Catch-up

Regardless of circumstances described in the prior post, life does indeed go on, so I thought I should bring everyone up to date on the fun things we've done and how things stand in other areas.

Our big boy, Toby, finished out his kindergarten year last Friday. His report card and IEP update are simply amazing. He has made so much progress, especially socially. Back in September we really didn't know what to expect, particularly when things started out a little bumpy with the person in charge of his IEP and special services. It was a constant joy to see him blossom, make friends, and be so excited about what he did in school each day.

Our now middle child, Henry, is having a pretty rough time. He is four and thus frustrated with life in general, but now he's had to give up his baby position AND have big brother home from school each day. Alas, big brother takes the brunt of much of his anger, which big brother doesn't know how to cope with appropriately. Things get pretty ugly around here most days. Henry is one angry little man. We have since established some set alone time with each child and lots of space between the two boys. We are also trying to potty train...still. Its not going well. He is stubborn and sensitive and not at all motivated. Gotta love the little guy though!

And, of course, the Princess Herself. She has kept us busy with all of her busyness. You know, growing, eating, scooting around the floor -- backwards! -- occasionally napping, eating, getting her ears pierced, eating, throwing tantrums because she's not eating, eating, pooping, eating, almost sleeping through the night, eating, and generally being a happy baby. She has a bit of a mommy obsession, but that's not necessarily all bad...except when mommy needs to cook dinner.

Finally, I know the most important part of an update is pictures, so here are some from our Father's Day visit to the zoo:

He Gives and Takes Away

When you're self-employed there are many months when you don't know where your income will come from. For the last year or so, due to changing contracts, we have known that we would probably be reaching the point where we had no income. Literally, no income. There were a few possibilities that were potentially available to tide us over until other work could be found, but as of today those have pretty much been ruled out. Another characteristic of barely scraping by each month is that its nearly impossible to maintain a savings account. What money is saved goes quickly when the van needs new tires, or someone visits the ER. (And then the Lord calls you to adopt....)

So, here we are. We will get our last known paycheck this week and then its up to the Lord. Not only will we not have the means to pay our mortgage or other bills next month, but the business will likely not have enough money to pay such things as our health insurance and the cell phone bill upon which our family relies. (We have no land line.) When you're self-employed you aren't eligible for unemployment. Our state has stopped accepting applications for state health insurance. Things are looking pretty bleak.

I am well aware that the Lord could have made all those pending pieces fall into place, but He chose not to. So, I have to believe that He will provide an alternative. Even if it involves watching the demise of our credit record and the possible foreclosure of our home, I guess He has more important things in store for us. He has carried us thus far.

Please pray for our family and that of my brother and sister-in-law, that we will be wise and seek the Lord -- and of course, that the Lord will provide work for my husband and his brother.

He gives and takes away. My heart will choose to say, "Blessed be the Name of the Lord."

The Condensed Version

I am working on merging our family site and our adoption site into one. By "working on", I mean that every several days I sit down at the computer and log in, only to be pulled away by some other pressing issue (read: child). I thought it would be fun to make a little project out of it and design it myself. Well, its slow going. I should have just hired somebody to do it (or had my husband do it -- which would have taken like 30 seconds) but now I refuse to give up.

This whole endeavor is an excellent example of just how much time I have right now to even post on a blog, but I have determined to keep something going, mostly for the sake of extended family and as a means of keeping in touch with other church/adoptive families. (To you AGCI folk: Ya'll don't abandon me now!) Its not like I have impressive wisdom I need to impart or that I think I have that interesting of a life.

Anyway, the family blog is coming soon...hopefully by this weekend. I will try to at least get some photos up in the meantime.

Looking for Advice

My little beauty hides a dirty little secret. With nearly every bowel movement we have a blowout. Usually up the back. And its not necessary diarrhea. It just always shoots up that way. Sometimes up the back AND the front. I'm changing her and washing her clothes constantly. We have a spare car seat cover that I've had to change frequently too. I've had two boys -- one of whom had serious digestive issues -- but I've never encountered this before. Sure, we had our share of blowouts -- always at the most inopportune times, as blowouts by definition tend to be -- but this is different. And very frustrating. And more than a little disgusting.

Anyway, its not the poop itself that frustrates me. Its that the poop is everywhere, all the time. So I wondered, is this more common with girls or something? I mean, things are a little different down there. Or is it related to her, um, chunkiness? Or does she just have uncommonly, shall we say, strong, um, movements? I don't know. But since she's not going to be potty trained...or even having more solid movements, for some time now, I'm wondering if anyone has found anything that works to contain said movements. We nearly always layer in a onesie because that at least keeps it in her clothes (EW!) and not on the person holding her, per se. But that requires peeling off a poopy onesie every time (again EW!). We've tried fastening her diaper (disposable) in different ways and even different kinds of diapers, but its always the same. Diaper covers (like the kind that come with dresses) and shorts/pants with wide elastic waistbands don't help.

