Haircut pics by Popular Demand...

Christmas Update!

What a nice Christmas! We all headed up to northern Minnesota to John's grandparents' house. It was so nice to see so many aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. It seems so strange that this was my 12th year of going up there... and the kids' fourth. Whoa. I'm getting old. *sigh*

Of course the highlight this year was introducing everyone to Abrielle. Though I was going into Abrielle Withdrawal pretty heavily by the time we left. She was rather passed around among so many grandparents, aunts and cousins! ;O)

I was so proud of my older three though... They were so good! Well, we did have one incident where Liana informed me that Adam was being mean to her. He had "taken the arm off her doll and then put it back on,(!), and he fed her too much water and she peed all over!" It was awful hard to not laugh at her, but I did make up for it by hanging up the doll clothes to dry and saying, "No, no!" to Adam. Otherwise, they did beautifully up there with so many people around, kids running all over the place, etc. They were in 7th Heaven with so many cousins to play with. We had some pretty sad kiddos on Wednesday morning when we left.

Anyway, another highlight was actually a tragedy... The night before our trip (the 23rd), I asked John to trim my hair. Easy, he's been doing so for ages. Just trim the ends. Well, this time, he decided to cut my hair "the fast way" which was to grab all my hair in one hand, and start cutting with the other. Oops. He started cutting and I started asking him what on earth he was doing... but it was too late. He had to finish. I lost six inches. And it was an uneven Mess. The kids all stood around me with mouth a-gape. Liana couldn't believe I didn't cry. There wasn't anything I could do about it either - it was way too short for me to even out. It needed Something Major.

So. The next day after we drove north, John took me to a hair salon to fix it. On the way there he told me I wasn't allowed to use the word "idiot" in my explanation to the beautician. LOL! So I didn't. ;O) I wound up with an ok haircut, but it's one of those trendy cuts that take some getting used-to if it is on your head and you're not a trendy kind-of-a-gal. Layered, and chin length. Haven't had hair this short since the sixth grade.

But the fact that he got me a new wedding ring made up for it... I had lost mine three years ago at Christmas time and never had it replaced 'til now. My ring finger is very happy to have something on it!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas too!

The Amazing Aleksa Strikes Again

This weekend we had planned to travel to my dad's... Unfortunately Wisconsin is under a storm warning, and there is a bunch of ice out there. We chickened out and stayed put after a friend called and said they were too iced-over to even make it out of their driveway.

So, to drown our sorrows, we decided to open presents this morning. (We'll be headed to John's grandparents' house on Monday-Tuesday).

Adam got a toy rocket. He launched it, and it landed on Aleksa's head.

Somehow.

Who knows how.


And not only did it land on her head, but it THEN got tangled in her hair.

These things could only happen to her.

Merry Christmas!!

Comments

Just so y'all know, I'm moderating the comments now so I don't miss any --- I just found a few that I really wish I hadn't missed at the time they were posted. I also put up my email address in case you'd like to chat more privately...

Domestic Bliss

It has been quiet around here, hasn't it? I've been trying to keep my internet time down to during "baby feedings" - but I've quickly discovered that typing with one hand is rough. I decided this morning to put Abby in her swing while I checked my mail and my favorite websites so I can finally start writing more than one sentence here and there.

Almost done Christmas shopping. Still stumped on a few people, but the kids, I'm thrilled to say, are finished! John says he's never letting me shop solo again! I sorta had a good time. ;O) (At Fleet Farm; gotta love that Toy Land!) He gasped pretty heavy seeing everything in the trunk and back seat, but just between you and me, I know he's just as excited as I am about seeing the kids open presents this year. *wink*

A few ladies looked at my cart and lamented that they didn't have any girls to buy for this year. I wasn't cruel enough to tell them I had THREE girls -and a boy! but it did make my heart smile to realize I got to have fun buying stuff for both genders... Just a few short years ago, I didn't have any kids at all to buy for... so, I'm definitely making up for lost time, especially with the realization that my kids aren't going to be asking for dolls and toy cars for much longer. Gotta git while the gittin' is good, as Dad always says! :O)

Yesterday I spent the day doing school with the kids, wrapping presents and helping the girls clean their rooms. Uff was it a PIT. We pulled out a huge garbage bag full of junk from their room, and packed away two garbage bags full of toys. Hopefully their rooms stays a little more manageable this way. It was pretty evident that their mama was out of commission for a long time - I hadn't helped them "deep clean" their rooms for months and months and months. Between morning sickness at the early end of the pregnancy, and Big Belly Syndrome at the end, well, I had to let them fend for themselves too long. We still have yet to do their closets. (They have two). That will be today's project.

