As I went through our travel pictures, I realized there are a lot of pictures of Luke, so I decided to make a dedicated Luke post with them.
Luke with Uncle Billy.
In their 4th of July outfits.
With mountains in the background.
Snoozing in the van. Look at that belly bulging out the side!
Hanging out with Baba in our picnic spot.
See this giant dump truck?
Paul took Luke up there.
Here he is sitting inside the wheel.
And up in the cab.
Paul took this shot of Luke hanging out. The pink legs on the right are Katie's Unicorn that she won at a game.
Another picture Paul took.
He spent a lot of time out on the deck. I was surprised at how much he interacted with the potted plants.
He doesn't typically reach for new things.
This was a seizure.
And a yawn. There's something so cute about capturing baby yawns.
Are we there yet?
What great pictures of Luke, especially the one with his uncle.
ReplyDeleteHao ke ai!
Thanks! He is cute, isn't he? :) He's very hard to photograph (that autism eye contact thing is a bear) but still a cutie.
DeleteI love the one with his uncle. It looks like a bit of a smile there! Great photos - you are a blessed mama. <3
ReplyDeleteWarmly,
Kate
Thank you, Kate. :)
DeleteWhat absolutely adorable pictures of your son!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan!
DeleteSuch a cute kid!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lisa. :)
DeleteCute pics! The seizure one, yikes, I went through what was blamed to be a febrile seizure with our daughter, where She was taken by ambulance to the hospital. I hope to NEVER experience one again!!!!! If you dont mind me asking, How often does Luke get them and when and how did they start? Just scary stuff, and am not educated enough on them.
ReplyDeleteOn a positive note, our house sold in 24 days and we are waiting on the end date in about a month. They will break ground on our new home this week and we have found temporary housing where we " hope" to stay for no more then 6 months, LOL though I AM skeptical as 1st home took 10 Months and second took 8 months to build, ugh!
I am still getting rid of tons of stuff, by now we have gotten rid of a moving van of stuff, yay!!! We expect once we get to the new place to displace more stuff once we know what fits or not. Nostalgic as it has been for me to let go of things that hold special memories, I feel like we are moving on slimmer, trimmer and more focused on what is going to matter in the near future!!! I am so looking forward to this new chapter in our lives!!!! :-)
The seizures are relatively new. We knew he was *having* them, because they showed up on his EEG almost a year ago. But we weren't *seeing* them. One of his therapists pointed them out in June, and since then, they've increased in frequency. It's not unusual for him to have half a dozen in an hour.
DeleteHe sees the neurologist again soon, so I'm guessing the doc will want to medicate for them. :/
Congratulations on the sale of your house! How's your little girl doing?
Our girl is doing ok, but I wonder at times if she has those "tiny" seizures at times, as she can behave out of the blue "off" and then moments later can be fine. I am not sure IF we will continue with her after the move, we are trying hard to work with her and she is making extrememly slow progress still, which is good. But, our big concern is right now, we still just dont feel entirely the right fit for her as a family. Her issues, like Luke, are mysterious at times and it can be overwhelming at what needs to be done for her. We already know its unlikely we can help her, but we pray everyday we can because we all do love her! She seems to understand all we say and I feel she has major potential in the right environment. She likely will thrive in a home with loads of kids, and after adopting her, we are scared to do it again or even jump and get pregnant, but I feel strongly she would excel with siblings HER age. She is pretty social, mimics and is using more signs consistently, but I cry so much seeing that she NEEDS what we dont have. It may sound nuts, but kids her age feel necessary for her and would make all the difference. This is a big reason why we struggle with what to do. Sending her to preschool is fine, and helps, but its not enough to get her going as she does prefer familiar people, so typically developing siblings would be a dream for her!!!
DeleteReally, its so hard to make a decision on her, because we dont want to give up on her, but much soul searching will need to be done in the coming months. My desire is to downsize and right size my life in hopes of having loads of time to focus on the people in my life, as its the best way I know how to see IF we can change our life for the better and have a chance to keep her. I am realistic though, and will accept defeat, sadly, but I want what is right for her, whether its here or elsewhere. :-(. But overall, today I just am so excited to get out of this massive house and move, as its time. The new house is still way bigger then what I want, but the overall size and the lot are less and way more manageable in a humble town with places to walk, run and bike and be outdoors all day, which we all love to do!!! So its a really healthy move for our family! After, the last 1-2 years,we ALL need this!!!!!
