Can it be December?

Well, Arnold has been here for about a month and a half now, and it could have well been years as easily as he has adjusted to his new life and as well as he fits into our growing family! He really is doing remarkably well and as far as we can tell seems to be settling in very well to his new rules, expectations, routine etc.

Of course, there have been adjustments for all of us! The boys could wear anyone out, not to mention a very pregnant mama. They are full of life and energy, and sometimes just plain full of it! I love how all of the kids interact when they are behaving and being sweet, which really is most of the time. Ellie adores Arnold and he still lets her play with his ears if they are watchingtv together! The boys include her in whatever they are doing, and Kyler never asks to have friends over anymore. (He used to ask almost everyday!) Of course, they all enjoy spending time with their cousins and our other extended family and we have had many special moments together including Arnold's first Thanksgiving, gingerbread making, birthday celebrations, and most recently Arnold's first snow!

Arnold will be starting preschool after Christmas, but he is a little worried. He said he will be scared without his Daddy and Mommy there, but I suspect that he will do quite well once he is comfortable in his environment. Next year he will go to kindergarten and Kyler to preschool.

As for me... this very well could be my last post before we are a family of six! I have been neglecting the computer, which is better than neglecting my family, I am sure, but it does feel like my only connection to the outside world some days! Even now I sit here in our usual mid-day mess, thinking of all the things I should be doing in case I have to make an sudden trip to the hospital! At my recent appointment, it didn't seem as though Libby would be waiting until Christmas to make her appearance! Let's hope not!

Thanks for your continued love, prayers and support of our family! We hope to be a blessing to others in our lives, despite our busyness and our unpredictable lives!

The past two weeks

The first full week that Arnold was here, after his travels and after the cabin, we spent at home. On purpose. It was important to me that Arnold started to feel at home in this house, and that we followed our new routine as best we could.

Week two was full of fevers, colds, medicine, deciding which bedroom to put the one humidifier in (gosh, we really need two of those before the next round!) and more staying at home- not by choice! Oh, and in the middle of the week, I thought I was going into pre-term labor! (Please Lord, let number four stay put for a bit!) After the staff at the hospital did all they could to make sure that baby was perfectly fine and not going anywhere, they sent me home blaming dehydration. I was a bit puzzled and lacking a clear reason why I felt like my insides hated me! After looking back on some of their concerns and questions, and after more symptoms developed, I have self-diagnosed gallbladder issues, on top of the dehydration. A clear sign that I will have to take better care of myself for the rest of this pregnancy!!

So, by this week, we were all going a little nuts. Thankfully we are all feeling better! Just a couple lingering coughs and runny noses. We've accomplished a couple of outings to the grocery store, the park, lunch and even went to Red Robin tonight for Kyler's birthday! Arnold is still adjusting wonderfully and seems to enjoy everything about being part of our family. Don't get me wrong, the three kids are still figuring out how to get along, or maybe just settling into normal sibling-rivalry, but they all seem to truly love each other and have very special moments together being just plain precious.

I am behind on laundry, friendships, and sometimes patience, but I am drinking lots of water, trying to rest when I can and I wouldn't trade this crazy time in our lives for anything!

So blessed...

Everyday life

Monday was my first day at home with all three! I realized pretty quickly that I was going to have to make some adjustments to my daily schedule, or rather lack there of! Most days in the past looked like this: computer time/sometimes devotionals for me, tv time for the kids til they really woke up, hot tea for me, cereal for the kids, a shower around 10, baths for the kids, or did they have them yesterday? perhaps we'll skip! Maybe a trip into town if we were all dressed by 11ish for groceries, the park or a visit with aunts/cousins/grandmas.

Monday was more like this: Arnold slept late and wet the bed. Into the tub for him, sheets in the laundry! The other kids already had their usual breakfast, but Arnold was hungry! "Mommy, I want eggs!" Kyler: "Me too! Dippy eggs! and toast!" Arnold: "Not me, I want white eggs!" So, half an hour later, the kitchen was covered in toast crumbs and bits of egg. By the time everything was cleaned up, they all wanted apples. Peeled and cored. Lots of them. Justin came home for lunch (I was so glad to see him!) I threw chicken nuggets in the oven and made some rice to try to appeal to Arnold. And opened a jar of peaches. Arnold ate the rice with ketchup but only nibbled on the nuggets. I think he licked a peach. The rest of the day was spent wiping the boys rears, changing diapers, getting drinks and snacks and cleaning up messes. They seemed to leave them everywhere they went! Thankfully, Justin willingly gave them all baths that night and tucked them into bed.

