Home Safe and Sound
Well, Doug, Creed, Pierce, and Scott made it home safe and sound. Doug kept telling me he was going to post and catch up but he has been so busy trying to catch up with the other parts of life posting has not happened. So here I am. I will fill in the part since they came home and encourage Doug to do the rest.
The boys were scheduled to come home at 12:10am Wednesday night. I got a call at 6:00pm from Doug telling me that their flight was delayed an hour. The ticketing agent offered for them to go standby on the next flight that left at 6:30pm if there was room. Doug had checked on that option and was told it would cost $170 to change flights but because their flight was delayed they could try to get on for free. At the gate the agent let them know that there were about 20 people in line for the available seats but they didn't know how many they would get on board. Just a few minutes later Doug and the boys names were called to board the plane. Someone must have liked them because they were at the bottom of the list and were one of 5 standbys allowed to board. I picked them up at 8:40pm.
I was standing in a place that I could see behind the security. Doug saw me first and waved. Scott noticed me and smiled from ear to ear. I was nervous not knowing how he would react to me. Over Skype I had crossed an emotional line for Scott and he rejected me, so I didn't know where I stood or how to act. When Scott saw me he ran to me and gave me hug. It was so good to have him be open to that degree. Sadly, that was one of two hugs for mom in the last 4 days but it will come.
Scott is doing very well. He loves men! He latches on to them easily and needs a lot of physical connection. He hugs, holds hands, wrestles and touches as much as he can. It's not just those he has been with either. It's all men when they come to the house. At church Scott was very appropriate. He sat quietly when needed and smiled and said Hi when people in introduced themselves. We weren't sure what class to have Scott go to because of the language issue. We went to Primary where the children between 3-11 attend because Hyrum was reading a scripture. Scott relaxed and made it clear he loved the opening song. We decided to have Doug stay in primary for singing time with Scott while I took Gideon to nursery. Doug had to go to his class for the third hour so Scott sat with Marshall for the older kids singing time. The Primary president came out to tell me that Scott was doing so good. He tried to sing the songs and moved withe the music. I think we will have Scott go to singing and sharing time for a few weeks so he learns that church is a good place to be. I know he liked it there, he smiled more than I have seen him smile while we were at church. He is a pleasant person and likes to smile. We don't get as many smiles right now as we will when he is feeling more at home but it is clear that he is a happy person by nature. Scott knows a few words of English and his favorite is "No". He also exhibits some behaviors of a teen though I don't know if it's orphanage behavior or teen things. He is not real interested in learning English at this point so I decided to wait for a week or two to let him settle in a little.
As his mother I am doing a lot of observing. I want to know as much as I can so I can create a game plan. Scott is doing so well with the transition. He really does desire to have a family and be part of it. He still doesn't understand all that it means but I know he will find great joy in HIS family as he trusts and allows us to nurture and love him completely. I think that his trust will come quickly. Scott's heart has been prepared by God for this moment and the Lord is giving Scott strength and blessings to help him succeed. We are all blessed in this adoption as all the children are opening their hearts and reaching out to make Scott feel welcome and loved. The gifts we receive are many as we do what the Lord asks us to do. Being in a large family with having special needs and adding members of the family at older ages the children become compassionate and accepting.
The other night Scott sat on the couch as far from the family as possible but still present. I could see he was struggling. I went and sat by him and immediately the tears fell. He was so brave and tried so hard to control himself. The tears still came so Doug go out the pictures Scott had from the orphanage. I sat with Scott not knowing if we wanted me there or not while he watched pictures of those people he called family. All the children wanted to see too and didn't realize what was happening. We asked them all to give us space and wait another day to see the pictures. About an hour later Clayson, our 9 year old, was sobbing. I asked what was wrong and he expressed he was sad for Scott. What a tender little heart he has.
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The boys were scheduled to come home at 12:10am Wednesday night. I got a call at 6:00pm from Doug telling me that their flight was delayed an hour. The ticketing agent offered for them to go standby on the next flight that left at 6:30pm if there was room. Doug had checked on that option and was told it would cost $170 to change flights but because their flight was delayed they could try to get on for free. At the gate the agent let them know that there were about 20 people in line for the available seats but they didn't know how many they would get on board. Just a few minutes later Doug and the boys names were called to board the plane. Someone must have liked them because they were at the bottom of the list and were one of 5 standbys allowed to board. I picked them up at 8:40pm.
