Football!

We at the Magnuson house are excited about the Super Bowl!  Emet wore his Colts hat to Sunday School- usually the hat stays home.  Really, the boys just like football.  While at the dr’s office this week, there was a hockey game on a sports station, and Emet said, “Football!”  At another dr’s office the boys paged through Sport’s Illustrated because there were football pictures on the cover.

They like to say “touchdown” too, thanks to Uncle Neil (a.k.a. Uh-uh No-no), and we’ve found that this special word really work in our favor.  For instance, changing Jamin’s shirts is way easier now- we just stay “Touchdown!” and he throws his arms up in the air.  The boys also get touchdowns for putting blocks away in their box, so clean-up is much more fun than it ever has been

Neither kiddo can say football or touchdown properly, so they have their own versions.  I was trying to help Emet pronounce the “f” sound, so I said “ffffffffffffootball.”  He repeated, “fffffffffffffff bootball.”  Cracked me up.

Since we don’t have TV service at home, I checked out a football highlights video from the library- all three boys loved it!  Here’s a video of the little ones watching it.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!  GO COLTS!

Stickers

I mentioned in the previous post that Emet got a sticker with Sally from “Cars” on it.  The kid is obsessed.  He keeps the sticker in the tin with his cars, and will ask me where Sally is, go searching for her, and celebrate finding her.  When he says “Sally,” it sounds a lot like “Daddy” but there’s kind of an S sound mixed in, too.

In this video, we were testing out what Emet can do with his cast on, like jumping, but we quickly return to Sally.

With Sally in the house, stickers are all the rage, including the stickers off of our Cutie clementines.  Jamin lost one in his hair.

I have never…

We play this game with the youth where one person stands in the center of a circle of his seated peers and says, “I have never _________.”  And then they fill in the blank with something they’ve never done.  The other players in the circle who have done that thing must get out of their chairs and try to get to a new one.  The only person left standing starts the whole process again.  Well, I can always get away with saying, “I have never worn a cast.”  Unfortunately, Emet will never get to say that!

Last night I was getting the boys ready for dinner- Jamin’s hands were washed, and he was in his high chair with his bib on.  It was Emet’s turn.  I pushed up the sleeve on his right arm, then grabbed his left arm to do the same.  We heard a loud pop and then Emet wailed, holding his left elbow.

I thought he was being a  bit dramatic.  It wouldn’t be the first time he’d milked an owie for all it was worth.  But after 20 minutes of persistent crying, we called the doctor.  Praise God it was our pediatrician’s evening to be in the office!  So Jesse took Emet to the doc, who popped the dislocated elbow back into place.  But Emet still favored the arm, and wouldn’t use it.  The pediatrician wrote x-ray orders, so I took him in this morning.

The x-ray showed that everything was in it’s proper place, so no breaks.  Yay!  However, when the doctor’s office called to give the results, they said that our pediatrician thought Emet should see an orthopedic surgeon if he was still in pain and not using his arm.  So, we went to another doctor, and he had a cast put on Emet for 4 weeks!  Yikes!  He suspects that there is a small crack not shown in the x-ray or a slight tear in the ligaments around the elbow, so he wanted it immobilized so it would heal and, please God, not become dislocated again.

So, the kid has a cast.  It is a lovely lime green J  When Jesse got home and asked Emet about his day, Emet said, “Doctor.  Coat.  Sally.”  At the doctor’s office Emet received a sticker with Sally from the movie “Cars.”  He loves the thing.  The cast doesn’t seem to have made much of an impression, but boy, that sticker is really something!

Before bed, Daddy, Mommy, and Jamin autographed Emet’s cast.  Emet especially likes the truck his daddy drew on it for him.  Personally, I like my contribution.

Seventy years ago…

A little over a week ago, Jesse’s Grandma and Grandpa Magnuson celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary!  Seventy years!  What a legacy these two have.

Emet and Jamin got to meet their great-grandparents when we visited over Christmas.  It was great fun to share our boys with our families.

Sweet Baby J

Is it really possible that it has been one whole year since we saw this sweet baby’s face for the first time?  And seven months since we returned home with him?  I can hardly believe it.  The kid is walking now- when we arrived in Colorado for Christmas we put him on the floor and he pushed himself up and took off!  I guess he decided he had enough of cruising and holding onto my pant legs, not to mention car seat confinement.  He is also singing, chattering, and “reading” more than he was.  He’s such a fun little guy!

I remember the day we were called with his referral.  I was driving home when Patricia called.  I knew what her call was about, but still managed a little chit chat before she told me about our little “Damota.”  When I saw his picture, I thought he was small and that he looked scared.  In spite of that, he was without a doubt the baby boy we were waiting for, so we went for it!

What a blessing Jamin is in our lives!  He’s our cuddler, and little giggle monster.  He loves books, and is really getting into cars.  His interest in Kit (whom the boys call “It” hehehe) has increased now that his head is above hers.  He likes to chase her around the house and hugs her when he catches her.  He’s a mama’s boy, and is always between my legs and the kitchen cabinet when I prepare meals.  It gives him great joy to run around naked before bath time, patting his belly as he goes.  He can now say his brother’s name, though it sounds like “Enet.”  This little one has grown and changed so much in the last seven months.  We look to God to do great things in and through him.

