Miracle in week 8!

This last week was hard.  Pouting returned with a vengeance and Mommy wasn't very patient.  We made 3 trips to the doctor (strep throat, wheezing, and tummy aches) and all recovered.  We got hair braided (3 1/2 hours later, a very happy girl, and the sweetest friends anyone could ask for...  she did it for FREE!!).   But all of this paled over the weekend with our good news...

gorgeous girl and her braids.

The biggest news of the week occurred on Saturday night.  I escaped the house about 5pm to take Callie to a birthday party at some friend's house.  Noone else was with me...  So, that meant I left Mark home with the other four, one of which was difficult for him to care for.  At my friends house, we jokingly said to her husband that we should go out for a girls' dinner.  He said YES!!  Mark said YES!!  So, we went.  Our amazing husbands took care of the bday party and our 4 other children.  I felt so free.  And then the best text I've ever received, "The daddy, Zoe stalemate is over".  I was so happy I started crying.  He then sent the sweetest picture.  It was as if she switched the daddy switch.  SHE LOVES HIM!!  She runs after him saying, "Daddy, Daddy!"  She asks for him when he's at work!  This mommy and daddy couldn't be happier.  Sunday was my birthday and I couldn't have received a better gift.  Mark joked that he and Zoe had an agreement to wait until my birthday.  :)  God answers prayers.  Again a reminder of our verse, "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."  This transition was nothing to do with us.  All God.  He is so good.  Thank you so much to all of you who were praying.  Another example of answered prayer!

 So, here are the happiest pictures!

I love my daddy!!

She loves to ride and look at herself in the mirror.

Silly, happy girl.

Fun on the ipad, playing teach me toddler. 

My bday cake, made by Kelly!

Introducing Princess Etta

Etta is a princess.  But until today she was lacking her proper attire.  She LOVES Cinderella.  I mean asking everyday if we can watch it kind of love.  Much to her brothers distaste.  :)

As many of you know, dress up clothes that are readily available this time of year are much too small for 6 year old princesses, and most importantly to Etta, their high heeled dress up shoes fit only one's big toe.  She's been begging for high heels since the first time we went shopping.  Her Cinderella "glass" slippers arrived today.  Talk about excited!!  And this girl is just learning what a princess she is.  She's been God's little princess all along.

Week 7

Etta's Valentine.

Callie's Valentine.

Carson's Valentine.

Drew's Valentine.

A lot of the pictures I get nowdays.  :)

Callie and Zoe

A lot of art goes on here!

Snuggling watching a movie.

This week was a pretty average week.  YEAH for average.  :)  We needed a little more "normal" around here.  So, mostly pictures this week.

Week 6

It's time for another weekly update, and this week was good!  We had school conferences this week, which makes for crazy schedules, no naps, and tired little ones.  We trekked up to Minnesota for a quick trip (no school on Friday) and had a great time together.  We're now home and plan to rest up for the next 36 hours until the week begins again.  I did terrible at taking pictures this week.  :( 

We had firsts this week -
1. trips to the dentist for Zoe first (she did amazing!  no tears at all) and then Etta (only tears with flouride) but no cavities at all!
2.  swimming!  They both loved it.  Zoe was so comfortable in the water.  Lying on her back, putting her face in and blowing bubbles.  Etta was thrilled!  Lots of giggling and screaming.  Fearful at first, but jumping in by the end of the day.  We spent 5 hours in the water!!  I don't think I've been in the pool that long since I was a child.  :)
3.  tubing!  We tried out tubing today in Minnesota, despite the weather.  The sun was shining but it was a frigid 9 degrees with a below zero windchill.  The girls LOVED it.  All Zoe would say at the bottom of the hill was again, again!!  Etta giggled and screamed her way down the hill and quickly learned how the "magic carpet" works.  They did amazing!  The other 3 loved it as well.  Drew was so fast no one could keep up with him!  When we volunteered to go with him, he said, "no thanks."  Probably for fear we would slow him down.  :)  Callie was such a big help.  She carried Etta's tube for her, and stuck with her to help out!  We couldn't have done it without her.  Carson loved it too, though he loved skiing even more.  Mark took Callie, Carson, and Drew skiing on Friday.  It was a bit too much and after a bloody nose and fear of loosing Drew off the bottom of the hill when he bombed it before knowing how to stop, he brought Drew back to the hotel.  Carson and Callie continued skiing and were doing blue runs by the end of the day!  The video is great!  Drew was a little sad, but happy to swim and hang out with us for the rest of the day.
4.  a full day of school for Etta!  She does well, but doesn't love having to go everyday.  She's learning like crazy.  My favorite was the card she brought home for Daddy and Mommy (addressed to us by her) and inside it said "I love you Daddy and Mommy!"  She was so proud!!  All from a girl that has been in school for a week and the US for 6 weeks. 
5.  other firsts - Chick-fil-a dinner at the mall and a short (very short) necessity Scheels trip for snow gear.  Our first real week of COLD.  Our first interaction with a VERY nice couple from Ethiopia today at the tubing hill.  Etta was in full shut-down trauma mode.  Zoe was very comfortable with them.  I felt so horribly for Etta.  I think she was very afraid she was leaving with them.  She was completely back to normal the moment we got in the car.  The couple was so sweet, and even invited us to their home for a meal!  It wouldn't work today, and they were very sympathetic to Etta and how she was feeling.

We've been watching TCU's trust based parenting videos.  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!  Every technique I've tried has been so helpful.  I LOVE the catch phrases.  It's really helped me deal with the shut-down syndrome that our girls tend to have.  I'm really hoping to go to the Empowered to Connect seminar in Denver.

