Snow Much Fun!!

OK, I know the title is cheesy, but I couldn't resist.  Don't complain...you're experiencing the miracle of 2 blog posts, 2 days in a row! 

It definitely was sooooo much fun to have two new girls to introduce to snow for the first time at the ages of 3 and 7.  Granted, we haven't gotten a REALLY respectable snowfall yet, and it's been frigid enough to keep us inside for days on end, but today was the day that we decided to go outside and enjoy what little snow we have while it was a balmy 20 degrees!

Naika was unsure and crying a bit as we put all of her snow paraphernalia on.  But, if you'd only lived where it was 70 or warmer and only had to wear sundresses and shorts, you might cry the first time someone put big, bulky snowpants on you too! I figured she might last all of 5 minutes outside and definitely didn't have her pegged as one who would be willing to sled down our little hill. 

Both Chelley and Naika surprised me though, and happily took part in all of the sledding and outdoor play for a solid hour.  Maria, Annika, and Livie had a great time introducing Chelley and Naika to the snow and taking turns sledding and playing with their sisters, with Maria and Annika being big helpers in getting their sisters up and down the hill safely. They got to experiment with snow angels, eating snow, throwing snow (although this was NOT snowball or snowman snow), in addition to playing on the swing set and sledding down our small hill countless times.  I was snapping pictures and video as fast as possible and have a whole collection of great shots to share with you of the fun that was had today.  Enjoy the big smiles and the cuteness!! :)

 

And of course, everyone loves to get cozy with a nice cup of hot cocoa after playing in the snow...

                                                            
                                                    ....or not! :)

A quick update

Hello my friends. I apologize for not updating the blog more often with glimpses into our life as a family of seven. I am busier than I could have possibly imagined and end each day completely spent and exhausted in every way. I've been wanting to find a few minutes for an update but when I do find a few minutes to myself, I'm usually trying to fill my own tank quickly before the quiet moment is gone.

We've now been home just over two weeks and are still trying to settle into some sort of routine. We have many sweet and wonderful moments as ALL our girls get to know their sisters and learn how to play and communicate with each other. We have hard moments too, as Chelley and Naika adjust to our family, our boundaries and to all that is still so new and different for them. Getting everyone fed and dressed and ready for the day is often a two hour process, as is getting everyone ready for bed and tucked in at night. Both of our newest girls sleep all night (or most of the night) in their own beds in the rooms they share with their sisters, but they need to be asleep before we can leave them. We are grateful for good sleep most nights, except for when Livie gets up several times at night and ends up waking Naika at 5:00 a.m.  We were admittedly less grateful for that outcome.

Every meal is an adventure as we figure out what our newest girls do and do not like to eat. They have tried and enjoyed many new things and there have also been some things they've not enjoyed. We always make sure to have some rice with bean sauce, as well as clementines and bananas, available as a back up as those are always devoured.  Thank you sooooo much to those of you that have brought us delicious and wonderful food. We are alive and well fed because of your generosity. Without your help, we would be eating toast and bananas for every meal. Seriously, I have ZERO time for cooking or baking so the meals have been more help than I can possibly describe. THANK YOU!!

I've now had my first experiences with both of their hair as I took out the beads and 70+ braids in each of their hair and then did my best to try easy styles with both of them. They didn't turn out too bad for my first efforts. Since it takes many hours to take care of the hair of just one of them, I've pretty much given up on the idea of spare time until sometime around the year 2030!

I've also given up on the idea of having a clean or even mildly decluttered house anytime soon. I feel like I clean up after everyone all day long and don't even make a dent. I'm trying not to be stressed out by the state of our house and I'm hoping that as we continue to settle in, it will get better. For now, I'm just trying to make sure we aren't buried alive in dishes, crumbs, and small toy pieces.

In some ways, it's hard to believe that they are actually here and I have to keep reminding myself that I'm no longer in "waiting mode". In other ways, the fact that they are here has altered every reality for our family and that can be a very overwhelming place to be. I'll try to blog more sometime about the deeper, emotional aspects of this adoptive parenting journey we have now begun in earnest, but for now, at least you have a few glimpses into our busy days.

These last two weeks have not been easy or "fairy-tale" happy as we may have dreamt they would be, but they have been good, joyful, stretching, and life-changing for all of us. I never want to give a false impression that our life is perfect or that this is a simple and painless adjustment for any of us. But I do want to celebrate the wonderful moments that we have and focus on gratitude for the fact that our family is finally all in one place as we'd prayed and hoped for for so long.

Please keep praying for ALL of us as we continue to need God's wisdom, strength, and peace for this huge transition. Thanks for loving us and caring about this crazy time in our lives.

Pieces of the Puzzle

I've been thinking about what to include in this next update about our life and transition to a family of 7. As we navigate these days and learn more about each other, our life has reminded me of a big, life-size puzzle. For so long, we've been longing and waiting for the missing pieces of our puzzle. It was hard to feel so divided and incomplete for so long and we have rejoiced that we would finally have all our puzzle pieces in one place.

What I have come to realize this week is that just because all of our puzzle pieces are in one place, doesn't mean that the whole picture fits together just yet.

Some pieces have fit together with surprising ease and others have been far more difficult than we imagined to try to fit together. We were under the impression that some of these first few pieces would be fairly easy and that we might be able to leave some of the harder pieces for later. That has not turned out to be our experience. We've been taken aback with how hard some of these first days have been. We knew the hard times would come but just didn't know we'd be dealing with these hard times so soon.

The thing about this puzzle is that there are lives and hearts and relationships at stake. And the sizes and shapes of the pieces keep changing. Some moments, as we put together a piece that has gone together fairly easily before, we encounter unexpected and vehement resistance. Other times, when we expect complications, pieces fit together in new ways we hadn't envisioned.

Ultimately, we have realized that the journey to completing the whole picture of our family is going to take more time and potentially more tears than we'd imagined, even with all the reading and training we did in advance. We are doing our best to just simply appreciate having all the pieces in one place even though we aren't able to see the whole picture that we've been longing for. We are trusting that God sees a bigger picture than any of us and that He continues to faithfully work in us and through us to put our family picture together. In the meantime, we savor and celebrate the small and wonderful moments and pray our way through the more overwhelming moments. We continue to need and greatly appreciate your love and prayers for all of us.

I'll leave you with a few snapshots of some of our fun firsts this week.