Our Great Friends!

We wanted to share with you about this amazing couple! We love them so much and they have a beautiful family. One of the cool things that we wanted to tell you about is this: God has put adoption on their hearts! When we heard this we thought "How Wonderful! What a special family to be a part of, so stable and nurturing and FULL of LOVE!" They are a great Christian family and wonderful parents! Please if you could help them by keeping your ears open for anyone who is looking to place their baby with a family for adoption, that would be amazing! You can read information about them and their family at this site JeremyandAmandaadopt.blogspot.com. Contact info is listed on their site or please feel free to contact me about them too! You are also welcome to pass on their info to anyone you would like! They also have a more detailed letter for potential birthmoms...so we can get that to you too, if you have somewhere or someone you would like to give it.

I am just impressed with their hearts in this process and how open they are to the child God has for them. Here is a quote off her blog "So we are praying, as we always have been that God would open the doors of communication to "our birth mother." And we trust that He will, when the time comes. I can't help but get overwhelmed by the gravity of the need out there, and that there are swarms of women who don't know what they're going to do now that they are pregnant and are choosing life for their baby. Wherever you are, brave one... we are on our knees for you and your precious child."

Please just keep them in mind...it is wonderful how God works through people like you and me to bring little ones into their adoptive families! Noah's Birthmom and I were amazed when we counted how many people helped linked us together (and in such a short time!) 5 people! Thanks so much for your help in this!

An Amazing Life!

I am also speechless and inspired...I read this on my good friend Amanda's site. Thank you Amanda for finding this...I could barely pull my self away from reading her blog...what a true picture of selfless, obedient, servant hood! I hope you all take a moment and read about this incredible woman!

I'm speechless and inspired

Yesterday, I came across the story of Katie... I'll let you read her story below for yourself. Prepared to be amazed, humbled, and inspired! But here's a hint... she's 21, an American who lives in Uganda, and has 14 daughters! You can follow her blog here.. and learn more about Amazina Ministries.

2009 Christmas

Below she recaps how she got to where she is now...

It is my 16th Birthday and I am eating sushi at my favorite restaurant with my parents when I tell them that I would like to explore the possibility of taking a year in between high school and college to do mission work. This is unheard of in my family and they say they are not sure and will think about it. I am nervous, but somehow I know it is right. He changes their hearts.




I have just turned 18 and find an orphanage online. I beg my parents to let me visit over break, just three weeks. A month later I am on a plane. I am so excited. I am so scared of being, but I know He is going with me. I fall in love.



I graduate high school having made the commitment to teach Kindergarten for a year at a school in The Middle of Nowhere, Uganda. In August I get on the plane. I’m apprehensive and I cry most of the way because I miss my Mommy and my boyfriend. I am eager, but so uncertain. I trust Him. I teach 138 children how to speak English and to love Jesus.



It is October and I am just not sure I can do it anymore. I live in the smallest room I have ever seen in the back of a pastor’s house. I am more uncomfortable than I had bargained for. No one understands, not people here, not people at home. I am tired. But I am prideful and I am not going to quit. I don’t like this. But I know He has a plan. I learn, I grow, He is there.



It is December and God has spoken very clearly about opening a ministry that sponsors 40 of the orphaned children in the village where I am working. This involves moving into a different house, ALONE. It is big and I cannot imagine how God will fill it up. I am lonely and I am anxious. But I am still trusting. He fills the house, and we now have 400 children sponsored.



It is January and I am looking at a little girl, crushed under a brick wall with no one to care for her or her younger siblings. I offer to take the three home with me until we find them a better placement. I am not really sure what to do with them, but I know they are God’s children. They stay.



It is three days later and the littlest looks at me and calls me mommy. My heart might break in two. Something clicks. I am even more scared than I was the day I stepped on that plane, but I KNOW. Today I have 13.



I have to deliver a baby, give a boy stitches, pull a tooth, give and injection. I am petrified. But no one will do it if I do not. He is present, He holds my hand, they are all fine.



