Answers for Charlotte

May you give some news about Your girls? Don't forget sarah

My girls (all five of them are doing fine). Sarah is 29 weeks pregnant today. She is due December 6. We are giving her a baby shower this Saturday where we expect lots of family and friends to help us celebrate. She is expecting a baby boy that her and Nathan have decided to name Isaiah Stephen. I envision a little boy with a lot of dark hair. Sarah had so much hair when she was born that if she had been a boy she would have needed a haircut.

Here she is at 24 weeks-so five weeks ago.

The other girls are doing well. Addis and Mulu both started soccer. Addis is much more aggressive this year when she goes after the ball. She loves that she's not afriad of contact with another player. Mulu wants to make friends when she plays soccer. She just loves the social aspect of the whole thing, she could care less about getting the ball in the net. If she thought it would make her a friend she would probably put it in the opposing team's net.

They both started their school work a few weeks ago. This year we should really take off in reading. I'm debating on using A Beka's new ASL program for phonics and such for Mulu and maybe Addis. I have to investigate it a little more.

We've moved bedrooms so now Anna & Adah are back together by themselves like they were before Addis & Mulu came, and Addis and Mulu are in their own room together. I had to figure out a way to cut down on the mess that the three younger ones created and I think I found it.

Anna & Adah are cute as buttons. Anna is getting so tall. Her speech needs help. Many times we cannot understand what in the world she is saying. I suspect she had a language before she went into the orphanage, then learned Amharic by hearing (since she was a toddler she wasn't speaking), then English when we got her. Then come Mulu and Addis eight months later who spoke Amharic, and I think here wires are crossed somewhere in regards to her speech.

They are my delight and Anna often mentions she wished she had been in my tummy. I tell her I wish the same thing, but this way she has had two mommmies instead of one. Adah, oh Adah, there are no words. You would just have to know her to know what I'm talking about.

How happen integration for older girls addis and Mulu?

The integration for Addis and Mulu has gone well, extremely well. We are blessed that it has gone as smoothly as it has. Addis does miss her father in Addis. She was a bit older and remembers more. We have the privilege of a friend that is from Debre Zeit where they are from taking pictures and letters to their father for us when she went back to visit her family. Her mother knows the family. How did we find that out? One day at the Red Sea Restaurant Shawit was our waitress. The girls were fairly new to America and she was able to talk to them in Amharic and figured out that they were from the same town. She called her mother that night who still lives there and it turns out she knows the family. Small world. To me that was a GOD moment. Only God could have orchestrated that.

The one who had the hardest time with the adoption of the older two girls was our youngest son. Both girls were supposed to be younger than him and it is very likely that both girls are older, thus disrupting his birth order. We didn't want to do that, but as the girls got home and received nutrition, they blossomed and aged. Addis is probably thirteen or fourteen even though her birth certificate says she is ten and Mulu is probably nine or ten even though hers says she is eight. Addis says, "Only Jesus knows how old we are." So Joel has had to deal with frustation and resentment. He's okay now, but it took awhile. We took him on special outings with just him and us as parents. We were conscious of what happened and what went on and proactively helped him deal with it. That is why we are going younger, younger this time. We don't want to disrupt his birth order again.

Here we are with our Chinese students and the host teacher. Our son Joe is not in the picture.


Thanks for asking Charlotte, and if you have any other questions please ask!

Questions

I'll address questions I receive on here to give you an idea of questions people have. I (we) seem to have gone against the "norm" for a very long time so questions don't bother me. There are different reasons people ask questions. I have found that they really are interested in what I'm doing, they're making accusations disguised as questions, or they don't understand and would like to understand where I'm coming from.

When we chucked birth control to the wind we received questions. Most times from Christians when I became pregnant again. Like "Don't you know what causes that?" and "What if God gives you fifteen kids?" Usually I just laugh and blow it off. Those are accusations disguised as questions. Sometimes people come right out and say "Better you than me!" or "I could never do that!"

When we decided to educate at home back in 1988 we went against the flow. Relatives weren't happy with us. Church friends were skeptical of what we were doing. In my ever so humble opinion I was trying to do what was best for my child. He was active, rambunctious, and quite simply-a boy! I didn't want him on Ritalin, which was the popular behavior modification method at that time. He is now a Highway Patrol Officer who protects people like you and me. He chases down criminals, brings out his weapon if he needs to, and has to fill out reports. We didn't do education the way everybody else did it. We did it our way.

Now we're adopting our thirteenth and fourteenth child at fifty and fifty-one years of age. I don't think some people approve of this. Why? What could possibly be the reason that they wouldn't want a child in a family, our family? Children are lifelong commitments, they're needy, they're messy, they want what they want when they want it. They're so worth it. In God's eyes children are a blessing. I believe that. Until I die I will do what I can to show that.


Some questions I've received

Why are we adopting again?

We have the ability to parent two more children. We have room in our home.

Since we're 50 and 51, what if we have rebellious teenagers? How are we going to handle that in our 60's?

I've never lived for What If's. As I have gotten older I have found the more you nurture the better the results. Jesus and His love turn people around in unexpected ways. I am but an extension of Him and I am willing to use my hands and my heart to care for children made in His image.

If you have questions please feel free to ask I'll answer.

We've been approved to adopt again!

We received a phone call on Thursday that we're approved to adopt again! This time we're using America World Adoption. Both Steve and I are older, of course, and they allow older parents to adopt younger children. We're open to either gender ages 0-6.