Babies

This morning I actually took off without the kids for the first time since we've been home (except for the shower the church ladies gave me). Usually it has been me + at least one of them, but today they all stayed home with John. I went shopping for some school things, plus some winter clothes for the kids. There are so many cute things out there for little girls!!!! I had a hard, hard time being practical today! ;O) There is a shop in town that sells "gently used" childrens' clothing; it's wonderful. They also sell toys, books and videos. I found a video of Peter Rabbit, and all three kids LOVED it. I was surprised how faithful the "movie" was to the book, and the video is styled after the pictures in the (Beatrix Potter) book. I also found a really cool hard-cover book full of science experiments. John already "conducted" one with the kids tonight. He's going to have fun with it even if the kids don't! ;O)

It felt soooo good walking through the door once I got home from my "outing." They all came screaming into the room and gave me excited hugs and kisses. (Especially from Liana. Her favorite word is "snuggle" if that tells you anything about her pesonality!) Anyway, it sure felt good to be so missed! It's just amazing how cool little kids all over the place can be. I'm completely exhausted most of the time, and there is a constant array of Kid Stuff on the floor, and boy, if I don't keep right on top of it all, I'm pretty sure the house would fall in on us.

Their English is just exploding all over the place. We're hearing soooo much English in the house these days! Today at supper, I finished my plate before the kids did, and Aleksa said to me, "Eat it, Mama, fast! Ti good girl!" and then she reached over and kissed me on both cheeks. It was tooooo cute. Then she happened to look behind her and noticed that the front door was open. She said, "Door open, Mama. Shut the door." I knew it was open and I thought the sunshine was nice, so I didn't jump up and shut it. She was persistant, however, and it was a good thing she was because the screen door was also wide open. (Adam. How'd ya guess?)

Adam is getting a TUMMY on him! He has just shot up since we came home. He's no longer "little." He's taller, chunkier, and looks more his age now. Liana is also filling out really well, though I haven't really noticed her getting taller. Maybe she has and I just haven't realized it though. No change with Aleksa. She's still chunky. If anything she looks a bit worse than when she came home... Her haircut hasn't done much for her! (How are we ever going to get a family picture done before Christmas!!??)

We've been learning more and more about the kids' Ukrainian family at bedtime. That time of the day just seems to open them up more. We're pretty certain that they lived on a farm. We've heard stories of animals, planting corn, etc. Also something about Adam having a pet turkey, but I'm not sure if we understood them right about that. Liana told me all about making butter tonight. She told me how you take the milk and then pantomimed the churning process. I so hope she and Adam hold on to all of those memories, especially for Aleksa's sake, since she will not remember anything about Ukraine other than the orphanage. Last night Adam and Liana told us what their Ukrainian parents looked like. Apparently their father had lots o' muscles, and was blonde, and their mother had dark hair and she was also very strong.

Liana also has been asking me about babies in tummies. Auntie Cara has a baby in her tummy, so she's been curious. She told me that one day she wants a baby in her tummy too. I told her she could pray for one, but if God doesn't give her a baby in her tummy that she could go to Ukraine to an orphanage and adopt a child there. She said she didn't want a big kid, she wanted a little baby. (Their orphanage was for older kids, so she doesn't realize there are "other" orphanages in Ukraine). I told her that I was happy with my "babies" from Ukraine even if they weren't tiny, but she still wasn't sold. Hopefully it will dawn on her later on that "hey, it's a good thing Mama and Papa weren't stuck on the tiny baby idea themselves." She has also asked me twice today about there being babies in MY tummy. I just keep saying, "YOU'RE my baby!" She has also described a c-section quite thoroughly. She described the cutting-open-the-tummy and sewing-up, etc. and that she wasn't going to cry when they sewed her tummy up after they get the baby out. Then she told me that babies drink milk from their mommies. We're in for some interesting talks (*gulp*) once she starts really speaking English.

Speaking of babies, as I kissed Adam goodnight, I said, "Good night baby." He grimaced and told me he was a big boy. I raised my arm as high as I could reach and told him that even when he was THAT tall, that he was still going to be my baby, and then I pretended to rock a "baby" that enormous. He sure giggled! (He doesn't know I WASN'T JOKING.) ;O) I try to reassure him of the "you're my son forever" idea at least once a day. It has sure helped ease a lot of his worries and settled him down.