Category Archives: Day in the Life SOOO…we were snowed/iced in for yet ANOTHER day on Friday!!! SO–the kids missed 5 days last week and it JUST SO HAPPENS Monday is a holiday (MLK Day!) SOO…we are hope AGAIN! Being stuck at home last week without being able to leave and drive…we had get creative. By Friday I was out of paint […] Today marked a very BIG miracle in our house today…and I am overjoyed with excitement and thanksgiving!!! We have been praying our little guy would walk (he has hypotonia so we were guessing it’d be closer to two–and weekly we do physical therapy)…and HONESTLY–we have seen the MOST gains since getting our dog Rosie as […] The boy is a miracle… a walking, amazing, precious miracle. Praising God!! Go go go!! God has great things for Isaac!! I have tears in my eyes 🙂 Such a beautiful miracle little Isaac is! He just looks so squeezable!!! Blessings~ And he’s off! Way to go Isaac (and mom)! Oh, what a reason to be home!!! God knew what He was doing snowing you all in!!! 🙂 What a happy and exciting day for you to see the Lord working in your little one…! Just precious! PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT IS AWESOME!!! PRAISE GOD!!!! Crying, crying, crying and rejoicing with you! oh my goodness! so many tears for you tonight! What a great great God we have! Go Isaac Go!!!! tears of joy!!!!! praising an all mighty God tonight for the progress he has made. Way to go Issac!!! Your picture hangs on our bulletin board in our kitchen and everyday when I see your face I am reminded of God’s love and mercy! Tonight as Fisher (our three yr old) was sitting at the table, he pointed to your picture and said our baby will have skin like Isaac! (: You have made an impact on our little family and so many others! Cannot wait until our daughter can meet you one day! (: Beautifully amazing. His smile lights up the room and the look of joy on his face is priceless! Rejoicing with you! yayyyy isaac!!! this just made my day!!! What a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing it. Wow…what a beautiful, beautiful thing! Love it! Oh, praise God! Truly amazing! Wow!!!!! That is awesome! And this is about the time both mine started walking and they didn’t even have an excuse for not walking before then. Bless his heart! Precious boy! And I know I’m a dork, but I was really excited to see Ann Reid too! 🙂 Although, we already knew she could walk. Excited for all ya’llsss!!! Thank you, God!!! What a miracle we all get to witness! You know we have all been praying for this day!!! Rejoicing with you today!! We serve a God of miracles! This brings HIM so much glory! Thanks for sharing each step of the journey! Really looking forward to meeting you at the retreat in just a few weeks. what a true testament of who God really is! absolutely amazing! i loved hearing everyone squeal as he took each step! and so excited to see that you had a new post up and that it was of Issac walking…a whole MONTH before you were hoping he would walk! GOD IS GOOD! You have me in tears…as usual! SO proud of your sweet boy =) YES YES YES!!! Go ITY!! hugs! Andrea – no words. That is the work of God right there in front of you; Isaac has been touched by Jesus. So beautiful, what a wonderful and powerful day for all of you. Celebrating the victory and sending you Big Hugs!! Oh my goodness, that just made me CRY!!! Tears of joy for ya’ll and sweet Isaac! Praise God!!! I can just never tire of reading miracle stories that God is doing through little Mr. Isaac! BTW…the only time I was “holding my breath” for you was when you got a dog…LOL! So happy to read how well that is going and what a blessing he is to your family! 🙂 YEAH!!! Rejoicing with you!!!! What a testimony that little guys is going to have!!! Hugs to you!!! what precious first steps to see! can’t wait to see you running to mama, isaac!! Praise God!!! We are so thankful for little Isaac and all the joy he brings. Andrea, he could be RUNNING by the 15th of FEB.!!! Way to go Isaac..Never give up!!! Praising God with you for this beautiful miracle. Can’t wait to meet you at the retreat! GO, ISAAC!!! YAY, GOD!!! 😀 Oh! Praise God!!! He is so faithful! 🙂 How wonderful!!! Oh wow. Tears flooooowing this morning; this is just what I needed to see and read this day. Thank you for showing us what God is doing in the life of your family. God has put together a beautiful creation: the Young family! Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord!!!! The works of God are GREAT 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing God is so good. ALL the time. Isaac is so beautiful, and definitely healthy!!! Love his little rolls. I love that everyone wants to be so close to him and love on him all the time. =) Truly precious. All that ‘waiting’ seems like a distant memory huh? 😉 ♥ Brings tears to my eyes! God is so good! Rejoicing with your family! SO overjoyed with how far that precious little cutie has came. I just had to share that I now have to go in & re-do my makeup now that it’s all running down my face after watching the coming home video again. 🙂 Not that I’m complaining… I love how God is using your family to touch so many lives. YOU ARE A BLESSING TO SO MANY! SO SO happy for you guys!!! I am speechless and in tears reading this. Isaac is a miracle and our God is so, so good! Oh what a perfect way to start my day!! Loved watching Isaac do his stuff! Love watching God do His stuff!!! He is so good and perfect! Wishing I could hug ya in person at the retreat…maybe next year!:)Stay warm! wwoohooo! Praise God! Tears of joy! Praising God for his goodness! Can’t wait to meet you next month at the retreat. with tears in my eyes, I am rejoicing with you. what a precious gift! Way to go ITY! Praise the Lord! Oh girl…don’t you know he’s going to be RUNNING before long! Good luck w/that! AAGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh the Joy. What a day, God is so good. This is too much!!! I love it!!! I remember seeing him a few weeks after you brought him home at the AGCI picnic. How many questions you still had, but how hopeful you were. Your little ITY has been showered with prayer and God is good and faithful!! YEAH!!! So EXCITED for you all!!!! Oooooooooooooooooh I’m praising God with you!!!!! HOW AMAZING! Am dying to read that first story you linked to and it’s coming up as unavailable! Amazing, way to go Isaac!!! I am sitting here in tears at work feeling such joy! God is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good! I’m thrilled for all of you! What a beautiful picture of God’s Kingdome on earth! This is so incredible, Andrea!!!!!! Yay! This child is such a living testimony of God’s GLORY! We are praying for him to continue to wow everyone with his miraculous healing!!! (Acts 3:16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man (boy) whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.) Way to go ITY! Such wonderful news Andrea. Feeling blessed that you are one of the many amazing families we’ve met on this wonderful adoption journey! Uh oh…now that he’s mobile…let the house destruction begin. 🙂 YAYAYAYAY! So excited for you, sitting here with tears in my eyes. How beautiful! What an amazing moment and what a sweet boy. So glad to rejoice with you! And oh, that Frank picture in your header makes me LOL EVERY time it pops up! LOVE it! woo hoo!! tears in my eyes. i’ve been away from blogland for awhile so i’m catching up. this has to be my favorite post!!! what a joyous celebration of god’s faithfulness and of grace he has given to work hard. i loved how the kids (and rosie) were right in there celebrating too. i love getting to celebrate with you from afar.  Sooo…tomorrow is Thursday–and school was cancelled AGAIN tomorrow because of the winter storm! It snowed about 7 inches at our house on Sunday night–but it’s not the snow that’s keeping everyone stuck at home but the ice on the road. SOOO…tomorrow makes 5 days we have been stuck at home! School is cancelled for the […] Stir crazy, huh? If you’re REALLY bored….I got my camera for Christmas (decided on a Nikon)…but I still am pretty clueless as far as what I’m doing with it. You could always whip up some begginners lessons on photography for us newbies =) It is hard to imagine ALL that snow across the South! Seeing Isaac walking with Frank almost makes me want to cry!!! What a miracle 🙂 As much as I sympathize with your cabin fever, I am JEALOUS of all that snow. Our only version of being snowed in is during August when it’s 115 here and you can’t open the doors! You just tell the weatherman there this snow better clear up by February 4!! Your family is so cute! The pic of Frank in the jacket and boots is priceless! I agree with Kim, def. a pic to keep for later. I also like reading the part about being reminded about God’s goodness as you follow Him in the unknowns…my family is kindof getting there and it’s a little scary. Your writing makes it not so scary! Oh, Zambia! I would love to see that. Three years ago, at the optimistic beginning