Adoption Journey: Scroll Down :)

If your looking for our India posts scroll Down to the bottom...and work you way up :)

ONE THING

Im sitting here listening to a free webcast and Im getting totally inspired.
There is only ONE THing that counts in this world...ONE THING!
It's actually called the One THing Conference- thousands are in attendance right now In KC but even more get to hear it FREE on line...
www.ihop.org
you have to fill out a quick registration page but it's free- and will be going on until midnight newyears eve....check it out...right now it's just music but later will be awesome teachings that I Promise will change your life! If your reading this and it's past new years- click on it anyways because I think there's archives....it's worth it.

Christmas 2008

wiped out and only 1/2 way done w/ the day!
The Fam!
Sisters!
Caleb at 10pm Christmas Eve dreaming of sugarplums
6:40 am...Sova's stilll trying to figure this whole 'wake up early and open stocking thing' she wasnt too fond of the early morning comotion...
...well, until she found some goodies inside the big sock.


Merry Christmas!
What a day- Im in my pajamas still and the house is still a whirlwind- but hey thats what the 26th should be like right?
We had a very busy Christmas- like all if our holidays- but Im not complaining- I like it that way. Sova got the hang of the whole present thing pretty fast. Although in the midst of being spoiled at grandma's she took a deep breathe and said, "no more presents." In the morning she wanted to "Save her stocking for later" but Jacob just wouldnt have that- so he coerced her into opening it. Naturally she took her time (typical) opening her gifts, Jacob wanted to tear throught them in the speed of light (typical Jacob) and Caleb was content in his own little world happily playing with a peice of fuzz on the carpet (typical Caleb) until we called him over to open another gift.

Im blessed w/ a rare oppurtunity to take a nap as wonderful husband took Jacob to exchange non- working gadgets.

bonding

Snowed in

I feel like it's Christmas every day this week! With us all being snowed in and aunty jocelyn and uncle Ian here- we are having so much fun. We even had a big family sleepover complete w/ pancakes and sledding in the morning :) Actually I just pretended to be scared to drive home...w/ both of my sister's and their families sleeping over my mom's I didnt want to miss any fun . Mike had to go plow and said the roads were too bad to come back (I just think he didnt want to sleep on a couch w/ a cat) Jacob was on Jacks floor, Sova started out sleeping in nana's bed but she is such a snuggle bug that my mom couldnt sleep- so at 2:30 am she was escorted to the couches that were pushed together that Caleb and I were sleeping on. Baby Eli woke bright and early- launching uncle nate out for a 'box of Joe.' Mike showed up at 7:30 w/ snowtubes attatched to the back of the quad...and then the fun began :)

Butterfly Man

I hope your packing Aunty Jocelyn & Uncle Ian...we got some excited kids in Connecticut!
As you can see your on our Christmas chain countdown- 4 more days!
Jacob saw an airplane today and thought it might be you guys...I told him I sure hope not cuz their not landing until Thursday and that would be a long flight.

I wish I had my camera this weekend...it was the biggest Kodak moment I've seen in a long time.
Saterday we took the kids to a Butterfly sanctuary...it was realy cool- the best part was that you felt like you were in the rainforest even though it was freezing outside.
Anyways- a particular species of butterfly were very much attracted to Michael. It was hilarious- they were kind of attacking him- they were on his head- on his nose- is stomach- his back- his legs...
It was only the black and yellow kind. At first he was freaking out and waiving them away- but this was making the kids very nervous- they then began to scream at butterflys and we were getting some irritated looks by the fellow butterfly observers, so MIke deciede to embrace the butterflys . He stood in the center of the sanctuaty and posed w/ his arms out standing very still...and then they came- they were fluttering all around him- people came and watched...It was hilarious- I was crying...I cant believe I didnt have a camera!
I call Sova-Grace, 'my little butterfly' because she is so delicate and she kind of walks like she's fluttering around- and she loves butterflys...but strangely now when I see a butterfly I will be reminded of my large husband ducking in the bushes from these dainty little creatures- that he swears were spitting on him!

1st Snow

The Return of the Gingerbread House
Stringing Popcorn
Sova's 1st snow:


upon opening the door to get a better look she turns around w/ a disappointed look on her face and says, "mommy...snowman? snowman no?" with a shrug.

Upon touching it she said, "mommy- icecubes!"

