A Bird's Eye View of the Place We Call Home

Nathan has been given the use of a drone for a few months! The learning curve is a bit different than a traditional video camera, especially when you are smothered by a hoard of eager village boys hanging on your elbow! 

Before I share the latest video he captured I want to say that conveying the look of our village through traditional photographs has always been challenging, to say the least. No one photo can do it justice. Just ask anyone who saw my photos, then made a personal visit. 

Nathan's video blows my photos out of the water giving a more accurate perspective of this special place.  Watching the video you get a better idea of the scale of the village, the topography of the land, the proximity of neighbors... and that we live in the middle of it all!

Enjoy 60 seconds of sunset footage from our village ...

(We recommend choosing the high definition settings -- the picture will be significantly better).

P.S.  Someone commented on the size of many of the homes.  Yes!  Some of the homes appear rather large, especially considering the size most homes were in the village just 10 years ago.  What most do not know is that generations of Albanians (usually about 3) live under the same roof. The grandparents will reside on the lower level and (typically) the youngest son and his family on the floor above that.  Or in some cases, the ground level is used for storage (like a garage) and then additional generations live on their own respective levels above.

Gezuar Vitin e Ri 2014 from Albania!

About to crash in bed, but for all our friends on the other side of the Atlantic -- Happy New Year!  It's 2014 here!  You have to check out the video below to see how Albanians usher in the new year.  The video doesn't do it justice.  The crescendo really picks up around 16 seconds in... While all this was going on, Ellie and Reni were indoors, jumping on a trampoline with their ears covered!  Our thanks to the Hosaflooks for hosting us tonight and letting us view the fireworks safely from their 3rd floor balcony!  Hopefully we'll all be able to settle down and get to sleep -- the kids had no trouble staying up and the fireworks are still going 90 minutes later (though thankfully not at this intensity)!



Here's another video, slightly longer.

Reni Got "Inked"

Monday night was our monthly adoptive families fellowship and it's always a highlight to spend time with these friends!  The adults meet upstairs and the kids play downstairs.  I'm guessing that the quiet, 'good' little boy didn't attract the sitter's attention. When it was all over we quickly discovered that Reni had somehow, somewhere, found a marker and thought his body would make an acceptable canvas for lack of paper.  You can hear his description of what he drew in the video below:

Prayer for Albania

I came across this beautiful video this evening (thank you, Stephanie!).  I encourage you to join your heart in praying along with the narrator as you view images of the beautiful country that gave us our children and which we will soon call our new home!

This video is courtesy of http://prayercast.org/albania

Who Let the D*gs Out?

Yesterday our friends the Kinnells came for a playdate.  I debated calling this post "Dance off: Albanians vs. Africans", but we all know that'd be no contest ... or maybe? ;-)  Check out Reni at about the 20 second mark... 

Thanks, Amy, for sharing this video!

Being Two

This is a short little video of the 'performer' side of Reni's personality when college girls are around.  I apologize for the poor quality of this video -- that's Nathan's expertise, not mine (particularly on this camera)!

The Non-Kosher Nativity

Thought you might get a kick out of one of Reni's newest "skills"... (video length: 17 seconds)

Reni's New Legs!

I apologize to our family who have been patiently waiting to see Reni's new legs! By the time I think about photographing Reni and his legs it's either time to make supper or the sun has gone down (way too early)!  Tonight Nathan graciously set aside some time to splice a few short clips together, compress them for web and upload them to You Tube.  I apologize for the terrible focus issue at times -- I was not shooting on a video camera!  What you'll see in this video is the process of putting his legs on, then a few passes of him walking back and forth in them.

In reality, transitioning to these legs has been like learning to walk all over again.  I'll try to get a side-by-side photo of these new legs and his old legs, but I think they are about 40% taller.  He has major fear of falling in them and sometimes just cries to get them off as soon as we put them on.  Nathan surmised this evening that the new design requires him to hold his left leg  flexed down all the time (at what looks like the "knee" joint) and that's just really uncomfortable for him since it's not usually in that position.  They also come up much higher on his legs so bending over is also uncomfortable (we think it pinches or pokes him at the waist).  This is all discouraging, but part of the process.  Having seen how well he took to his first legs, I think he will eventually get back up to his former speed in these.  It will just take time for him to adjust to his new height and the new feel.  They compress his leg tissue considerably more and we were warned that this would be a big adjustment, but the upside is they won't rotate like his old legs (which would result in feet pointed is strange directions).  So far, though, that doesn't seem to be the source of his concern.  Of course, because he's just 27 months, it's not like he can really articulate exactly what he doesn't like about them.  We'll try to keep you posted as to his progress in them.  Thanks for your interest!

Now the video!  Nathan starts with a demonstration of putting on the legs and the many layers that go underneath (just in case you are interested)...

Reni's first steps in his "legs"!