It is August and I must get on a plane back to America to go to college, as I have promised my father. I do not remember how to be a teenager or what it is to be normal Brentwood, Tennessee. I will have to leave my babies. I will have to make new friends. I am sad and I am terrified. He wraps His arms around me. He puts just the right people in just the right places, and they help me and they make me feel at home.



First semester is over and He speaks clearly to me that I cannot serve two masters. “Go HOME,” He says, “and stay.” I am uncertain, but I want to be obedient. He squeezes tighter. I am thankful.



I have to look at my loving parents who have given me everything and tell them that I will not go to college right now, because I feel God wants me to be in Uganda. I know how disappointed and how angry they will be. I am more scared than I was when I got on the plane and more scared than I was when I took my first children. But I know that this IS the Plan. They love me anyway.



It is February and my daughter’s biological father comes to take her away. My heart breaks in half, and I am not sure I will ever be able to get out of my bed again, let alone foster another child. I am more than devastated, but I want what is best for her, what He wants for her. She comes back and her biological father learns about Jesus.



It is March and a lame little girl is brought to my gate. She is undoubtedly mine, but I am still anxious. What if I can’t do it? I don’t know what to do with a special needs child, especially as my 13th child. I am criticized and ridiculed. I wonder. I trust and praise God for her sweet little life. She starts to walk.



I find myself in a village full of starving people that for some reason seem to want to kill me. God says to serve them anyway. I am not sure how it is going to work, or if it is safe. I can’t figure it out, but I know He can. 1,200 Karamajongs, the poorest of Uganda’s poor, are now served hot meals daily.



We keep taking in more children until there are 400 in our program. There is no way we will raise enough funds, but by now I have stopped worrying. He has always provided. Blessings rain from the sky, and all 400 children go to school.



I am 20 years old and have 13 children and 400 more who all depend on me for their care. Who are all learning to love Jesus and be responsible adults and looking up to me. The reality of it all can be a bit overwhelming at times. However, it is always pure joy. There is a common misconception that I am courageous. I will be the first to tell you that this is not actually true. Most of the time, I am not brave. I just believe in a God who will use me even though I am not. Most mornings, before I even get out of bed I am overwhelmed with His goodness, with His plan for my life; I stand in awe of the fact that He could entrust me with so much. Most days, I don’t have much of a plan. I don’t always know where this is going. I can’t see the end of the road, but here is the great part: Courage is not about knowing the path. It is about taking the first step. It is about Peter, getting out of the boat. I do not know my five year plan; even tomorrow will probably not go as I have planned. I am thrilled and I am terrified, in a good way. So some call it courage, some call it foolish, I call it Faith. I choose to get out of the boat. To take the next step. Sometimes I walk straight into His arms. More often, I get scared and look down and stumble. Sometimes I almost completely drown. And through it all, He never lets go of my hand.

We are home and I am 30 !!

Well it is late...but we are home and today was my 30th birthday...:) A little uneventful for a 30th, unless your idea of fun is spending all day packing up a room (did we move in or what?) and then waiting a couple of hours in the lobby waiting for the shuttle to pick us up (with very tired grumpy kids) and then spending the rest of the day in an airport and/or airplane. :) But we are home...have I already said that already? And tired...

Mateo is improving everyday...and the plane ride was mostly ok though he was pretty sore and stiff coming off of it. (He fell asleep for about 2 hours...in not the most comfortable positions). And Noah slept too, but when he wasn't asleep he was making all of the people around us deaf! :) HE WAS NOT A HAPPY FLYER! (Fever and 4 teeth coming in at the same time-one molar, one canine...poor baby!) Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes...now to settle in again and for Mateo to heal!

Love
Maria
Off to bed! (yes I know I am getting old!)

Pictures from the morning of surgery...while we waited.

Showing Daddy his "gown" ...just low enough to not be flashing everyone!

2 hours is a long time to wait...getting very loopy--without meds. ;)

"Do I really have to smile one more time?"