I think all of our picture books of snow have snowmen in them and she assumed they must fall w/ the snow!
When she came in the house and some snow fell on the floor and was on her coat- she said, "Oh my gosh! snowman in the house! get out!"

This morning (one day after after the snow) she opened the door and said, "no...no snowman."

The Giver

Future BFF's cousin cubs- Caleb & Eli
HUH? Ok let me explain...Princess Sova-Grace made me do it...
SHe was pretty thriled elastics fit in her hair- Im not gonna lie- Caleb was too ;)
Jacob's not in the picture because he ran away very fast.
This is what happens after dinner in the winter I guess.


Last night while tucking in Sova, she told me that she wanted to give "tuchimayo' some coffee. That is her old caretaker in India. She told me that Tuchimayo does not have coffe and that she would like some. I got such a kick out of that- she must see how important it is to Mike and I and she thinks Tuchimayo must be missing out on some good stuff!
My friends and I are in the midst of sending care packages to India and Nepal so I told Sova that we can send some coffe to Tuchimayo w/ a picture of Sova. She seemed pretty satisfied but then she decieded to ask for more. She thought that her friend Shandhya would really like 'cream' (Im assuming whipped...the kind she eats off my Really good coffees:)
And then she said she wanted to give her extra red mittens to her friend Shasmita because her hands are cold! I think she has the Gift of Giving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The cousins
Aprons for the Turner women!



Surprise...look who's going to be a big brother! Baby Eli and Jack...Congratulations Jess!
There is much to be thankful for every year but I feel particularly blessed this year.
Last year I had a little piece of my heart living halfway across the planet and now she was making pumpkin cookies w/ me last night.
Oh how I love THanksgiving! I believe it always must stem from whatever childhood memories we have of that particular holiday. I made Mike watch the old Miracle on 34th Street last night w/ me to start of the Holiday right :)
I've havent done "Black Friday" shopping since I was 16...tomorrow I embark w/ my mom on a very early morning...these deals better be cut out to all that they are supposed to be!

All dressed up and no where to go

Here's a sneak peak of this years Christmas cards! Notice the height difference of Jacob and Sova...they are only 13 months apart but this weekend I had to return a size 8 to the store because they were to short for my 5 year old!
Sova-Grace was in love w/ her 'ballerina' dress...she twirled around and said, "no take it off mommy...later...not now...Sova sleep in dress...no take it off" about 22 times. The smile says it all!
She was really disappointed that I would not put on a pretty dress too.
I think Caleb looks like a little dough boy :)

FIsh lover monkey hater

I've never met a child who when reading a bedtime story w/ pictures of farm animals in it - the child sees a chicken and says, "eat it" and then goes to the Beta fish bowel and says, "Sova eat the fish?" I told her no and she said, "awww yes, Sova eat the fish."
Walking through pet stores is fun too...she saw a large fish tank and said, "ohhhh...Sova eat it." I
I guess she really enjoys eating her fish and chicken! We found out that she does Not like monkeys and the Rainforest Cafe. She sat on my lap the whole time and when dinner came she said, "mommy...eat and GET OUT!"

Let's see...lately I've been regretting my last post about loving November...I forgot it gets dark and cold early. Ya see after dinner the kids used to go outside to play w/ Mike- while I get to clean up in peace. Now it's dark and freezing and there is no peace :)
I really dont know what to do... we've been playing hide and seek for weeks now w/ the same 4 good hiding spots- Mike stands in the middle of the room w/ a sheet over his head and they still love it!
Mike has resorted to laying on the floor and letting the kids jump all over him. Then it leads to taking out ALL of the couch cushions and clobbering Mike. THis is one very crazy time-the kids are all beat red and and take turns between laughing and crying. Tis the season!

Also I just realized that After 2 1/2 months of Sova being in America...her language is 95% English! Today I noticed that she rarely if ever speaks Oriyan...It truly blows my mind how these little children can do this- but they do. She obviously has a very thick (and quite adorable) accent which will remain for quite some time I think...so many people dont understand what she is saying- but she is saying the english word- just a w/ an accent and maybe a little bit wrong (ilifent = elepahnt) So much worrying for nothing!

Hair extraganza- done doting big brother Jacob

Little buddies- I dubbed as , 'the twins' (where you find one- you'll find the other ;) Caleb recently said, "mommy, I love Sova- Grace."