What a week!  The Lord is good.  He continues to provide for each and every moment, I'm so thankful.  What a complete blessing these girls are to our family.

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.

Week 4 - we survived

This has been one of the hardest weeks of my life.  The girls are really doing quite well, despite the chaos.  I'm going to timeline this week, and really I'm not looking for sympathy, I just want to remember all that we went through the last week of January 2012.  Despite our weakness, God is strong.

Monday, while getting dressed, I re-herniated a disc in my back.  I was in so much pain that I called Mark.  Thanks to our inroads in the medical field, I was able to get a MRI and then an epidural that afternoon.  It would not have been possible without our friends and family.  They drove me, took care of kids, cooked, cleaned, and more.  We are blessed.  The girls (Etta and Zoe) were away from us all afternoon, and they did amazingly well.  Praise the Lord.  I returned home Monday evening and went to bed, only to be awakened by Callie at 2am.  She had the stomach flu...  We then spent the entire night on the couch making frequent runs to the bathroom.  Poor baby...

Tuesday, my back felt tremendously better, and I took care of kiddos all day, and tried to keep them separated.  Please don't let anyone else get sick...

Wednesday, noone else had gotten sick, and we pushed through.  Carson was a little trooper, and went to school each day.  Etta and Zoe were doing well.  We even took a quick trip to Old Navy (Carson suddenly had no jeans that fit!) and they loved the manaquins.  :)

Thursday, everyone was back to school.  I did some errands, and tried again, unsuccessfully to buy Etta shoes.  She wants black patten leather heels.  Hmm, not gonna happen.  Sorry sweetie!  After a fall to the ground all out fit at the store, we made it home.  Not trying that again anytime soon...  Thursday night was our first post-adoption meeting with our social worker.  It went well.  She is absolutely the best.  So encouraging, so many good ideas, and so calm.  She answered all questions and we left the night feeling very hopeful.  The girls are doing so incredibly, it's amazing.  God is faithful.

Friday morning, I awoke to serious vertigo.  I tried several times to sit up and it was terrible.  I stumbled down the hall, bumping into the walls to wake up the kids and then rushed back to bed.  After determining there was absolutely no way that I could get up and get the kids ready, I called my sis, Andrea, again...  They were here shortly and the kids were in good hands.  We determined I needed to go the ER and made the second 911 call to Mark of the week!  I've only done this once before in our marriage!!  Darwin drove me to the hospital, stayed with me all day in the ER and then I stayed overnight and until Saturday late afternoon.  I finally got home last night, exhausted but so thankful.  The ER doctor was concerned that I may have a brain tumor, and had even sent the films to an oncologist radiologist.  Praise God I don't have a brain tumor and for quick recovery.  Praise God for loving care for our kids and us.  Praise God for family that goes above and beyond.  Praise God for a church family that knows how to take care of us.  I hate feeling needy, but the Lord has definitely taught me this week that He is in control.  That my neediness is ok.  That people love serving our family, and that my worth isn't tied to my performance.  He's also shown that He can take care of our kids.  Even though the last week hasn't been optimal, or our plan for our girls attachment, they have done great.

Beautiful girls

Zoe, Mama, and Etta

Again our verse:
Exodus 14:14
¹⁴ The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Week 3

Loving outside

crazy boys

callie and zoe on the slide

she loves the cold!

having fun with cousins

maddie and etta

auntie and zoe - trying to win her over :)

cousin fun

uncle and carson

Today marks three weeks home! Amazing. Time is flying by. I just read last weeks summary and am shocked myself in how much things have changed in a week! The biggest change is definitely in Zoe. She's coming out of her shell. She has new words daily, sometimes hourly, and Wow!! Is she ever opinionated!! It's almost hard to believe she's the same quiet child that I brought home. She gives me a run for my money and LOVES the word no like most toddlers. She still eats more than a man, but is branching out a ton on things she likes. She decided she really likes corn dogs and ranch dip this week! She's ready for the Iowa state fair. :). She's still sleeping good, but tells me exactly what to do at bedtime. Tonight she crossed the line when her last request was lipgloss. ;). Her babies must be wrapped exactly right or else I will pay!  She also loves to tell me "Wolayta" and walk to the computer.  She and Etta both love to listen and dance to Wolayta music on youtube.  So cute.  She still won't give Mark the time of day.  We've tried everything.  It's just going to take time.  So, so hard, because he never gets to see her cute, hilarious side.  She becomes a quiet statue when he comes home.  Zoe's not a big fan of the cold, and it's hard because she loves to go outside.  Spring and summer will be great for her.

Etta enjoyed (thoroughly, as in watched three times today because I couldn't refuse), Cinderella! She was disgusted by the step mother, and must have told me to watch 1,000 times. Her face was so, so cute though. She just loved it. She also had her first doughnut this week and asked for another. Guess we have already gotten over the dislike of sweets!! She understands almost all English already, and even translates for me with Zoe as least once a day. She loves to learn, and has started to get frustrated when she can't remember a word. Her pouting has decreased tremendously and she is getting used to our routine.  She LOVES the snow.  We haven't had much this winter and it's been seriously cold this week, so she hasn't gotten nearly enough time in it.  I can't wait for a little sledding, hopefully soon.

On the whole, we are doing great.  I'm second guessing myself a lot less.  I feel like I know the girls better, and it's so much easier to tell what they want and need.  We've spent some time at other people's homes and the girls have done pretty well.  We are slowly branching out and are planning on trying church this weekend.