The green of Colombia I see daily in your eyes...

Luis, my little man, gazing into your eyes of deep green take me back to our wonderful trip to your homeland of Colombia. I'm so lucky I see daily your captivating eyes as they sparkle of green and I can't help but vision the lush green Colombian mountains and hillsides filled with a mistlike haze. What a treasured gem you are! My thanks to God for answering both Rick's and my hearts' desire to bring us another baby. Prayers were certainly answered! Oh, Praise God!

Wow, the time goes by fast~

We've already had the kids over 3 months now. Amazing! And speaking of time, where have the days gone since my last post? Okay the busy life is among us, there's no denying that. I've come to the conclusion that getting 4 children ready and out the door is much harder than I expected. While Rick's been gone my main thing I've tried to accomplish has been rousing all children and readying them for church or gymnastics classes or whatever event we're scheduled to be at. It hasn't come together and we've yet to be on time but only twice for Marissa's testing. I continue to take Rick's kind reminders that it might require a bit more prep time but it seems no matter how early I get up, or how early I get the kids moving, we just haven't yet gotten the routine down. Oh how I long for the day when we are actually early for the church service! That's one thing that I miss when Rick is gone -- more help! In his absence I tend to rely heavily on Marissa's help. She's such a wonderful helper and great big sister! We've also had difficulties because of the close age difference between Fabian and Marissa. They're only one month and 3 days apart with Marissa being the oldest. Fabian (and Karen too) has this desire to be treated equally as his sister which is not entirely fair many times. We still encounter both Karen and Fabian saying, "Hey, he got more than I did!", or "Why can't I do that same thing as Marissa? I'm old enough." We had to explain to Fabian mostly that yes, it was a fact that he was very close in age to Marissa, but we don't set the bar on age alone. Usually these responsibilities are earned over time and it may take some time to prove his worthiness, etc. At time Fabian especially feels duped I'll bet thinking Marissa has an unfair advantage but he's a quick learner and has really been showing me a lot of responsibility lately. We also tell the children there's a tremendous size difference between Marissa and them, and that she's physically much stronger and able to do more strenuous tasks, etc. Most of the issues we've had with both Karen and Fabian are centered around their desire to take care of their little brother, Luis. This wasn't their way of life in Colombia because Luis was with a separate foster mother than the older two were placed with, so we weren't taking something away from them that they once deemed as their way of life in Colombia. There's been instances when I'd leave the room for just one minute to find Karen trying to lift Luis out of his walker. Fabian has been caught picking up Luis when I turn my back also. They're real sneaky about it and will try at every opportunity to mess with their little brother. Luis is pretty good at alerting me of danger when his brother and his sister are messing with him because he screams this screechy little squeal! It's so cute and it's hard to go unnoticed. It's instances such as this that assure me why God selected these children to be ours! He needed an experienced mom to watch over Luis especially. I think back of all the times where I would catch Cody trying to be mean to Marissa because of jealousy issues. (In case you're lost right now, Cody is my almost 16 year old stepson whom we very rarely see but he lives only a mile away with his mother. We pray that Cody will someday make better lifestyle choices and come to know of God's love. We hope for this and just keep praying for both Cody and his mother.)

It's late now and I've got another busy day ahead of me tomorrow. I'll try to be more regular with the posts and with more pictures. I was having trouble figuring out how to charge the batteries on Rick's camera but I've got that handled now. I hope to post some more pictures tomorrow. I know everybody loves to see the pictures! Blessings to you!

Luis, You're Growing Up So Fast

LUIS,

As I sit reminiscing back to when this picture was taken mid-December 2007 during your first non-tantrum-throwing bath experience, it's obvious how much you've grown and changed in just that short timeframe. One thing definitely hasn't changed when it comes to bathtime and we will have to work on making that at least a semi-enjoyable event! It might take time but we'll manage through it.

