Miss Priss at LAX
She is such a ham!
The 3 Musketeers waiting to catch our last flight home
Stella babbles in Chinese. Do we understand? Nope. I sure wish we could beyond water and go to the bathroom. Unfortunately she has learned my technique of smiling and nodding confidently when answering questions. What's funny is that with a little bit of charades, it actually appears that we do understand each other! She knows the phrases thank you and more please. She understands "good girl" and giving a high-5. And the boys have taught her to give a thumbs up when she eats something she likes. Overall, she seems easy going and a tad bit crazy. I think the crazy part is just necessary for survival in our home. She gets a little obnoxious at times, perhaps dealing with stress and the overwhelming environment. I have to say that she's handling this new life with more grace than I could.
Oh, Sleep, where are you? Jet lag is rough. I had forgotten just how rough.
As cute as our kids are, there have been an abundance of tears and emotions. Grace and patience have been running thin, especially from me. The nights are filled with tears and crying most often around 11pm, 12am, 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am and 5am. Poor Stella is the most comfortable when she can either feel or see us at night. I can hear her lean over the edge of the bed to make sure I'm still there. She likes to hold hands too. Unfortunately, lying on the edge of the bed leads to toppling onto the pillow or person below. Ouch! I've done a lot of shooshing and tooshy patting. She does really well during the day with our family's activity, but nights are hardest. For all of us. Adding a child to a family can bring challenges in adjustment. Jet lag is ugly. Put the 2 together, and it's a sticky mess...for those of us who actually rely on sleep to think clearly and do the simplest of tasks, such as walk and talk.
Samuel has taken to waking up during the night and then doing what he can to wake up Joey - kicking the wall, knocking on the bunk beds. I even heard him calling Joey's name from the living room, where Samuel had been moved due to the previously mentioned activities. Samuel and Jet Lag have formed a team...against the rest of us! He starts preschool tomorrow, so the team just might be dissolved this week.
Russ has been gracious to make a couple trips the grocery store, despite his zombie-like state. And some wonderful friends are making sure we are fed. If not for the gift of food and restaurant gift cards, I'm not sure our tummies would be fed. Right now, I feel like I'm surviving on caffeine and air alone. Russ has gone back to work and Joey has started 1st grade as of today. The littles and I are home all day, simply because I fear that my driving skills at this point are less than adequate. Surely a nap is in our near future!
Her first sleep in her own bed
In case anyone missed: An Opportunity of a Lifetime
I don't think for a moment that God made a mistake. I don't believe it was an accident for our children to be born in a foreign country to another family. I am, however, grateful that although their first families faced hard decisions, our littles are not left to be alone forever. We are allowed the opportunity to show them a family's love and in turn are given some of the sweetest (and sassiest) little gifts around. One of Stella's friends from the orphanage is waiting for her forever family. She is a beautiful 5 year old with the same blood disorder as Stella. The director said her file will be ready shortly. She urged us to help find this little one's family. In fact, her paperwork had not been prepared earlier because they feared no family would come forward. As they saw that Stella was chosen, the orphanage staff was more encouraged that her family could be found. If you or anyone you know feel that a China adoption is in their near future, we'll be glad to share a picture and help to connect you/them with this little one's file. There are families with love left to give. And there are little ones all over the world waiting...
Joey's 1st Day of 1st Grade (after studying abroad for a week)
We couldn't be more proud of our first grader!
He was ready to get back to his friends this morning.
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