Simon's latest appointment

I'm so overwhelmed. I'm overwhelmed by God's people. If you are a child of the King and you've been praying for us. . . thank you. Gary and I both feel so supported, so loved, so taken care of. We received a card in the mail today from a Barnabas Group from our church. It was filled by signatures and it stated that we were prayed for today. Do you know how that makes us feel? I got stopped at a garage sale yesterday. Love it. We received a meal from my sister that we enjoyed tonight, my folks took care of the kids today while we went to our latest appointment, so many e-mails, my mom's Bible Study group praying for Simon. . . ah, God is so good and is taking great care of us through His people. Thanks. I know, I know, you want to know what happened at the appointment today. I just have to bless God first.

The appointment: it was great. Great? Yup, Great. Simon was only mildly uneasy, but mostly with the intern in the white coat (he'll never have a white coat!) who stood in the corner. You should have seen the looks that Simon gave him. This surgeon, Dr. Robertson (love him!) took his time. He was gentle and caring. He was amazed at our Simon. We are too. He runs, jumps. . .well you know. I've told you before. He has a tumor, but Dr. Robertson does NOT think that it could possibly be malignant. Amen and Amen! We still need to meet with the oncologist, but Dr. Robertson's opinion was that if it was cancer, it would have spread to other parts of his body, and it would make him very sick and uncomfortable. Simon is uncomfortable with the tags in the back of his shirt, when he has to go to the bathroom, and when we make him sit in time out. It has nothing to do with the tumor. He also said that we should proceed cautiously. I like that. Let's go slowly, there is no need to hurry. I like that too. He wants to get together with the other specialists that Simon has seen to discuss his case and talk about surgery in the future. When Simon has surgery (and it seems like it will happen at some point), there will be a pediatric surgeon, a pediatric plastic surgeon, and a pediatric neurosurgeon all doing it. Boy, will our kid be taken care of or what! Lots of experts. Lots of thinking. For now though, the news seems good and we are blessed. We were also told that when he has surgery, he'll probably be in the hospital for weeks or even months. That causes this mama's heart to race a little. . . but I need to rest. God has been so faithful over the past few months and I know without any doubt that He'll continue to be faithful.

On a side note: Simon is the cutest Chinese Dutch boy you've ever seen in his little costume! He likes his wooden shoes too. :) We didn't take pictures tonight, but I'll post them sometime next week.

Thanks again!

Good Cry

My kids--they have been making me cry. God is so very wonderful and when my kids talk about God, sing about the Lord, show kindness without prompting. . . oh does that get me right in my heart.

In the past week, each of my children has brought tears to my eyes. Allow me to share. We'll discuss Garrison today.

Garrison: I was bringing all the kids to my parents house so that Gary and I could take our friends out to dinner and a play. The Petersons moved into our house while we were in China to watch Garrison and Noel for a week and we tried to show our appreciation on a double date. We were listening to the Vacation Bible School CD and the song was playing "and every tongue confess. . . to Jesus' Holiness. . . He is Lord Lord Lord". Perhaps you are familiar with the song. Garrison says from the back "Mom, that says 'and every tongue confess'". What? "It says and every tongue confess" "yes, the song is saying that. You are right Garrison." "That is just like the verse mom." "What verse?" I ask. Garrison has never repeated a verse for us. He up and says "And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:11" He said that. Right in the back of the car. He said it. I began to cry, turned off the radio, and asked him to say it again. He did. He doesn't know where he learned it. I suspect that it was Children's Worship at our church. He knows it. It is in his heart. Every Sunday I ask him what he did in Children's worship and he hasn't a clue. But I tell you friends, the Holy Spirit is at work in him. God is gathering amazing people in his life that have given him nuggets like this verse from Philippians and the nuggets are there, just waiting to come out. Oh, I'm so excited to see what other surprises this boy has for me.

I blessed God out loud in the van and marveled while trying to wipe away the tears and stay on the road. I think this might be my new favorite verse.