The sheer determination you so effectively display through the comical but rather serious faces you make at times sure hasn't changed much and now it's often paired with little growling noises often expressed when you dislike something. My little man, you sure have a way about yourself, and I love how you're able to express yourself whether it be good or bad. You are truly your own person and I hope you'll always hold that passionate spirit as you grow and learn to follow the ways of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I can't believe you're already one year old today Luis. Please also forgive me when you're older and realize that I posted your naked bathtime picture all over the web, especially the one depicting such an angry face. Son, so sorry that privacy just didn't work out for you during your early years. Hey, at least you're covered! And just FYI, I'm not paying for any therapy you might think you need from the posting of this picture. Hopefully you'll enjoy a good laugh and realize what a little rascal you were at that age. You make my life so interesting and I'm so proud you are my son!

With all my love,

Mama

The Birthday Boys

Happy Birthday to my two boys who both have birthdays this week! Fabian turned 10 yesterday and Luis Alejandro will celebrate his 1st birthday on Thursday. It's a busy week for us here! Marissa has testing for her school both Tuesday and Wednesday and she's nervous for some reason... probably because she always gets nervous when it comes to testing!

I hope to have some pictures later of our birthday celebrations. This picture is one of my favorites. It was one of the first pictures taken when we landed on U. S. soil during our layover at Atlanta. And by the way, we processed through the Atlanta airport customs/immigration in less than 5 minutes start to finish-- which would have even been sooner (like 3 minutes) but the nice guy working there took one look at poor Marissa who was sick and went to get her a bottle of water to help her through her sick spell. What a thoughtful and considerate man! We were very thankful for his act of kindness. Bless her heart though, she really was so pale and sick feeling when we flew that day, but she made it through -- what a trooper she is -- just as tough as they come!! As we were enduring the long interrogation process from Bogota airport as we were checking out of the airport and getting our passports stamped, I was growing weary that they would not allow us to travel because that was probably when Marissa was at her sickest moment of the day. She couldn't hardly stand up because she was so ill feeling, and she did her best to smile and to answer the questions. It was definitely an interrogation process and rather lengthy! I think they asked each of the kids about 8 different times to reveal their sisters' names, and their brother's names, and point to them, and give their birthdates of their siblings, etc., -- just overdone if you ask me! This lady clearly wasn't in favor of adoption and kept asking why on earth we would want 3 at the same time, and why we would possibly want Colombian children? We were very offended by her rude questions and remarks which she continued to ask over and over as if the answer would change. Just nuts! We just wanted so badly to get home before Christmas so we were extremely tolerant!

I'm so very proud of all of my children! Each brings a special uniqueness of character that enhances our family in such delightful ways! They are little gems and I'm so honored to be their Mama.

Happy Birthday to my little guys!!!! Enjoy your cake, ice cream, the birthday song being sung, and the "muchos regalos" -- MANY PRESENTS (which seems to be the most exciting thing for Fabian and he's not afraid to tell you that's the most important part.) Ahhh, the innocence they possess is just awesome as they venture into new settings! What a whirlwind of a ride we are on! Each day brings forth such wonders -- How glorious indeed! Thank you Lord!!!

Taking on a Whole New Meaning!

To sum it up, yes, our life has taken on a whole new meaning as we've grown through this adoption experience! I won't kid anyone, taking in three children in an instant as we have takes extreme patience and compassion, but it emits the greatest rewards at the same time! We're thrilled to have been matched by God to raise our 3 beautiful new additions alongside our other children.

And so far the kids have made super strides in mastering the english language. I'm still amazed at how much they actually now know. Just since we've been home we've reached another dimension in the learning process as they've turned the tables on me. They now tell me both the english word and the spanish word for different things. See, while we were in Colombia, I frequently would seek opportunities throughout the day to recite the word in english and then also give the spanish word. Actually this was a survival MUST because I was the only one who could effectively communicate with the children for the first few days because Rick and Marissa had a very basic knowledge of spanish going into this. Like I said, the kids now teach me both the spanish word and the english word, which I usually smile and then give them praises. Karen was really cute the other day when she initiated the dual meanings. As she was ooooggling over her pretty pop-tart marked with a design of a Barbie princess butterfly, she saw an opportunity to dazzle me with her brilliance. She said, "Mama, in spanish this is a mariposa, and in english this is LUNESTA!" I just rolled with laughter! I could see exactly what she meant because that darn thing did look just like that Lunesta commercial's butterfly! She is just too funny at times!

