first week home

He's got such a sweet smile...

The just-woke-up look...

They are still loving him!

We had a chance to share a little with our church family today our reasons for adopting Noah (not everyone reads the blog). I was thankful for it. This will be Noah's church family too, and it was important to me that they understood why we chose this path. So K did the honours and both of us (he onstage and me offstage) teared up a little when he explained how Noah is our son. He may have grown inside someone's body, but he is our son, the son God planned for us to have.

It's been hard work with the three kids. The hardest part of the day is when the two older ones come back home from school. They'll always still bouncing off the walls a little and are not particularly inclined to obey me quickly and easily. It's been a lesson in patience for me.

Even with the harder moments, it feels wonderful to have N home with us. Adopting him is my path of obedience. And as he settles down into his life with us, we look forward to his healing. Healing of some physical ailments. Healing of his emotional loss. Healing that only God can work out.

Sunday

getting to know you, getting to know all about you

We have been learning about Noah, as much as he is learning about us.

J and E are still pretty excited to have him here: Noah's like their toy-of-the-moment. They get upset each time I tell them that Noah's taking a nap; and they have been busy showing him off to almost everyone they know (and sometimes, people they don't know as well: strangers we meet in the lifts, for instance).

E is learning though that a new baby in the house means a little less attention for her, and she isn't enjoying that part so much. But she's still incredibly gentle with him, and she gets a kick out of making him chuckle. J is affectionate, sometimes a little too much! Noah definitely doesn't like it when J pops out in his face calling out his name!

Things we've learnt about Noah:

He's an okay feeder; but we're working on fattening him up! He sleeps quite a bit, and falls asleep by himself with nary a cry, which amazes K and I each time it happens. (Those who knew J when he was a newborn would know that he trained me to have very low expectations when it came to sleep!) So I am enjoying having a baby who can fall asleep on his own.

He coos, and has a really cute laugh: sort of a chuckle.

He likes his baths.

He's a great burp-er.

We're waiting on a few health tests, and are praying that he is fully healthy. We are also praying that he will have no problems attaching to us.

Sunday

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.

1 Samuel 1:27

I cannot say how thankful and blessed I am to know that as I am typing this, all my children are home, sound asleep in their beds.

Meeting our little brother for the first time

It was love at first sight, even though I wasn't sure it would be this way. Maybe it'd be a slow road, I had thought. It wasn't. And each time I carry him, feed him or change him, I fall in love just a little bit more.

It's been a little hectic this past day and a half: we brought Noah home, introduced him to two very enthusiastic older siblings, figured out the whole bottle feeding thing, remembered how floppy little babies can be. And then today, we dug out baby toys, introduced him to his grandparents and his church family, and got a new baby mobile for his bed (kor-kor helped put it together!).

It's been hectic, but wonderful too. Because right now, all my kids are in their beds, sound asleep.

introductions, please

Noah is home.

Everyone, meet Noah.


We are all adjusting. But Noah, especially. It must feel like his whole world has shifted.

blessed

We have heard people say, how lucky Noah is to be adopted, how blessed he is that he will be joining our family. It is easy, instinctive almost, to think this way. Because we are the ones who have, and right now, until he arrives on Saturday, he has not.

But this is not the message we've been getting.

In the past couple of days, through different messages from different friends, this is God's common theme for us: Noah is God's gift to us; we are the ones who are blessed.

And the truth is, we are already blessed. Blessed with friends dear to our hearts, here in Singapore and halfway across the world who pray with us, pray over us, and come alongside us to support us in this journey. Blessed with kids who are excited about an addition to our family, who eagerly tell anyone who will listen about their "baby Noah".

And this is before Noah even arrives.

We have much to be thankful for.

So we await with anticipation, the blessing that he will be to us.

four months old today

and four days to go before he gets here!

We're getting ready!

pre-school routines

Each morning, I shepherd both kids into the car, buckle them into their seats and drive them to school.

Each morning as we walk from our car to their school, I say a prayer aloud for them, so that they know that I am praying for them, and that I am asking God to cover their day. I almost always pray for the same things - that they will have a fun time learning, that they will have fun with their friends and teachers, that they will be healthy, and that they will be kept safe in their day. Sometimes we pray for their teachers and their classmates too. In the early days of settling into school, this was a real comfort to J: he would ask me to pray for him over and over again. Ad nauseum.

Each morning, they get their temperatures taken and hands and feet checked before they step into their class. J always goes first, E will not sit down until he's done. As each of them take their backpacks and water bottles from me, I tell them to have a good day, I tell them that I'll see them later and that I love them. Then I give them a little kiss on their heads. J is always moving away from me as I do this. Is he old enough to feel embarrassed by this already? So one morning I skip his kiss. He takes a step, then stops.

"Mom, aren't you forgetting something?" he asks. And points to his head.

And so I get to kiss my little man, who is growing up faster than I want him to. And feel gratified that my gestures of affection are still appreciated!

Sunday

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
Psalm 125:1

No shaking allowed!

getting into the olympic spirit

For the first time in 48 years, Singapore is actually in the running for either a gold or a silver medal in table tennis. Woo-hoo!

What we are learning from this year's Olympic games - J has the most competitive spirit! He was cheering the Singapore table tennis team on. He wants to watch anything Olympic-related on TV, never mind what sport it is. And when Singapore is not in the running, he cheers on USA (he recognises the US flag and calls it L.A. flag!).

The F1-Singapore Grand Prix happens next month. We stumbled on this ride in a mall that we go to quite often. To say that J was excited is perhaps understating it - he almost burst. He is fiercely competitive: he gives dirty looks to the other kids in the other cars as he passes them. He got really annoyed with a girl for stopping because she was blocking his way. When he wasn't glaring at his competitors, he was smiling in delight at the speed at which he was going. He's been on this ride on two separate occasions, each time he cried when the ride ended because he wanted to keep going.

After the ride today, he said, "Mom, next time when I grow up, can I be a race car driver?"