We are back from our 15 day China trip. It was a life changing trip... but I am so glad it is over! It was interesting to explore another culture and see the country of our daughter's birth, but we are definitely thankful we live in the US and have the lifestyle that we do. You just don't realize how lucky you are until you experience a trip like this! We got to do a lot of fun things, like climb the Great Wall and tour the Forbidden City, but the most amazing thing we did was meet our daughter on October 23, 2010. Most people that read this blog knew about our travel journal, but if you would like to see pictures and read about each day of our trip, go
here.
Life has been good with our new family of 6. It is certainly chaotic at times, but we do have TWO one-year olds so it would be a little scary if it wasn't chaotic! Emma cried a lot the first few days we were home and wanted to be held. I guess she was scared of the change... again. That made things a little difficult. Everyday she gets a little more confident in her house and crawls around and plays with her toys. I feel like we are learning how to manage these 4 kiddos and get into a good routine. I go back to work next Wednesday, so hopefully our routines will be even better by then!
Andrew is doing great in school. He loves it so much and he has an awesome teacher. We are so lucky! He is reading a lot these days and picking up all kinds of things. He uses words like "schema" and "metacognition" that he learns at school- so funny. He has always been good at math, but now that they are adding in school, he is just taking off with it. We didn't sign him up for any sports this fall/winter because of all the changes in our family. But, he will definitely play baseball again in the spring. He still loves to play with super heroes. I have seen a change in his attitude since starting school- he gets a little sassy! I am sure a lot of it is his age, but also things he sees at school. I am hoping he isn't being educated about things that he shouldn't be. Andrew is a smart kid and he picks up on a lot of things quickly- I am hoping we can keep him sheltered for a long time but I know that is not likely. Andrew loves having a baby sister. He loves to carry her around the house, make her laugh, and play with her. Both the older boys have been fantastic in welcoming her into her new home.
Matthew is still Matthew. Just plain funny. He is enjoying school now and his best friends are Hayden and Braeden. The teacher says they play together everyday and they talk about each other all the time. Matthew can never tell me what the letter or the number of the week is, but he can tell me that Hayden wears the same underwear that he does. He is still a sweet little guy, who loves to hold my hand and give me kisses. He is sleeping great these days. Every night he stays in his bed and sleeps through the night. I am glad the season of night terrors is over- that was not fun!!!!
Timothy is our monster man. He is in full blown toddler mode. When I left for China, I left this sweet baby boy who loved to cuddle in my lap and who would play by himself calmly for the longest time. I came home to a screaming, destructive child who is now like a bulldozer! His babysitter even made a comment that he went from a baby to a toddler over night!!!! He hates being locked in the living room, but when you let him out, he empties all the cabinets and gets into everything. He is now off the world's most expensive formula and drinking whole milk with no problems. He is off baby food, but he is not the best table food eater. Oh, well... I guess he will learn or go hungry. I am done with the baby food! He is a bully to Emma Grace- he pulls her hair and hits her when he gets within an arm's distance. Although he is a handful at the moment, he can still be very sweet. He is walking, and to see him toddle across the floor is SO.DARN.CUTE. He loves to walk up to me and cuddle up close. He LOVES to read books with flaps. He will sit there for the longest time and pull each one down. It is so cute that he concentrates so hard when he does it. He is doing all the cute baby stuff right now. When he see a comb, he brushes his hair... when he sees socks, he lifts his foot up and holds the sock there, he tries very hard to say "HELLO" when he gets the phone and holds it to his ear. In his defense, he has been picked on quite a bit by the older boys, so now that he is getting older and can stand up for himself, he is quite protective over his toys and he is MAKING sure that this little girl doesn't get too close to his goodies. He is also going through a screaming phase right now. If he wants something, he will let out a high-pitched, ear piercing scream to let you know. It is annoying to say the least. We of course love our Timmy boy and I am so excited that Emma and Timmy will always have each other.
Emma Grace has adjusted wonderfully to her new family. She is very attached to both Rick and myself. She goes to us equally. She is now used to her brothers and plays comfortably in any room in the house. She will crawl completely out of my sight. Right now, I keep her on the floor as much as possible. I let her explore and play to her little heart's content. She climbs over things and just yesterday I saw her climb and sit in a box. I have seen her pull to her feet one time since we have been home, and it wasn't very sturdy. Her legs/ankles are so weak... she has a lot of catching up to do. Although we met her when she was 15 months old, I feel like developmentally we got a 9 or 10 month old. After touring her orphanage and learning about her past, I feel pretty confident that she didn't have interactive play with an adult or a toy until she was 9 months old, and even then it was probably limited. She has definitely gained weight in the one month that we have had her and I feel like she is getting stronger, too. It will just take time. She gets her lip fixed tomorrow and they are also putting tubes in her ears. She has a lot of fluid, which causes her some hearing problems. Emma still has trouble with people she does not know. I go back to work next week and my mom will be staying with her. Although she has seen my mom almost everyday, she does not like to go to her (or anyone else for that matter.) I think after a few days she will be fine. I really feel like she is still in defense mode- she is not letting her guard down easily. She really needs to build trust with people, and I don't really blame her after everything she has been through. She will be going to a babysitter in January and I LOVE the lady that is watching her. I think it will be really good for Emma and a place where she will be comfortable and feel safe. It will be a rough transition, and again she will have to build trust- but I think after a few days she will be fine. I just can't believe how lucky we are to have Emma Grace. I feel like she is the perfect match for our family and I feel like we have had her forever. I can't imagine NOT having her. Today we asked Matthew what he was thankful for and he said "my sister." I think we all feel that way- she is such an amazing blessing. When I think about her beginnings... found on a busy street in front of the hospital. abandoned. Then taken to an orphanage where she sat alone, without the love of a family for 7 months- it is really just more than I can handle. Then I think about all of those children still there and it breaks my heart. In the face of every orphan I will always see my Emma Grace.
As for Rick and myself- same ole stuff! Rick got a new job at GE and is staying busy with that. I have enjoyed my maternity leave.... making hair bows and tutus. We are doing a big show the first weekend in December so I have been preparing for that. Other than that, we have just been enjoying our family and loving life with our 4 treasures.
