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Saturday, March 31, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Chloe Marie Williams
Our new Little Girl. And she is little. We have been planning to adopt since February of 2004. God was leading us to the right time and the perfect daughter for our family.
I first held Cloe on March 7 and Ryan saw her on March 11 (my birthday). When we visited March 11, Chloe was sick with pneumonia so we couldn’t spend time with her; she had an IV and a feeding tube. New Life Home where she lived has very good nursing care, so she could stay right there to receive treatment. Doctors see the babies every day.
I’m writing this history as much to share with everybody as to save for Chloe to have one day.
My first thoughts of Chloe on the 7th where about her personality. She had energy and she was trying to engage me in her world. She made eye contact constantly and when she did look away it was because her fingers where outstretched and wiggling. They would come into view and she had to watch her fingers. Then they would pass from view and she would find me with her eyes again. Big Smiles. I came home and told Ryan, Chloe has a beautiful fun personality.
When we visited together on the 11th we couldn’t hold her, she was in a special basinet with O2 on plus the IV and feeding tube, she was sleeping peacefully. Ryan right away picked her out as his favorite. He thought she was beautiful. He wanted to spend time with her when she was feeling better.
I visited a few times during the week as she got better. Than on March 17 both Ryan and I visited. We looked at her a lot. On March 18, we took Caleb with us. He had so many questions during the week about adoption and babies. It was time. He was so excited to see all the babies. Ryan gave him a tour of all the different rooms, age groups, where they sleep, where they eat, where they play, take baths etc. Answered all of Caleb’s questions. We held other babies for Caleb to see, he didn’t want to leave. He just soaked it all in with a big smile. Just before we left, Ryan was hovering over Chloe again so I asked the nurse if Ryan could hold her just near the basinet. So he did. He tenderly picked her up and didn’t want to put her down. Caleb liked her the best, he said. I asked why, what was special about her. He looked at her again and then turned to me, ‘her hair, I like her hair’. She has a head full of thick, soft curly hair. I think if I put some special hair stuff in it, it will relax into ringlets.
On March 20, we met with the social worker and head nurse. They told us all they knew about Chloe. Her birthday is estimated to be October 1, 2006. She probably was a preemie. She was in the hospital with pneumonia. On December 29, 2006, she was transferred to New Life Home. Than we started seeing her and she had pneumonia again.
She weighs 3 kg with is about 7 lbs. She had lost with the latest illness but is taking her bottle well again. I asked the nurses to describe her personialty. One said independent. Another said observant. She doesn’t cry. She likes to watch what is going on the room around her. She was starting to feel a little better; we both were able to hold her. Ryan didn’t want to leave for work. I got her to laugh.
March 21, big brother Levi got to see her with me. He had a grin from ear to ear the whole time we held her. He was very interested in all the babies in the room, lots of questions about equipment etc. But it was Chloe he got to smile. He asked to hold her but can’t until we get her home. I sat her up on my lap and he caressed her cheek. She gave him the biggest smile.
That night Ryan got home late from work, nothing unusual. He asked Levi all about his visit over and over again. Than at 9:30pm as we were talking, he couldn’t hold it in any more. He said the reason he was late wasn’t because he stayed late at work. He left on time and sped all the way to New Life Home to hold Chloe. The home closes at 600pm. He got there at 530 and stayed til 615. He held her, gave her the bottle, played with her until she was giggling as only daddies can play with babies. And almost had her sleeping on his chest.
My two pics don’t do her justice, more will be following.
I can’t open blogger comments, for some unknown reason. Please comment to me through email. Thanks!
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Long Overdue Update!
Where to begin. I am so overdue to blog. Everytime you see (name) that’s who interrupted me while trying to write this! I am babysitting Lowen and Teaghan today.
Seth is 20 months and a putz and a half. He still thinks walking is optional and crawling is desirable. Two short termers, John and Jeremy had been eating dinner (LEVI) with us frequently (LOWEN). Every night when Ryan came home from work with the J’s, Seth started walking for the first time all day. He would take 20 steps in triangles (Caleb) from one guy to the other. Since they left the end of February, he quit. He walks for Ryan occasionally but that’s it. Every afternoon after naps, I take him for a long walk around the compound. He grabs my first finger and walks beside me, steering me in the direction he wishes to go. Happy as a clam. What a stinker.
(So I yelled at all the kids to GO OUTSIDE)
Levi’s vocabulary is amazing. All my kids can talk. A lot, and very articulate. Even Seth can jabber whole conversations with hand motions. Levi is independent in playing. He can go outside, find a friend, and be gone for hours. One neighbor boy, Isaac, has invited him over for dinner twice this week. He came home talking about ice cream. He rides (yell out the window at Levi to stop bossing Lowen) his bike with training wheels all the time. Stops on a dime, steers around obstacles. Etc. I think he is outgrowing his daily naps because him and Caleb talk way too loud and long after they are tucked in bed.
Caleb has only 7 weeks of school left. He whizzes through the history and science read-a-louds. We take math a bit slower to make sure he gets it, and to way lay frustration. (long break to supervise screaming). We are taking a break on reading and working just on new letters. He is not ready for putting sounds together and I am tired of pushing it. My instinct is saying, he’ll get it a lot quicker if I let him mature a little. He’s been building elaborate forts in the attic with his friends. He still skips rather than walks and bounces instead of runs. Compound living makes it easy for him to expend that energy.