I prepared a little pictorial celebration of life with Benjamin Karl Magnuson, but it is experiencing technical dificulties.  So, I’ll just post one, and see if I can work out the other glitch later.

Where’s Mom?

Tonight we all got hair cuts. Before my cut, I took my glasses off and the stylist washed my hair so it was wet.  Emet started walking around the salon saying, “Mom? Mom?” and shrugging his shoulders and making his gasping sound that means he doesn’t know where something is. He even stopped right in front of me, and I spoke to him, and he still shrugged and continued his search for Mom! It was so funny! After my hair was cut and partially dried, I went to the waiting area where he was playing with Jesse. Emet looked up at me, smiled, and said, “Mom!”  He found me .

December 11, 2008

I remember I was in the church office, it was toward the end of the day, and there was a lot going on.  Jesse was in the adjacent workroom talking to someone, and there were a few other people around.  My cell rang, and said that it was our adoption agency.  I didn’t think anything of it, but I went to the back financial office so that I could hear better.  Our case manager, Patricia, whom I had spoken to only once before, told me that they had a child for us to consider.  He was 15-18 months old, and was sick- he had pneumonia, was severely malnourished, and the initial medical report showed Hepatitis C antibodies in his blood.  That last issue was crucial.  They had scheduled additional tests to determine if he actually had the virus or if he had simply been exposed to it.  Without that critical information this could not be a formal referral, but they needed to find a family for this little guy in order to admit him to the orphanage because of the potential health risk.

I listened to all this information, numb. It had only been three weeks since we made our payment, and we hadn’t had time to get excited or anxious or anything yet.  But God, in His timing, brought this little boy to the orphanage and brought our names before the CWA staff.

When I got off the phone, I rudely interrupted the conversation that Jesse was having and told him about the call.  Patricia emailed us the information that she had about Emet, as well as some pictures.  We opened the email and looked at the little boy on the screen.  His body was wasted, but his eyes, they were so bright!

We did not “know” that this was our son the moment we laid eyes on him.  We knew that bringing a child with Hep C into our family was serious, and we needed to know what we were getting ourselves into.  Those eyes stuck with me!  After work we went home and took the dog for a walk.  My mind was racing, thinking about this baby boy, Hepatitis C, what it would take to be ready in a few short months to have boys in our home, and other related thoughts.  When I paused from talking about all these things, Jesse asked me, “Have I told you how turbo chargers work?”  I looked at him in disbelief.  We had just seen the face of a child that could one day be our son, and Jesse wanted to talk about turbo chargers!

We spent the next week reading about Hep C, praying that this little boy would be spared from such a disease, talking to specialists at a nearby children’s hospital, and talking to friends and family about the situation.  In the end, we decided that Hep C was something we could handle, with God’s help.  We signed forms expressing our intention to adopt on December 23, 2008 while visiting Jesse’s family in Brush, CO.

What would our lives be like without our beloved Emet?  The thought makes me sad.  It humbles me that the Lord chose this precious little person to be our son.  His presence in our family reminds me of the sovereignty of God who orchestrated the timing of it all so that we would become this family that we now are.  We are so grateful!

Jamin videos

Jamin is changing, growing, and learning so quickly!  Yesterday we were in the car coming home from Indy and he was jabbering to himself, “Car.  Apple.  Car.  Apple.  Car.”  He cracks me up!  Even as I type this, I hear the boys over the monitor chatting about apples while they should be napping   We’ve had a lot of things going on lately, but I need to pack for the weekend, so I’m just going to post a couple Jamin videos.  Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

 

Jamin mobility update

Jamin took his first unassisted steps today!  Two whole steps!  Not bad for standing independently for the first time just last Sunday

Oh, Emet!

Today was a bit of a challenge- partially because of the weather, partially because of two tired boys and one tired mama, and I think the busted diaper and me getting peed on first thing this morning was also contributing factors.  But there were bright spots, and by God’s grace, we got them on film!

Emet thinks it is the greatest thing to help clear the table after meals.  His daddy will give him things to carry into the kitchen to hand to his mommy.  He laughs and prances in and out of the kitchen, so important and proud of himself.  Today he decided to help me unload the groceries.  It was eventful!  I’m so impressed at his creativity and problem-solving skills.  Before I started taping, he had tried numerous ways to get himself and a can of peaches through the opening to the pantry shelves before coming up with something that worked.

Later, I went into the boys’ room to get Jamin who had woken from his nap.  Emet was still asleep, and this is how I found him:

You can't tell very well from this pic, but Emet's right arm is through his neck hole. I also love that he has one sock on

Emet has begun this new game, where he pretends not to know where his hand is whenever he puts on a long sleeved shirt.  He gasps and looks for his missing hand- it’s pretty cute.  This evening he got a little tangled up in the midst of his game.

What joy these boys bring!