The New Normal

Time flies..................

Life is starting to settle  into a new normal.  It is such a good feeling to have our family complete for now.  If one would have asked me 20 years ago how many kids Brent and I were going to have, the answer would have been zero.  I guess I was content with the two of us, but I am so glad that God had bigger plans for our lives.  His plans are bigger and better than we could ever imagine    All of our 5 kids have unique and individual personalities.  I can't imagine them ever moving out!   When I was younger I was so self absorbed to have time for others, sad that I wasted so much time in selfishness!!!

 

 

The Lord has been reminding the pain of Job and the Egyptians and that we must be thankful for our health.  I can't imagine the pain of having boils all over one's body.  Since my return from Africa I have had 2 boils.  I can say I would go again in a heart beat even with this and my terrible sickness upon return..  We are so lucky here in the US to have access to health care and medication.  For two weeks I have nausea, sweating, and chills.  I think this is all to help me better understand what children living in orphanages and in close quarters suffer with.  The difference being that I have the love of a family and resources.  I pray that I never forget those that cannot speak for themselves.  Looking for to trip to Portland today with Sneha's new neurologist.  It is always good to have change of scenery.

1. Exodus 9:8
   [ The Plague of Boils ] Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh.
2. Exodus 9:9
   It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on people and animals throughout the land.”
3. Exodus 9:10
   So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on people and animals.

Hard week, but we made it

Joyce started 1st grade on Wednesday.  Lots of adjustments in the Arnold house.  Let's just say Sneha looked like an angel before school this week.  Adoption is loss, change, redemption, and learning to have patience and love.  Some days are just one foot in front of the other.  Some are just standing one's ground.  My friend and fellow adoptive mother, Debbie Hard, says that if we can get through the first 6 months of adjustment things settle down after that and a new normal is formed.  I am hanging on to those words, and know that God placed our family together.  I find the music from GLEE a good distraction.  I am so glad that we have 5 children.  My life is never boring.  I am thankful that we have good insurance to take part in all of the resources we have here in America.  We are so blessed to live in this country!!!I think of the places I have had the privilege to travel to we have so many resources.  Elijah had life saving skull surgery.  He may not have been in this world without it.  Sneha had her ear drums repaired so she now hears the world around her, and she couldn't for the first 8 years of her life.  Not to mention seizure medication so she is alert to the world around her.  Fewer and fewer days of being in a seizure fog.  Joyce will soon be able to hear the world around her.  She will have an FM system in school so the teacher's voice will transmit directly into her hearing aide so she can learn.  So let us rejoice in this time of economic down turn, and proclaim with God all things are possible.

Happy Easter!!!! The Lord has risen indeed!

Swimming in Ghana-remembering the fun

We are so happy to have our family complete this Easter Season! So thankful that our Savior died so we can have eternal life.  I am so happy that I am not waiting for someone to come home this year. With our family complete we can set our sights on the future and what role we can play in helping the orphan and missions.   We will miss our family this season.  I wish we were going to have time with family at Uncle Mark's house.  Sometimes if life we move where the jobs are and we miss the people that we leave behind:(  All in good time  we will meet people and make connections, it just takes time. 

In the mean time we are very busy with appointments and everyday life.  Joyce had her first teeth cleaning and two cavaites filled, only 6 to go!  The ENT signed off on her hearing and now she can get hearing aides to start hearing life around her.  We also have a very big day on Monday, Joyce will be starting school.  She will start on individual learning plan and I am hoping for a great experience.  She is adjusting to family life and hoping school will be icing on the cake for her.  She is so smart, but just needs extra help to catch up.                                                                                                           