Cousin sleepover
Yay…November! This is my favorite month…I just love it- thanksgiving is my faverite holiday, pumkin is my favorite taste, and I love the crunchy leaves and the smell of chimney fires- I even love the dead trees…I especially love that all the scarey Haloween decorations that I have been trying to have my kids avoid, will be taken down!

If Sova could beg to differ I think she would…a very frequent word she uses is ‘cold!’ as her tiny body shakes. She is our weather girl- every morning she opens the door and steps out- then she runs back in and slams the door and says, ‘COLD!’ and laughs…I wonder what she thinks about this coldness- she doesn’t like to take off her shoes because she thinks our floor is cold. When I dress her in the morning and put on her socks she says, “wait’ then she runs to the kitchen tile- slowly puts her tip toes on the tile to test it- then she screams, cold! And runs back to me to put on her socks. The snow will be interesting!

Her language has taken off-
Whenever she leaves my side- whether going outside or even the other room, she says, “I’ll be back.” She is reassuring me- I guess- it’s really funny.
Most frequently used words: in a couple minutes, in a little while, later, (is there a theme here? Sadly does this mean that she hears these words the most?) she sings ‘clean up clean up everybody clean up’ and “brush brush brush your teeth’, we only celebrated one birthday so far and she knows the song, at week 4 she was humming the Indianna Jones theme song- how could she not sometimes I hear it it my sleep (the boys love lego.com indiana jones game)
When her balloon broke I told her it popped- so now anything that is broken is ‘popped’-
She almost only plays with her doll which has recently gotten the name “Lulu”
She will fall asleep napping by herself but at bed she wont sleep unless one of us lays w/ her. She still screams bloody murder when mike puts her to bed but instead of an hour of screaming it’s 5 minutes!
She saw me cutting Calebs hair and she said, “ no cut Sova’s hair!” No chances of that anyway!

She talks about her friend Shasmita almost everyday but not in a sad way. Occasionly she will talk about the other children in the orpahnage but not as frequently…she told me that “Shasmita- America, Sipra - India” (her other friend in the orphanage) …she’s smart…much smarter than I ever expected- In fact I really think she is ‘bright.’
She talks almost as much as Jacob…possibly equal! Never did I think that was possoble…God must think that Im one patient mama! Even though she’s gabby w/ us she is shy around new people and situations. If someone says hi to her, she will burrow her face in my neck and hide.
She LOVES to clean…she picks up great- sometimes I have had to stop her because she was doing the boys job. Many times when I am about to do the dishes she runs to the sink and says, ‘no mommy clan up…sova clean up!’ She not only clears the table but she happily Hand Picks every crumb on the table and then scrubs it down-better than I would have. She has a great memory- if I said, ‘wheres calebs socks?’ she ran out to the swingset where he left them hours ago-
She likes to brush calebs teeth for him and she always wants to sleep in his bed…once in a while she does- it’s so cute- we have found all 3 if them in the bed sleeping a couple times.
I thinks she is hinting that she wants ME to dress up more…she has brought my heels to me and has brought my India bangles to me…when I put her in a dress (ok…that’s like everyday) and I say ‘pretty dress’ she says, ‘mommy too?’ She tells me how she wants my hair done and lets me know if my pony tail is getting too messy.
She still is obssessed w/ soap- any kind- bars or liquid she loves to wash- the boys will beg that I don’t wash their hair and she beggs that I will wash her hair.

Last night we had friends over and we were showing them Inida pics w/ Sova on my lap- when we got to her orpahnage- she said, ‘Sova's home’ I said- ‘yes, in Inidia that was Sova’s home- now this is Sova’s- in America w/ mommy, daddy, Jacob and Caleb... family' and hugged her- I then waived and said 'bye bye' to the orphanage picture and said ‘Sova’s home now’ and pointed to the room…she smiled and shouted, “Thank you mommy! and gave me a huge squeeze”
Your welcome little girl! :)

She is pretty amazing.

Dancing Queen and King

Campfire in our backyard

My 2 peanuts are lately the dancing queen and king. The last few days they will request to dance- Sova puts on seriously- 5 leotards that were given to her- I ask her to choose one and she points to each one and laughs- maybe she's trying to stay warm :)

Caleb will put on his capes and occasionaly a cinderella dress ;0

THen they blast music and dance around. You can see the nurturing influence that Sova has on Caleb- after seeing Sova's doll in dresses- he too has deceided it's about time to put clothes on Lamby.

