2 Weeks!

 Yesterday was 2 weeks that the kids have been home.  It's been wonderful, exhausting, full of laughter, tears, hard, and most of all....WONDERFUL.

I didn't realize how hard it would be for a 6 year old to ride a bike for the first time.  Christy was hilarious.  She's got a very loud, low, raspy voice.  She kept yelling, "Leave me! Leave me! I know what I'm doing! DOn't leave me! You are leaving me! Help me!  I am tired!  Leave me! Don't touch! I can do it by myself!".   I was dying!  She did finally get the hang of it and really likes it.  

The kids all love each other.   They also fight hard.   You would think they been together forever.   

Yesterday I told Christy to brush her teeth.  She told me she did "yestadee".   I said you have to brush your teeth every. day.   "Oh mom!  I will be so Ti-yad".   LOL.   

Moses repeats everything in his cute little high pitched voice.   So, the kids are always trying to get him to say potty talk.  "moses say poop.   say pee pee.  say booger".   Today he has had some diarrhea.  So, of course Ethan says, "Say diarrhea".   He said it perfectly...better than any other word he's said.  

I'm having fun playing with Christy's hair.   IT's a bit overwhelming and I have a lot to learn, but, today I finally felt like I knew her hair a little better and knew that I can do this with time. 

I wish I could right down every funny moment around here.  It's constant.  

I'm still trying to figure out how my husband is going to sleep during the day without us leaving everyday (Which is wearing me out), plus get laundry done.  I've already resigned that my house will not be clean for a long time.  Also...wondering how we'll do school.  I'm not a routine person.  I really struggle with that.  But, I know that I've got to get into some kind of routine now.   

Well, here are some pics and video from the last week.

This is me just trying to get one shot of all the kids together.  yeah, right.

Braiding her doll's hair.  This doll was actually given to me by my grandmother when I was young.

This is my view most of the time...which I don't mind at all.

They dug a hole, covered it with sticks, adn then leaves to make a trap :)

One Week Home

Thanks for all of the prayers for Moses...he is MUCH better!  Christy has now started coughing. :(   I know it's hard enough living here and dealing with allergies.  So, I'm sure their bodies are going through so much with such a big change.  Hopefully it will pass quickly.

It just hit me a couple of hours ago that today it's been one week since our kids came home!!!   Honestly, it has been a blur!   It's been wonderful and exhausting all at the same time.   With Moses being sick we've had long nights and numerous trips to dr. offices.   I haven't gotten more than a couple of hours of sleep in the past few nights.  Yet, somehow I feel fine.

The kids all fight like they've been brothers and sister forever!   Seriously!

Going from 2 to 4...one being a toddler...is challenging.  But, we're figuring it out.   I told Chad...I feel like I did when I had a 2 year old and a newborn.   After a couple of weeks, you get in a routine, you get to know each other better, and it's all good. :)   We're getting there.

We've had a lot of fun and sweet moments.  We are always laughing.  Christy and Moses have brought such a joy to our home!  We are so blessed.  Sometime I still cant' believe they're really here!  

Illness

To my friends reading this...please pray for Moses.  He has RSV and pneumonia.   He is pretty miserable right now.  He's on breathing treatments and medication, so hopefully he'll be better soon.   In the meantime, Chad and I are exhausted and the other 3 kiddos are NOT!  So...we need patience to deal with them.  I hate seeing this little guy sick.   The only good thing is that it's some extra bonding time for us.   Thanks for the prayers!

Whew!  We are busy around here these days!  We are exhausted...well, Chad and I are...but, it's a "good tired".    We're still trying to figure out how to do manage everything now.   While I'm really tired, I'm also so happy.   It feels so good to have our kids with us.  It's like a huge weight has lifted off of me.   I love being able to hold them, comfort them, play with them, feed them.   It's been a lot of fun being together these first few days.  Everyone seems to be adjusting pretty well.  I think Luke is having the hardest time...although it's not bad.   He kind of seems to feel left out.  That's probably because he's the only one who hadn't met them yet.   He doesn't understand most of what Christy says, so that is a big barrier for them.   She's pretty bossy and overbearing...so I notice that a lot of the time, he just steers clear of her.   They are starting to warm up to each other little by little.   Hopefully, before long, they'll be close.  

The kids love being outside so it's nice that we've had such good weather.   They've been playing with the chickens.   Christy checks to see if one has "pooped an egg" every 5 minutes!  Poor chickens can't lay in peace!     She asks for "rocks" in her water (ice)....she's never had that before!  Can you imagine?

Yesterday she put on her nicest dress for lunch...mac and cheese.  I told her she should take it off to eat or she'd get food on it.  She said, "oh mommy!  I will not!  I will put my mouth inside the plate!".   This is the kind of language barrier we face.   Sometimes it just takes a few minutes to figure out what she's trying to say.

I need to do laundry while she is sleeping!  She's so enthralled with the dryer that she opens it every 2 minutes.  She does it when I don't notice so when I got to get the clothes out, they're still soaked!

Moses is such a happy baby!  He's always smiling, giggling and dancing.   He is my little shadow.  I love it!   He was scared to death of Sweet Pea but is finally warming up to her...a little.   Now, he doesn't scream like he's dying when he sees her....he either runs to us as fast as he can or grabs a hard object and pounds her on the head with it and yells, "go, go, go, go".  

He also loves to dance.  There is a dance in Ghana called azonto.  Anytime there is music he starts doing it.  He's so cute!

THey both have brought such joy to our home!  They are so full of life.  I'm so thankful!!!