Desimond's Haiti Pappa

Today we learned that Desimond's Haitian Pappa is alive after all the huricanes and flooding in Haiti this fall and is in MUCH better health. This is a huge praise and we are asking that all of you would pray for us as we begin to plan a return trip to Haiti for Desimond to meet his Haitian Pappa. This is a wonderful and scary time for him and us. Please also pray for us that we would make wise decissions that will help Desimond deal with this reality and produce fond memories for him. In Haiti life is so volatile and short that this could very well be the only time that he will see his Pappa again.

SOCCER!!!

Desimond is playing soccer this fall. He seems to be really good at it and he has a great couple of coaches! Last Saturday was his first game.

Happy Birthhhhhhhhday!

Demarcus turned two on Thursday and we sang Happy B-day, then they sang at preschool. Friday we had his party and of course we sang Happy B-day. Well then, my little man woke-up on Saturday and looked and me and sang Happy Birthhhhday to Marcus...just so darn cute. I still really cannot believe that he is already two. Time went so fast, it seems like just the other day that we got the call to adopt him. We are so blessed...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEMARCUS!

How can he be two! Already? Did I blink? It seems like just yesterday that Aunt Kim and Uncle Russ were here and the phone rang,"We have a little baby boy..." Wow I will never forget that moment. So Happy Birthday Little Man!

Right Side Up

Ok, I do know that the one pic of Demarcus is upside down. The truth is, that without alot of frustration and annoyance I would not have been able to turn it right side up. Sometimes I think that life is very much like this...I find myself expending energy on making the smallest things "just right". Then I wonder why I am so tired...all the time I know that God did not intend for me to spend my time and my energy over these little things. So as a token I am leaving the pic on its side and I am enjoying that it isn't perfect.

Back to School/Two year Pics

Well, we FINALLY got to Ft Wayne today and had the boys photos taken. We tried a new studio (Portrait Innovations) and we were really pleased. It seems like it just takes so much energy to get the little things done right now...maybe I should book my apt for Christmas photos now...we might actually get there! *lol* I am posting several of the best ones from today so that Mom and Dad can see them on the internet...

Our Garden

Well, this year we decided that we should really have a garden. You see I come from a long line of green thumb gardeners, although that particular trait seems to have escaped me. Soooo, every few years I have a desire to have a garden. It must be just long enough that ken has had a chance to forget how much work it was the last time, because he always is willing to help and seems to enjoy the thing.
This year we decided to keep it really simple, just tomatoes and banana peppers...nothing too complicated right? Wrong. We went to the store and bought pepper and tomatoe plants. When we arived home and had them all planted Desimond handed me the little stake that tells you all bout the plants. Hmmmm, we bought Cherry tomatoes instead of beefstake...oh well no problem...as you can see from the picture the boys still take it very seriously and love to water our big 5'x5' garden.

DHA

Well, as some of you may know we have had Desimond on DHA (fish oil) for more than a year. I really have seen a great improvement in his ability to concentrate and relax. This week I read an article on giving extremely high doses of it and the wonderful results they found in kids with ADHD. Now Desimond has sensory integration dysorder not ADHD, but we are upping his dose...amazingly enough the only side effect reported was diarrhea. Compared to Ritalin, the studies concluded that the DHA has the same effect as the drug within 4 days of taking it! This may not work for everyone, but one of the studies stated that ADHD is almost nonexistant in Japan, because they eat so much fish in their diet! This is the article if you are interested....
http://www.oilofpisces.com/attentiondeficitdisorder.html

School Daze

Well Desimond and Mom survived the first day of school without a tear...almost. Mom did great! Desimond was doing really well until his teacher told him that he wasn't riding the bus home (I wanted to drive him today). Then he has a shower of tears. As Jackie assured me it wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined.
Demarcus is feeling better, but I still think that I can hear a murmur. Please continue to pray for him. Also we are waiting to hear more about the health of Desimond's BF.

Life

Everyone has heard the saying,"Life is what happens to you when you are making plans." That couldn't be more true for our family this week. Yesterday, I took Demarcus to the Dr after three days of chasing a 105 fever, second guessing myself all the way. We got there and the Dr found a new heart murmur and streph throat ...oh and a secondary ear infection. Wow, for an old cardiac nurse the new heart murmur takes your breath away. Images of the "worst case senario" flash through your mind in an instance. However, the Dr assured me that just the stress of dehydration and the flu can cause a temporay murmur in a little toddler and to bring him back in a week or two for a check. As we are leaving she also mentions to let her know if he isn't getting better because,"Streph can cause Rheumatic fever!!!" Wow...I leave a little stunned, already silently praying for God to protect Demarcus' heart and very grateful I overcame that second thought and took him.
We got home and I sat down to read my e-mail. I found an e-mail from Desimond's orphanage that his BF had been there that afternoon asking about Desimond and also told them that he was ill. I was speachless and stunned to say the least. To our knowledge, he has never returned to the orphanage in 4 years. We had always wanted to take Desimond back to Haiti and find his biofamily, especially his BF. But we had not done this yet as he is so young. I have e-mailed the orphanage to see if they have more details.
If you know me very well at all, you will understand that these events sent me into a tail spin. I love my structured and simple life and two crisis in one day can take me out of comission and straight into shut down mode. Between imaging Demarcus having open heart surgery or a heart transplant (all you nurses out there will totally understand) and feeling that we had totally failed Desimond. I headed to bed. In 37 years I have learned to tomorrow will be a better day, for the first time today I understand what it truely means to "run the good race". Funny how God used the word run, not win or finish, but mearly to run. Today I understand that continuing is conquering.