Moses' first visit to Home of Love

Noah and Fortunate having fun

I have spent the last five weeks in the home mostly. Making sure that I'm home every time that Moses is home. We've had some very interesting times of adjustment and as this amazing kid takes everything in stride, he also has been trying on different things. Now he's on to crying about little things like Ana does. Makes a mama struggle since I'm 90% sure he's crying because he forgot to take his shoes off before his pants and now his pant leg is stuck, but maybe, just maybe, he's crying about something greater than that and I'm just not understanding...

His (and our) language is coming along well - although, we're still struggling with basic communication, let alone more complex topics!

Josh playing football with the guys (Moses in the "smart" orange polo).

We finally ventured to Home of Love as a whole family yesterday. We (I?) were a little worried about how he would react and whether that would cause even more insecurity. I needn't have feared! He wanted to wear his "smart" clothes ("pa gang lega" for church), so I let him. We went as a whole family at a time when all the children would be home and we went armed with balls to do some "structured" play time.

Moses had a blast, the other children had a blast, the mamas/aunties who were there all sat down with pregnant me to watch the group playing. What a wonderful time! Moses came home nearly giddy and definitely full of happiness. It is a testimony to the love and care that Home of Love gives our children that our Moses is so eager and happy to visit! Praise God!

Ana, on the other hand, asked me if we had to leave Moses behind or if we got to bring him home with us still. And displayed her insecurities full force... guess I forgot to reassure her in my concern about Moses!

Gracie ALWAYS loves Home of Love and sure enjoyed seeing ALL the kids playing in the field!

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Check out this progress!

A year ago, my friend Rachel http://josiecomehome.blogspot.com/ emailed a photo of her beautiful son standing on his own... I've since dreamed of having a photo to post of Gracie doing the same thing. It was always one of those wild-don't-think-it'll-ever-happen kind of dreams, a romantic, fairy tale type of dream. But this week, Gracie made another leap in development and muscle tone. It started when I leaned her up against the wall and planted her feet a shoulder-width apart. For the first time, she didn't lunge for the safety of my arms or hands, but rather, she allowed herself to stand steadily on her own two feet and she kept her center of gravity centered over her feet instead of wildly in front of her or to one side or the other. She even quickly figured out that she couldn't lurch around in excitement while standing on her own two feet with no support but a wall behind her back, but rather had to express her excitement over this new development with a gentl

Family of Three!

We are in Liberia - the electricity goes in and out because the generator is having trouble keeping up these days! So hopefully it will stay on long enough to post and the internet connection will allow me this luxury! We were united with precious Gracie on Thanksgiving day - I will write more about this later. But, oh! is Gracie a joy! She is so beautiful, so joyfilled, and a bit mischievious. Her physical limitations do not permit her to accomplish much mischief, but we can tell that she is trying to push some limits already. If we were not in love with her already, she is irresitable and such a treasure and blessing from God. In our two days together, she has not cried once. She spends most of her days smiling, she loves to snuggle (good match for us!), and has the most contagious laugh! Life takes more effort for her - her cerebral palsy is moderate and every activity is a challenge and is clearly tiring for her. Meal times (which she loves) take a long time and much patience and d

Amazing girls!

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Rattins living Coram Deo

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