teamhuerta

Instant Parenthood (part 1)

// August 31st, 2007 // 1 Comment » // Colombia

This month we celebrated 6 months
home from
Colombia! Wow-wee, we have had fun bonding, attaching,
and adjusting as a family! I’m pretty sure the adjusting part will certainly be
on-going as the children go through different stagesJ  We did have
a few "ups and downs" through these months, but overall we just
cannot stop being grateful for how blessed we are to have such beautiful and
precious children. Luis, Ana Maria, and Jeison never cease to amaze us. They have been so resilient in the way they
just opened up their hearts after 8, 6, and 4 years of not knowing us or having
us in their lives and completely by faith, decided to love us and let us into
their hearts. This is such an amazing honor!


We definitely have had a
wonderful summer, where they’ve experienced and learned many new things. Their
favorites have indeed been swimming (anywhere anytime), biking, playing at any
park, finding out how much (extended) family they have and getting to meet
them, especially their “Nuevo primos!”, (new cousins), camping, and visiting
their grandparents. They had never owned
bikes and did not know how to ride them, so they have done soooo much riding…
Luis literally burned a hole right through his tire! It’s amazing how quickly they learned though. Ana Maria, not wanting to be
"outdone" by her big brother, worked VERY, VERY hard at it and the
day before her 6^th birthday she said "goodbye" to her
training wheels – Yee-haw! then she just had to learn not to lean too far. Jeison is riding hard to build up his
strength and keep up with the other two, but still taking his good ‘ole
time. He says: why rush? I now have a
"Forever Mami & Papi" and they will help me until I’m ready to
ride on my own!

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Instant Parenthood (part 2)

// August 31st, 2007 // 2 Comments » // Colombia

They have so enjoyed all of
the new toys, games, music, and other gear that many family and friends have
showered them with since the day we learned about them back in November
2006. They absolutely love to play
together, and they do so, very well! They have great joy and pride to help around the house with anything
that we ask them to do, especially if they get to “work together” on the
task! You name it… setting/clearing the
table, dusting, taking out the trash, feeding Gato and Nala, brushing their
teeth, helping bake, cook, or make sandwiches…. We have to ask ourselves often “How long will this last?” We find ourselves saying, “this must be the
only part of the “honeymoon stage” that we haven’t left behind!”

They are very adventurous, with
new activities and trying all kinds of new foods. They eat just about anything… and a whole lot
of it! It seems they know the difference
between foods that are just: "delicious but not nutritious" and the
ones that are "nutritious and delicious!" Candy and junk food doesn’t
seem to be a big deal to them, but when it is offered or sitting in front of
them… boy oh boy do they get excited and quickly ask “May I please have candy/a
cookie?” On some occasions, like after breakfast, it’s a “No, but you can have
some more grapes.” They quickly respond, “Mmmm,” and squeal with excitement! Now vegetables were a rough territory at
first. But with Mami and Papi placing it
on their plates and with persistent coaxing :>) “little trees, little
clouds” (broccoli and cauliflower), and green peppers (I don’t have one for
that yet) are no longer the enemy but actually a great friend to their tummies.
Every type of condiment that could be
put on food seems to be called “salsa”, and they reallllly love salsa! Papi just loves to see them eat a helping of
salad without any dressing, just like him!

Spiritually, Luis, Ana Maria, and
Jeison are growing. They treasure
devotion time, and especially enjoy acting out the Bible stories. They just love to pray, especially before
their meals and before bed. And it’s so
sweet to hear Ana Maria be outside in the middle of the day, for example and
say “Thank You Jesus for the sun, es un dia bonito!” (It’s a pretty day!)  Their
prayers are letters straight from their hearts of complete thanksgiving to God
right now, and it’s precious. They have
amazing memory’s and nobody that is a part of their life is left out! We so appreciate how they always thank God for having food and for
Papi’s “trabajo” (work). 

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Instant Parenthood (part 3)

// August 31st, 2007 // 3 Comments » // Colombia

Physically, they are each thriving.
With as much as they eat, I can’t believe they haven’t gained weight
though. When we met Luis and Jeison, although
always very excited to run around, jump, and play, they would so easily get out
of breath and just simply didn’t have very smooth form, as if physical activity
had not been encouraged much. Jeison
can keep up with the rest of us pretty well on a walk now, that of course is
with him jogging… and he now climbs and runs up the play place at Chick-Fil-A,
no more crawling one leg at a time! Luis
is working on his running form and practicing a lot of soccer and enjoys going
to practice with Coach Papi for the High School boys. Ana Maria, well she never runs out of
energy. Jose describes bedtime with her
like “trying to put a cat to bed!”, kicking and laughing she goes down and is
the first up in the whole house in the morning. It’s like the “on” switch is turned on and she is rearin’ to go!

Academically, they are doing
quite well. They are a bit behind, but we just have to work hard with them, to
build the foundation they lack and help them catch up.  Our #1 goal this year is English
acquisition. Luis and Ana are learning
to read, which is a very big goal as well, when you’re learning to read and the
words are in English… I’ve seen that it’s hard for them to get excited that they
just read a word or a sentence when they
don’t recognize the language. Jeison is
working on his writing, coloring and numbers right now. As a reminder, Jeison still can’t talk, but
he is trying so hard and wants to so badly!

Acquisition of the English
language has finally become more natural to them, they were really struggling
with the language for the first several months that we almost felt as though
they were afraid to start trying, just to be sent back to Colombia.