Daddy suiting up to take me in...He did great and was very brave breathing deeply in the mask. The nurses said he did better than most of their teens. (Mateo not Daddy)

The night of surgery...

A special toy from Mommy and Daddy...

Some of Mateo's favorite visitors...

Baby Jackson

Abe the Therapy Dog...and no he did not charge by the hour ("therapy" dog...never mind :)) (I know that joke was very cheesy...I must be spending alot of time with my husband for his humor to be rubbing off)

Brother Noah and a kiss! It is so sweet how much they love each other!

Misc. pictures from hospital

Mateo reading "Tickle Monster" book from Granny and Papaw, note his right hand turning the pages is in the "monster mit".

Shampoo in a cap...no shower needed...who would've thought!

After shampoo...

"Doing better" pictures on the afternoon of discharge

A Cute Present from Aunt Missy's Friends from Church

Mateo's first ride in a wheel chair...on our way to the play room to see how he would do.

Painting with Daddy...

I love this smile!

We are homefree...sort of... :)

Well at least we are back at the hotel as a family! Mateo was discharged tonight at 8:30. I did not think it was going to happen, when they told me this this morning. It was a rough morning, step by step, gradually moving him onto his back, proping him on a flat pillow, then moving his bed up a little at a time until he was sitting up. Then trying to get him out of bed, poor little guy. (keep in mind he pretty much has not moved anything but one arm (he didn't use his IV hand because it hurt him) for 3 days and any little movement hurts him, and then just the mention of moving him again scares him because he remembers how it hurt him last time). They also took the foley cathater out and took him off his morphine drip, and started giving him oral pain med with his tylenol. Then we had to get him to the toilet...he could barely stand on his own. Anyways...I could go on and on about the small baby steps he took all day getting used to moving again. But...He is doing better this evening and they said we could go home...so we have our instructions and we are at the hotel until Friday where we have a insicion check with the nurse and then we fly home that evening. It is nice that we get to go to bed tonight as a family and wake up as a family. My mom is flying home tomorrow morning. We are SOOOO THANKFUL that she was here! What a sacrifice...taking off work, paying for a ticket, and being available 24/7 to help us with Noah and packing bags/food back and forth to the hospital, bringing Noah for a few hours during the day and then being with Mateo when we needed a break or needed to run an errand in the hospital. She was so much help, but now she probably needs a vacation from her "vacation" :) Noah has kept her hopping...he is very active now and wants to be on the go all the time.

Well good night! I am going to go put my feet up!

Update 2? 3? :)

OK...I am sorry I didn't update yesterday ( I was exhausted and my back was hurting! How do these nurses do it day in and day out?)
Mateo is doing well. The first night and yesterday he really struggled with a bad headache, so we started giving him Tylenol on a schedule to "compliment" the Morphine drip. As yesterday went, he was complaining less and less and today nothing (about the bad headache--backache, bellyache, and iv-pain still but tolerable). He just keeps improving...during the day we have to roll him on his other side every 2 hours (every 4 during the night) And yesterday, it was a very upsetting and painful process, it would take him a few minutes to settle down. And today every time we turn him it is less painful and smoother for him. He is in better spirits today...and is doing well laying still. Soooo... tomorrow they will allow him to try to get up, we wonder how that will be for him. His incision look great (for an incision...) Here are some pictures that my mom has taken on her phone and later we can try to add ones off our camera...I have a really good one of a special dog that came to visit Mateo yesterday. So precious!

