3 weeks home

I am so sorry this has taken soooooo long to get written. I can not believe we have had our sweet boys home for 3 weeks already. And how much has changed in such a short time.

We went from 2 hours of sleep a night to at least 5, both boys are sleeping through the night, except for thunder storms, which cause Isaiah to snuggle with us, and we love it-and Isaac's several teeth that are causing him some issues, usually all he needs is another bottle and a bit of tylenol, and he is set for a few more winks of sleep.

Isaac eats everything we eat, and wants nothing to do with baby food anymore. Chuck says when he is dreaming and fussing at night, he is having nightmares of nurses with rice congee coming after him!!

Isaiah is already trying to say Please and isaiah (sayah) and he moos and woofs and meows very well.

Isaac is loving all his freedom, and hates to be held for longer than absolutely necessary. The only time he really allows snuggling is right after sleep-he is using his saucer, and is actually standing in it already. Kendell has a few pictures of him standing next to the bathtub waiting for the water to fill, and he has been pulling himself up onto his knees, but he won't lift his little butt and actually crawl.

He sits for some time and plays, and can catch himself and right himself when he tips, if he wants to. So far, he prefers to scoot along on his tummy, but we think he is getting tired of life from that view, and is getting ready to move on to "toddler" life pretty soon.

We have a ped. cardialogist appt for Isaac next Friday. The Dr we saw 2 weeks ago for his sinus infection is from Taiwan and she looked over his heart meds and said, they are very strong, with not so nice side-effects, and she wants him seen asap-she hopes we can reduce the meds, or change them, and we are praying for healing and no need for the nasty tasting stuff anymore-he hates it!!

We decided to postpone developmental appointments for both boys for a couple months, and let Isaiah get used to a new language and new everything before they try to assess what he really is capable of. Isaac is getting so much stronger and has put on weight and is going into 12 month clothes already, so we are thrilled with his progress, and will monitor it, but are not "worried" at this time.

I am going to post this without photos at this time, and hopefully later today, during the next nap, I will get my "few" photos updated and added. I have been very slack in taking any, but I have enough to show what is going on in our crazy new life of 7 Waughtals.!!

Until later

Blessings

Chris

Monday morning-week 2

Our Sunday afternoon outing-finally an afternoon without rain!

They LOVE to GO!!

brotherly love

This is what Isaiah thought of the Sunday paper-makes a great easel!!

2 happy boys, and one holding his own bottle!

Are you thirsty???

We have had a wonderful stay in Taiwan, but we are soooo ready to come home!

Isaiah is doing very well, starting to show a bit more personality, loves his little brother, starting to get into a bit of trouble, and still sleeping very well.

Isaac has just come leaps and bounds in the last couple days.

He is kicking his legs all the time, and starting to move his legs when he scoots along the floor-almost crawling-I can't believe how much he has changed in such a short time. He is holding his bottle now, smiling all the time, and watches for momma all the time. He is literally into everything, and we are loving it.

His eyes are just glowing, and he is so attentive and observant of everything around him. Chuck keeps saying, it is not even the same kid!!

We are very blessed. Now, if the flight goes smoothly, we get through immigration in good time, and make our connecting flight back to Minneapolis in the 2 1/2 hours we have once we land, we will be thrilled!!

Probably one of the highlights of our weekend was meeting the family who adopted the 4 sisters we fell in love with on the Gladney board last April, 2009. I have to ask permission from Mom and Dad before I put a picture on, but hopefully that will be later this week. Boy, are they BUSY!!! They have a daugher adopted from China 3 years ago, so they have 5 girls under the age of 6!! But do they feel blessed!!

Time to finish packing, and get the boys down for a morning nap-Then we are off to the Handicraft Mall for a few t-shirts, and then off to the airport!!

Blessings

Chuck and Chris

Isaac's first day-more photos

We have found propping him up between pillows helps him sit up by himself-he loves to bang the cups together, and tries stacking them up-drives his big brother crazy because he thinks they are HIS!!

What a little eater-he is literally eating anything and everything

Except his medicine-he is a master at holding it in his mouth and spitting it out

Not very exciting, but what a wonderfully normal day for baby and parents!!

Blessings

Chuck and Chris

Gotcha Day #2!!

Isaac's first day with his family

He is a real curtain climber-his favorite toy is the long curtains that hang in the room!

He loves to pull on them and swing them out, and then he rears himself back and looks at it-quite proud of himself, too.

The worst part is when he flings himself over to watch his handi-work, not so nice when it's the hard tile floor in the kitchen, but a few bumps haven't hurt him yet!!

Grace, the govt social worker for isaiah, was onhand to see us off on Thursday, She is on the right.

