September 2007 Archives

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It occurred to me the other day...we have THREE kids...count 'em...THREE!...I've been thinking "Did we hear God correctly when he called us to do this?" - I'm not sure whether he said "Adopt a child or three!" or "Opt to go wild and see!".

I don't think there is a moment that I don't have dried applesauce, milk or yes...mucus somewhere on my being (I feel pretty good when I can at least identify the substance that is sticking to my pant leg or shirt...it's the UNIDENTIFIED stuff that I worry about).

I have read "Go! Dog! Go!" so many times that if the girl dog asks the guy dog if he likes her hat ONE more time I'm gonna go ballistic! Look...get over it he DOESN'T like your taste in hats!

And finally, I have lost all meaning of the term "sleeping in". These kids are not human...I swear...it's like clockwork or robotic - seriously...they get up at the SAME time EVERY DAY! No matter whether they go to bed late or early - 6:30 EVERY morning Anji starts calling for us - "MAMI! BENGA!" ("Mommy Come here!"). Without fail.

By all of this I mean to say that reality has set in. We celebrated our 2 month anniversary as a family last week and I'll tell you what - I couldn't imagine our lives without Carol, Jhon-Fredy and Anji. I laugh at all the 'stuff' that I used to be consumed by but now it really doesn't seem to matter. Since the last time I wrote we have all been sick together, watched a few more Steeler games together, enrolled Carol in school (she starts tomorrow), installed a swingset in the backyard (thanks Wall-to-Wall!), gone to the zoo and visited with Grandma and Grandpa Krebs (who came all the way from Savannah to visit). And since then - no I haven't gotten as much done as I wanted, spent as much time online as I used to or have been able to get to the gym...yet (I swear I'm gonna get there!)...

But I have spent time with my son and daughters (yes it is VERY cool to be able to refer to them as my "son" and "daughters")...I have been able to see how proud they get to show me the new thing they learned in English or are able to do something on the swingset they were too afraid to do just 24 hours earlier. I seriously have sat there watching them...just watching them (too creepy?)...just because they are my children. And no...I'm not "getting stuff done" or "logging more running miles" but, man, I never knew how much happiness I could feel on a Saturday morning when I wake up to a two year old's face smiling right into mine saying "buonas díaz Papi!"

So, it's been quite the experience since we got back. We've done all sorts of 'firsts'...first time to the zoo...first time swimming in a big pool...meeting both sets of grandparents for the first time...and the first visit to the doctor for the kids physicals. Boy, was that an experience.

The appointment itself lasted for about three hours...so we had to keep the kids busy in the examination room - pulling out all the plugs to entertain them. They did REALLY well...until the immunizations. You have never seen fear until you look at a 4 year boys face while they prep the needles for his 3 shots. I gotta say he made me proud. He held it all in up until they stuck the first one in...then he let us know just how much he disapproved. Carol and Anji had similar reactions. All three did the best they could but as I held them to help out they all gave me the same look...the look that says "Why are you letting this happen to me?! You're supposed to be the one who protects me!". Made me think a little bit...

I started to think about some of the conversations I've had with folks over the last 3 years since deciding to follow Jesus. Just as there are 'routine' answers to any questions Christ followers are asked there are also 'routine' questions. One of them is "why does God let bad things happen to good people?"

Now, usually I try my hardest to not give a stock answer. I do get really nervous because I always want to be able to say the "right" thing or give the "right" answer...but I try to just convey what my personal experience has been in having a relationship with God. And, the more I experience this relationship the more I begin to understand what Jesus meant when He said that God is "Our Father" and we are his children.

As a "son" in the family of God I try everyday to let Him guide me in everything I do (it's not always easy though). And as a "son" in the family of God I can remember so many times in my life when I've asked Him "Why are you letting this happen to me?! You're supposed to be the one who protects me!"

So I got to thinking the other day when I was holding onto Carol and she was struggling not to have a shot - crying and screaming. I thought, I'm her father and I'm only doing this for her own good. That to her it may seem to hurt for the moment but in the end...in the long run...there is a benefit to the pain. A benefit that in her 6 year mind she cannot see or understand. But it will show itself...sooner or later...And I think that's what God does with us...he sometimes allows short term (or in some cases - long-term) pain in order to put in place a greater benefit that in our short-sighted humanity we cannot see.