of our meandering maze of an adoption journey, we were so excited to see a Zambia program start in our province. It was “meant to be”, or so we thought. With friends who do children’s work in the country, and a World Vision sponsor child there (who we hoped to visit when we travelled for our adoption), and knowing that it was a new program with no “line-ups”, where adopting a child really meant making a difference…it just felt right. Within 9 months (when we thought we would at least have a referral, if not be travelling to or from Zambia), the program was essentially discontinued due to mandatory instatement of a 3-month residency period and lack of other processes being in place. I still feel a bit sad that we were not able to follow that dream, but will certainly follow anyone else’s Zambia adoption story with great interest and support! Oh Frank!! I laughed out loud when I saw him in the pink coat! 4 days in a row stuck at home…oh my, that is tough! We would be totally stir crazy too! 🙂 That picture of Frank really is priceless. My 2yr old has those same rain boots and also often likes to where his sister’s clothes – mostly her tuttu, plastic dress-up high heels, and her cheerleading costume. I always am sure to take a picture. 🙂 That pic of Frank in the pink coat and no pants made me laugh out loud. I love it! And the video of your littles brought tears to my eyes. I love sibling love. So precious!!!! Oh Frankie Baby….you are beyond the cutest thing ever. I just want to eat that kid up! The kids have been out of school all week because of snow…SOOOO…we have had plenty of time for lots of THIS…(yes–on snow days we take our wheel-barrow apart…that’s how country folks do it:) AND THEN…when the kids get bored—Mommy and Daddy have taken over. NOW, I realize some of you might not know my “not […] Hilarious! And looks soooooo fun! So fun! I always hated that climb back up the hill with all that snow gear on! You had me laughing out loud (and I’m at work). Wishing I had some snow to play in but I don’t think it’s in the forcast for Orlando. Thanks for sharing. ok, I am cracking up over here. My favorite BY FAR is the plastic tub.. FOR SURE! 🙂 Classic craziness.. love it!!!!!! 🙂 enjoy that snow! Okay, this had me giggling. Yikealo (my 4 year old little Ethiopian who LOVES the snow) came in to see why I was laughing. He started watching with me and then looked up at me with a slightly confused look and said, “She’s not very good, is she? Mom, is she practicing?” So cute, and it looks like you’re all enjoying your “unusual” southern weather! Thanks for sharing! oh you just made me smile so big while watching you sled and well attempt to snow surf and sled in a bucket…oh you crack me up…you seem to be of young heart and spirit like my husband and I! I could totally see us out there doing that too! So fun! Love it! 🙂 I have enjoyed watching the videos & got quite a few laughs. oh you had me laughing so hard i was crying! my husband ran to see what was the matter! haha! you are absolutely hilarious…i would love to meet you one day! 🙂 Andrea, I agree with the others who mentioned their favorite scenes involved the orange tub! Gotta love those efforts the most! Happy Snow Days! Glad y’all are making the most of the time at home together… SO MUCH FUN!!! Loved watching this! Love this post! I was laughing out loud – thanks! Need me to bring ya’all a sled and a shovel?! Wow…please get rid of that stuff before the retreat! 🙂 Jenny Ya’ll are so cute and fun!! So wish we had gotten a good SNOW like that!!! LOL!!! LOVE IT! Thanks for the laugh. Your family is too cute. HAHAHAHAHA. You totally made me laugh with the orange bucket!  I’ve been missing in action working like a busy-momma-bee getting ready for the RETREAT which is JUST a few weeks away. The Lord CONTINUES to provide for this retreat in MIRACULOUS ways–and I truly believe He wants to do something big through it! I have some REALLY, super big exciting things happening behind the scenes–and […] I am SO excited about the retreat! 