~ HOMME CLAN: Momma's Perspective

Daddy and Joy

She's a sweetie!

AND she's spunky! A true Homme Clan kiddo!

I am so thankful for my sweet and capable hubby! And I am so thankful for all of the prayer and support from all of you. I experienced such peace during Jay's time away and felt so much love from my kids and friends. Thank you!!

I wanted to take the opportunity to brag on my hubby a bit. He tends to be so hard on himself (you can probably tell by his posts). So I wanted to share the things I witnessed via phone calls, Face Time, etc.

One of the things I admire about my man is his ability to see a child- really see their heart- and put them at ease. To draw them out of moods, fear, shyness and reassure them in their struggles and pain. I got to be the fly on the wall so to speak and watch this happen with our daughter Joy. We have been having regular phone calls and bonding with her on a weekly basis and we have seen her heart open up and connect with us more and more. But it is a whole new ball game when you are trying to bond on foreign turf without any back up (and under the microscope- everyone is watching and evaluating you). While it was so hard and at times exhausting and discouraging- I wanted to show you a glimpse of the wins!! What I saw was a fragile child become more relaxed and confident in her caregiver, bonds of trust, and unconditional love- a child who grinned from ear to ear when she was connecting with us and with Jay. We also got to do a lot of face- time and gave Joy bonding time with siblings (and me!) - having longer everyday, sometimes silly conversations(she and Andrew liked to eat meat at the same time and show each other their ABC food and show each other toys), seeing our house, her room, the cat, the dog (all highlights for her!). Anyone who has watched the TBRI videos (Trust Based methods to connect with hurting/fragile children by Karen Purvis) knows that things that seem so little (making eye contact, holding hands, verbalizing needs, talking about past hurts, etc.) are really huge steps toward having a connected parent/child relationship. By the end of the few days she was conquering fears- even bravely touching the water in the pool! And shields came down emotionally We saw the real Joy emerging and flourishing.

Now for the fun- here are some great pictures so far (thank you iCloud!!!!)

SO PROUD OF JOY- (she touched the water for the first time! She has been talking about "Justo" and Andrew going in the pool with her, but has been super afraid of the water -a fire alarm sounded while we were near it last year)