OK so maybe that's a little heavy and trust me I don't always look into things so deep - but its just that since the kids have come into our lives I see God in so many things. In the way they laugh and cry and talk..well pretty much in everything they do. And it's an incredible feeling (sometimes overwhelming) to have so much love in your heart for 3 little people like our kids.

Anyway...just thought I'd share...talk to you soon,
Scott

We're so sorry about not keeping you all up to date. One day led to another and now here we are 3 weeks later. But we do make it up to you - we have video of the trip! (links below)

Things have been pretty uneventful. We are really settling into life as a family. The 'family rhythm' that I talked about when we were in Colombia continues to get stronger. The real question, though, is - what's been keeping us busy? Well our days start about 6:30-7a.m.when Anji wakes up. Donna or I will get up and bring her into bed with us and she'll keep us pretty entertained with singing, clapping or telling us an enthralling tale in a mixture of Spanish, English and some kind of language we really cannot identify.

Jhon-Fredy is usually the next one to get up and he comes in to visit. He is quite loving in the mornings and has plenty of hugs and kisses to go around. Donna then gets in the shower while I keep Jhon-Fredy and Anji busy wrestling in our bed. Carol is the last to get up and is just like, Papi - not too much of a morning person.

After Donna is done getting ready she takes the kids down to eat and I get up and get ready for work. When I finally get downstairs there is a lot of activity going on but when I go to leave for work everyone runs to the front window to wave good bye and shout well wishes for my day.

During the day, Donna has been doing a great job of keeping the kids active. They've also been getting a lot of visitors. Donna's best-friend Heidi and her sister Linda have helped out immensely with grocery shopping and the kids have had 'play-dates' pretty much every day since we've been back. So the days have been going by pretty fast. Every once and a while I'll get a call at work from Carol giving me updates on the day. They have even been to the office to meet everyone!

So that brings us to the evenings. When I get home from work it's really awesome to be greeted by the kids. They are SO excited to tell me about their day (even though most of the rundown is in Spanish). They have been doing really well with dinner time. We are still discovering their tastes for things but believe me they are not shy about letting us know when they don't like something.

Bath time is pretty exciting. We start off with an in-depth discussion of who will be going first, second and third. And what the expectations are for activities afterward. Carol really likes make sure she has the schedule of events SOLID before we engage in them. There really is no big argument to getting them to take baths. They are pretty cooperative. However, sometimes getting them OUT of the tub is a problem.

After everyone is dried off, in their PJs and in their respective beds it's then reading time. We draw heavily on the Dr. Suess collection with Carol favoring the Berenstain Bears while Jhon-Fredy enjoys the livelier "Hop on Pop". Anji...well she really has no patience for Mami and Papi actually READING the books. She prefers to rifle through them at her own pace - then remove her diaper.

Jhon-Fredy is usually the first to fall asleep, then Carol. Anji tends to want to spend more time with Mami and Papi during the evenings so she is generous enough to grace us with her presence (and commentary) for about a half an hour to forty-five minutes AFTER the other two fall asleep.

And that's about it. Those are our days so far. Again, we have been so blessed with help from others. Help has come in all different forms too. From grocery shopping for us to clothes that their children have grown out of to dinners. I cannot tell you folks how much this has been appreciated - we really couldn't have done this without that.

Lastly, I'd like to share with you something else that we have been busy doing. We finally got around to organizing the video from the trip and have gathered some hilites into a quick timeline of the trip. This should give you a good overview of the events that took place. Basically it's timeline of our trip down to Bogota...our trip to meet the kids...and yes the actual footage of when we all met...then just some shots that I thought were pretty cool of how we spent our time between court stuff and returning home. I started to put subtitles to explain - but I found they were taking away from the footage. So I have left some in for the first half but the second half - the half with all the video of the kids - I took them out. I wanted to just focus on the kids. So without further adieu - here you are - we hope you enjoy it:

**** FEATURE PRESENTATION ****
Our Kids - the Movie
(DISCLAIMER: If you have popup blockers enabled for popup windows this may not launch also if you don't have the flash player installed you'll need it - get it here. And lastly - it's a pretty big file so depending on your connection speed it may take a few seconds to start up)

**** BONUS FOOTAGE ****
Jhon-Fredy's first Steeler Game
Here's my son watching his first EVER Steeler Game...I'll have you know he was glued to the set for all 4 quarters and he did this pretty much for every play - waiting patiently for them to hike the ball...and lastly I did NOT give him any instruction on how to do a '3 point stance' he picked it up all himself!