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 :)