That one will probably stick in my mind as much as did one of Marissa's funny sayings when she was just entering kindergarten. Nowadays schools issue lists to the stores which display them for parents to equip their children for the entire school year. It's a page-filled list of specific items however I would advocate heavily for future lists to be issued more timely instead of the week before school starts, but what did I know then. Combat shopping was on in full force and there I was among the chaos of the other eager parents making the mad dash at the same time, the same week, wiping out the school supplies aisles making one-stop shopping virtually impossible! Three stores later and I thought I'd fulfilled all the items on my list. Exhausted as I was I did one last check-through on the list to make sure I'd gotten everything. There I was in the middle of Wal-Mart with a tired little shopper named Marissa, making one last check through the list. Aha, only one item not accounted for -- GYM SHOES! So I turned the buggy heading for the shoes and told her, "Come on, we gotta go get GYM SHOES!" She responded with a pathetic little whine and so innocently said, "But Mama, we don't even know anyone named Jim so why would we buy him any shoes -- after all, I'm the one who needs new shoes!!"

Laughter has and will always pull us through some of the stickiest situations and I'm so glad I am blessed with comical children! And as for Luis, he's got the funniest faces and actions alone that bring on the laughter. I gotta get the video features to work on here so you can see what I mean.

May your life be blessed with laughter too!
Genece

Can you say where you were a month ago? I can!

Here I was one month ago as we sat at Archie's Pizza in Bogota as I scurried through many internet sites trying like crazy to locate and book flights home. We camped out there at Archie's for hours at a time two days while in Bogota because internet service was knocked out from a terrible storm Bogota saw just a few hours before we arrived. In fact internet was not available for the whole time we were there staying at Betty's Place. Her cable provider kept telling her they would be over to fix the problem but they never did during the 4 days we were there. They did report that the lightning struck hard just in front of her place and knocked out a whole grid of servicers. I'm glad we managed to miss that storm because we were actually cleared for travel to Bogota at 1pm on Monday and we really could have caught the night flight out (which our in-country rep was really pushing for us to do). Our in-country rep told us our doctors appointments were on Wednesday so we thought why even bother getting in there sooner and rushing around? Sure glad we took that extra day's time to relax and unwind because in doing so, we were able to bypass that awful storm which paralyzed the whole city of Bogota. Let's put it this way, Betty said she and her workers had never in their whole life seen anything close to a storm like that -- it scared them terribly!

Oh I constantly marvel at how far we've come with the progress we've made in just one month's time so it's fun to reminisce back just one month ago today. Rick just had to take the picture to prove that I was really hiding under the table. Good thing little Luis is such a great sleeper -- he slept right through it. Sometimes it seems the noisier it is, the better he sleeps which works just great for me and my now-noisy house.

And the workers at Archies got a little hoot out of the "loca" under the table. Just after this picture was taken they offered us a table inside -- not sure if it was me under the table or the leaks which began pouring down on our table that got them to act so kindly, but it was gratitude we gladly accepted!

More later as I am off to my weekly prayer chat with my Yahoo girls! (At least that is if the baby stays down for a nap and the other kids don't get too disruptive... )

Genece

WOW, Two Months Ago Was Our Gotcha Day!

Cruising through this day I catch myself daydreaming much as this date marks the two month point since we’ve had the children. At times it is hard to believe that our family became complete just two months ago because the children have adapted to our family so well. Their progress continues to improve daily. The changes they’ve made are amazing and their mastery of the English language is progressing at a rapid rate. Their desire to learn English and learn the ways of our family have helped tremendously in the success of our family dynamics! I see God’s hands at work in so many ways and it absolutely thrills my soul each day as I see my children flourish. I must pause for a hearty thanks to my Father above for helping us along! THANKS!!!

