Adjustment progress

This was a very up and down week. The children overall are adjusting beautifully (aside from our being idiots and expecting them to handle the outing to the post office earlier this week). We've taken short walks to the park where they all three played sooooo well, and we've taken them for short visits to Grandpa's house. They came home when we said it was time to, and pretty much acted like perfectly normal been-here-all-our-lives kids. I couldn't believe these were the same kids who on a whim would bolt away from us at the orphanage and basically make us chase them around the grounds to corral them (at least at first they did!) Liana especially seems much more relaxed now that she's home. At the orphanage her shoulders were constantly hunched up around her ears and she'd be biting her lip. She looked so scared all the time. Now she's got some color to her cheeks (which are filling out now!), and she acts like she's always known us (and loved us!) All three kids love bathtime, and the older two love helping with dishes, vacuuming the house, etc. After meals Adam will come around the table and kiss me on the cheek and thank me for his meal and then go and rinse his plate (untold), and put it into the dishwasher. Yesterday he couldn't stand the grime in the kitchen any longer (!), so he cleared all the magnets off the fridge and grabbed a rag and wiped it down, as he did with the stove. That was the first time he's done that, but he is very helpful and caring. Last night they got icecream bars for dessert, and the last bit of icecream he gave to John. I asked him if he didn't like it. He said that he did love it, but that Papa was much bigger than he was, so he thought he should have it. John gave him a giant hug for that, and then snuck him into our room after supper where he gave him a Hershey's Kiss. (My stash). (Shhhhhh).

Liana has gone from eating anything remotely food-like, to being pretty picky, and we really have to coax her to finish her plate. She'd live on fruit and eggs if we let her. (Speaking of eggs, I sure never thought I would have had to learn to like eggs because I'd have to eat them AT HOME! I practiced eating them this winter thinking maybe I'd get stuck eating them in Ukraine. How ironic that I'M the one cooking them and eating them!) (No, I still don't enjoy them, but at least I don't gag on them as before!)

Liana also likes to have extra snuggle time at bedtime. She begs for me to lay down with her "Choot-choot, Mama?" ("Just a little, Mama?") Last night I was snuggling with her and I told her, "Mama LOVES Liana!" Liana said, "Ya ni Liana, ya Baby!" ( To translate, she said, "I'm not Liana, I'm Baby!" (I told her she was Mama's baby a few days ago, and she LOVES to be called that now. ) She craves every speck of affection we dole out to her, and she would sit and hug and kiss and cuddle and snuggle 24/7 if we let her. I can definitely see the personality in her now that caused her to say, "Come back, Papa" the first day we met her. Who was giving this girl her snugggle/cuddle quota back at the orphanage?

Speaking of babies, our church gave me a "baby" shower this Friday! It was realllly nice to finally get to attend my own instead of everyone else's! Probably only those of you who have dealt with infertility can understand the true extent of my excitement about this shin-dig. It was wonderful, and the ladies were very generous. I showed Adam his Scooby-Doo nylon coat/windpants and he about went into orbit he was so excited! We're going to have a hard time getting that off of him! The girls had to wear their pretty dresses with the attached necklaces all afternoon too. (I made them change when we went to the park though!)

I had another "I-know-I'm-a-Mom" moment this week. Adam came running into the livingroom screaming something about the bathroom. I ran down the hall to see the toilet *almost* overflowing. Oy. Then, about two seconds after that, Liana came running down the hallway into the bathroom screaming that she had a bloody-nose. Oy. No problem. Keep watch over the toilet while Kleenex-ing the nose. But then! You guessed it, Aleksa came running into the bathroom pulling down her panties announcing she had to go potty Right Now! I started laughing uncontrollably. Three emergencies at once. Yup, I'm a mom alright!

I hear all the time that people can't imagine how hard it must be for us having three kids now since we had none before, and that they all speak Russian and not English. Nah. It's an adjustment, but it isn't hard. Hard is the time we sat two years ago thinking we'd never be able to BE parents and wishing and praying and hoping that we could. THAT was hard. We're maybe dealing with some physically difficult situations (getting up early, staying up late, playing hard all day, cooking and cleaning up a storm all the time, etc.), but I'd rather have a physically difficult life than an emotionally difficult one. So don't feel sorry for us! We're happy as larks! We just are BUSY!