Journey in Ghana to Aburi and botanical gardens

On the home front Joy's heart checked out perfect.  A really nice pediatric cardiologist listened to her heart and had an echo cardiogram done.  The echo revealed her repaired PDA which needs no further evaluation unless she has symptoms.  He said her large scar on her back may cause some discomfort if she runs a lot just from the pulling of scar tissues nothing to do with her heart.    We are so blessed she had her life saving heart surgery as an infant in Ghana.  Next week we have many appointments lined up while the kids are spring break, so hopefully Elise will come with us.  Joy likes it when Elise is with us.  On Wednesday we see an ENT and audiologist to confirm her hearing loss and sign off so she can receive hearing aides.  Then Thursday she will have her teeth cleaned and get two teeth filled .  We are hoping the laughing gas makes this an enjoyable experience for her.  Then Friday we will see the eye doctor.  One of the nicest men who makes the experience of getting one's eyes tested a breeze.  Sneha really liked him and had a positive experience.  Joy's vision seems perfect, but better to have it checked before she starts school.  Elise has been very pleased with her contacts and there ease of use since February.  We are very happy to have such great insurance since our move to Washington, it makes everything so much more stress free.    

On the school front Graedy is all signed up for high school which will include Spanish and guitar lessons.  Elise is continuing to play the flute and excels at it.  Elijah received the citizen of the month-all star student 2 months in a row at his school.  Sneha received student of the month at her school an ate lunch with the principal.  Joy will begin school after spring break at Elijah's school in an individualized program to help her jump start her formal learning.  She has a lot of catch up to do, but she is very bright and will endure all the changes and challenges.  I have tried teaching at home, but  it is a challenge since she is learning the role of family and parents.  I think she will do much better with a formal teacher at school.  The educators are trained in non-traditional learning and teaching with special needs.  I want home to be her place of family and relaxation away from the stress of the world.  I was hoping she would jump into kindergarten at home, but my most important role is teaching her family and values.  When Elijah came home he loved to practice letters, colors, and he soaked up all the knowledge he could, but I think with Joy's hearing deficit it makes things very frustrating especially new language,  and an entirely new and different life. Life in a convent was wonderful for her growing up to this point.  We are so grateful to the Sisters and Father Campbell for loving Joyce .                                                           

Cocoa pods

Palm lined drive

huge termite mound

huge trees

A great shot from Elise

Hibiscus

First two weeks home......

  

  Time flies once a child comes home!  We have been so busy with appointments, phone calls, and lots of catch up from the trip and being so sick for a week.  Talk about the worst plane ride ever.  I was the passenger no one ever wants to sit by, would have been embarrassing, but I was too sick to care.  All that said, the good news is that Joy is HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!No more waiting to see her no more longing to fly to Ghana.  We finally feel that our family is complete.  The desire to add 3 to our family started in 2007 and now 3 more are here.  A big sigh of relief!

    The first week home we went to the pediatrician and poor girl had to get 4 shots:(  I am so glad she didn't get chicken pox when we came home since they don't exist in Ghana.  Then last week we went to an Audiologist in Portland at the hospital up on the hill in the woods.  Joy's hearing loss is permanent with unknown origin.  Her left is better at moderate-severe hearing loss and the right with severe to profound hearing loss.   Hearing aides will help the left and possibly the right.  She is not eligible for a cochlear implant.  The audiologist was great and was worth the drive, making it fun for Joy.  We went to the pediatric dentist on Thursday and they made her appointment fun and not in the least bit scary.  For older children that have never been to the dentist it was well worth it.  She has 8 cavities which will have to be addressed in 4 appointments including laughing gas to make it more enjoyable!  Next week we will see her pediatric cardiologist to make sure her heart repair was a success and doesn't need follow up or have premed at the dentist.

   The overall adjustment has been wonderful!  God weaves families together, each person hand picked.  Elise has been such a good big sister while in Ghana and at home.  While I was so sick on the plane Elise sat by and entertained Joyce for 10-12 hours!  I hope her first trip out of US will stay with her forever.  I know that I am so thankful to once again use the dishwasher, washer, and dryer.  I am also so thankful to be away from the heat.  We are so thankful to Jeanie that we could stay at her home while in Ghana.  We were able to shop, learn to cook Ghanaian food, and live the way a middle class family lives in Ghana.So much better than staying in a hotel.  We were so blessed to have Grandma Jean with us.  Hopefully an experience she will forever remember, her first time abroad and to Africa!!!!

    We hope to meet up sometime  on US soil with our friends Jeanie, Elena, and Celestina.  They will forever be in our hearts!

   

Finally a family of 7!!!!!