Simon update

Hey

I feel like we are in a new place. I need to get my bearings, but I like where we are standing. Let me introduce you to Dr. Skarli (Scar-Lee). He is a pediatric neurosurgeon. Yup, we had an appointment this morning. I've never been to see a neurosurgeon. I liked him. Alot. That in itself gives me such great comfort. Thank you Lord for giving me this peace, for leading us to this doctor.

We need to do more tests: lots more tests. Today I heard words like "chemo", "tumor in the back, pelvis, and leg", "I'm going to present this to the tumor board tomorrow", "he really is charming isn't he (in reference to Simon)". Of course Simon is charming. He must take after his mom.

Dr. Scarli gave us lots of new information and we are so thankful. Puzzle pieces seem to be falling into place. He did warn us that doing all these tests might be opening a can of worms. "Well", I said, "I'd like to know what worms are in the can."

He was so great with our scared little Simon--who suddenly seems even smaller when a doctor walks into the room. He just shrinks into me. The good doctor played with Simon in the chair to help put him at ease. So great. He was impressed with Simon's jumping and running. If you looked at Simon, you'd never know there was a huge tumor invading his little body. Some of you are blessed to know him already.

What was especially cool was at the end of the visit, he asked us why we had adopted and we had the chance to talk to him about our God, about how we felt the call to take care of the orphans by actually adopting one, about our other kids. . . it was great. He looked at us with a huge smile on his face and said, "Isn't love an amazing thing."

Yup, love is amazing. That God loved us enough to let us raise this precious child. That God loved us enough to send His Son for us. That Christ loved us enough to die for us.

Thanks for your prayers and support as we begin on a new path with Simon. More appointments next week. Please pray for our family, for all of us as we begin life with many appointments: Simon: lots of doctors. Garrison and Noel: lots of time away from mom. Gary and I: processing information and making decisions. Thanks.

Arguments

Hi friends

I'm getting some e-mails from you asking that you be added to our blog. Great! So glad that you are along for the ride. I hope to be going private next week, so send me an e-mail if you don't want to miss a thing (like it is that exciting!). :)

Just wanted to share with you about a moment that had me laughing out loud this morning. Over the past month, Garrison and Simon have been taking care of some baby chicks. These chicks are very special--they are pretend. The boys carry them around the house, play with them, lose them, forget about them, take them to bed, get upset if someone doesn't take very good care of them. . . etc. They appear at random times and in random places. Don't be surprised sometime if Garrison offers to show you his baby chick that just happened to get in the car and come to church. I have no idea where Garrison got the idea (Simon has caught on and even had baby penguins for awhile), but it has stuck.

This morning the boys got in quite a fight. Simon took one of Garrison's baby chicks. What?!? Now remember, these are pretend baby chicks, the best kind to have as pets. Yet, here are my boys arguing in the kitchen. Garrison is very upset that Simon has his baby chick, and Simon is adamant that he is not going to give this particular chick back. THE BABY CHICK DOES NOT EXIST! I love it. I laughed out loud and of course, this didn't go over well with either boy. Simon did give Garrison his baby chick back after I offered to give Simon a new baby chick that I found in my pocket.

Thank you Lord for great moments like these. I love being a mom.

privacy

Hi friends

I've been thinking a lot lately about my kids. I'm praying for them, for their strengths (Garrison: leadership and athletics, Simon: kindness and creative arts, Noel: joy and jumping) as well as for areas in which they might struggle (Garrison: trying new things, Simon: quick to whine, Noel: trying to get under her brothers' skin).

In praying for them, I'm also aware that there are those who also pray for them. Their grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends, church family, friends who joined our family on our adoption journey, former students, Gary's co-workers. . . the list goes on and on. I'm so thankful that the list goes on and on. What a wonderful group of people that the Lord has placed in and around us to help us raise our family. Bless you.