Day two: I needed a plan. I decided that showering before Justin left for work was a good option to ensure that I got one at all. I got clothes ready for the kids first thing in the morning and had boiled eggs the night before so all that I had to do was peel and serve! Me and the kids were all dressed and fed by nine or so. Clean up from breakfast was minimal and I think I snuck in a little time to myself? We stayed at home again all day and played games, did preschool books and colored and the kids played outside. No naps, not even for Miss Ellie who thinks she is too good for naps. Justin agreed to the bath, books and bedtime routine and all the kids were in bed at a reasonable time, all tucked in with prayers and love!

Yesterday looked pretty similar and we are all settling in to our new and improved routine. I still have not attempted to take all three of them anywhere by myself but feel that spending this time at home together has been good for all of us! At the end of each day, I am super tired, but I know that this will get easier for all of us... hopefully just in time for baby! Justin and I agree that having more children has already and will continue to force us to be more organized and consistent, a huge plus!

Things Arnold is adjusting to:
-the cold weather! He doesn't seem to mind wearing a coat, boots etc, but he never wants to stay out for long. He tells me often that it's too cold. However, his little head sweats at night!
-the dog. He is terrified of him! Justin works with him a little each day, but if Chase is inside- the only places that Arnold wants to be are on my lap or on the dining room table!
-the food! He still seems to be unsure of what he likes and how to eat it. Often he will take one bite with his spoon and then use the other hand to shovel some more in!
-the potty. He doesn't make messes in his pants, but the poor dear thinks he has to ask me every time he needs to go! "Mama, may I go su-su?!" (His word for pee)
-his siblings! They all seem adore each other most of the time, but they are definitely working some things out and trying to figure out how to get along! Arnold and Kyler are learning the art of tattling. Things like "Mommy, Kyler said stinky!" Or "He has my ___" (book, toy etc.)

Things I am adjusting to:
-I suddenly have three kids under 5! Everything! Seriously though, I am mostly trying to figure out how to try to show them all equal love and preference and find time for myself, God, and my husband. I know that over time, this will get easier too, even after the baby comes. I hope that over time Arnold learns his role in our family and that he will continue to bond with all of us in a very special way. Justin has been awesome with Arnold and I am so thankful for the time that they have already shared together in Africa learning to know and love one another! It's great to see.

Many of you have asked:
-How is his English? He speaks it very well, although he phrases things differently than we are used to and has an adorable accent!! For example, he will say "This is what?" instead of "What is this?" However, he knows all of his letters and can sound things out to spell! If he is having a hard time thinking of a name or word, he will ask "It starts with what?"

Other notes:
-Ellie and Arnold like to sit very close to each other on the couch to watch tv and even put their arms around each other sometimes! One day Arnold was letting her play with his ear! (She likes to play with her own)
-Kyler and Arnold love to "wrestle," play cars and spend almost all of their time together through the day. Sometimes Ellie tags along, but she is happy to play by herself sometimes too.
-Kyler went through the house and showed Arnold all of his favorite hide-and-seek places!
-Arnold told me that he misses Daisy! His little sweet friend from Amani!
-Arnold asks about snow almost everyday.
-He wants to know "what time" Auntie Megan is having her baby!
-He loves to look at photos and video of himself with his brother and sister and also of his friends and the staff at Amani. He tells me every one's names!

Food likes and dislikes:
We are still figuring all of this out! Some of it is typical kid stuff. For example, corn has moved to his "likes" list and he loves chicken (just not in nugget form) so I made a big pot of chicken corn soup. Yeah, well, he likes corn and chicken, just not together. His favorite things have been the hard boiled eggs, bananas, yogurt, juice and meat. He doesn't like milk (unless it's chocolate) cheese or bread. I have tried making him foods like rice and beans and bought some flat bread, but I am sure it all tastes much different to him from how it is deliciously prepared in Africa!

In my "spare time" I would like to do more reading on adoption and also look up some good recipes. Any suggestions!?

Our weekend

Arnold woke up in his new house Friday morning before the other kids were out of bed. He had slept in our bed so that he wouldn't be scared if he woke up through the night. We took him downstairs to show him around and spend some time making sure he knew his surroundings. Justin carried him around as he asked "This is what?" about many things, mostly toys!

When the other kids woke up, they both seemed excited to see him! Ellie warmed up to him quickly and soon they were all playing together in the living room. We had cereal for breakfast; Kyler had been talking all about the Frosted Flakes that we had bought earlier in the week. He usually eats "big people cereals," but really seemed to like the tiger on the box. So did Arnold!

Justin was given an extra day off work to be with the family and we spent the morning playing and then had lunch, grilled cheese and grapes. Arnold ate only the crust off of his sandwich and would just lick the grapes! I was starting to worry about what I would feed him! Luckily, he settled on a banana.