Penny, Cathwel's social worker, is on the left, and one of the nurses who loved him very much came down to see us off. She made sure we got a cross necklace for him, as he was baptized in the Catholic church when he was only a few months old, and very sick. She truly cared for him.

The nurses gather to say good-bye!!

We had such a great night with Isaiah, and we just can't be more thankful for how well he is adjusting to everything in his little world. Breakfast was as easy and simple for him as, "Anything you bring me, I will eat it."

We were waiting for Mr Yeh to get us so we could get Isaac, and he just plays quietly, or sits on our lap and looks around. He is very curious, very gentle, and in his own way, very smart.

Our arrival at Cathwel was a bit ordinary-rainy, again, humid, again, and we were hardly there 10 minutes before we had our baby Isaac and were headed back home.

He is a very good traveler. He likes his car seat, he loves a stroller, he tolerates the baby carrier, he loves to eat, and is doing much better with formula now that I am mixing it a bit stronger. He has several meds he needs each day, some for the heart condition, some for the congestion and cough. I will need a notebook just to keep track of all the times and mixtures for both boys, especially on the plane and once back in the US.

We are feeling very blessed tonight, although we are missing the older 3. It seems skyping is definitely beneficial for mom and dad, but the other 3 seem like they are having such a good time, they don't have time to miss us!!

Thankful for another great day

Chuck and Chris

Gotcha Day !

~~~Enjoying Day 1 with Isaiah~~~

Can you say Christmas in June?

Foster Mamas looking over his book from the school

2 foster families, and one FOREVER FAMILY

The entire school gathered to say good-bye-these were all his teachers

He will probably out grow these clothes before he wears them out-if we can even get them all home!!

First meal with Baba and Mama

first bath at the Agora

We have a new son sleeping in our room with us tonight. It has been an action-packed day from the beginning, to the end.

From Meeting the foster families (2) to the entire staff at his school, and saying good-bye to all of them, and being showered with gifts from his foster families, I would say it has been an emotional day for our little Isaiah.

He has gone without naps the last 3 days now, and I am surprised he made it until 8pm tonight.

His meals have been all out of whack, and when I was fixing some simple noodles and cut up weiners for supper tonight, he was all excited and could not stay away from the kitchen. I am not sure it was the best meal I have ever fixed, but it did taste good, even to us, as we have been living off McDonalds the last 3 nights.

We now have more clothes for our 3 yr old than we can carry home. And toys, my, he has had Christmas in June the last couple days.

He ended his day with an hour long bath, he is such a contented little boy, but the sight of his little pruned hands really excited him. It was a blessing to watch him fade off to sleep in my arms tonight, despite a bit of twisting and carrying on, which lasts about 10 seconds.

We are looking forward to the baby coming home with us tomorrow=I am so ready to begin life as a family of 7=we are counting down the days to our homeward bound trip next Monday.

Blessings

Chuck and Chris

Tuesday was a wonderful day

Isaac during his 2 1/2 hr nap

Isaiah and his Baba

Isaiah and HIS computer!!

Typical sibling rivalry-"No Isaac, that is mine!"

Preparing to leave the Jonah House in the morning

We were so blessed today. Our fears and worries yesterday dissipated with a renewed sense of purpose and love today. Chuck read something that really helped both of us see the eternal value and stop focusing on the present (selfish) concerns we had been focused on. We went to Jonah House and our boys were waiting for us. Isaac is such a little peanut, and such a doll. Isaiah is just all smiles and is very gentle and sweet. He blows kissed constantly, and is a very busy little boy-a typical 3 1/2 yr old.

The hardest part of my day, other than returning them at 4 pm, was when we put Isaac down for his nap. His way of comforting himself and getting to sleep is to roll from side to side, quite rapidly, and moaning softly while he does this. It makes me cry, knowing for months, that is how he has comforted himself and gone to sleep. I want to hold him, rock him, and love him, but he needs to accept it from us first. We have already seen great strides in his interest in and concern for us and where we are, but I think we are a long way from rocking him to sleep at night.

He hates his formula, and loves food. I am toying with the idea of trying a different brand, but maybe I should just wait until we get back to the US and buy something there.

We skyped with our 3 children at home Monday night. I think it means more to us than to them, they are so busy and preoccuppied with life there. But Thursday night will be different I am sure, when we skype with the 2 boys with us.

Tomorrow we meet Isaiah's 2 foster families, and attend his therapy sessions. Then, he comes with us forever. We will go to the JonahHouse and visit Isaac for the afternoon, and then come back to the Agora and begin to settle in to a new kind of normal!!

Blessings

Chris