Peter @ One Month

Peter at home

Tahani and grandson

We're Home!!!!!!

Sorry this is so late, but we have been home since Thursday night August 14. After 13 days in Dallas we received the call that all the paperwork had cleared and that we could go home. It was sweet music to our ears! Peter traveled very well and we made it home in just over 5.5 hours. He is sleeping and eating well and seems comfortable at our house. We are so thankful to Minh and Jenny Le who showed their love to us in action by housing us for more than one and a half weeks.

I think what surprises me most about Peter is the absolute joy Lisa and I feel when we are with him. I was thinking about that today and I'm not sure I've ever felt joy that way before. If I have it has been so long ago I can't recall when or where it was. Even so, it feels as if something has truly come alive in my soul. I know that sounds cheesy, but it is very true. I catch myself thanking the Lord for him very frequently. I pray that I will never take Peter for granted or waste any of the days that God has given him to us. Please pray that with us. The other thing I have really enjoyed is being able to say "my family". I sometimes laugh out loud over the joy I feel during silly little moments as described above.---Nathan

Life with Peter

Life with Peter

Life with Peter has been great. It still feels very, very surreal. Of course we have had some sleepless nights and a little sickness secondary to lack of sleep, but you will never find anyone who is happier about being tired than Lisa and I. Today, Monday, August 11, is our tenth day with him and we are still in Texas. Thanks to Minh and Jenny Le our stay has been very comfortable. Yet we long to bring him home. Please pray with us that the agencies involved will get their act together and make the one phone call we are waiting for so we can return home.

The weekend was a very special one. Before any of us had dreamed up this specific adoption, my parents and my brother's family had planned to be in Dallas for a wedding of a childhood friend, Amy Thompson. Joel and Cinthya had even planned on staying with Minh and Jenny. Therefore, we all had some sweet time of fellowship at the Le's house, and everyone got to meet Peter. Sunday we also had a wonderful surprise visit from Jeff and Meredith Price who were in Dallas for the weekend. What a joy it is to share our lives and live in fellowship with like-minded people.

Peter continues to do well overall and is getting over some nasal congestion that is apparently normal as babies clear residual amniotic fluid from their airways. He is opening his eyes much better at this point and is starting to have more awale moments. Sometimes I think he is really looking at me and other times I just think he is day dreaming. He still calms well when he is in the fetal position against our chest or on our shoulder. Lisa thinks he looks like George Bush in the eyes. Even though we have had our share of frustrations with the agencies involved and the process itself, Peter makes it all seem like trivial nonsense in comparison to the joy he is bringing to our lives. Thanks to all of you for the prayers and support you have given us. We love you all.

Peter day 11

Peter day 5

"Peter is Six Days Old!"

How many days and nights have we dreamed of being able to say that. Praise be to God that He hears our prayers and answers them in His time and His ways. He teaches us so much while we wait on Him, patience being one of the things He wants me to learn. Right now Peter is sitting on my lap and leaning on my right arm while I create my first blog article. I have been charged to "keep him upright for twenty minutes" before I lie him down. He is doing very well overall although last night he didn't sleep so well. Maybe that is because he has moved from the hospital to our case worker's hotel room to our first hotel room to our 2nd hotel room(the roach hotel/suite that only lasted 3.5 hours) to Minh and Jenny Le's home in Mesquite, TX. All of these moves have occurred in the first six days of his life. I guess that is part of the price of adoption. We long for home although we feel much more comfortable with Minh and Jenny that in the hotel. We thank God for their generosity and hospitality to us. Our agency has dropped the ball once again and did not fax our paperwork today to the agency in Dallas. This effectively quenches any chance of us leaving Texas this week unless God works another miracle for us.

I love holding Peter and watching him breathe. I forgot how many respirations per minute infants have! He loves to cuddle and always calms down when we hold him face against our chest and usually wiggles his tiny face into the crook of our neck. It is fun to watch Lisa with him. She is such a natural mother with her tender, gentle and nourishing spirit. We are eager to return home but also are trying to enjoy every moment here with him. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!