Updates on the children

Hi! Sorry that I haven't posted an update in so long! I'll try to catch you up on the children.

Benjamin turned 1 on September 30th. Wow did that year go by fast! He's doing so well. He figured out how to crawl just a couple days before his birthday and loves being able to get around now. He has 3 words - mama, dada, and no. He still enjoys nursing and snuggling, but is getting more interested in fun baby toys.

Susanna is 3. She's going in for her next MRI on October 15th. We'll know more after that about how her 4 tumors are doing. We are praying for good news. She and Miriam are enjoying doing Before Five in a Row during homeschool this year. She loves playing dress-up, playing on the playground, and snuggling.

Miriam is 5. While she is definitely still autistic, she has made wonderful progress. She's doing so much better in communicating with others, including her Sunday School teachers. She is excited to be kindergarten level this year in homeschool. She loves playing Putt Putt Saves the Zoo and Freddi Fish computer games in her free time.

Hannah is 7. She's still a super laid back fun little girl. She's working hard on learning how to read this year. She loves drawing, playing dress-up, playing with dolls, roller skating, and jumping on the trampoline.

Rebekah is 9. Through vision therapy and hard work, she is overcoming her enormous difficulty in recognizing letters and numbers. She's now a beginner reader and I'm so proud of her. We're continuing to slowly steadily push forward. She continues to have a lot of anxiety in different areas and usually needs to know exactly where I am at all times. That requires quite a bit of patience on my part. She's a very loving affectionate girl and has such a desire to please. She loves drawing, books, dolls, paper dolls, and playing with her sisters.

Naomi Ruth is 10. She's really growing up. Just yesterday I was sick with a tummy bug and she took over the running of the household for me, including making all of the meals. She's such a blessing! She's doing great in her studies with the exception of math. That is a big struggle for her and I'm trying to really help her with it this year. One thing really fun and special that we added to our homeschooling this year is that she has started working through Training Our Daughters to be Keepers at Home. It's a 7 year Christian homemaking course that is just fabulous. So far, we're working on godly character. In her free time, she loves reading historical fiction, playing the Wii, cooking, and riding her bike.

Sarah is also 10. After a year and a half of living here, she is continuing to slowly transition to life here in the United States and specifically in our family. She has done the amazing feat of doubling her weight since arrival - from 45lb to 90lb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She really enjoys math and reading. She's a beginner reader. She loves drawing, coloring, playing with paper dolls and real dolls, as well as jumping on the trampoline.

Stephen is 12. He has been transitioning wonderfully to life here and now fits right in. He is another of our beginning readers. He is on a soccer team this year and loves it. That was one of the few activities that he was able to do over at the orphanage in Liberia. He also loves riding his bike, playing the Wii, and jumping on the trampoline.

Thomas is also 12. He continues to love math far beyond any other subject, but has really taken an interest to geography and science this year. Writing continues to be his most difficult area, but that is due in large part to his Aspergers. The handwriting aspects and the spelling are both incredibly challenging for him. We will be getting a program soon that will help him in this area. He'll type things in to the best of his ability with spelling and it will figure out what he's trying to say. All of the children have been learning typing since August. Thomas loves riding his bike, jumping on the trampoline, playing the Wii, and playing with his modeling clay.

Love, Dawn