Week 5 - a bunch of firsts!

This week has been busy, but all good things!!  We are so grateful for a healthy week.  :)

Monday was an MRI for Zoe.  It was for a previous possible condition, and everything came out completely healthy!  Praise God!!  She did so well, and cried only a very few tears.  She was a rockstar, and the nurses learned a lot about how cool adoption is!!

First day of school with Mrs. V.

Etta's first school paper

 

It's impossible to get a good picture of all 5 kids!

Riding her bike

Etta and her bike!

Wednesday was a big day!  Etta had her first day of school ever!  She was excited, but a bit nervous.  She loved it.  In fact, we planned for half days for her first week, and she wanted to stay the whole day.  She's coming home after lunch recess everyday, much to her classmates dismay.  She's been the excitement of the week for her class.  She told me of her first day, "Mommy, school, come, come" while pulling at her own arm.  :)  The teacher instituted a one helper a day rule the next day.  Etta had a pack pulling her around the first day!  My wonderful friend, Stephanie, has been Etta's one-on-one teacher daily, and it was so easy to leave her in such capable hands.  She's doing great!  We don't know how much she's taking in, but if it's even close to the first month, she will have it figured out in no time.

Our crazy warm winter has also brought other news.  Etta can officially pump her own swing, actually she's been able to for a few weeks now.  She can also ride a bike!  We hadn't planned on getting a bike until the spring, but because it's been so warm, we went and got one this week.  Everyday after school she asks, "Etta inside?", translated "can we go outside and ride bikes?".  She loves it!  It took her about 5 minutes to learn how to pedal, we're still working on the brake and stopping.  :)

Zoe has a bike too, but she'd rather be pushed around for now.  We'll see how long it takes...  She tolerated leaving Etta at school the first day.  She was a bit confused, but now 3 days in, she's totally fine with it.  She and Drew have played together more.  They had a great time playing playdough all morning today.  We'll see how it goes when she's the only one home.  She also had a "healthy" 3 year old visit on Thursday, and she's doing great!  We have another specialist scheduled soon, but hopefully not too many doctors visits.  She knows the pediatrician's office already!

Zoe's feeling about leaving Etta at school

Callie, Carson, and Drew are doing well.  Drew and Carson have become even closer buddies, and they can be found playing beyblades and talking video games most of the time.  Callie entertains the girls most of the time she's home.  She's had lots of opportunities to get away with friends on the weekends, too.  She is such a help to me, not sure how we'd get along without her!  Bedtime seems to be our biggest challenge at this point.  The girls (Etta and Zoe) are taking a considerable amount of time to get down (like an hour!!).  This isn't our usual routine, but we feel they need a little extra still (mostly Zoe), so we oblige.  Soon, we will be thinking about how to make that more manageable.  The other kids miss having mom at bedtime, and a lot of the time the boys are already asleep when I make it to their room to say goodnight.  It's a work in progress...  But we'll get there!

Zoe and Drew love each other!

Another fun hairstyle on a moving subject.

Continue praying for our family, please!!  Protection from illness, attachment for the girls, and a bond for the entire family as we work out new dynamics.  The Lord has been so good to us, we know absolutely that this is where we are supposed to be, but it is hard (somedays more than others!!) and worth it.