Moments

There are moments that take my breath away because I see so clearly how far she has come.

Like tonight when I got her out of the tub.  I wrapped her up in a towel and held her like a little baby as she gazed up at me with a smile.  I sat down, still holding her, and with a mischievous grin she wriggled free from the towel and off my lap, heading full speed out of the living room and straight to the kitchen to see Daddy.  A moment later she returned, laughing at her antics, and stopped for a moment to smack her belly.

And in that moment, I remembered.  It was only 7 months ago, and we gave her a bath for the first time in China.  She was tiny, and we weren't sure if she could sit up ok in the tub by herself so we used a baby tub.  She was so quiet, so small.  But the child now standing before me was such a different child from the one I held in my arms only a few months back.

Tonight I smiled as she smacked her big, round, healthy toddler belly :) Her legs are so strong from chasing her brothers and climbing all day long.  Her arms are strong from stealing toys and chucking them at people!  She is spunky and full of energy and talkative and opinionated and loving and so many things I just didn't know at the beginning.

I read her a story before bed, and we laughed at her favorite joke for the thousandth time...I ask her where the puppy is, and she points at the wrong animal and then peeks at me out of the corner of her eye.  And I bury my head in her hair and say, "Noooo!  That's not the puppy, silly girl!" And I tickle her, and we laugh like it's the funniest thing we've ever heard.  Again and again and again we play this little game, until finally it's time to tuck her into bed.

I lay her down in her crib, put her treasured bear in one arm and a sippy cup of water that she never drinks in the other, cover her up, and play the "one more kiss" game that could really go on all night.  She smiles at me as I say good-night, with the promise that Daddy will be in in a minute to kiss her good-night, and I quietly slip out the door without any tears.  Every night I can scarcely believe that it's going this well, but it is.  And we are thankful.

I think back to the little girl we first met, so unsure, so scared, her big, dark eyes taking in everything around her.  I remember that first night when she laid on me for almost 2 hours, not making a sound, before falling asleep.  I remember Brad whispering my name in the middle of the night, and when I looked over at Hannah lying between us, I realized she was wide awake, staring silently at the ceiling.  It is so hard to think about what that must have been like for her, and I hate that she had to go through that.

I'm so thankful, though, that now we are on the other side.  She is happy....so happy.  She is one of us and she knows it.  Sometimes when I tell her that I love her, she runs right over and gives me the biggest hug and the sweetest kiss on the cheek.  She knows that she is mine, and I am hers...forever.

On The Bright Side

We're all sick.  Yuck.  I hate that Fall always brings us so much sickness.  Every year I think to myself, "Surely this year the kids won't be as sick as last year!" and every year we are sick from October to about May.  We get a few weeks off here and there but for the most part it is almost straight through.  I hate it!

Some things that are making me smile...

This morning, Hannah finished her toast and said, "More toast!" as clear as day.  It was awesome!  I love that she is already starting to put two words together.

The boys love love love Awana!  They go and sing songs, play games, learn Bible verses, and of course enjoy a snack :)  Last week Matthew said to me, "I can't wait to go to Awana with my Nathan!".  They are best buds and love doing things together.

The other day when I went into the kids' bedroom this is what I found:

Silly children!

Matthew is doing so well with his reading program!  It is just amazing seeing him learn to read.  I love the curriculum we chose (All About Reading) and it's a perfect fit for Matthew.  Every other lesson or so he has these fluency practice pages.  Sometimes we sit and do all of it at one time, sometimes it's more challenging for him and we do it in several sittings.  We only do 15-20 minutes a day (if that) and his reading abilities are growing by leaps and bounds!

So much cuteness...so much stubbornness!  This spunky little one has me taking a lot of deep breaths these days.  I love her so much but oh man can she try my patience!  She is in the "I don't know how to share" phase which they have all gone through and she's also in the "If I see a toy I want it right now even if it's in your hands!" phase and is constantly grabbing toys that are already in the hands of someone else.  Not surprisingly the boys are not a big fan of this!!  I know that it's a stage and with consistency and patience she'll come out the other side and be able to play well with her siblings...I just wish we were there already!  This is a tiring phase and I'm glad it's also full of "firsts" and learning and smiles and kisses and enough goodness that I know it's all worth it!