So we are 10 weeks in now w/ Sova and I feel like I have a good routine now. I even have a whooping 15- 20 minutes to myself after I work w/ Jacob before Sova wakes up...that's why my blogs are rather rushed w/ not much thought ;) Like clockwork my sleepy Indian Princess wakes up and runs over to cuddle on my lap while I finish typing...I must go cuddle.

The kids are pretending to be Peter, Micahel and Wendy- they are about to Fly!

They just love to hold hands and count and jump. They will play this everyday for quite a long time or usually until someone gets a little hurt ;) (hey kids need excercise right?) THey are really into Peter Pan right now- we had a family movie night- we pushed the couches together to make a 'pirate ship' and had popcorn and grapes (sova absolute favorite foods are grapes and chicken) This was possibly the 1st movie Sova sat through-probrably because she was on my lap. When we told Jacob about the 'special night' planed- you would have thoguht we told him we were going to Disney World- this kids loves anything with the word 'special' in it!

Durring a jumping session I caught Jacob saying, "Sova come give me a hug...I love you...I cant believe I have a sister!" I think it recently really sunk in with him. These last couple weeks something has changed in them and they really bonded- he love's to play with her.

Although I must say that her and Caleb are like to peas in a pod. They actually play a bit better than her and Jacob do. They work together well when playing and have alot of laughs.

The picture of Caleb and Sova in 'wonder box.' Mike installed a big microwave above our stove this week and the box has been something pretty special around here- they've played just about everything in that box (if someone has a refridgerator box call me :) I cant help but smile when I see Sova in those pink sleepers. All year for some reason that was the vision that I saw her in. Obviously I thought about her alot last year and when I thought about her...she had pink sleepers on... I have know idea why but she did- so when a saw those in a bag of clothes someone gave me I couldnt wait to put them on her :)

I

ninja boy

Jacob's in his 3rd week of Karate and loving it!

Mike made a homemade hayride and pulled the kids around nana's block with is quad-

Jacob was a nija, Caleb was dumbo and Sova was a butterfly :)

Those 10 hairclips were not part of the costume- she just likes as many clips as possible- I never imagined having to sneak pulling clips out of her hair as we go out in public- but I do :)

She definatly has stange dressing preferances- as I type she has 2 dresses on- one on top of the other- I dont ask because she cant answer ;)

Well tonight is the test of if our computer can be saved or not!

I hear the hose on outside w/ screams so I must go.

Im back...kind of :)

Ok twist my arm Sarah- I'll start blogging again. But just so you know...it's just for you ;)
Sadly our computer crashed and Im in Mike's office on his laptop. Our computer had ALL of our pictures- 7 years worth...including babies and India! Someone is coming over next week to take a look at it and try to recover what was lost...Im in denial that the pictures may be lost.
So once our computer is fixed I think I will update this site w/ some great pics :)
hopefully next week-
We are going over an Indian familiy's house tonight for dessert- they are from our old church and we thought it might be cool for Sova to meet an Indian family.

Thanks!

Well we are finnaly feeling a bit more normal :) We seem to be caught up w/ our sleep and falling into a routine. Sova's doing great! She is a fish- she loves to swim and loves to jump into the pool and go under w/ out us catching her- we then have to grab one of her flailing limbs under water and pull her up- she comes up w/ the biggest laugh and smiles ever! Today she learned that cat food does Not taste good. She eats good, we comminicate well, she seems happy, she sleeps all night now w/ out waking up and she even naps in the afternoon...yahoo! The napping really helps me- it's the same time as Caleb's nap and this gives me some time to read to Jacob and do phonics and handwriting (getting ready for math.)

The boys enjoy Sova- Jacob realy loves her and...well Caleb is learning ;)

My days seem VERY long and slightly caotic- they really do seem to All talk at once- and I know it's only 3 kids but when I take them out to the bike path or park-Im so not used to 3 that I feel like I have a large brood and I notice that Im the mom w/ the most kids now...very strange feeling! When Mike and I got married we wanted 6 kids! Eveytime we had a child enter our family the number has gone down ;) Although, in Sova's orphange we were so overcome by the children begging for us hold them that we looked at eachother and wondered out loud if we can take more home...there is such a need for these beautiful little children to have families...they are so eager- my heart still breaks....but when I see my daugher fluttering through the house...I have such hope!