Abby is now sleeping pretty well at night. John stays up with her until her first feeding which is anytime between 12-1:30, and then she's good til morning. Big relief to be able to get caught up on some sleep around here! :O)

The older kids are loving having the baby around. Liana knocked on my door yesterday while I was wrapping presents and asked if she could "hold the Princess." She is definitely treated like royalty around here by Everyone! No sibling rivalry toward this little one at all - only toward each other over who gets her next!

The other afternoon, John and the kids were outside working on their snow fort, (an on-going project around here), and Adam happened to be near the livingroom window. I was in the kitchen cooking and didn't want Abby to get spattered on, so I had to leave her alone in the livingroom for a while - which she hates - and which she fusses about. Adam heard her crying from outside, left his Much Beloved Snowtime, came inside, got his coat and boots off, and promptly picked Abby up to comfort her. He just adores his little sis.

Leks needs to be more aggressive about Abrielle Time... she has a hard time elbowing in through her older siblings to get at her. She loves to help change her clothes, hold her, talk to her, etc... of course, that's only when her older sibs, Mama, and Papa aren't already doing so. :O)

Haven't gotten out much since Baby has been born, but I love these hunker-down winter days anyway. I love having hot chocolate ready on the table for my snow fort builders, and I love turning on the tree lights early in the morning and early at night. Nice and peaceful. And now that there is also a baby to snuggle on these chilly days too... ah, bliss.

New Look!

Thought since the Fisher Family is new and improved now that Abrielle has joined us, that we should have a new look for the blog too... :O)

Another one for Guiness

She did it again. How, I have no idea, but our Leksa Lou has managed to have another "impossible" accident. Do you remember when she slammed the car door on her ear? Or fell off her bike and scraped only her earlobe?

This time, she scraped her bottom lip on the under side of her bed. That's right folks, she was under her bed, and scraped not her nose, nor her forehead, but her Bottom Lip.

HOW DID SHE DO THAT????? LOL!!!

Visit from Auntie Sharon!

We had a super visit from Auntie Sharon this week!!! She was brave enough to take the four hour drive all by herself in the dead of winter in Wisconsin... I was so proud of her!!! We would have missed out on a really, really nice time if she had chickened out.

Of course the main attraction was meeting Abrielle, but she also had some great bonding time with my older crew. She had them making candy! They got to dip pretzels, peanuts and marshmallows in chocolate and almond bark. I also got a tutorial on making Mom's popcorn balls. (I never have good luck with a candy thermometer, and she taught me how to make them without having to use one of those at all.) We had a BLAST. The kids probably ate more than they should have, but oh well. ;O) They just couldn't believe that Sharon was going to LEAVE all that good candy here and not take a single piece home with her. Aleksa must have asked her four or five times if she was SURE she wasn't going to take any home with her. lol!

Auntie also came with PRESENTS! They each got cool fleece blankets. While they were a big hit with all three kids, Aleksa opened hers and said, "A magic carpet!!!" and promptly took a trip to Jerusalem. :O)

The best part of her trip, however, was that we just got to sit and chat. I honestly don't remember the last time we've had such a luxury to do in person. We IM each other every day, and that's wonderful, but to just sit on the couch and talk about nothing and everything was so nice. Sharon and I have always been really alike - we wind up finishing each other's sentences and guessing each other's responses nearly every time we chat. Sometimes it is spooky, but always fun to know that even though we may not be physically with each other all the time as "in the old days," we do still have that Sister Bond that just doesn't fade. For instance, once she and I were talking via IM, and she was telling me about a rather stressful ambulance run she'd just taken, (she is an EMT), and as we were wrapping up the conversation, I told her to go have a Diet Pepsi and a bath. She quickly typed back that she was already drinking her Pepsi, and that she had planned to hop in the tub as soon as we were done talking! Ah, sisters. Aren't they wonderful!?

Another neat part of her trip was that Sharon is one of the only people on the earth right now that would remember what I looked like as a baby, and be able to compare Abrielle to what I looked like. Since Mom is gone, nobody had yet examined Abrie and compared her to what I was like as a baby. The rest of the family has seen her pictures and commented here and there, but it was nice to have an in-person inspection. Dad, of course has met her, but Dads aren't as good about that stuff as moms and older sisters. ;O)

For example, Sharon told me the red blotch on Abrie's eye was a birthmark like one I had on my own eye. (Well, it was on my forehead and stretched down on my eye). Sharon told me that my birthmark got darker when I was sick and that was Mom's way of knowing how I was feeling... and that it faded away as I got older. You know, stuff I wouldn't know, but will come in handy with Abrie.

