than Cora by a whole pound - 6 lbs., 6 oz., so her size was obviously not the reason she couldn't come out. :) And she's been a petite ball of contrariness every since. I looked in her baby book today, and she finally made it into the 5th percentile for height and weight when she was 18 months old. :)
Here's Miss Attitude shortly after birth. Remember the wonderful husband I told you about? He decided to get photographic evidence of how knocked-out I was from exhaustion and anesthesia, but I will not be posting that on this blog. Shame on him.

Here are the two big sisters meeting Abigail! I cannot get over how cute they are.Even though Cora's eyes look frightening from the flash, I just love this picture because of the look she's giving Abigail. She loved her baby sister - and I could see her maternal personality even then. She wanted to be near Abigail all the time, she wanted to tuck her in, and she wasn't bothered at all when she would cry. She would just sit beside her and rock her in the bouncy seat or keep patting her. She's going to be an awesome mama.

Poor Abigail was always all bundled up because it was SO cold in our house. We thought it was normal for radiator heating until the landlord finally took us seriously and discovered they weren't working properly.

There's Cora again, just sitting beside Abigail. :)

I don't know what mean person in our house did this. :) Notice the suspicious look on Abigail's face. She was planning payback even then.

Cute Houseworth Girls!!!

Here is Abigail all dressed up for a lunch at our friends' house. This was about a month before we left England.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Shiloh and Abigail. They look cute in blue!

Abigail is three months old in this picture and ready to play! We were visiting Oma and Opa before moving to Ohio.

Here is our Abba-dabba-doodle-ding-dong about a year later, loving on her baby in our house in Ohio. That baby doll was about as big as she was. :)

I love this picture of the girls taken in October of 2003. That's it for tonight on our blasts from the past. I must go to bed! Abigail Emma, we are so thankful for you. Someone asked me shortly after you were born if I had been disappointed to wake up and find out I had another girl. I was completely shocked and I don't think I could speak for a minute. Then I think I spluttered, "NO! Of course not! I have Abigail!" I can't imagine life without you, and I look forward to seeing what interesting observations you have on life every day. You brighten up our lives, you drive us to frustration, and you are a wonderful conversationalist. Please don't ever lose your spunk. Love, Mommy and Daddy