We made it home.....a month ago!!!

Man it has been a crazy month. If you were wondering if we made it home okay back in September we did! We landed home in South Carolina on September 25, 2012 after 24 hours of flying!!!!! It was the most amazing night, coming home to our kids, My mom and our dear friend Mrs. Karen and our amazing church who met us at the arrive gate!!!! I will post the picture of our welcome party when I get one! There were many people who took pictures but I haven't even thought about it until now. This is going to be quick but I will fill you in on what's been going on. The first week to be honest was terrible. I, Valerie, was convinced Zechariah had the worst case scenario of ODS, Oppositional Defiant Syndrome. He would throw a tantrum every 2 minutes and repeatedly bang his head on whatever he could. He didn't listen and absolutely with every bone in his body hated hearing the word "no". And amazingly yes, Zech actually does understand what we are saying, almost everything. Gideon just sat there and stimmed and hit him self the entire time, and would come out of his little world for a measly 10-15 minutes a day when he would laugh and giggle, and even come over for you to hold him. On day 8 Zech had his first trip to the ER because he woke up with a bump on his head and a swollen eye on the same side. It ended up being a sty and he had had the bump, but I was so concerned he had beaten his head to the point of brain damage. And really he has to have caused some damage because he has so many scars on his poor little head and he beats it so hard. Fast forward to now and I will share where we are. Gideon still stims but seems to be with us alittle more each day. He has not pulled his hair out since we have been home but he does still hit himself when he is mad, which happens when you try and pull him out of stimming. His smile is amazing and the terrible green plaque that covered his teeth is no almost gone thanks to brushing teeth after every meal with coconut oil with oregano oil and peppermint oil mixed with xylitol and Bee Propolis toothpaste. So praise God for that!! We know he has Autism, severely, and we are not convinced he has Down Syndrome. He may have Mosaic DS but he has none of the features of DS. His facial features could indicate FAS, or Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, but we are going to get genetic testing to make sure. It doesn't matter to us what he has or what he doesn't. God has brought us to this place where we will rejoice in the perfect way that God made him. Zechariah has come a LONG WAY!!!He is an amazingly sweet and intelligent boy who needs to be given jobs to do to keep him out of trouble. He understands everything we say, even 2-3 commands at a time. He takes his dishes to the dishwasher and loads it, helps unload it, and helps set the table! He loves to be held and snuggled with and gets really frustrated when you can't give him the 100% attention he wants and deserves. He still ignores us sometimes and disobeys and tests his boundaries but he is listening so much more than before. PRAISE GOD!!!! Each day is getting better. Life is good. I have so many more blessings to share but I will have to end here tonight! Thank you everyone who loves and supports us. We have seen that we could not do this without you. We really have seen the hands and feet of Jesus carry us through this journey, especially the hardest month of my life, this last one.