They're Home!

Teddy and Blessing are home! They came home yesterday.

Blessing is very happy and smiley. She fits in really well. I think she is particularly suited to a large family. There is always someone to play with her, hug her, or walk her around. She laps it up :) Kari has been helping her walk. It is really nice. She is not really like a baby learning to walk; she is like a very weak person who knows how to walk, but needs someone to help them because not everything is working right. Like she could almost walk, but there are parts of her muscles that are just not co-operating all at the right times to make it work. Anyhow, they're happy.
Teddy is more reserved; there is a definate language barrier. We are not sure if all of his speech is English or not, apparently he is from the Gio tribe, and also speaks their language. He seems to understand us much better than we can understand him, though, and when he really wants to be heard, he seems to be able to make it work.
He is fairly reserved. He is also a very gentile, kind person. He is really good with the little ones, and watches out for them. He seems to be enjoying all the attention as well, he always seems to have at least one of the other kids with him, showing him things and playing with him.
Yesterday was sort of like Christmas; the kids ran all over the house showing Teddy and Blessing all of the toys, taking them all out and playing with everything for at least three minutes! I cleaned that morning, and by the time the doctor came, the house was turned upside down! The mess seems to have receeded some now.
Teddy seems to know what he is doing with a soccer ball, which he found in our yard. He was very happy about that find. I am wondering if I could find a soccer team or something for him to join. He also learned to ride a tricycle yesterday; I don't think he had ever done it before, as he seemed to be having difficulty figuring out how to pedal. He really likes the tricycle, too.
He does not seem to be very familiar with salt; perhaps he is used to having his food pre-salted? He has yet to try butter, too! Anyhow, yesterday he took the skin off his sweet potato and ate it plain. I offered him salt and butter, but he shook his head no. I guess maybe he is used to eating them that way.

The doctor came by; He said that Teddy is in very good health, considering what he has come out of. Our doctor is from South Africa, which is a real blessing, as he is familiar with all of the standard African problems; he is treating them for scabies, worms and giardia, and not making us do a million tests to prove it. He was certain Teddy has worms, and said that he has had scabies (he looked at his hand under a magnifying glass), but thinks the treatment he sent to Africa knocked them back. He says to treat again in a week.
The orphanage seems to have taken good care of him.

He thinks some of Blessing's trouble with weight gain is probably due to worms; much less serious than we had feared! So, when she is over the chicken pox, he has perscribed some medicine for that for her, too. As far as we can tell, while we were told she was retarded, we do not belive that this was an accurate diagnosis. She seems quite bright. We are fairly certain that she has some CP, though. Perhaps this is why they thought she was retarted. Sometimes when she is tired she gets a little spacy, but we think this is due to exhaustion. She seems to be looking out of her bad eye sometimes, but we have not patched the good one to see if she can see out of the bad one because of the chicken pox.

All in all, things are going well, and everyone is happy. :)

Hopefully Lily and Doug will settle on new first names soon! They plan to keep Blessing and Teddy as middle names.

Well, I guess I'd better go now - I need to go to storage to find Teddy some clothes - all the ones we bought were too big!

They're in America!!!

I know it has been awhile since we blogged; another lady we heard about lost her referal from Ethiopia because they were offended by her blog, so we decided to lay low.
But now, that is no longer neccisary!
Blessing and Teddy are in America, with U.S. passports!
The passport office even decided to issue them in the names of Blessing Bradley and Teddy Bradley!
They're official!!!
They should be flying home Sunday night, arriving in Dublin Monday morning.
Now I just need to contact Golden Rule travel and see if they can change the names on the tickets...if not, they will just have to show them the Liberian passports, the adoption decrees (on which the new last names appear), and the U.S. passports.

Please pray for Blessing, she is very, very thin. Dangerously thin. We *do not* believe that it is that the orphange was not feeding her; all the other babies she was with were fatter than she was, and the nannies really liked her, in fact, she was rather a favorite so far as we can tell so it was not for that reason (she smiles a lot, and is a very rewarding baby) . We think she may be having difficulty properly digesting her food or something like that, in medical terms they would probably refer to it as "failure to thrive". Her mother also said that she was always a tiny baby, and floppy. Please pray that she makes it home safe and sound, and that we can figure out what to do from there.

The poor little girl also has some sort of an abcess on her leg, which my parents are treating with neosporin for the moment, and seeing if that helps.

On the upside, my mother took her mostly-empty bottle from her to change her diaper, and she said "I'm a baby" (aka, I am a baby, so you should give me the bottle) and she also says Ma-Ma. We had been told that she did not talk! Such things can be harder to discipher in a group setting, so we had wondered if this could be the case.

Teddy does not fit any of the clothes we bought for him, except his fleece one-piece pajamas. I think they are going to try wal-mart today. Things seem to be going well with him, though he has had some tummy troubles.

Hopefully we will post soon with pictures.

Underwear

Hi everyone!
I have news. My mother has made her first purchases for the new children. She has bought a dress/angel costume for Blessing, and boxer shorts for Teddy.
We laughed that the first thing she bought for Teddy was undies. But, when you think about it, if you do not have the privilege of owning your very own, used by no-one but you knickers, it can be pretty precious to have some. :)
Next she's planning on getting them both some pajamas.
This is a big step, as in general my mom does not buy anything for an expected child until they are nearly due home, and saves most purchases until the child is home.
I took a picture, but I don't seem to be able to find the USB cable! Oh, well, it'll turn up soon.
Susan

we're still alive...