They
acted as though they didn’t believe this new
family situation was really true and permanent, maybe it was just too good
to be true. Now that they are more comfortable and accepting of their
"Forever Family" it is wonderful and since this summer we have
started to hear them interacting with one another and listen to them use
English amongst themselves. We just laugh and laugh with them, when they use
some of our expressions at the right time. Luis’ favorites: "Oh my
goodness" and “Nala wupper pupper,” Ana Maria’s favorite: "Okie-Dokie,”
and Jeison simply likes to say our names over and over and over and over again…
because that is what he can say!

Whew! This has been one long update of
our first, technically seven months together! God is good! We have such a collection of ‘Stories of God’s
Faithfulness” throughout the adoption process and the past couple of
years. We really do – what a treasure
that will be to look back upon and share with our children how they were loved
and prayed for and supported to bring home by so many.  Thank you!!!

Hope you have a fantastic fall
season! Don’t forget to leave a comment
for the kiddos, they just love it when we read them to them and enjoy knowing others
have been enjoying their journey!

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GRRRR….

// August 30th, 2007 // No Comments » // Life

—————-
Now playing: The Blues Brothers – Messin’ With The Kid
via FoxyTunes   


Now playing: Chris Rice – Naive
via FoxyTunes   

—————-
Now playing: Chris Rice – Naive
via FoxyTunes   
   
  Nala
Originally uploaded by Abba’s Girl.

You ever have one of those days when things go bad for ya…well I was coming home from a soccer game, we lost 10-0, this week driving and thinking with my windows down.  Oh yeah it’s like 92 degrees and my thick cotton polo is
drenching me in my own perspiration for the lack of functional AC in my
13 yr old truck. The thud of the wind in my truck made it virtually impossible to hear the radio cranked up, which is frustating enough until I get a call on my cell phone…my wife….must answer…but wait…ROAMING…big red letters spell out digital roaming to me while also communicating to me that “YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO PAY SO DON”T ANSWER IT AND PRAY it’s not an emergency.”  I guess thats what you get when driving on the backroads of Kentucky…..Finally got to town and stopped for dinner before heading home…Subway sounds good, right…maybe if you didn’t get to the sub shop right before they close when soda nozzles are soaking in water and their clean prep boards are removed and your sandwich is dragged across the crud that gets collected underneath the usually sterile prep boards.

finally walk out with my sandwhich and soda to head over to Kroger so I can pick up a paper and some milk for the fam….I jump into the turning lane when everyone knows that at night with little traffic it equals….wait a very long time to turn! So, I had several thoughts of running the straightaway green and flipping a U-Turn; which would *cross fingers* hopefully be faster than waiting at this stupid red light…..but no, my patience persists…really it was a good time to start eating the sub…which tasted yummy at that moment in time….

Finally get to Kroger and park in the deserted end of the parking lot and proceed to the regular door I often use during daylight hours…everything was fine, the lights were on in the store and the “OPEN 24HRS” hung in my plain sight…but wait the automatic sliding door wouldn’t open…so I did the logical thing I tried to pry it open with my fingers…when I realized I was being watched by others pulling into the parking lot…I did what any smart person would do; I started coughing like I was about to loose a lung while I non chalantley walked over to the other side of the store to go in the doors that Stay open 24hours….(the coughing was induced by my love of the Sun Chips from Subway)…a

    As I made my way in the “out” I almost hacked up my lung all over a Kroger bagger boy whom I also scared half to death by sneaking up on him from outside the glass door.   I thought this night couldn’t get much better until I realized where the milk was located in the store….at the complete back and opposite end of the “ALWAYS OPEN” door I had walked in.  As i made my way back to the far corner I grabbed the milk and thought my truck is right out this door maybe I can get it open from inside and pay the cashier and avoid walking all the way down to the other side of the store just to walk all the way back. Not happening though…I finally got outside and headed back to my truck and put the key in the ignition and click…turn…click…turn …click  nada nothin zilch…since my truck is notorious for doing this (actually I have yet to spend the $150 to get the new starter and replace it…trying to see if I really need to change it)I decided to take a break from all the excitement. Not sure of how long my truck will hold out I turn on the radio and take a little sauna in my truck while trying to enjoy the other half of my sub…and drinking my extra large soda dry. 

    Five minutes later my truck decided to start and we were off on my last leg home….but wait just as I think my evening adventure is over…A cop pulls out of nowhere and gets behind me….You know the feeling…You check your seatbelt speedometer, your hands are at 10 and 2 and you let off on the gas just a little praying it’s not you ……while every ten seconds looking in the rearview please please not me…just then he pulls around me then proceeds to cut me off and light up the guy in front of me…wheewwww time for bed now…..

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I’m not sure…

// August 20th, 2007 // No Comments » // Funny

  I’m not sure… 
  Originally uploaded by Abba’s Girl.

Our kids love the animals.  Recently our cat, Gato, has been darting out the front door as soon as it squeaks open. She constantly meows and whines at the door waiting for someone to heed her cries and "free" her.    In the picture you can tell that the Gato does not like the idea of having to come back inside.  J-man looked at me and struggled with all his might to lift the 7pound beast… our life is so full of fun and excitement when you have kids loving and helping with animals.  Hope you enjoy the picture as much as we enjoy laughing and living with our "5" children.

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