Silas AND Hamlet!!

Yesterday we had the honor and blessing of meeting Silas Yegermal Wing! Jason picked Phil, Amber, and Silas up from the Columbus airport while the rest of the family waited at Phil and Amber's house for their arrival. Phil and Amber requested Gibson and Maya be on the front porch waiting for them to pull up with baby Silas in tow! After the family of five reunited in the front yard, we were able to greet them as they walked into their home with sweet Silas. Phil's parents were there, as well as Amber's parents, sister and her family, and the Zeunes joined us later. It's so neat to see how the Zeunes have walked through this entire process with Phil and Amber as they have a 16 month old son, Mathios, who is recently adopted as well and was only 4 beds away from Silas back in the transition home in Ethiopia. How great is that! Best friends adopting together and their babies growing up together. The cousins played together for a while then we had a fantastic dinner which consisted of my favorite, Marco's pizza, and lots of desserts. The carrot cake and chocolate chip cookie bars were delightful. Silas was tuckered out and went to sleep at 6:30, just before we decided to leave and give the new family of 5 a much needed break and some space.

I'm such a proud aunt of Silas AND....baby Hamilton, too!). Yep-you heard it right...I'm going to be an aunt to Mike and Maggie's baby due April 2! :) Maggie is just over 11 weeks pregnant. Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of babies!!

Good News

We had our meeting with the neurosurgeon today and it was great! Here's what we know: Gideon has a Chiari (kee-AR-ee) malformation near the base of his brain. Basically, his big, smart brain is too big for his skull and his cerebellar tonsils (yes, we have tonsils in the base of our brain) hang into his spinal column. This means there's a potential for blockage of his spinal fluid but right now we're in the clear! He'll need to be seen in three months to do another checkup. He won't need another MRI unless his check up goes poorly. But I was amazed by how well Gideon was doing today with each test the doctor performed. He's such a trooper! After his next appointment, if all goes well, he'll be seen six months after that, then yearly. We are such relieved parents. Thank you, again, for your prayers and encouraging words. We're so thankful for you all. God has heard our many prayers to Him!

(hope you don't mind, I copy and pasted this from an email I sent out earlier)

Praise the Lord for His sovereign hands and great doctors!

The Latest Lesson

Just thought I'd give an update on our sweet Gideon. I've not posted on his health situation so I thought I'd better get to it! Before I get to typing please know that your prayers are needed and appreciated in regards to little Gid.

At Gideon's 6 month check up I asked our pediatrician if his head looked OK to her. She said it looked a little wider and asymmetrical in the back. Deb, our pediatrician, thought it may be best to have it looked at it further. Gideon had an ultrasound done and the results weren't perfect. So we were encouraged to have an MRI set up for Gideon, which was last Wednesday. We got the results on Thursday and it looks like he has enlarged ventricles, which are areas where spinal fluid flows in and out of the brain and spinal column. It looks like there is some sort of blockage, resulting in Gideon's head growing at a much faster rate than the rest of his body. This speedy growth in his head size (from 50th to 90th percentile in 6 months) was the kicker for us thinking there may be a problem. So now we wait and we are scheduled to see a neurosurgeon, Dr. Kleiner, at Children's on Tuesday at 4:00.

Please pray for us as we discuss options for Gideon. Surgery seems to be the most ideal option from all the information we have. But as many of you know, no parent loves the idea of their baby being put under and having surgery.

Our hearts are heavy. The Lord is certainly growing Jason and I as we wait on Him and have to trust in His perfect plan. I was just telling Jason a few weeks ago that I'm so reluctant to confess my fears to the Lord because I know He'll test me (to grow me, not harm me). Sure enough, when I surrendered my fears and areas of worries to the Lord, Gideon's brain/ventricle issue was brought to our attention.

Gideon is a wonderful little boy who can melt any one's heart. Brain problems or not, he's the best son any parent could ask for. I'll keep you updated after Tuesday's appointment.