We had planned to go to our cabin with my family for the weekend and decided there was no reason that we couldn't and that it might actually be a nice way to spend Arnold's first weekend home. My dad built it in the middle of the woods with a lake and surrounded by God's beauty; it's our favorite place to spend a weekend. And it's only about a 25 minute drive from home!

We got there late in the afternoon and Arnold got to meet his cousins, Laine and Chad and Aunt Lizzie who were waiting for us. Eventually, the whole family came... Auntie Sarah of course, and the other aunts and uncles, and both sets of grandparents. Oh, and Uncle Ken, my uncle who lives with my parents due to his mental disabilities. He asked "Who's kid?"

For dinner we ordered in from a local pizza place. Who doesn't like stromboli!? Arnold did pretty well with dinner. He made up for his lack of eating Friday on Saturday and Sunday. Of course we always have PLENTY of food at the cabin. Saturday morning my mom made eggs for the kids. He sat up on the counter and watched her. He was very concerned when she stirred them around together and exclaimed "They're yellow!" He had seemed very agreeable to eggs and excited about the whole process, so we were confused about why he wouldn't eat them. Just a piece of toast... hmm? When Auntie Sarah woke up, she told us that at Amani, they hard boil the eggs and the kids hold them in their hands to eat them! We had a good laugh about that!

Saturday's menu included:
-Plenty of OJ
-Several apples
-4-5 hard boiled eggs!
-Piles of Goldfish crackers (he even stole from the other kids' piles when they weren't looking)
-An ice cream cone (He asked for a spoon and Auntie Sarah had to show him that he could eat the cone too-but he was very skeptical about that!)
-White cheddar cheese curls
-Ham, ham and more ham, just plain, by the handfuls!
-Homemade cookies

Things he rejected were:
-Chili (Too spicy for his liking!)
-Ham Salad on a bun and Baked ham in a bun (Sarah said he is not used to sandwiches)
-Mashed potatoes
-Corn
-Cheese Sunday was about the same, he ate mostly apples and meat, and cake! We had pork and sauerkraut for dinner after church and he only wanted pork and hot dogs. I think he ate almost 4 hot dogs before we made him stop! He knew what they were right away and said he had eaten them "in town."

Church on Sunday was probably a bit too overwhelming for him, but everyone was so thrilled to see him! He was received a very warm welcome and is defiantly loved! He didn't want to stay in his class during church even though Kyler and him are in the same one, so we just kept him with us. He was very good (but not always quiet!) during the service and took turns sitting with Auntie Sarah, my parents and us. The pastor had me, Justin, Sarah and Arnold come up front.

Some cute things Arnold said over the weekend:
"Daddy, that is the River Nile!" when he saw the lake
"Mommy, is this Africa?" when we were walking in the woods
"I want to go for a ride on the bota-bota!" (Four wheeler)
"Auntie Sarah sleeps beside us!" (Her room was next to ours)
(I will have to add more as I think of them and talk to family)
We also heard many times "This is what?" or "This is for what?", more "Also me!" and "You-see!" usually with lots of expression!

Some things he enjoyed doing over the weekend:
-Feeding the fish in the lake with Pappy Joe, Daddy and other kids (said "You-see!" when the fish jumped.)
-His walk with Mommy, Kyler, Lainey and Ken
-His boat ride Pappy Joe and Kyler (a near disaster when it got sucked into the drain pipe!)
-Playing for hours with his brother, sister and cousins
-Cutting with scissors, placing stickers in his sticker book (he was very precise with both) and coloring with markers
-Rough-housing with Uncle Steve
-Singing for us, counting in Lugandan (Sarah encouraged him and we loved it!)
-Candy Land with Daddy
-Dancing with Pappy Joe
-Ring-a-round the Rosy and Motor-boat with cousins
-Eating cake (Nana's and Grammy's)
-Stomping on ladybugs (he really had something against them, and there were hundreds outside the one afternoon)
-Watching VeggieTales with Ellie in bed with the portable DVD player
-Reading books with everyone

(I will add pictures to this post tomorrow! Things are going well, but I am SO tired! Two boys are a handful!! Up to bed for the night! I still want to write more about how we are all "dealing" and how Arnold seems to be adjusting too!)

Arnold's Arrival

Because I want to record as much as I possibly can about Arnold's first few days with us, I thought I would blog a little each day about Arnold's arrival, his transition to life here and our wonderful weekend at the cabin with family. That way those of you who have prayed for us and cared so much and loved us through the last several months can share a glimpse of his homecoming with us.

