Lots of News

The Ewing Family


Here is all that is new:

Our adoption became final on November 11th! What fantastic news! That was something that Luke was anxiously awaiting in spite of our telling him continuously that he has been final to us from the day we decided to go meet him. Still, he worries. Just two days ago when we were talking about staying approved (for adoption so we can adopt more without going through the original hassle) he asked, "But I thought I was already final?" with a worried look on his face. I look forward to the time when he no longer wonders if he is really going to be ours forever, but believes he is a Ewing.

We did not find out about our adoption being final until November 16th because of a nor'easter/hurricane (Ida) that made its way up the coast. I had never seen so much water in all my life. The roads going out of our neighborhood were both flooded. One completely impassable, the other, passable only with a tall, heavy vehicle and then the water was up to the hood. It was all very exciting until we had to find a way to the emergency room. Tim had been working on the car on Thursday and had unknowingly pulled a muscle deep in his chest. By Friday, he thought something was desperately wrong. We took him to urgent care and they found nothing wrong, but said if it got worse to go to ER. Well, as the evening went on, it felt worse. So, off to the ER we went, into the storm. What an adventure it was. Every road in our route was flooded. We were rerouted several times. In the end they kept Tim overnight for observation and more testing in the morning and I went home alone. I parked four miles from home so that Nathaniel could come to get me in the Suburban. The flooded roads were deeper when I returned then they had been when we left. I had barely managed to get through the deep lake across the road on the way out. I knew I did not want to chance it alone at eleven o'clock at night in the Honda. Nathaniel had a BALL driving through the deep water. So much so that when we got home, he grabbed David and took the same route again so that David could experience it too. The end of this tale of course, is that Tim was fine. He has a strong, healthy heart and in a few days, the pulled muscle healed and he is back to normal.
Thank you Lord!

The next event in our lives was the visit of Tim's parents. What a wonderful visit it ended up being. My mom-in-law helped me to begin a watercolor quilt that I have been wanting to create for our big, empty, living room wall. This is my first quilt project, and I am anxious to see how I like the whole process. The designing is so much more fun than I had anticipated! I am looking forward to the rest of the steps with eagerness. I am a little concerned about my tendency to be a great project-starter and just as good at becoming a project-neglecter.

Also during the visit of my in-laws was the visit of son. Timothy came for only three very short days over Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time of bonding, loving, laughing, and catching up. We enjoyed getting to see Timothy's growing talent as a guitarist as he strummed away at his old 3/4 size guitar (now Whitney's). I was also reminded of the creative side of this dear son as I watched him fiddle with the letters on the fridge and draw on the chalk table cloth. It was so wonderful to have our son home!

Toward the end of our visit with my in-laws, I pulled out a 1000 piece puzzle to work on. I was so surprised and pleased to see Luke diligently work away at it even though it was way beyond his ability. He would methodically find pieces to work on and try them and even placed a few. He did not get bored with it, nor seem frustrated. I decided to go to the thrift store and get a few 100-200 piece puzzles and see how he would do. He loves them! I have been trying to find something that Luke enjoys doing, that he will do even if nobody else cares or notices he's doing it; well, I think we finally found it! Puzzling! As I work on my quilt, he puzzles. He will puzzle for hours! Not only that, but he will make up things in his head, talk to himself with play voices and pretend. My goal has been to see him so wrapped up in his play that he will make the play/pretend noises that children make when they play. That is exactly what he is doing. I am so pleased to see him loosen up and be free in "puzzle world".

David got his braces off this week! He has new shiny teeth. We finally, after several years, have no children with braces on! Woo hoo!!! David will need a little follow-up mouth work, as his gums swelled a bit during the long time he wore braces and I am told this has to be removed. It doesn't just go away. But, he is happy. No more braces.

Now today, Tim is off in PA at a work related conference. Whitney is off walking the dog we are babysitting for one of Tim's coworkers during the conference. Nathaniel is off to work for his friend after doing his workout at the Y in Newport News. It is time to wake David and Luke so that a new school day can begin.