I'm also more aware of how much I adore and cherish my kids. I don't want to trade or return them. I love them. I also like them. I like being with them and sharing my days with them. I'm proud to introduce them to others. . . proud to say that these are my children.

Because I love, cherish, and like my kids. . . I want to protect them a bit more than what I'm currently doing. I've been thinking that I love doing this blog, love reading your comments, and love it that you are willing to walk with us. I know though that there are those who would not see my kids the same way that I do, that you do, and that our Father does. There is a lot of information on here that when pieced together. . . well I don't like to imagine it. I don't think like that I can't imagine that others would as well, yet there are those who do horrible things to kids and illegal things with information. We had great friends over this week-end and I talked with them about it. We need to go private. I'm not sure how to do that yet, but I will find out. I love my little people too much to put them in a potentially dangerous situation.

So friends, in a week or so, I'm going to go private. If you'd like to continue to follow along, I'd love that! Send me your e-mail address so that I can add you to the list. I'll let you know when it will actually happen. Please use sgsprick@yahoo.com to let me know.

Thanks again for walking with us.

Update on Simon

We had our second post-placement visit with our social worker on Saturday. The overall assessment is that Simon is doing so very well. Plus, she had great things to say about how Gary and I are doing as parents and she also said wonderful things about Garrison and Noel's adjustments. God is so very good! We couldn't be more amazed at Simon's (and ours) progress. I love it when God gives us more than we ask or imagine.

We did receive some results regarding Simon's MRI/MRA. There isn't anything wrong with his spine (Amen and Amen!), but there is a moderate intraspinal lipomatosis. Yup. You read it right. It is at the base of his spinal cord, but doesn't seem to be affecting him at all. We'll be seeing a neurosurgeon next week to hear his assessment. Our doctor didn't seem to think this was of concern for the moment, but thought we might want to make sure. We agree.

We'll also be going to a genetics clinic to have Simon tested for a syndrome. Our doctor doesn't think again that he has anything, but wants us to rule everything out. We agree.

We'll let you know how things pan out. We aren't nervous or scared. We love love love our son and know that God loves him more. We are going step by step. Personally, it is hard for me to imagine that anything could really be wrong when he runs, jumps, talks, throws a fit. . . just like other three year old boys that I know. Thanks for your continued prayers. We have seen evidence of all of the prayers and are excited to know that God will continue to bless us through your faithfulness. We love and appreciate you.

Too Big

I am not a tiny girl. This is not a shocking statement, nor meant to be self-loathing. I'm just not small. I don't think I'll ever be: I am a Sternberg (mom's maiden name) after all. I am losing weight again and after I lose just one more pound, I get to wear my new orange Chacos. I'm very excited. I'm going to keep losing weight until I'm where I want to be for the rest of my life--weight wise. I'll let you know when I get there. :)

I had an interesting conversation with Simon this week-end. I was going to the bathroom and he decided to visit me there. I usually get a visitor unless Go Diego Go is on in the living room. Can any of you relate? Yup, I see a hand or two raised.

So, Simon stands there looking at me. He bends down and looks on either side of the toilet. "What's up Simon?" "eh meneme eh na ma na too big" (He fills in with lots of nonsense words. He did this in Chinese as well.) "The toilet is too big?" "No, mommy is too big." and he points at my thighs which don't fit completely on the toilet seat. Wish he would have stuck with the non-sense words. "No, mommy isn't too big for the toilet. It'll still work." He shakes his head and tells me again that I'm too big. I assure him that it will be fine and then ask him to go and do . . . oh I forget what I asked him to do--find Garrison, pick up a toy, chose a book. . . something.

Doesn't it make you feel great that your thighs are larger than a toilet seat? (hear the sarcasm? If you didn't please read again.)

I love being a mom, and though my thighs are getting smaller, I'm glad I have thighs that go over the edge. I'd hate to try and balance like Simon has to when he sits on the toilet. :)