So, anyone have any creative ideas? We would ALL be so grateful!

(And, yes, I just finished changing one. And changing the car seat. Again. Hence this post.)

A Swingin' Good Time

Its Just Not Right

...to have a social worker come visit your home when you just brought home a baby a month ago!

I mean, seriously. But adoption requires post-placement visits/reports, the first being 3 months after you take custody...then at 6 months, then at a year, then each year until the child turns 18. The hitch the first time around is that a social worker visit is required and the paperwork is due to the agency at 2 months, so it can reach Ethiopia by the 3 month due date. Hence, the social worker visit TODAY. Did I mention that we'll only have three hours advance notice of her arrival?? Yikes.

Not that I'm worried. Its just that our month-long adjustment period had kind of left our house (and yard) in a not-so-cleanly state. But after several long hours -- put in mostly by my wonderful hubby -- he's THE MAN! -- the house may actually be presentable. Now its my job to keep it that way until she shows up. No easy task, people!

If our house has been in a sorry state, the blog has really fallen behind. You'll notice I did finally take down our countdown ticker and update my ever-so-brief profile. Like many blog slackers, I've composed a number of great postings in my head at night, between feedings...but they never come to fruition once daylight hits and the chaos/children takes/take over.

Melat continues to be a happy little trooper -- even despite an ear infection and an antibiotic-requiring diaper rash. Its sort of an extended family joke that you can only tell when she's sad by looking at her face. If you see tears, she's sad, otherwise you'd never know because she just sort of whimpers when she's upset. We know she's hungry when she thrashes around and smacks her lips. We know she's tired when she smears her face on our shoulder. Other than that she loves to smile, roll around, and watch the exciting world that is our family.

We were able to have her dedicated -- along with like a dozen or more babies -- at our mass-baby-producing church on Mother's Day. She still loves to be vocal and so felt the need to try to out-speak our pastor. What a nut. Actually, she tries to do that every Sunday, so we spend a lot of time in the church lobby.


The following week was our second son's 4th birthday -- and Melat's sort of "coming out" to much of our extended family. We love how attached she has become to us...she will go to others, but Mommy and Daddy always have to be in her line of sight. That's a good thing! She had a blast interacting with all her cousins and other family members.

I'm sure there is a lot more to report, but that's going to have to do for now. We're coping well, but still working on controlled chaos as opposed to just chaos. I know I still have to post travel photos, but that's a process that requires much thinking, so its still going to have to wait. I miss all my travelling buddies...is a three month reunion a little too soon??

Love is in the House

So far the question we are asked most is how our little one is adjusting. The answer? She's doing very well. She's a happy chunk of a thing -- pretty content to roll with whatever we've got going on. We're trying to keep things mellow for her, but our life is a little too crazy for that. Plus Mama gets a little stir crazy sometimes. We've walked the mall a few times, hit the playground in the stroller, and made our debut at church, among other things. We've also started rice cereal, which she loves but hasn't figured out how to swallow yet. Its a work in progress!

The rest of us? Well, we're getting there. The biggest issue isn't surprising: sleep. She still wakes 2 or 3 times a night for a bottle and will only nap for short periods of time...in a crowded room. If its too quiet, she can't sleep. We have her in our room, with a nightlight, which is an adjustment in and of itself for us. Our boys spoiled us by sleeping in their own room fairly early on, and were definitely sleeping through the night by this age. Its tough to go to sleep at 9, wake up at 7, and have only gotten 5 or 6 hours of sleep.

The boys are doing fairly well. The eldest was pretty wild our first week back -- his way of coping with change -- then he got sick. Our youngest is being a royal stinker...but he was starting that before we left. He has a will of steal...and he's not afraid to use it!

Really, though, things are going so much better than I hoped. I had really prepared myself for a very difficult time -- you know, worst case scenario -- but we're actually doing okay. I have no doubt that its the prayers of so many people that makes the difference. It was really tough with all the travel and sickness and preparations to miss church as much as we did -- I came back desparate for some quiet time with my Bible.

If nothing else, we are just soo glad to be back. We are being spoiled with meals and prayers and love -- and a baby shower next Wednesday!

I promise to post more about our trip the next time I have a spare moment, which translates to lots of pictures!