🙂 Also, busted out laughing at y’all’s husbands wearing the shirts! So funny! Maybe Santa will bring our 6 kiddos a puppy this christmas..they are already begging for it…and I can’t stand…i mean I do really love dogs too much 🙂 I like other people’s dogs…just don’t want one of my own 🙂 Looks like lots o fun at your pad these days, kj Love your little man and his new best friend. Looks like the perfect dog now resides at your house. Happy snow day! Mel So excited that we have no school tomorrow too! YAY!! I’ve got to order my shirt too…can’t wait for the retreat!!! Oh our kids are begging for a dog! Daddy says, “Let’s wait til we get back to the States.” But something tells me they will wear him down sooner! So excited about the conference! Thank you for all that you are doing! Loved seeing IT with Rosie! Happy Snow Day! We were out, too! We had so much fun! Looove that new header picture of Frank. Gave this momma a good laugh right when I needed it. What a precious boy! Oh my gosh! I love seeing our boys together! So glad you could celebrate Ethiopian Christmas with us! Cliffy G hearts Issac!! LOVE your fun ETH Christmas time 🙂 he he he I LOVE the effect that pets can have on kids- especially hurting and hard to deal with children. Seriously a GREAT asset to have 🙂 so jealous of little rosie, and here I was one of the ones telling you that you were CRAZY for even considering it. 🙂 We got “Sammy” (boxer/lab mix) at only 8wks and let me just say.. he whines, barks, whines (until he gets his way), BITES (hard, too!), pee’s, poops… um, yeah.. let the FUN begin. Add 5 little girls, which one who refuses to allow us to even “try” to discipline w/ a firm “no”, and well.. you can SEE why I told you to run like the wind, woody! 🙂 I’m seriously SO happy that Rosie fits in so perfectly with your clan… def. a gift from God, because sister.. I’m on the other side & if little Sammy wasn’t so stinkin’ cute, he’d be outta here faster than little Frankie baby can pound away a donut. hahahaha |
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by admin
I’m excited to hear some of the good stuff at the retreat about attachment. We definitely need to get reading on it.
I followed the discussion on th listserv last week about how to tell people that you will be initially parenting the adopted child a little differnently and I am already dreading trying to explain it. The problem is, the people who will have the hardest time understanding are the closest to us, parents, grandparents. I know they’ll think we’re just being nuts! But I suppose it’s better to hurt their feelings than overwhelm our child with a bunch of strangers.
my husband and I are EARLY in the process of considering adoption (well, beyond considering, but not quite starting) … as I’ve been reading several books, I haven’t found a lot of specific information about attachment. Just that it’s something REALLY important to be educated about. So … thanks for the timely post and great resources in this area!
Hi Andrea,
This is a great post! I am coming to the retreat and wondered if you could give us ladies any advice on how to help our children while their mommies are gone for a few days. This will be the first time that I leave our adopted daughter (we’ve been home almost 9 months) and I’m a little worried about it attachment wise. If you or anyone you know might have some helpful tips or things to say/do to help reassure would be wonderful!
Allison
Would love to hear the exercises. We adopted B at 2 1/2-now almost 4. She is doing really well (still crawls into our bed in the middle of the night, needs mommy and daddy when she gets hurt, etc) but I think we can all benefit from attaching. I think of it as putting money in the bank because weare starting the process for another little one. Thanks for the reminder and the info. I also loved reading everything while waiting for B:)
This was so helpful to read today, as I am right now sitting in a hotel getting ready to head to the airport and get on a plane to Ethiopia. We get to meet our son!! I have not walked this road before, but I think prayer is a huge part of this. We have been praying for months that God would begin the healing process in our little guy’s heart and prepare his heart for us and our heart for him.
I love, love that you are touching on these important yet often ignored issues! After reading adoptee forums in researching adoption I have been shocked by how many adopted teens/adults feel detached & like they are “outsiders” in their own families/lives. Helping parents understand attachment, the brain, & the importance of building identity is going to help so many families. God is definitely working through you to be a light for so many families who are on this journey together!
Would you mind tweaking the section you wrote here about attachment and reposting it on We Are Grafted In? Our readers are always looking for information on attachment and I think your words here would be helpful — Let me know!