The 3 older kiddos still succumb to sibling rivalry paired with the bickering and tattle-telling which signifies them as normal children, but they are learning to work issues out amongst themselves and without physical force (hopefully they’ve learned their lesson from the one free-for-all, gangbusters fist-fight between the 3 of them while left unattended just long enough for baby brother's diaper change. They all got one of their prized possessions taken away for the entire day and received a stern talk from mami & papi to understand this behavior is not allowed. The point must've been understood because we haven't had any more of those outbursts.

The children are great sleepers and do not suffer from nightmares or such. Clearly Karen is a night owl and Fabian is more of an early-riser, morning type not requiring as much rest. Luis is such a great baby as he can sleep for 10 to 12 hours if the need be. This recently came in handy when I had a whole house full of kids sick with the flu. Luis may wake up with a whimper here or there during the night but he manages to fall right back to sleep. I admit, I do listen for his little late-night whimpers & kicks to his crib throughout the night as they let me know he’s okay so I can rest peacefully.

Fabian would love for you to believe he is this tough guy with no worries, but really he gets scared very easy -- a characteristic his sister takes full advantage of at times. We are trying to work with these two trying to teach Karen not to sneak up on people and mostly to not deliberately set out to scare her brother. She definitely has a sneaky side to her and pair that up with her spunkiness = nothing but trouble! She’s filled with spunk – a spark which really sets her on fire and a driving force which catapults her completely out of control, but we’re so fortunate that she keeps her spunk in check by following her desire to live a princess lifestyle. Anytime she tries new things it is met with such instantaneous tenacity and vigor which thankfully later fizzles just a bit when she reverts back into the comforts of thinking of herself as a princess (a life she would love to lead). Talk about a princess wanna-be, I often think back of when we were in Colombia and we had walked to the store one day. Because we had so many bags to carry back Rick was sorting out the bags for the children to carry. First Fabian (who always tries to carry more than he really should – he is a great worker and loves to help out), then Marissa was given her fair share of grocery bags, then Karen was given a single bag, clearly the lightest one, to which she replied, “No, I don’t carry those! I don’t do that work!” She whined for the next block to our hotel about having to carry the bag mostly to Fabian and from what I could understand from the Spanish she was speaking, she was trying to get him to carry yet another bag – hers!!! I shudder to think of what her future boyfriends/husband might have to endure if we don’t get her under control. So much of this was the cultural differences from there to here as we’ve encountered some of the same things from Fabian who when asked to wash his dishes out after dinner, he replied, “No way, I’m a dude. That’s for the girls to do!” (mostly said in Spanish but with the tone & wording he was using, this might pose as the literal translation). Again, a cultural difference and yet another opportunity to teach to the children and have them understand that we are a complete family and we all pitch in to help others.

The way they’ve progressed in the two months just amazes me. I’ve compiled a list of their favorite things and some of the things they now do or say:

FABIAN

1. He has toned down his loudness. Still can be boisterous and loud but it has went down just a notch.
2. Still struts with such confidence in his stride. Probably more emphasized nowadays than while in Colombia.
3. Loves to dress up for church.
4. Automatically raises his hands in praise during the worship service at church. (The first time he did this was such an awesome sight as he politely nudged his dad out of the way so he could move into the aisleway. We thought he might want to see the band more clearly, but to our surprise he raised his hands to heaven and began swaying back and forth with a gaze upwards as he joined in singing the songs. A very heart-warming experience indeed and definitely a God moment!)
5. Says Amen after the prayers now using the long A sound. He’s very proud to be a US citizen and just in the past 3 weeks has been very sternly saying this at the end of the prayers/blessing, “It’s AMEN (using the long a vowel sound), not AMEN (using the Spanish language sound & pronunciation).” He always follows that with this remark too, “We left the AMEN (using the spanish sound) in COLOMBIA!” So to compromise, when we end our prayers now we are sure to say AMEN, AMEN (using both pronunciations).
6. Loves to help out with strenuous work of any kind. He’s a very good worker and a quick learner with great organizational skills!!! Very much a perfectionist at times.