We decided to take Kyler (almost 4 yrs) along on our trip to pick up Arnold at the airport at the last minute. What a good decision! We hadn't given much thought to the idea, due to the long drive to Detroit, but couldn't think of a way to tell him that he wasn't allowed to go along without causing him to feel left out or rejected. Certainly not how we wanted to start things off with these brothers! We left on Wednesday after Justin got home from work at about six o'clock. After a stop in State College for dinner, we were on our way! Kyler was asleep shortly after dinner and slept until we stopped at a hotel in the early morning.

From previous travels, Kyler knew that sometimes hotels have swimming pools. He had packed a swimsuit and beach towel and talked very excitedly about all the swimming he and Daddy would do. We knew it would be hard to spend much time driving around looking for a hotel with a pool, and also had to find a Wal-mart/Target to buy a camera. (I left ours at home!) I prayed that we would easily find both, since I knew we wouldn't have much time to waste in the morning either. As we pulled off a random exit, a huge sign pointed us to a Days Inn and advertised a brand new pool, just 500 ft away! A quick search on the GPS discovered a Wal-mart less than two miles down the road. Isn't God cool!?

Justin and Kyler spent the morning in the pool before we packed up and headed out. We had about an hour of driving left to do and we were excited to get to the airport. When we pulled into the parking garage with the hundreds of cars, Kyler said "Wow! Lots of people are adopting aren't they!?" Wouldn't that be great if everyone who was there was really there to pick up a child!? I smile every time I think about him saying that.

We were there super early and spent a couple hours anxiously awaiting Arnold's arrival! We took turns walking around with Kyler to keep him occupied. The plane landed at 12:55pm, but Anna and Arnold needed to come through customs and immigration before we could see them. We watched each time the doors opened at International Arrivals hoping the next faces we would see would be theirs! Finally close to 2pm, we saw Anna and Arnold hand-in-hand on the other side! Arnold was using his spare hand to cover his humongous smile! We greeted them just outside the doors and gave hugs all around! What a special moment. I thought I would be sobbing, but I think I forced myself not to so that I didn't scare the poor child! He knew who we were right away and seemed very excited to see us. Anna was wonderful and we spent a several hurried minutes talking to her about Arnold's documents and hearing about their trip! Overall, they both did very well. Arnold especially liked the food on the plane and seemed to be very comfortable with Anna. Kyler must have noticed for the first time that Arnold was a different color than us. He took my hand and quietly asked me about it. Thankfully my simple answer of "That is the color of skin that God gave him" seemed to satisfy for now.

As the adults talked, Kyler directed Arnold to his backpack of toys, including many small cars. They laid on their bellies on the floor and played together, oblivious to the rest of the world around them. When it was time to say goodbye to Anna, Kyler took a hold of Arnold's hand and guided him through the airport, all the way out to the car. Through rotating doors, up escalators, on moving walkways and in the elevator. It was the most precious thing I have ever seen.

We stopped along the way to look out of a large window to watch planes as they took off. Arnold kept saying something very excitedly that sounded like "You see!" I think it is actually a Lugandan word that means "Look!" He used that word many, many times as we left the airport and drove to find somewhere to stop for dinner. Things that caught his eye were a cement mixer, tractor trailer trucks, cars going above us on overpasses and more planes as they came and went from the airport.

We decided on a McDonald's for the Playplace since we knew the boys would be sitting for the rest of the day. We hoped that we would find one that wasn't crowded. The third McDonald's that we found had a large indoor play area that was empty! We ordered food and left the boys play for awhile before we sat down to eat. Arnold LOVED the whole experience and continued to say "You see!" and added "Also me!" many times when he wanted to do or have what Kyler was doing or had as they played and then sat down to eat. Arnold prayed first... "Hands together! Eyes closed! Dear Jesus! Bless our food! Bless our water! In Jesus name! Amen!" then Kyler followed with our family prayer "God is great, God is good..." Arnold ate french fries by the fistfuls and loved his chocolate milk! The chicken nuggets were not his favorite. We are finding that many foods are just prepared much differently than he is used to! (More on his eating habits and preferences later!)

Back in the car, we continued to talk and sing until Arnold couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. He fell asleep at about 4 or 5 in the afternoon and slept until the next morning, only stirring a little when we put him to bed at our house that night. I knew at the end of that day that Arnold was easy to love, and that taking Kyler along for the trip was one of the best things that we could have done to ease him into our family.

Bringing Arnold HOME!!!

FINALLY!!! He is coming! He will arrive in MI with an extremely generous and kind escort and friend Anna on Thursday. Justin and I are leaving tomorrow to spend the night somewhere near the airport so that we can be waiting to snatch him off the plane and bring him HOME!!!

SINGING PRAISES and so thrilled! Please keep praying for us, Arnold, Anna and her family and the other Amani families. Hoping to post more later!