Month #2 already!

We moved 3 days ago into our 2nd apartment for the 2nd month! We have wifi (wireless internet) but only in the main house. Here's what I mean. Normally when students come for Spanish school, they can stay with a host family. We are renting our apartment from a family who hosts many students in their guest house which is right across the sidewalk from us (in the same yard). We just have to go there to access the internet! Right now Owen is sleeping while Otto is eating chips next to me! I can see where Owen is for when he wakes up! Awesome! Also as Aaron stated in his last post, we get our lunch and dinners prepared for us as all the students in the guest house do! It's awesome! The food is good and we eat with everyone in the guest house kitchen (we don't have to but it's easier, no mess in our kitchen, I don't have to shop for food, and we get to hang out with the other students and they LOVE Otto and Owen!). I feel soooooo blessed! Seriously! What a treat I could not have anticipated!!!!
I am very excited about going home, I miss many of my comforts, however I don't ever want to leave Spanish school! I love it! And I love speaking another language, it's sooooo cool! I love being in school, uh! Can't say enough!
But I'm excited to get home and get the boys back to their home and routine. Otto to school and his therapies (which he asks about) and Owen to his beloved friend Riley whom he asks about often and says he misses...too cute!
Aaron and I are losing weight, which is extremely exciting! We have to walk everywhere obviously and it's very expensive here to buy many packaged things like for example junk food so we don't buy much. It is a treat to have the occasional snack!
About a week ago, I heard Owen counting some cards and he counted them up to six IN SPANISH!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!!!! He doesn't even count that far in English, only up to 4!!!!! Also one day, we were all walking and Aaron was up ahead of us and Owen said, "Papa wait!" Aaron didn't listen so Owen said it in Spanish, "Papa, espera!" We both looked at each other and about freaked out!!!!!!!
I think the boys are bored of the toys we brought that are only so many as can fit in 1 suitcase! Oy! And it rains a lot so many times we can't go outside and play. It's interesting. These last 4 weeks are gonna fly by, it'll be bittersweet!
Will write more later, especially about our apartment, it's kinda like camping, explain more later, Owen up soon!

Hola Amigos!

Hola Amigos! It’s been 2 ½ weeks in Guatemala and 2 weeks of Spanish school already! I can’t believe it! Six more to go! We feel so blessed to be here and have this experience! It’s been amazing! Antigua, the city we are staying in, is so beautiful and the weather is such a break from south Texas weather! It’s only in the 70’s here, maybe it gets to 80 or low 80’s, maybe, but that’s it. The colors, flowers, architecture, gardens, etc, are breathtaking. It’s as if we’re in paradise, seriously. Every morning on our way to school, we see 3 huge volcanoes. Antigua is at the foot of them!
(We don’t have internet access at our apartment this month so it’s been difficult to blog or keep up with emails, but next month we will, that will be nice!)
School has been great! Aaron and I both love going and are learning a ton! Aaron is doing so well, I can’t believe it! He can speak sooo much better than me! I’m doing alright. It’s a lot to take in. Monday is Guatemala’s Independence Day so there is no school and also we are going to take Tuesday off as kind of a break and spend our long weekend just studying and trying to absorb all that we’ve learned so far!
The boys are great! They are loving the adventure! They say “hola” to everyone they pass on the street. We have access to a pool this month and they are doing great in their swimming skills. They both now can swim by themselves in the deep end with “wings” on! Big deal! They love it! Also out of nowhere last week, Otto wrote his name all by himself! I couldn’t believe it! And he’s done it a few more times since! That is such a huge success for him especially since one of his big delay areas is fine motor skills (his hands). He’s missing the first 2 months of school but he’s getting “schooled” in a different way too….that of experience, adventure, traveling, transitioning, etc. It’s some stuff you can’t learn in school. I’ve also been very surprised how well in general he is doing here. He seems more mature and not so hyper and just well adjusted. God is answering prayers! Owen loves all the activity! There is a well known daycare here, many people I know who have adopted have used her, Lissette, and I even used her when I was here last with Otto. She is great! The kids love going and whine, “no!” when we come to pick them up! She has tons of stuff for them to do…sandbox, swings, puzzles, costumes, the works…not to mention other kids to play with! We only have a suitcase of toys for the boys to play with! The 1st week, Aaron and I went to school on opposite shifts and it was tough. The 2nd week, we went together in the morning and the boys went to Lissette’s. They loved it, we loved it, and we had more family time together.
Speaking of blessing, God is so good and so concerned about the details! And I’m so thankful because so am I!!!!! LOL Settling in at first had its trials as well as blessings, as we had to figure everything out and things we needed, etc. We continue to find things cheaper than we had budgeted, for example, our apartment for the 2nd month. It’s awesome, everytime I start to stress out about something, it gets handled. You’d think I’d learn not to stress in the first place?! Some things die hard! ☺
There is this young guy at our school, a student, he’s like maybe 18 yrs old or so. His parents adopted him from Guatemala when he was a baby. He’s here now learning Spanish and volunteering with kids. He’s been here for several months and will be here for a few more. It’s so awesome and funny, a Guatemalan learning Spanish in Guatemala! I teared up hearing his story, I so desire for Otto to have such a love for his country and to want to give back somehow.
We have cook, Maira, who comes Monday-Friday to cook us dinner. Oh my, what a treat! It’s awesome and she’s good!!!! I’m learning some Guatemalan dishes and ways of cooking certain things.
All this to say, we are having the time of our lives! I constantly pray for safety and health and that God continues to take care of us and provide for our needs as He already has. I feel many of your prayers, seriously, thank you so much! Much Love

a few photos of our stay here in Antigua.

