Adoption Trip in L- Days??? Lost count

Here are a few pics of the boys! It has been cold here for a few days and the boys loved their hats. Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I have had the flu for a few days and these 2 boys keep us so busy that when they finally go to bed, we go to bed too!! We still are not sure exactly when we are coming home, but we had our third orphan court visit today and will being going to meet the orphan court "boss" tomorrow. Not sure what that means. They boys did their medical exam for their visa and we ordered their passport which we should get tomorrow. I don't see us being able to leave on the 14th but there seems to be a glimmer of hope for maybe the weekend. It all depends on what happens tomorrow. Also after reading a great article in Something Special magazine on Down Syndrome we realized that Zechariah has every symptom for Obstructive Sleep Apnea or OSA. We will need to do a sleep test as soon as we get back with the kids. If he does have it, it would explain the crazy sleeping that he does. He basically never gets fully asleep but constantly moves, and will get on the floor and sit up against the wall. He also breathes through his mouth during the day, and he snorts and snores. If left untreated this can turn into pulmonary hypertension, right side enlargement of his heart and eventually heart problems. It seems the normal course of treatment is an adenoidtonsilectomy. But for 40% of patients with DS that doesn't fix it and they end up needing the CPAP machine. We are coming to find all sorts of new Down Syndrome issues that we knew about but never focused on because they didn't apply to Asher and Emma. In the week we have had the boys we are already finding huge impovements. Gideon laughs and smiles all the time now. When he wants us he comes right over to us, and turns his back to us for us to pick him up and out him in our laps! We can also see a slight decrease in the amount of stimming and doing his neat yoga pose you see him doing in the pictures. Zechariah is amazing. He says "Thank you" and he tries to repeat anything we say. We are having behavior problems, but that is to be expected. We are pretty sure since he has spent his entire life around woman and has never really seen men is the reason for his quick obedience to Tyler and the opposite for me! Tyler walks in the room when he is standing on the chair after I have told him 5 times to sit down, and he sits down immediately. His reaction to me is to grab me or hit me, and laughing with his naughty laugh, ignore me. So we have alot of work here. We have been reading a great series from Focus on the Family about parenting the adopted child. Our normal way of discipline is not going to work with our boys right now and may never, and since they have lived they way they have could cause more harm. But God has been faithful. Tyler and I have been calming each other down when things get rough. We keep reminding eachother to smile. Smile even though we don't want to and the kid deserves to be in timeout for life...smile. It really just makes us sad that our boys were here so long, that this is how they cope. I feel like I have said this 1000 times this week. Alot of their behaviors have nothing to do with Down Syndrome, but with being in an institution. In saying all this, there has been alot more good times than bad. The bad days will never go away...but hopefully happen less often. And if you asked us knowing how hard it is right now, and knowing it will be harder when we get home would we do it again. ABSOLUTELY!!!Without a doubt!!! This is a challenge. A challenge where God has given us the wisdom on how to be :1. Husband and wife. 2. Parents 3. A desire to learn as much as we can about the unique things about each of our children. Hunter doesn't have down syndrome, but he has many unique things we could miss about him. Our other 4 kiddos, yes have down syndrome. But they are more than that, and they will each bring us challenges. But they will also bring us joy each and every day God allows us to be their parents. One last things. I am not going to post everything right now but and maybe you all already know this. But just because a person might be different, like having an extra chromosome, or missing a leg, or their limbs are all contractured, or they are missing an eye, or are mentally delayed does not make them less of a person. There are people in this world who in all honestly don't believe that statement. Not because they are cruel, although some are. But because that is what their culture has told them. God has enabled us to open some eyes here. We have been able to share that these kids are not disgusting, or shameful(beliefs held here) or worthless. But they have the same worth as anyone else on this planet. They will indeed feel pain, they will feel love. They will feel joy, they will feel sorrow. They will get jealous for attention, just like you and I. God has really burdened our hearts with getting this message out there. In America, here, everywhere. Because satin has spread his lies long enough. Things have got to change. We will update tomorrow when we find out what is going on!!