Ryan and I are doing great. A friend gave us some money recently and we (actually I) decided to do something useful with it instead of putting it in the general fund. We got cheap round trip tickets to MOMBASA!!! So March 20-23 we are on the beach without the kids. Wanza is moving in for the weekend. So easy cause she knows the routines and where everything is. I just need to have a few meals ready for her. Friends from church who are missionaries have recently retired on the coast. They have a two story (knock on the door)(put the play dough stuff outside on the picnic table) house on the beach. They live in the upstairs and the downstairs is a self-contained apartment. Just for people to come and stay. For less than $30 a night. They have a pool.
We are taking a cab from the airport and stopping at a grocery store on the way. We are going to find out what it was like to cook for just two. We are going to eat dinner with out asking Caleb not to interrupt, telling Levi (Seth found me) to take a bite, scolding Seth to sit down in his high chair. We might talk over dinner, we might just enjoy the silence. We are going for long walks on the beach without looking at every hermit crab. We are going to fall asleep by the pool with out worrying about a kid drowning. We are going snorkeling a lot. We are going to miss the kids, eventually! (took picture of kids playing play dough.)
Tomorrow several of my friends are taking me out for lunch for my birthday. I picked an Italian restaurant that has a nice dining area outside. They also make pizzas in an oven heated with firewood, forget what that is called. But so good.
I think this gives you an idea of my lack of blogging recently. I used to take my computer to a restaurant to blog every Wednesday but than I felt to busy. But my Internet at the house refuses to blog so I send my stuff to my dear Sister Diane who than posts it. But just writing stuff coherently is difficult with the interruptions. I don’t even know how to rewrite the first sentence in the paragraph. Have a good day!
Seth is 20 months and a putz and a half. He still thinks walking is optional and crawling is desirable. Two short termers, John and Jeremy had been eating dinner (LEVI) with us frequently (LOWEN). Every night when Ryan came home from work with the J’s, Seth started walking for the first time all day. He would take 20 steps in triangles (Caleb) from one guy to the other. Since they left the end of February, he quit. He walks for Ryan occasionally but that’s it. Every afternoon after naps, I take him for a long walk around the compound. He grabs my first finger and walks beside me, steering me in the direction he wishes to go. Happy as a clam. What a stinker.
(So I yelled at all the kids to GO OUTSIDE)
Levi’s vocabulary is amazing. All my kids can talk. A lot, and very articulate. Even Seth can jabber whole conversations with hand motions. Levi is independent in playing. He can go outside, find a friend, and be gone for hours. One neighbor boy, Isaac, has invited him over for dinner twice this week. He came home talking about ice cream. He rides (yell out the window at Levi to stop bossing Lowen) his bike with training wheels all the time. Stops on a dime, steers around obstacles. Etc. I think he is outgrowing his daily naps because him and Caleb talk way too loud and long after they are tucked in bed.
Caleb has only 7 weeks of school left. He whizzes through the history and science read-a-louds. We take math a bit slower to make sure he gets it, and to way lay frustration. (long break to supervise screaming). We are taking a break on reading and working just on new letters. He is not ready for putting sounds together and I am tired of pushing it. My instinct is saying, he’ll get it a lot quicker if I let him mature a little. He’s been building elaborate forts in the attic with his friends. He still skips rather than walks and bounces instead of runs. Compound living makes it easy for him to expend that energy.
Ryan and I are doing great. A friend gave us some money recently and we (actually I) decided to do something useful with it instead of putting it in the general fund. We got cheap round trip tickets to MOMBASA!!! So March 20-23 we are on the beach without the kids. Wanza is moving in for the weekend. So easy cause she knows the routines and where everything is. I just need to have a few meals ready for her. Friends from church who are missionaries have recently retired on the coast. They have a two story (knock on the door)(put the play dough stuff outside on the picnic table) house on the beach. They live in the upstairs and the downstairs is a self-contained apartment. Just for people to come and stay. For less than $30 a night. They have a pool.
We are taking a cab from the airport and stopping at a grocery store on the way. We are going to find out what it was like to cook for just two. We are going to eat dinner with out asking Caleb not to interrupt, telling Levi (Seth found me) to take a bite, scolding Seth to sit down in his high chair. We might talk over dinner, we might just enjoy the silence. We are going for long walks on the beach without looking at every hermit crab. We are going to fall asleep by the pool with out worrying about a kid drowning. We are going snorkeling a lot. We are going to miss the kids, eventually! (took picture of kids playing play dough.)
Tomorrow several of my friends are taking me out for lunch for my birthday. I picked an Italian restaurant that has a nice dining area outside. They also make pizzas in an oven heated with firewood, forget what that is called. But so good.
I think this gives you an idea of my lack of blogging recently. I used to take my computer to a restaurant to blog every Wednesday but than I felt to busy. But my Internet at the house refuses to blog so I send my stuff to my dear Sister Diane who than posts it. But just writing stuff coherently is difficult with the interruptions. I don’t even know how to rewrite the first sentence in the paragraph. Have a good day!
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