These Three

These days are FULL from morning to night!  It's nice to have a few minutes at the end of the day to just sit and breathe and try to recover enough to be ready for the next day.  What a fun week we have been having so far.  The weather is absolutely perfect right now - I just love Fall so much!

This little guy has been working hard at speech therapy for the last several weeks.  Twice a week we go to speech therapy, and my little guy happily goes off with his wonderful teacher for half an hour while Matthew, Hannah and I hang out in a teeny tiny waiting room.  Doesn't that sound like fun times??  Thankfully it hasn't been nearly as bad as I expected, although Hannah did have a lovely little meltdown today that had me looking at the clock every 3 seconds in total desperation.  Still, it's worth it to see the amazing progress Nathan is making.  He can make a clear "f" sound now and is working on words that end in the "p" sound.  He is so proud of himself and loves being able to say words more clearly.  

Little Miss Cutie Pie...oh, she is SO cute!  I can't even stand it!  She loves shoes and clothes and asks for me to do her hair every morning.  Could we be more different?  But I love it, and seeing her smile when I pick her up to show her the hairdo in the mirror is one of my very favorite things ever.

My big guy...oh, sweet boy.  This is a wonderful and fun age and I'm so thankful that we decided to keep him home this year.  Our days are filled with learning and reading and crafts and playing and coloring and walks and though some days I say otherwise, I know that really I wouldn't trade any moment of it for anything in the world.  The other morning Matthew came out of his room and asked where Brad was.  When I told him that Daddy had gone to work already, the tears started.  He rushed over to me, put his head on my shoulder and said, "That breaks my heart that Daddy is already gone to work!".  He is such a sweet and loving soul, so affectionate and cuddly, and I hope that never changes!

They're all so different and it is so much fun to see them change and grow and to see who they are becoming.  I really, really like being their mom!

They Have Each Other

I won't pretend that it's always peaceful around here...

There's plenty of sibling rivalry,

fights,

toy stealing,

ear pulling (Hannah's new thing),

the usual brother-sister stuff...

But even with all that,

I can say without a doubt

that these three

are better

because they have each other.

They're learning

to share

to give

to have patience

to care

to love

Becoming a family

is an amazing thing!

I Should Get A Sticker

I should get a sticker for surviving this morning.  Unbearably loud, screaming children.  A 2-year-old who knows what she wants and who makes my least favorite sound in the whole world when she doesn't get it.  I was feeling on the edge of losing it by 9am.  Not good.

I loaded everybody into the van and just drove.  They still weren't quiet...but at least they couldn't hit each other :) We needed a few things from the store and they are usually pretty well-behaved in public so we wandered the aisles and picked up milk and bananas.  Hannah wanted to walk but I wouldn't let her out of the cart...and the noise began.  I gritted my teeth and headed for the checkout.

I heard behind me, "Somebody's tired!" but didn't realize at first that the comment was directed my way.  I turned and saw three older ladies smiling at me and my cart full of children.  I smiled then turned and continued on, wondering to myself, "Did they mean Hannah...or me?!?"

Some days this job is exhausting.  Some days I feel like these little ones are sucking the life out of me!  After a snack (for them), a huge coffee (for me), a little more driving and an hour outside, things are looking a little better :)

Here's to hoping we are in for a better afternoon!!

She's Home

Please believe me when I tell you that this little one was totally thrilled about her pigtails and that she laughed hysterically when I picked her up and showed her in the mirror.

You wouldn't know it from this picture, but today we heard more laughter from this little one than I think we ever have.  I mean, hearty belly laughs, throwing back her head because it is that funny kind of laughs.  

It feels like a whole new level of home for our little darling.  She feels safe, and she is happy, and it is so good to see!

Now if only we could get a picture of that...