I was standing in a place that I could see behind the security. Doug saw me first and waved. Scott noticed me and smiled from ear to ear. I was nervous not knowing how he would react to me. Over Skype I had crossed an emotional line for Scott and he rejected me, so I didn't know where I stood or how to act. When Scott saw me he ran to me and gave me hug. It was so good to have him be open to that degree. Sadly, that was one of two hugs for mom in the last 4 days but it will come.
Scott is doing very well. He loves men! He latches on to them easily and needs a lot of physical connection. He hugs, holds hands, wrestles and touches as much as he can. It's not just those he has been with either. It's all men when they come to the house. At church Scott was very appropriate. He sat quietly when needed and smiled and said Hi when people in introduced themselves. We weren't sure what class to have Scott go to because of the language issue. We went to Primary where the children between 3-11 attend because Hyrum was reading a scripture. Scott relaxed and made it clear he loved the opening song. We decided to have Doug stay in primary for singing time with Scott while I took Gideon to nursery. Doug had to go to his class for the third hour so Scott sat with Marshall for the older kids singing time. The Primary president came out to tell me that Scott was doing so good. He tried to sing the songs and moved withe the music. I think we will have Scott go to singing and sharing time for a few weeks so he learns that church is a good place to be. I know he liked it there, he smiled more than I have seen him smile while we were at church. He is a pleasant person and likes to smile. We don't get as many smiles right now as we will when he is feeling more at home but it is clear that he is a happy person by nature. Scott knows a few words of English and his favorite is "No". He also exhibits some behaviors of a teen though I don't know if it's orphanage behavior or teen things. He is not real interested in learning English at this point so I decided to wait for a week or two to let him settle in a little.
As his mother I am doing a lot of observing. I want to know as much as I can so I can create a game plan. Scott is doing so well with the transition. He really does desire to have a family and be part of it. He still doesn't understand all that it means but I know he will find great joy in HIS family as he trusts and allows us to nurture and love him completely. I think that his trust will come quickly. Scott's heart has been prepared by God for this moment and the Lord is giving Scott strength and blessings to help him succeed. We are all blessed in this adoption as all the children are opening their hearts and reaching out to make Scott feel welcome and loved. The gifts we receive are many as we do what the Lord asks us to do. Being in a large family with having special needs and adding members of the family at older ages the children become compassionate and accepting.
The other night Scott sat on the couch as far from the family as possible but still present. I could see he was struggling. I went and sat by him and immediately the tears fell. He was so brave and tried so hard to control himself. The tears still came so Doug go out the pictures Scott had from the orphanage. I sat with Scott not knowing if we wanted me there or not while he watched pictures of those people he called family. All the children wanted to see too and didn't realize what was happening. We asked them all to give us space and wait another day to see the pictures. About an hour later Clayson, our 9 year old, was sobbing. I asked what was wrong and he expressed he was sad for Scott. What a tender little heart he has.
A great friend of ours brought over a cake to welcome Scott home. We were going to make it a birthday party too but I felt like we needed to make it a little lower key. I'm glad that I chose to eliminate the gifts. Scott was overwhelmed and didn't even eat the cake that night.
Scott took three tries to blow out the cake. It took us a bit to help him understand what he was supposed to do. He kept telling us no but finally did it. The next day Scott was feeling better and he had some cake.
He loved it!
A very handsome young man.
Hannah had a craving for brownies from a box. She invited Scott to help her make them.
They did great together and had a lot of fun. The brownies turned out great. If you ever want a great mint brownie use the dark chocolate mix and add a drop or two of peppermint oil.
Fantastic!
Casey, in the pink, is on a crusade to earn enough money to buy a penny board. He asked if he could scrub the grout. I came in and saw Clayson and Scott helping. Scott was very meticulous! I hope he didn't think that is what is expected of him in his new family.
Scott is a great help and tries to get the kids to keep their stuff more clean. Hopefully that will continue.
The boys started scrubbing with old toothbrushes. Next thing you know Gideon has his toothbrush in the 409 scrubbing the tile. Scott was grossed out by it. :)
At least Scott knows what to do with a tooth brush.
What a lovely story about Scott's first few days at home. it is so awesome that you can read him so well so quickly. He does have a great smile.
ReplyDeleteHugs!