Our New Life Begins: Sinking in...

Monday, August 31, 2009

Sinking in...

Today I went to Leo's new school to talk to his school counselor. The plan is to start him in the 7th grade on Sept 21st. I can't believe I am now the mother to a middle-schooler. Walking into the school 5 minutes before school started brought back my own memories of being the new-kid-in-school at 7th grade...not fun. How I feel for my boy. His counselor is great and she walked me through the ELL (English Language Learner) program Leo will be in and how the transitioning works. We talked about Leo's history and decided on a class program that might work best for him. It sounded like a good program. And, how caring she was. I was relieved. After months of praying whether to put Leo in a charter school vs. public school vs. homeschooling vs. alternative schooling; the decision that brought Marvin and I the most peace was to start Leo in public school...see how he does...and take it from there. I keep praying...

We also had our travel orientation at our adoption agency. This is where our case worker sits down with us and discusses our schedule in the Philippines and what will happen during our appointments and when Leo is transferred over to us.

So, it is finally all sinking in now.

This past week we've been celebrating our church's 25th anniversary...the theme for the week has been "Honoring our Past but Celebrating our Future." We sang a new song at church called, "Moving Forward"...and that has been in my heart this whole month. I praise God for always speaking to me where I'm at.

I've got still a lot of stuff to organize and pack. Plus, I've got a messy house to clean...nothing sucks more than coming back jet-lagged from a trip to a messy house...ugh! Maile is so excited...so excited she lost ANOTHER tooth yesterday!

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is my husband. High school sweethearts and saved through Christ together, we've been married for almost 10 years. The comment I get most about Marv is, "He's a really good guy." That he is. He loves the Lord and is a wonderful husband, father, and friend. He's changed throughout the 20 years I've known him and keeps changing...but the love has always remained constant and enduring. In a conversation we had recently about freckles, Marvin looked at me sincerely and said, "Oh...I never noticed you had freckles." It shocked me. After 20 years, I realized how genuine love can really take away your imperfections. How reassuring...

Marvin is a physical therapist, he sings for the worship team at church, is a director for our church's discipleship and evangelism ministry, and is a well-rounded, out-going guy who makes friends easily . Plays basketball regularly, tennis, and golf occassionally. Likes reading, watching 'American Idol' and 'So you think you can Dance', popcorn, outdoors, good conversations, and entertaining Maile.

is my daughter...biological. She's a performer...loves to sing, dance, "act" and is quite dramatic and animated, even in normal conversation which can be pretty amusing. She's a little bossy but friendly and easily corrected. Confident and quite bold at times, she keeps me in check. At six years old, she knows more than I knew when I hit my 30's and has probably done more at six than I ever did at twenty. She's athletic...swims, plays basketball, dances, and is learning tennis with dad. Has a cute, petite physique for her age with such adorable cheek bones and dimples:o)

Maile loves cereal (particularly lucky charms), slumber parties, swimming, Bible stories, dogs, ice cream, being barefoot and all the girly stuff. I thank God for her all the time...she's a gift that keeps on giving, whether she knows it or not.

entered our life through a Philippines hosting program for orphans. At the time, we weren't thinking of adoption...we just wanted to help Filipino orphans. We didn't hesitate to advocate for these children and volunteered to be a host family for the program. We were matched with Mark Anthony, a 9 year old boy, but at the last minute he wasn't able to make the flight to California because of a typhoon. We were asked to host a 12 year-old boy instead...it was Leo.

We fell in love with Leo during his month-long stay with us and realized that he was part of God's plan for our lives. Click here to find out more about our journey.

Leo is sweet and sensitive. Likes singing, dancing, video games and basketball. Loves chicken nuggets. A good-looking kid with an awesome smile. Great with little kids, loves dogs, is very affectionate and likes to give hugs. Leo has been through a lot and much healing will have to take place throughout the course of his life. We pray God continues to prepare us well...

is a chihuahua mutt...maybe mixed with a weiner dog or a jack russell (yikes!), but has the personality of a cute 2 year old toddler...potty-trained:o) His name means "brave and fearless" in Hawaiian...we'll see if he can live up to it. Adopted from the shelter, he was marked as a "stray."

Never knew dogs could get so attached to one particular person. For Koa, that person is me. He tolerates the rest of the family, but I am by far his favorite, which is endearing but not-so-endearing at times (esp for my daughter). Aside from trying to "mark his territory" the day he came home, his transition to our family has been smooth. He's mellow and isn't tearing up the house (like our pup Lily, who massacred our backyard before we gave her up). Playful, affectionate but skiddish around new people, he's cozy and submissive in anyone's arms.