Noah is doing really well with Granny but he does miss us, so yesterday I went back to the hotel a little earlier to catch him before his bed time. We had special time before he slept. Daddy stays with Mateo in his room over night and then when I come early in the morning Daddy goes and gets some coffee and breakfast. Then Granny comes with Noah around lunch time. We spend time together (by this time Noah is ecstatic to see Daddy) as a family, and then Josh takes Noah back to the hotel to both take a long afternoon nap. Then Granny after helping me with Mateo, and goes back and meets Josh to switch care of Noah, and then Josh comes back to the hospital all scrubbed clean and somewhat rested :) And we start it again. Also (you will see in the pictures) Aunt Missy and Uncle John with Cousin Jackson come to visit for a couple of hours around lunch time too. We have been sharing a room this whole time and we have been in the spot closest to the door. It has been a little strange having lots of people and dr.s and nurses in and out for the people behind us but we kind of adjusted. But...now our roommates (a teenage boy)have been discharged this afternoon and we asked if we could move into their spot so we could have a little more privacy and a big beautiful window! And we did. So we are now settled and I am loving all the natural day light! I get here so early and leave after dark...so all I have seen in the last few days is florescent lighting...so this view is very cheerful! We are very thankful for the wonderful Doctors and Nurses here...we have had a few bumps, but overall we have been happy with the hospital here!
Here are some pictures...

Noah and Jackson hanging out...

This picture is out of order, but I can't for the life of me get it down further so read the description with the other picture of Mateo and Jackson please.

Noah eating breakfast ...blueberry pancakes!

Mateo and Mommy waiting for the shuttle to go to the hospital for the surgery.

Noah about to go for a stroller ride to the store...he is having a lot of fun walking up and down the halls with Granny pulling his lady bug toy he got for Christmas. You would think he owns the hotel by how proudly he walks.

Mateo just lights up when baby Jackson comes to visit...he is so sweet and precious to his newer cousin and loves holding, talking, and tickling him. (Jackson is almost 2 months old)

Mateo surrounded by a jungle of animals that keep arriving as gifts for him (the monkey came with us).

Granny sporting the "tickle monster" mits and the new book Mateo she and PaPaw gave Mateo as a gift. They both had fun reading it together.

He made it!

Hey everyone!

Mateo made it through! He is doing well...he is not very happy with how miserable he feels, but he is resting now. :) His biggest complaint when we first saw him was how hungry he was! :) I don't blame him though...Surgery was supposed to be at 11 but they didn't start until 1:30. And he was brought to his room from recovery at 5:30 pm. I would be very hungry and thirsty too!

Anyways...the doctor felt it went really well and was very glad they did the surgery. They found what they expected to find...and got it taken care of.

Praise God for his protection and peace during this procedure.

Now it is time to go to bed, sorry this is so short and to the point, but I am exhausted...Daddy is with Mateo tonight in his room and I will be relieving him early in the morning. Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes. We will try to keep updating this as we go.

Seattle Update - Day 1

A short update ... We made it to Seattle and kind of slept through the night (new place, excited boys, need we say more?). Today started by talking with Mateo's neurosurgeon about what will happen, what to expect, and the questions we had. He was very positive today...and said he showed Mateo's images to the other surgeons in their department and they all agreed and were surprised that he was in such good shape for this type of spinal chord condition and that this is the right first step. After we finished with the surgeon, we headed down to talk with the anesthesiolgist for more explaining, questions, and answers. Then back up to neurosurgery to talk more about what to expect before and after the surgery. Then to the lab for a basic blood draw, just incase he needs blood during the surgery. They all did a great job preparing us for tomorrow (It is very hard to imagine that spinal surgery can sound so simple.)

We are very thankful for Seattle Children's Hospital and everyone there. It is hard to explain how much we apprecitae all their efforts to care for Mateo. Everyone (and I mean everyone) has been so friendly, helpful, and cheerful and they just love Mateo (and he loves all of the positive attention!)

We spent some special time tonight with our family (Granny and Aunty) swimming and having a treat - pizza! Tomorrow is the big day. The surgery is scheduled for 11:15 - Seattle time (10:15am Alaska time) so if you think about it, please pray for Mateo, the surgeon, doctors, nurses, and us.

We will try to update tomorrow! Thanks in advance for your prayers!

2009 Christmas Photos 4

2009 Christmas Photos 3

2009 Christmas Photos 2

2009 Christmas Pictures 1

My sister Mindy's present to us...a 2 hour photo session!