It's been a long time!

It has been a long time since I have pulled up my blog to write a post. I have been very busy and quite honestly did not know what to share. It has been a long few months. We have had great struggles with the school system trying to get Michael help in school. It amazes me that even after they saw how he was, they still insisted on rewarding him for doing bad things. It has made me struggle with the fact that we cannot afford to have me stay home or for us to send him to a school of our own choice.
At the very beginning of June, we found out that God had blessed us with another child and then on June 12th that baby went home to be with Jesus. I praise God that we were able to know that the baby was there before we lost her. The first one we lost, we didn't know about until he was already gone. Also on that day, Aaron graduated with his Associate's degree. A few days later, Alisha graduated from kindergarten.
Alisha has made great progress in school. In January and February, we though she was never going to learn to read. She would sound out every letter of word but could not put them together to form the word. But she ended up the school year reading simple books. She is so excited to read and is reading signs and books to us all the time.
Matthew is still doing well. He got an electric guitar for his birthday and is now taking lessons. He has found that is very difficult, so we have to remind him that the outcome will be worth the work of lessons and practice. I think most kids struggle with that part of learning to play an instrument.
Kevin is growing up so fast. I can't believe his 3rd birthday is only a few months away. He is so smart and cute. He makes me laugh all the time. (well most of the time) Now if only he would figure out the potty training thing. He loves to "swim" in the pool with Matthew. He loves going to the park no matter how hot it is outside.
Michael has challenged us the most. He has had a few good days here and there, but most days have been filled with challenging behavior and a nasty mouth. I'm not sure where he picked up a lot of what he says, but he has come up with some awful stuff. However, we have finally gotten some help that seems to be working. After he beat me up on Tuesday, Aaron talked to the psychiatrist and we adjusted his treatment. Since Wednesday, he has been doing pretty good. Not perfect, but manageable. I finally feel like there is hope. He has smiled more in the last few days than he has in months. He went to VBS at my parents' church yesterday and was pretty good.
Please keep praying for us as we seek God's direction in raising these precious children.

Michael Update

our kids with their cousins on mommy's side of the family

our kids with their baby cousin (daddy's side of the family)



Alisha's new hairdo.


We are asking that everyone join us in prayer for Michael. We have kept somewhat quiet to the most for a long time, but we feel we need a lot of support at this point. Michael has struggled with some physical and behavioral problems since he came home almost two years ago. We worked with our former pediatrician to try to get answers for some of the physical problems to no avail. She didn't seem to be very interested in finding solutions. She wasn't really interested in listening and seemed to minimize any of my concerns. We have tried what seems like a million things to deal with the behavior issues hoping that once he had been here for a year or so, he would get adjusted and begin fitting in. But as the year mark came and went, we found that he wasn't settling into the routine of family life and was having more and more issues. Since he has been in preschool this year, he started getting better and then took a turn and seems to be progressively regressing and getting worse.
We started seeing a new pediatrician this last week. She listened to me and seemed very interested in trying to find some solutions. We talked for over half an hour. We have started doing some medical tests and she called today requesting a few more tests based on some preliminary results. We are hoping that they can find some answers for him.
We have also been recommended to a counseling center. I am going to try to call them this week and investigate whether they can see him and whether they take our insurance. So please join us in prayer for our little guy. He is obviously hurting inside and we want to be able to help him so that we can enjoy spending time with him. Pray for peace for our family as we face these trials and the turmoil that he can create in the home.
The other kids are doing okay. They get stressed out with some of Michael's behaviors, but I believe that they are really trying to help him most of the time. Matthew is doing fabulous in school still. Alisha is improving greatly over the past few weeks, but still has a long way to go. Kevin is learning so much lately. He really amazes me.