The Herman Family

Sunday, August 31, 2014

August 2014

August was a busy month. School started again which meant that Liam started PreK. In addition to teaching Mondays and Wednesdays, I also started watching Cassidy (1 year old) and Madelyn (3 years old) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We took a zoo trip as a family and Liam rode the sky safari with Dad for the first time. We also went to Cleveland for Phil Zielinski's installation service. We stayed in a hotel and went to the Hands On Museum. We also just had fun visiting parks.

Leo-Cedarville Park

Lilly has started setting the table herself.

Fort Wayne Children's Zoo

Lilly's favorite animals right now are the penguins.

Daisy waits patiently for Dave to come home from work.

Lilly went to her first movie in the movie theater. We saw "Mr. Peabody and Sherman"

Leo Cedarville Park

Madelyn, Lilly & Cassidy

Cleveland Hands On Museum

Sid the Science Kid showed up to do an experiment and take pictures.

Friday, August 8, 2014

Contentment

^{Phillipians 4:11-12}

¹¹I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹²I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

I am a planner. Some might say I am Type A or OCD. I like things to be organized. I have peace when everything is in order. Life experiences have taught me that there are things beyond my control. The road to having children has been completely beyond my control. Adoption is one long trust exercise. You have control about how you fill out paperwork, but that's about it. You can't control the guidelines, the officials in how they process paperwork, the wait for a referral, or the wait to travel. Only God, the Master Planner, has control over all that. You just have to trust that God knows what He's doing and will guide you through the wait. Our wedding verse, Jeremiah 29:11, was so meaningful in those periods of wait. I learned a great deal about myself through those experiences. Letting go of the vision I had of "perfection" was a huge deal for me. Looking back, I can see how all those tedious details all fit together so perfectly and it makes sense. It is true that God is able to do immeasurably more than we could hope or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). There are months that our financial well is dry (adoption can do that to you). There are months when we feel more at ease with finances and think maybe we're getting our heads above water. In each of those circumstances, God's hand of provision has been with us.

And now, we are on the edge of uncertainty. We feel God nudging us, but are uncertain what that means. We are wondering if it's time to physically move to a new house, which is scary and challenging, but also exiting. Are we meant to adopt again? Looking at the numbers, there is no possible way we could afford another adoption right now, but we had always said we wanted 3-4 kids. Is this nudging for now, or is God starting us on a coarse that will take place years from now? Is our family complete and God is calling us to new ministry avenues? Don't you just wish God would send you an e-mail with his plan all typed up? I do, but then again, I don't. I know that I've grown the most in my waiting stages of life. I can tell you that I am CONTENT. I honestly am. Whether we stay in this house until we enter a nursing home, or move to a larger home, I'm cool with that. Whether we have 1-2 more children, or just the 2 amazing ones we have now, I'm OK with that too. God made me the planner I am and He has given me opportunities to perfect my skill of organization. He delights in me and all my quirks. After all, He created me. He also has a master plan for our family. Whatever that plan holds for us, it will be perfect, because He is perfect. It has taken me 32 years to get to this place, and heaven knows, there's more work to be done. But, what a freeing feeling contentment is! I am not naive to think that our lives will be smooth sailing. This isn't heaven. However, I do know that regardless of whether we are on the mountaintop or in the valley, God's with us. The creator of our unique family, knows the destination. We are praying that we follow His path. And now, we wait...

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Lilly Update

Two weeks ago Lilly had another hearing test to determine if her hearing aids are at an appropriate setting. It is extremely difficult to keep a two year old still in a sound booth. Lilly was introduced to a new type of assessment the previous time we were there and she was so confused and did not perform well. During the assessment she was asked to hold a block to her cheek and put it in a bucket once she heard a sound. The sounds came from different speakers throughout the sound booth and were different frequencies. The first time she was given this task she just kept throwing the blocks in the bucket. She was bored within five minutes and wanted to get out of there. This time she actually stuck with the activity the whole time. There are still some sounds that she's missing, but she is hearing a great deal more with her hearing aids. They noticed at that appointment that she had a lot of wax in her ears. They couldn't see one of her tubes and the other one was falling out. They also noticed that her hearing aids were not fitting as well. So, we took new molds of her ears and ordered the new part for her hearing aids. Thankfully, First Steps will pay for them. They will discontinue paying for them when she turns three, which is in a month. I'm thankful we got that taken care of in time.
This week we went to pick up her new hearing aid pieces and met with Dr. Reddy. Dr. Reddy removed all the wax from her ears. He kept showing me the wax after he took it out. I wanted to say, "Really, it's OK, I believe you, no need to keep showing me." It was pretty disgusting. I can now tell you all the difference between Asian wax and Caucasian wax. Anyway, he also removed both tubes, since they were caked in wax as well. Her ear drums look great and she doesn't have any fluid build-up, so for now the tubes will stay out. We'll go back in 3 months to check everything again - same drill - hearing test, check hearing aids, and check wax levels in the ears.
Lilly has now had her hearing aids for two months and this is what we are noticing. She is more responsive to directions and makes better eye contact. She studies our mouths when we speak. It amazes me how well she coped before having hearing aids. Before she got her tubes, she wasn't hearing much of anything and yet she was following directions. She was picking up clues around her. That just proves how smart and resilient she is. Now, she babbles and sings all the time. Her hearing specialist explained that Lilly is now where an infant would be with speech. She has to reach all the speech milestones in order. So, for now, she is babbling and saying simple words. Her words are approximations. She usually just says the vowel sounds in words. For instance, please is "ee" and up is "uh". She is trying, which is great. We also introduce new vocabulary with the corresponding sign. She seems to say words better when she can sign them at the same time. This week we introduced the sign for drink and help. When she gets frustrated it's nice to be able to read her sign language, since so many of her words sound the same. It is truly a work in progress. I know once she starts talking, there will be no stopping her! My favorite thing is hearing her say, "I uh ooh" (I love you). She is such a sweet, independent, and determined little thing! She will overcome this obstacle just like every other one she's encountered.
Her speech teacher is also happy with her improvements. She says Lilly has all the prerequisites for speech. In a month Lilly will get a new speech teacher, since she will be three and will no longer qualify for First Steps. That makes us sad, since Abby has been so good for Lilly. At least services will continue. We'll be sure to blog about all that as it happens.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

July 2014

We love summer! After such a cold winter, we are all so excited to get outside. The kids are at such a fun age. We love to take little day trips. We've been to the zoo several times and each time the kids are fascinated with something new. Liam started the summer really interested in different types of bats. We saw the bats at the zoo before they closed their exhibit and checked out books about bats from the library. Grandpa Herman made Liam his very own bat-house. Lately, he has been interested in peacocks (male peacocks to be exact). Lilly loves penguins right now and takes her stuffed penguin with her everywhere. Who knows what they'll be into next month? In addition to penguins, Lilly is also really into accessorizing and acting out Tangled and Frozen. She can be found singing and dancing around the house with her plastic frying pan. This year we went to see fireworks in Leo-Cedarville for Independence Day. The kids really enjoyed watching them and loved being able to stay up late. We've been to different parks and to the library for story time. I taught dance again at CLHS drama camp. The kids came for a little bit one day and loved being on stage. Liam asked if he could be in the show. We took a mini vacation to Grandma & Grandpa Kusch's (look up the blog post Michigan Staycation for more information on that). We are cherishing this summer!