We hosted a sibling group of 3 little ones over a year ago, and the eldest was a very delayed 3 year old. I remember thinking, "I wish I could keep the two little ones," not that that was ever an option, of course, but that Big Sis's delays really scared me. I wonder if God rolled his eyes at me, knowing we were in for far worse with Luke.
DeleteI don't know if I have a point here. Maybe just that I get it when you say you don't know if you can do this. I wish you all the best in a very heart wrenching decision.
It really is truly a heart wrenching decision! I developed some pretty violate health issues, right before our daughter came home, and they were expected to subside, and have, mostly, but at times they flair up which concerns me for the future as if they get worse, there is no way I could keep up with our daughter long-term. My parents are truly so sad about our outcome so far, because they get I have more on my plate then just a child with delays, as I know they love their new Grandchild and its breaking more then just our lives, but theirs too. So I have so much to think about, and yet I soldier on, trying to create a new life that will be easier in the long run, by moving and right sizing my life, I hope to eventually gain time and energy to do whats most important. Though, I am truly realistic in realizing we may just need to give her up, as it may just be the right thing for her and us. :-( I feel if I were 10 years younger, had small kids her age, and had better, more consistent health, I know the outcome would be for sure better...but each of us needs to be real about what we can handle. I want my girl, to have a family that can meet ALL of her needs,and we may/may not be able too. I cant imagine being in your situation, honestly, as you are such a great Mama to so many, for me, in that situation, I would for sure, give Luke up as I couldn't keep going like you do. I marvel at how you DO keep trudging along, It has to be exhausting. I know for me, I miss the simplicity our lives used to have, but IF we could feel we as her family, would make a difference for her, I know we wouldn't so easily give up, but how do we make the TYPE of family she needs appear, when we are a family of literally adults. We feel like she is a good fit for us, but we arent a good fit for her, if that makes sense. I so feel looking back, that adoption programs would work better, if kids and families were matched more on personality, then their SN. Our daughter is truly a dead ringer for both my hubby and my families, from her medical history, to the way she looks, literally she could be our biological child, just with asian eyes, yet my DH has slanted eyes too like hers....why its even harder to give up. People do a double take upon seeing her with us wondering if she is/is not adopted...they aren't sure most times. Another hard fact, as we truly believe we were meant to have her, as God just flung doors open for us. So Here I sit, hoping, praying, believing, and still....the outcome, while undecided, is still heartbreaking as time ticks on. I wonder what next year, this time, will look like, part of me wants to know, part of me doesn't. SIGH!
DeleteYou know... there's a new family on a facebook group I belong to that is looking to adopt a child with special needs. They have several children. Would you like me to put the two of you in touch?
DeleteRight now, Hubby wants to move and see if things change before we make our final decision. We know its looking like we will end up that way, but, we want to be completely sure. Plus, She will need a very specific type family as the needs she has can only be addressed in the right home, that would eliminate probably most families off the bat. These issues are not related to her SN or even orphanage stuff. They are medical related. And ironically, these issues ARE 100 percent perfect for us as we share the same ones family wide! Ya, shes a perfect fit for us, but we are not entirely the right fit for her!!! Go figure! :-(.
DeletePS.
DeleteIF the time comes to find her a home, we already have an agency we can use and were told we could expect around 5000 families to inquire. She is exceptionally beautiful so there will be much interest and to go down this road, we plan to be very very picky in who we choose. Its bad enough to even think of doing this, so we want to make sure we are picking the right family for her. I feel we have a really nice family ourselves and we are struggling, so the next family is going to need to be awesome to even make the final cut if we do readopt her out. She deserves nothing less then the "best", ya know?
That's wonderful that you think there will be so much interest in her! Our SW told us at our post placement visit, "Luke would be a very hard to place child."
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