Reni begged to go outside today for his physical therapy, and after amazing us by standing on his own for more than 90 seconds, he decided he would walk! Of course, Cydil ran inside to get the camera. This wasn't his longest walk, but it shows his progress. The therapist was so excited too that she was late for her next appointment, but couldn't bring herself to leave. ENJOY!

Video Update of Reni and His Legs

Many of you ask how Reni is doing in his legs. As we may have shared before, his current prosthetics are really starter legs. They are for learning how to balance and do basic movements, but not for full-time mobility. He can get around MUCH more quickly and easily without them, but they are nevertheless important for building strength and developing skills for more sophisticated prosthetics later. In addition to what he demonstrates here, he is learning how to shift his weight (or alternate his weight) between heel and toe on opposite feet, step backwards, and turn, reach, and bend for objects just out of arm's reach. There are so many motions that you and I take for granted which Reni must learn to master with a different body length given to him while wearing prosthetics.

His progress pleases us, especially given that he has already outgrown these current legs (several months ago actually) so these legs do not stay straight nor sit as high up on his thighs as they used to (resulting in much less control than they were designed to afford). He returns to Shriners on Friday for a new fitting. We didn't realize when setting the appointment back in September that Nathan would not be in town (he's leaving for Haiti on Friday) and so I will be going alone. We have some questions and requests, so if you think of me, pray that I might remember everything I want to ask and for boldness if necessary!

As you watch this video, I want you to know that as proud as we are of Reni for his strength and determination, we are as proud of Ellie for the selfless encouragement she gives him as she urges him to reach his goal. My heart bursts for both of my children. How are we so blessed?

6 Months ago today...

Around 1:30 in the morning...

Having Fun Together

Ellie's Skiing Video

Be sure to watch it all the way to the end to catch a classic 'Ellie' line. ;-)

Don't miss the post below with lots of still photos and some commentary...

Rockin' Reni

This has been something Reni has been able to do for a while (like, since October), but it's new here!

The chair he is in was first used by my great-aunt Helen. It should be right at 100 years old or slightly older (hence the rickety nature when Reni picks up speed).

Too cute not to share

Nathan doesn't like this video because he says Reni's eyes look drugged. I really don't know why he looks tired, but in spite of this, baby giggles just have a way of brightening one's day and I thought it was worth sharing. Thought this might make you smile...



Unfortunately we couldn't get him to actually say, "peek-a-boo". Though when he does say it, it comes out "peek-boo" or "peek-boo-boo".

Spending time on our knees

A couple of days ago while checking out of Wal-Mart, Reni was distracted by the loud banging of a lady building a display for Christmas products. For conversation, I mentioned to the cashier that it sounded like the builder would feel better after taking out her frustrations on the shelving unit. The cashier smiled and said, "Maybe, but when I am frustrated I hit my knees instead of a hammer." After agreeing, I left Wal-Mart smiling and thanking God for the reminder of how important it is to have 'knee time' daily!

Reni is getting more and more 'knee time' but in a different way. Most children learn to walk by first spending weeks if not months mastering balance through standing, but even when he is not in his prosthetics, Reni is trying hard to 'walk' before he can 'stand.' This desire for vertical mobility seemed to coincide with getting his prosthetics as he would bounce up out of a crawl and rapidly take a few steps on his knees before falling back into a crawl. He sort of looked like a young boy trying to master the wheelie on his bicycle. At first he barely made a step or two, but soon he was hitting 5 or 6 steps before returning his hands to the ground (or sometimes ending up sitting down). One thing was constant, and that was speed. The faster he moved his little legs, the longer he could stand up and the farther he could go, but he really wasn't gaining much stability. Reni's physical therapist has encouraged us to help him practice standing and balance, and I think some of those exercises are starting to pay off!

Tonight his knee walking has started to change. His 'standing' is more deliberate and less simply bouncing up, and while he still is pretty speedy in his 'walking' he is showing more balance and control. He is progressing so fast that I was afraid that if I didn't record this stage he would be gallivanting around fully and we would miss the transition.

Below are two short videos I shot from my phone. My guess is that by Christmas he will have this mode of transportation basically mastered.

"Training Wheels"

David Reni has had his prosthetic legs for a couple of weeks now, and we are seeing progress nearly every day! He can zip back and forth between the support bars as shown in an earlier post, but yesterday and today he has broken free from the bars and has been successful in using a push toy to get around. This has given him more and more confidence in his prosthetics and now he "asks" to put them on!! Ellie is a proud sister and coach who's first request after getting home from Kindergarten recently has been "Can we put on Reni's legs?" Reni now knows when I am videoing him with my phone and whines to see himself when he is close enough to touch as you will see at the end of the first video below. Wish you could all see this in person, but these videos are the next best thing I guess.

Also....Happy Birthday Gigi!

Walking Practice

What precious gifts from our Lord. My heart is so full. Just love these kids.

(Ellie was completely spontaneous. Wasn't that sweet?)

Many thanks to PaPa Waggoner for the tubes!

Video: Reni's first moments in his new legs

Check the post below for accompanying photographs...

Co-Pilot