Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Wear an animal to school!

Last week Andon's class was all about animals. So on Friday his teacher told all the kids to wear clothes to make them look like an animal. What she meant was a grey shirt to look like an elephant, a striped shirt to look like a zebra.. you get the idea.

Well, Andon has a Stuart Little mouse costume that he insisted on wearing! So I let him.. :) Here are a just a couple cute pics from that day...

Saturday, March 21, 2009

For the praying among you

Update~


Thank you all so much for taking the time to pray for our family. I have felt such a peace with knowing all of you are thinking and praying for us. I (Jen) have gone through a lot of this journey on my own. Riding a roller coaster of emotions for the last few years and not sure how to communicate about it. One morning last week Jared and I were talking about all the remarks Andon has been getting and how hard it is. Well, a couple hours later I received an e-mail from him that he had sent to everyone in his office asking for prayer. I took so much comfort in knowing we had all of his co-workers praying on our behalf and knowing what we were going through. Then he decided to write on our blog and ask for prayer. The response was overwhelming and I can't express how freeing it is knowing you have all of these people going to the Lord on your behalf. So, Thank You So Much!

I wanted to go ahead and answer some of the questions from the comments here... Andon was born with a rare genetic disorder called Treacher Collins Syndrome. It affects 1 in every 10,000 births. It is a disorder that affects the growth of the facial bones while the baby is developing in the womb. Because of this Andon was born with a cleft lip that was repaired at 3 days old and a cleft palate that was repaired for the first time at 8 months. It did take 3 more surgeries to get it to stay closed and he has had a few other related surgeries. Since he was little his Dr's have talked about reconstructing the area underneath and around his eyes. Really we could go through with that at any time now but we are unsure of what to do. Also, they are talking about extending his jaw and that would require some hard things for a 5 year old to go through. He will have some dental surgery coming up in May and then a bone graft done to his upper jaw sometime soon. Andon does have a mild case of this disorder but by some of the remarks you wouldn't know that.

Thank you all for your sweet comments of him. I think he is absolutely adorable as well!! :)

Also, to Beth regarding Nancy Dunn.. Yes, it is the same Nancy! She wrote the daily devotional "Dear Daughters". It is a great devotional and I just adore her!



(original post)

Family,

If anyone of you know me you know that I normally have a boundary with personal stuff (Jared). God is teaching me that this is one area I need to "let go". So in response to Him I will be transparent and ask for help.

Andon is now 5 years old. He is coming to that point in his life where he is becoming not only self aware but, aware of the world around him and how it relates to him. Lately Jen and I have both noticed a great deal of "remarks" towards Andon from other children and even adults (I dont like your eyes, he's a monster, what's wrong with you etc) This is extremely hard for Jen and I have to admit for me as well at times...

Jen and I are also coming to that point in Andon's life where we need to make decisions regarding surgeries (to have or not to have). Andon has had about ten so far and has several to go. The decisions are no longer minor, they involve major reconstruction, possible "hardware" (bolts coming out of his jaw to extend it down and out etc) This pains me beyond belief and I must admit that while I trust that God has made Andon perfect and chosen the right parents for Andon, I am somewhat unsettled with the final decisions that need to be made. Know this, Andon's surgery to reconstruct his eyes and cheeks are cosmetic at this point! This has left Jen and I to seek the Lord in the most sincere and humble way. I love the Lord so much, I am humbled to think He has chosen both Jen and I to care for His perfect gift. I seek to honor God in all that we say, do and think. In regards to Andon I want what He want's.

What we do not need is sympathy. Jen and I will be the first to admit that Andon was, and still is, a major blessing to us. I can't imagine a more perfect gift for the two of us. His birth was a turning point in our walk, it was the first time I truly heard God speak to me, I am so thankful.

What we need is prayer. We need prayer that God will direct us through these decisions. We need prayer that God's plan is made clear and we will walk out that plan faithfully, boldly and with joy in our hearts. Jen and I are very excited to see how God will not only use this time to communicate His love and glory but how He will use Andon's life to reveal Himself.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Soccer mom (and dad)

Jen is at work so I hacked her blog (didn't know the password so I reset it!) She has a bit of catching up to do (about 1000 pics on memory cards but no updates on the blog!) I was looking through some and had to post Andon's first soccer game.
First off, I need to paint the picture here. The team has eight kids so to make it fair and fun they only let 3 kids play at a time. This creates a three on three situation. During practice the coach said at this age they just want to make it fun and get the kids used to the "idea" of soccer, no keeping score (I look over at Jen and whisper "Oh, I'm keeping score" It's a guy thing...lol). Anyway, they rotate the kids in and out to give them all playing time. Our team is a notch below the bad news bears, seriously. We have one kid who is actually real good but... If the ball gets taken away he runs, jumps in the air and slams to the ground crying (this is the coaches kid). He repeats this approximately ten times a game (sooo funny). We have another kid who watches his mom for instructions (will stand in the middle of the field, action going on all around him and will freeze to see what mom says next) and then we have Andon. Andon will break out into dance for no apparent reason, make funny faces until someone acknowledges he's making a joke and at times play soccer. The first game was six kids huddled around a ball, the ball disappears in the group and then suddenly pops out. The kids realize they are not huddled around the ball, all heads look up to find it and then it's a mad dash towards the ball again. This repeats itself for about thirty minutes. The first game was really fun, all the kids thought they were superstars and the parents enjoyed the time as well! Oh, and the score was 6 to 2 in favor of the other team!