Is that you, Elina??

Today as I was working and standing in the hospital Operating Room, my phone rang. Expecting it to be a work call, I casually answered the phone. You can only imagine my surprise when on the other end I hear my name drawn out “Laurie (sweetly pronounced with a Marshallese accent) I miss you…Laurie”. I shouted, “is that you, Elina??” And it was. Oh, sweet Elina. Thank you for somehow finding my cell phone number, for calling me at two in the morning your time, for finding a phone to use and calling me from across the world. I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect day…

The Raw Emotions of a Six Year Old...

I guess you had to be there to understand. I guess you had to experience it firsthand to understand how it changes you… We have been home now for 2 ½ months. Tonight we decided to watch our DVD that I put together with all our photographs. Halfway into the video I heard sobbing coming from the floor. Chase was face down covering his eyes and sobbing. I picked him up and held him and asked him what was wrong. He said he misses them… He misses the Marshall Islands. It really affected him, too. That place, the people, the experience…it will never leave us. I love my oldest son and I love his tender heart.

Family History

Last night we were able to Skype with Elina and Kim. While we were talking Rickson fell asleep in my arms. I asked Elina if she was able to see that he was sucking his thumb. He has really taken to this and we don't even need a pacifier anymore. She laughed and said that she sucked her thumb, too. After some clarification due to the language barrier, we all laughed when we realized she meant she HAD sucked her thumb when she WAS a baby... she doesn't suck her thumb now. As we were talking Alia (the three year old) fell asleep in Elina's arms just as Rickson had done with me. She was sucking her thumb. I can't wait to tell him he sucks his thumb just like his birth mother and youngest sister, too!

We also talked about how he is such a happy baby all the time. He is always smiling and laughing and doesn't cry much at all. I asked Elina if the four older children had been like this, too. She said that Alia was very happy as baby, but Nickson (the oldest) is just like Rickson. (Maybe it has to do with the rhyming names). This made me smile because of all the kids, Rickson just melted my heart every time he smiled. When he smiled his face lit up all those around him. I will never forget that smile. And now, I have a reminder of it every time Rickson smiles. I now know where he gets it. I can't wait to tell him one day that he smiles just like his oldest brother. I imagine he will grow to have a similar demeanor, too. I love finding out the details... How blessed we are to have a family history!