KAREN

1. Karen definitely loves her baby dolls and attends to them so nicely. She wakes up ready to go into action for her baby dolls. She changes their diapers, dresses them, feeds them, and has them all tucked in for a nap before I call her to the table for breakfast most every day. There are 4 little dolls that she normally attends to and she has great mothering skills. I love to watch her in action.
2. The baby dolls of Karen’s have really helped jumpstart her mornings and we are very proud of her. There’s been a few mornings where she was grumpy and when asked to straighten up she would refuse to, in which case we would take her favorite doll from her for the day. The doll she named Camila is her favorite and she doesn’t like to lose Camila so she usually conforms now and changes the behavior very swiftly. What progress!
3. Karen loves to go to church. She loves dresses and fashion! We’ve butted heads at times because she so strongly disagrees with what I think looks absolutely adorable on her. Looking back, most of the struggles were when she would put on jeans. She probably was not comfortable because she had never worn such thick-textured stiff pants with not much give in them. That’s understandable – jeans are not at all like the tight-fitting polyester blends or light cotton styles of Colombian attire. I’ve gotten to where I don’t offer her a choice when it comes to clothes nowadays. I just set them out for her and tell her to get dressed. This seems to work a lot smoother than giving her options of what to wear. Occasionally I have given her options but I make sure it is between two entire outfits to choose from. Even then she tries to mix and match, or usually she just refuses to wear either. Perhaps we’ll try when she’s a little older to let her define her own style, but for now this works with less hassles!
4. Karen is breaking out of her shell and loves to sing and dance at church. I went to pick her up 2 Sundays ago at kids’ church, and they were watching videos and dancing about. She was easy to spot because she was the most active one with all the moves! “Jesus You’re My SuperHero!” is now her favorite song and she knows all the moves. To hear her sing it is just as cute as it gets because the Spanish accent is still there! Okay now, I just gotta say it again… Thank you so much Jesus for blessing me with these children who desire to freely praise you!
5. She now can say her name better. Before she would say her name is Karen Dayana Hesssty instead of Karen Dayana Hefty. Her teeth are now growing in much more and her pronunciation is more clearly defined with pronouncing the F sound instead of using the S sound.


Those are just a few of the little wonders I’m amazed at as I watch my little Colombian gems sparkle and thrive in their new lives. I’m so privileged to be entrusted to love them, nurture them and teach them the ways. The love comes naturally and clearly sent from above. There’s one more little guy – Luis, my miracle baby – but I’ll focus on his progression in another entry. It’s late and tomorrow is church day – Hallelujah! With Rick gone back to work now, and being alone all the time here nowadays, it really does take so much more out of me to keep the kids rolling along and into a routine. The kids are adjusting to their papi having to go away for long durations for work. They didn’t like it at first but they are now adjusting. Fabian and Karen both cried for the entire trip back home after dropping Rick off at the airport. And poor Fabian looks absolutely pitiful when he bawls because he tries so hard to hide it, but with the out-stretched, oblong-shaped facial strain with huge tears rolling down the cheeks, how could he possibly think he’s hiding anything? Nonetheless, it’s just heartbreaking to witness. Rick calls every night, and sometimes more times throughout the day, and the kids long for his nightly phone calls even if it is practically the same exact conversation each day. They miss their daddy and I miss my husband. I keep sending up selfish prayers that God send an opportunity along that would make it possible for Rick to work locally and not have to work away from his family. Then I say how thankful I am that Rick has a job and is able to work, and how blessed we are to have food on our table and will now be able to catch up the mortgage, etc., but then that whole aspect of our lives is worthy of an entire entry alone, so I’ll keep it simple when I say that Our God is ever-so faithful and He gives faithfully to those who call upon Him. Even though I’ve had to beg, and at times even thrown little temper tantrums, God’s heard my needs and faithfully acted upon most of my requests. All glory be to God! Hallelujah in the highest! We know God has great things in store for us. He continues to strengthen not only our faith in Him, but also expands our testimony which will one day provide such enlightenment to others!

Thank you for looking in on our family. May God grant peace and blessings upon you as you go about your day! Much love, Genece