AKRON AEROS

Will, Sean, Dawn and I at Canal Park in Akron watching the Akron Aeros. You may see more of this park as it's right across the street from Akron Children's Hospital.

WORLD WAR II v.2

NAVY PLANE

A-10 THUNDERBOLT

DATE FOR HEART SURGERY

The date has been set for Sean's surgery-August 24th. After Dawn got off the phone she made an interesting observation...they had dates as early as August 10th, and Dawn said it's easier to get a date to have open heart surgery than to get into the hair salon.

DAYTON AIRSHOW

Will, his friend Brady, and I headed to Dayton yesterday for the Dayton Air show, and had a great time. I'd load more pictures but the internet is running a little slow, so maybe more another time. The Thunderbirds always rock the house, and the ears.
I see there's another show in Cleveland in September, with a few different attractions, so maybe we can get to that one. We'll see.

HEART SURGERY IS COMING

We met with the surgeons today and it looks like Sean will be having his surgery at the end of August or early September. They lead us through the exact procedure, which includes "stopping his heart" so they can work on it; he'll be hooked up to another machine which will act his heart and lungs. They cautioned and reminded us there is always the posibility that something can go wrong, even leading to death, but he needs this surgery, so we can only leave him in God's hands.

The one piece of new information we learned is this will not be his last heart surgery. One of the devices being placed in his heart (which by the way comes from a donor), will not grow as he grows, so, at some point in the future, he will need a new "replacement". Also, this valve device can wear out over time, so it is quite likely, Sean will need 1-3 more operations over his lifetime.

That's it for now, I'm a bit overloaded with information of a biological/anotomical nature. Makes me dizzy and tired. Tomorrow, Will and I and his friend will be going to the Dayton Air Show, so I need to rest up for that. Pictures to follow.

THIS IS WHAT IT HAS COME TO

I am a 40 year old man and have been reduced to comparison shopping for either the Royal Stepstool Potty or the Cushie-Tushie. We ended up with the Cushie-Tushie and are quite pleased, as is Sean.

HEART UPDATE

Just a quick note to say we saw Sean's heart doctor today and he is recommending we proceed with the more optimal surgery for Sean; this will most likely happen in August. We meet with the surgeons next week. More on this later....

GOTCHA DAY

In adoption circles, "gotcha day" is the day you got your child. Not a very creative term, but it gets to the point. Well, it was one year ago today that Dawn, Liz, Will and I stepped into a non descript building and went to the 9th or 10th floor and saw two ladies walk on the other side of the room and into a private room with a kid whose head was shaved but had a pony tail. I'm thinking, must be some other families child because the picture we had of Shan An En looked nothing like that. I was wrong. He was our child and that was the first of many new things we were going to learn about "En En", or Sean.

It's certainly been a good year and we see God's hand in bringing Sean to our family. It's been a hard year too. For Dawn it's been about adjusting to having a 2-3 year old in the house again, dealing with his every want. Out of a sense of insecurity, Sean likes ritual and routine, so it is Dawn who has to lay down with him every night. He won't let me. For me, it's about overcoming selfishness...an on-going task. We were on track to get the first two kids old enough to be independent so Dawn and I could have our own time together. We did a lot of things together as a family, like go to movies and sporting events, or staying up late as a family watching TV. That's all changed. Now, it may be Will and I do something, or Liz and Dawn, sometimesSean, Will and me, but no girls, or Liz, Will and I. It's changed, but that's OK. We still do vacations together, but were back to having to pack a stroller, or ask for a child's seat at the restaurant. And we have to watch our time around 12:00 noon since that's nap time, and 10:00 pm seems late again.

Still, none of us would trade not having Sean. We are reminded often what life may have been like for Sean had no one adopted him, and it makes me sad. We count it a privilege to raise, nurture and shape Sean, hoping he someday becomes a Godly person with a future. We find new life in verses like Psalm 68:5 that say God places the lonely in families...yet wish more people would take up the offer and challenge of James 1:27...and engage themselves with alleviating the suffering of others, chief among them widows and orphans, knowing this truly pleases God.
Today is just another normal day for Sean...just as it should be.