Thank you all for your love and prayers and for following our Journey to Sova- Grace...what an amzing experince this was...but really it has only just begun!

Twilight Zone

I went through the twilight zone last night...right as I was walking to my bed Caleb started crying...he was in so much pain from a Double ear infection he could not sleep, I was up most the night w/ him and when he fell asleep Jacob woke up from a persistant cough- he could not stop. At 4:30 just when I thought I was in the clear I found Sova in the kitchen crying- our house is small but I think she couldnt find us, she seemed to be lost. Needless to say we spent the day at Dr's and pharmiscists. What a day!

On a happy note...

we are slightly our of our haze athough Mike goes back to work tomorrow so Im in wonder of what tomorrow will look like! Sova is getting a wrong impression on this household- Caleb is constantly whining or crying- she stares at him and brings him a toy and he throws it cuz he is miserable...poor girl.

She is so good but does not know how to play- she will not sit w/ a toy, she kind of flutters around the house following me. Im going to have to teach her how to play I think- they had lots of toys at the orphange but the pre school room was small and overcrowded- they probrably didnt get much time to enjoy a toy before it got snatched away or something like that. She will not even look at a cartoon either- she actually dislikes it. I see this as a slight problem if I want to start homeschooling Jacob ;)

We try not to laugh when she runs- she looks like an ostrich- she cant run- she actually will fall- I really think her leg muscles need some work, she prefers being carried around to even walking!

She loves baths...she takes them for simple enjoyment throughout the day (or until we get our water bill) she is fascinted and kind of obsessed w/ our bar of soap- I have to hide it :) She's a true indian squatter- she wont sit on the floor- she only squatts.

The one thing that she likes is trying on a variety of clothes- she prefers pretty dresses and yes...her tutu! I felt like I got a fashion show today w/ her changing outfits. I kid you not this girl is a princess- her favorite thing to do is organize her small jewlery box- she takes out her bangles and hairclips- she puts 3 in her hair and you can imagine how that looks right now :)

She has a nervous giggle and laughs alot- she still only cries once in the middle of the night- and besides that she only had 1 tantrum (but she was exhausted)

She has been giving me lots of kisses today and I am truly amazed at how bonded I feel w/ her...it feels like she got the FYI newsletter on bonding and attaching and is simply putting things into practice!

She is still not comfortable at being alone w/ Mike- she is happy around him and laughs when he picks her up and tickles her but she gets a bit nervous and doesnt want to be alone w/ him yet. I know that will change real quick once she realizes that she has the funnest daddy ever.

It is fun wathcing her experince everything new- it's hard because I want this difficult tiring transistion time to be over but I need to stop and take in all these 1st moments that she is experiencing and not rush them by to get back to normal...which I feel right now may never happen...but I know it will...right?! :) We are having fun.

just tired

The last 2 days kind of blurred together for me...

It was awesome seeing the boys again- they ran in so excited- gave huge embraces, Caleb couldnt stop giggling and saying,' I missed you!" it his adorable voice- And Jacob would not let go of me, he rubbed his eyes and said, 'something is wrong w/ my eyes'...he was crying :) ANd so was I.

Sova watched us and got a little shy and nervous..the boys just could not believe that she was really standing there- they could not stop smiling! They greeted eachother w/ awkard hugs and then we sat down to a table full of Happy meals that mike and the boys picked up. Jacob and I were the emotional ones kind of laughing and crying at the same time while eating- it was such a special time that I will never forget.

The day felt like 100 hours- we kept on looking at eachother w/ this look like...are we going to make it? We were completely wiped out from traveling/ timezones...well we still are- I should not be typing ;)

But besides the tiredness things a good- Sova is doing so well. Food and comunication is no problem. She woke up in the middle of the night crying so I joined her in her bed and she fell back to sleep. SHe is so funny- I have some funny stories but I must go to bed! Days are pretty crazy around here at the moment but I'll try to write more later :)

Home!

We are home! Mike went to go get the boys at grandma's while Sova is expliring the house and I am trying to get some laundry in...she is asking for Caleb :)

What a Long flight- Mike was not even sitting w/ us so it was Very long for me! I have a meduim starbucks in my hand :)