Recovery

Elijah is recovering well from surgery. We can tell he is hearing better, as he is startled by dogs barking and searches the sky for airplanes. His speech is developing, but we still have a long way to go in that department. Elijah has returned to daycare and is happy to see his teachers and fellow students. He is still on oral antibiotics and ear drops but requiring very little pain medicine. Elijah has a follow up appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday. Hopefully everything is healing well!

Hospital Stay

Elijah's oxygen levels were low overnight so he restarted oxygen and had a breathing treatment. Today he has done well on pain meds and tolerated baby food. Elijah has been more himself by smiling, waving, blowing kisses, and playing with toys. 

This evening Ethan visited Elijah in the hospital. The nurse kindly disconnected Elijah's IV for a while so the boys could run around the room. Elijah was obviously stir crazy and had energy to burn! Ethan chased Elijah, tickled him, and gave him kisses. Surprisingly, Elijah was not drooling while running around, even though it's typically worse when he's active. The speech therapist thought it may be more of an open mouth (awareness) problem than a cleft problem, but I'm hoping the palate lengthening will help control the drooling now.

The most exciting part of Elijah's recovery has been better hearing and the beginning of recognizable speech. Last night the respiratory therapist tried turning the oxygen up to 10L but it was too loud for Elijah. He has been very attentive to our voices and words. His babble is starting to sound more like syllables. Tonight he attempted to say Ali (which was pretty much Aaah) but he was able to say Mama! The funny part is that I've been working with him to say MaMa by touching his chest and saying Eli, then touching my chest and saying MaMa. So now when he says Mama, he touches his chest. Oh these little copycats!

Here's to hoping for a much better night and discharge in the morning. We really appreciate all of the prayers for healing!

(Couldn't get the camera to focus before they took off again!)

Surgery

Today Elijah had surgery at Brenners Children's Hospital. His palate was lengthened and tubes were put in his ears. It has been a really long day. We arrived around 7am, surgery started around 8:15am, he moved to recovery around 11:15am, and finally moved to a room around 12:15pm. Elijah has been agitated most of the day, especially when pain meds wear off. His biggest health concern has been oxygen levels. We finally removed oxygen after 8pm. He has run a slight fever but is starting antibiotics anyway. We really appreciate everyone's prayers for smooth surgery and quick recovery!

Officially Official!

Yesterday we received in the mail Elijah's Certificate of Citizenship. He is officially official! Elijah became a citizen on January 30 but his Certificate wasn't issued until April 6. Much like the rest of our adoption journey, the paperwork takes forever!

It's amazing how much we love this little guy. We can look back at pictures from Gotcha Day and see Elijah's wide-eyed shock. But we can also see his adorable smile as he quickly warmed up to us. Many people question whether they could love someone else's child as their own. That's crazy talk because adoptive parents (and step parents) do it everyday. It's not growing a baby in your belly that makes you love your baby, but the time spent dreaming of, thinking about, and preparing for him. Then you love the child so much before you even meet him for the first time!

The one hard lesson we learned on this journey, which we knew about but still weren't really prepared for, is how hard it is to love someone who doesn't return that love. We loved Elijah before we were matched with him and even more once we finally saw his sweet face. We knew it can be hard for orphans to attach and show affection to new parents. And quite frankly we had it way easier than most adoptive parents (thanks for all the prayers!). But those few times we wanted to hold, help, calm, or support Elijah and he wouldn't let us, were really difficult. Our human hearts are so fickle that is hard to maintain tremendous love when we don't receive it back. We are definitely happy that Elijah is very attached now. 

Thinking about this makes me incredibly grateful for a loving God that pursues me no matter how I behave in return. Even if I run, hide, hate, or even become apathetic, my God continues to love me. He wants nothing more than to hold, help, calm, and support me, if I will just let Him.

Whatever you need this evening, turn to your Heavenly Father and allow Him to bless you. Allow Him to envelope you in His arms, smother you with His love, and demonstrate mercy beyond measure. 

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

Matthew 7:11

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him."

Psalm 34:8

"How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world."

Psalm 31:19

We're All Adopted

People still ask us if we can have biological children, why did we adopt. It's not about DNA people, it's about love! Adoption was never a fallback option for us but rather a first choice. There are many ways to make a family and it doesn't really matter how you add the child to your family, as long as the child has a family! If you grew up with a loving father in your household then you can probably grasp the concept of how important it is to have a father in your life. A father that will love you, care for you, help you, and be there for you in times of joy and times of hardship. If you're a Christian then you understand this on a much deeper level. We have experienced God's grace, mercy, compassion, and we have hope because of Him. We were rescued by our Heavenly Father, brought into a family, and had crowns placed upon our heads. We are held in our Father's arms, so we no longer fear death or anything else on this planet. What we do for orphaned/adopted children may seem like a lot on this earth but it's nothing compared to what's already been done for us. We provide earthly parents for a child who needs to be loved and cared for, but what they truly need is a Savior. What better way to show a child the love of Jesus than to love and care for that child everyday? Teach your sons and daughters that, they too, are a precious child of the one true King!

"For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus."

Galatians 3:26

"I'm no longer a slave to fear

I am a child of God

I am surrounded

By the arms of the father

I am surrounded

By songs of deliverance

We've been liberated

From our bondage

We're the sons and the daughters

Let us sing our freedom"

No Longer Slaves, Bethel Music

Eli pushing Ethan in the Cozy Coupe. 

The boys holding hands in the back seat.