Hi all,
It's been forever since we have posted. There's not much happening on the adoption front - we keep waiting, and the paperwork never seems to end...It is truely amazing how much grief can be caused by paperwork!!!
Check this, check that, notarize this, go here, go there, talk with so-and-so. Re-do, re-send, update...
Anyhow, aside from the paperwork we celebrated Christmas :)
We have a tradition we started a few years ago of celebrating Christmas all the way from Christmas Eve through Epiphany (January 6, the day the coming of the wise men is celebrated). We Celebrate a traditional western Christmas day, but we do not give the children all of their presents on Christmas day. We save some smaller ones, and every evening we sing Christmas carols, read a Christmas story, and give the children a small gift (sometimes a craft or project for everyone, and sometimes a few small things, like Christmas crackers - a thing two people pull, which makes a "bang" sound, and contains a paper crown, a joke and a small toy- more or less of the kind you would get in one of those plastic easter eggs).
We try to save a few of the better things for Epiphany, and have a sort of a miniature Christmas. The kids love it, and it makes Christmas less stressful, as all our hopes are not just pinned on one day.
We started it because in the Bible, the Hebrews used to celebrate some holidays for a week or more, and Christmas always seemed so short...so, why not stretch it out and really enjoy it?
The children love it, and now they don't fully realize that everyone else is not still celebrating Christmas nearly two weeks afterwards :)
I found out this year that in Germany, St. Nicolas brings things for the stockings on December 6th, so I suggested moving the stockings...that's still up for debate :)
God Bless and Merry Christmas,
Susan

Visa delays

I'm afraid that there have been delays in the visas, so the children will not be home for Christmas.

This is very sad for Lily, as she has really hoped to get her children home for Christmas. She said that all she wanted for Christmas was her kids. Please pray for her, as this is very stressful for her especially.

The U.S. consulate in Liberia has restricted all agencies to 2 appointments per week. Each family needs 2 appointments, so that means that only one family per week could bring home children. In addition to this, all embassies take both U.S. holidays, and the holidays of the country that they are in - so this took further time away from visas in Liberia this month.

Hopefully the situation will improve soon - we are waiting to see. There is supposed to be help coming to the consul in December, so we hope that maybe that will speed things up.

Hopefully soon things will get moving again. We are waiting on a homestudy update as well, as we moved rental houses within Tipperary (we hope this will be in the next couple of weeks). Patty Anglin, the director of AOH will be doing our update.

Please pray for us that the children will get to come home soon.

Here are some pictures that I don't think we have posted.

Love,

Susan

Under His Wings

After much trouble adopting and having to fly to London because my fingerprints were not bold enough and flying to Liberia before the adoption was finalized in Liberia (required) and many delays it has been very hard. There is a scripture verse that has been helping me to get through this stressful ordeal. I have managed to memorize the first half which is 8 our of 16 verses from the NIV. It is Psalm 91. Here it goes from memory and the remaining 8 verses I will do when they are thoroughly memorized.
1. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
3. Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.
4. He will cover you in his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6. nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

Attractive Liberia

This is Lily.
When we were in Liberia we witnessed tremendous commitment to the calling that the Lord gave the workers for the children. In this war torn nation, urgent needs are a daily event. I don't feel free to speak directly about much of it, but the struggle to survive is out in the open. Watching the comings and goings, I was drawn to it. It was hard to leave, but not right for us at that time to stay. We are where we are supposed to be at the moment in Tipperary, Ireland.
Part of the attraction to Liberia is that it is easy to imagine a useful and clear-cut urgent purpose in work. In part, it is absorption of the purpose we have been given by God to fulfill on a daily basis that allows us to forget ourselves. Yet, it is not simply in activity alone, just complete involvement in each moment of life.
Once I had a dream that I was walking in nature with Jesus. I asked Him how it was that He was able to spare the time to be with me. He said that many people are busy doing for, but not being with Him. There I was, a nobody, all alone with the King of Kings!
Yet, it does not mean that we should read His word, pray, and then fail to do anything. Yes, we need time alone with Him, but we also need to do all that we are given as we listen to the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit within us. It's more like we are singing in harmony with our Savior. I can still do this even in Ireland, where the people are more comfortable and it is harder to reach out. I cannot afford to fail to listen to Him and walk in His love, even for a split second, for there is no love without Him, just darkness.
A man that Doug and I both like naturally, but who is a self-proclaimed atheist, wanted to know why we would adopt children when we can't solve all the problems of the world. Doug said something like he wants to save the two he can save. (Children without parents and handicapped do not have much hope for survival in Liberia.)
For as long as I can remember, I wanted to adopt children and imagined a big white house filled with children, most of whom were unwanted generally. It was a childhood dream and may never come true, but we have a start. Then I think to myself, how can I be good for this or much of anything and the verse comes to me about the one who loses his life only to get it back. “--and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:38-39

When I've been called to speak or sing before a group, if I start to allow vanity to take over and get too concerned about what somebody thinks of me rather than the purpose God has given me, it seems a lot like what happened to Peter, when he started to sink trying to walk on water.
Good performance in anything comes not from the outside in, but from the inside out. The wind is a distraction, and those of us who are weak, need to reach out like Peter did in Matthew 14 when he cried out, "Lord, save me!" It goes on to read: '--Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.' Well, that’s something to think about. To go from day to day being a good Christian seems pretty challenging, but to go daily with the attitude of living each moment hand-in-hand with Jesus is uplifting. To give, in love, whatever we have to offer and allow it to flow out with the only concern being to please our creator is how we can lose ourselves.
It won't always keep a person from doing poorly or from being unfairly received, but at least we may perform our purpose in a more loving, precise, and focused manner with sincerity and a good conscience. Lily