What a Trip!

These kids are such a trip!  They are being so good and loving every second of this day so far!  And it is so fun, so cool to experience it with them!  They love the "moving sidewalk" in the airport and of course seeing the planes!!!!!  Owen is pretty into his army guys, you know those very cheap green looking G.I. Joe guys?  Well there is a soldier here at the airport sleeping.  So I said, "Look OE, an army guy!!!!"  He stopped dead in his tracks and just stared in complete awe and turned to me and said slowly and quietly, "me touch him?"  Oh, to die for!  I said, "no he's sleeping."  But I totally would've asked the guy, if he was awake, if the boys could touch him!  LOL  I'm sure it would've made him feel famous!  LOL  As we're sitting here at the gate that says "Guatemala City," I am filled with emotion.  I can't believe we are doing this, we're going!  It's time, it's here!  My children are going to be in a foreign country!  Sure they go to Mexico, but this just seems different, bigger.  As a mom, I'm a little worried, but it'll be great and I keep trying to give all my anxiety over to God for protection and for Him to care for my children better than I ever could!  I also pray all our luggage makes it there!  LOL  Well, here goes nothing!  What a trip, such an adventure!  Much love and tons of hugs!!!!!!!  xoxoxoxoxoxo

Well...maybe not!

Oh goodness!  We went back to the Developmental/Behavior Pediatrician today.  She is the one we saw in Dec. '07 who started all this investigation into all that we learned about Otto this year.  After talking for a long time, she said her gut was telling her that Otto is not PDD-NOS (on the autism spectrum) which is what the neurologist added as a diagnosis this week.  She agrees with the mental retardation (everyone does) and does think ADHD.  She gave us a little questionnaire/test for autism and he didn't even place into the spectrum.  She also thinks he's much too social for autism.  BUT...she said once he goes back to school after we get back from Guatemala, the school can give him the ADOS test which will determine once and for all, I guess, if he has it or not.  WHATEVER!!!!!!  LOL  That's how I feel right now!  LOL  So that's what we'll do.  Wait til we get back.  

Also she made me feel good about our decision to not try any more ADHD meds.  He's on one med right now at the very minimal dose, it's a mood stabilizer and helps with his anxiety.  It has really helped Otto!  She said that since he's developmentally still so young (about 3.5 yrs old), his body can't cope with the side effects.  She said maybe you can try again later.  She's the 1st person to say that!  Everyone's answer just seems to be, MEDICATE HIM!  I'm also told by 2 different people that work with him that "he can't learn in the classroom like this" (referring to how impulsive and distracted he is).  I keep thinking well he's in a classroom for children with special needs so if they can't deal with him, then....umm.....HELLO????!!!!!!!  

It was encouraging to hear that his numbers are up age wise from our last visit!  In some areas he was in the 4-5 yr old range with some gaps.  That's all I care about, that he continues to learn, grow, and progress.  It's at his own pace, but that's all we can ask, of any of our kids!  :-)

Autism

I took Otto to a neurologist this week.  It's his 3rd time to a neurologist in the 3 years since he's been home, but the first time since all that we've learned about him this year.  The neurologist said he thinks Otto has PDD-NOS which stands for pervasive developmental delay not otherwise specified.  I know....what?!  LOL  It's on the autism spectrum, on the mild end.  It's very interesting b/c he's always had several autistic tendancies and we've looked into it before with a neurologist (in MI) but she didn't think he had full blown autism.  Also I've been researching and PDD-NOS behaviors/symptoms can show up later in preschool years, so it makes sense that it may not have been noticed before.  

It doesn't change the mental retardation, they can co-exist.  But the doctor said it's more likely that Otto has ADD and not ADHD.  The hyperactivity in ADHD is more likely impulsivity related to PDD-NOS.  ADD being his inability to attend to a particular task for more than 1 minute!  It's all so complicated.  There's so many issues to consider and so many diagnoses that could apply.  Bottom line of course is to try to aid Otto in becoming the very best he can be.  All of these labels have helped provide many services for Otto that he (and us as a family) has greatly benefited from.  The labels also are just helpful for me to try to understand what is going on with this child and why he does or doesn't do certain things!  :-) 

A Good Word and A Good Laugh!

I caught a video recently on someone's blog and was touched, blessed, and laughed (the guy is funny)!  This guy, Reggie McNeal, is talking to church people about how we "do church".  He was speaking at a conference and part 1 here is a message he gave followed by part 2.  Both were very good with a great mix of humor, so much so that I wanted to share it!  The 1st one is 44 min and the 2nd one is 49 min.  Each seems long but I didn't notice.  

I'm hoping you can just click on the link and it'll take you to the video (I don't know how to imbed a video on my blog!).

Reggie McNeal Part 1

Reggie McNeal Part 2