Nobody can replace Mom, mind you, but well, Sharon comes awful close.

Meeting Grandpa

Saturday we were finally able to drive "back home" and show off our new little girl to my dad and brother and sister-in-law. That was a LONG month of not being able to show my kid to *anyone* in my family. John's parents and siblings have seen her, but nobody on my side had yet with the distance, and the sicknesses we've had floating around here this month. With my dad's immune system we just plain had to wait until every last one of us was completely well before we came anywhere near him.

Anyway, how fun! My dad took one look at her and said she looked just like his sister Della. !. Not what I was expecting, but it was fun anyway. Abby was super bright-eyed by the time we got to Dad's house, and it was fun to see her staring at Grandpa as much as he was eyeballing her! lol! Dad said next time we come, she'll already know him because she was studying him so long and hard.

The drive down and back was sure interesting with an infant. Uff Da. Talk about extending an already-long trip! It was the first time I'd wished that we were bottle-feeding! (That ain't happening, btw!)

On Friday the kids and I did "cooking day" for Grandpa at our house, and then took it with us instead of cooking it there as usual. Dad must have close to eighty meals in his freezers now. He was rather neglected for a few months there. *sigh* He was sure happy to see the food start rolling in... Spaghetti dinners, Aleksa's Famous Meatloaf, chili, goulash, polish sausage, etc. Plus dinner rolls, desserts, veggies, etc. We even left him a package of lefse! (That's good stuff to us midwesterners! *wink*)

Adam and John and my brother (also a John), took care of Dad's iced and snowed in driveway while the girls swept and mopped and my sister-in-law and I assembled meals onto individual plates.

The only bad part of the trip was that Abby got her days and nights switched because she slept so hard and long in the van. She was up almost all night, and I am a zombie again. I could almost throw up I'm so tired. (Last night's missed sleep combined with the missing sleep from the night before plus alllll the work we've done in the last few days have wiped me out.) I haven't missed so much church since before college. No wonder I never know what day it is anymore! lol!

My sister Sharon is planning on making a trip up here this week... I sure hope the weather cooperates. The kids are sooooo looking forward to seeing her, plus Abby is getting bigger every day - she's gotta see her before she outgrows her newborn clothes! lol!

Recent Pics

When Papa bundles up his little girl, she isn't going to get cold.

She isn't going to be able to move either.

*tee-hee*

Yesterday morning John got the urge to take the kids outside in their stocking feet and run around. I was welcomed to join them, but I decided I'd be the one in the window taking pictures of everyone hopping around. Too cold for me, but the kids had a blast - even if their snow run did only last about 30 seconds...

Still. Brrr.

Not a very good pic of our gingerbread project, but it was requested, so here it is!

Finding Maddie

For anyone out there addicted to adoption stories... Tami, who comments here allll the time, is in Kyiv right now, and had her SDA appointment today...

Wanna follow along with me? http://findingmaddie.blogspot.com/

Praying for you, Tami, my friend. I can't wait to hear that you have your Maddie safely in your arms...

Drifts and Shuffling

It has been snowing here the last few days, and the temperature has plummeted. John has one of the livingroom windows insullated, but the other won't get done until this afternoon. The draft coming through had me a little paranoid about keeping Abrielle warm enough, so I put up a blanket in front of the window temporarily while John was working (he's been working from home these weeks since the baby has been born.)

When John noticed the blanket, he asked what the deal was. Liana told him that I had put up the blanket "to keep the drifts out."

Adam, also had a language oops today concerning the snow... He asked if he could go out and shuffle the sidewalk. I'm sure there are a few drafts out there. ;O)

Adam's story

Boy do I wish I'd just had a video of Adam with Abby. He was holding her and they were staring at eachother silently, and I finally coaxed Adam to tell her a story. Instead of telling her a fairytale or "princess story" like her sisters enjoy doing, he decided to tell Abby "his" story.

He told her how he was at the orphanage, and that he was adopted, and then he told her what he thought of his new home when he got here... He told her he had a beautiful bed, and his own room, lots of food, etc. He also told her that he used to get in lots of trouble and one time almost went to jail... (he'd pocketed a few things from Walmart when they were first home, and one day after doing so, I packed him up and we all went to the police station for a chat with the cops about what happens to boys who steal...)

Anyway, Abby sat totally bright-eyed listening to Adam go on and on. It was really sweet. He wound up saying, "We didn't think we'd ever have another baby sister, but now God blessed us!"

He's sure a great kid...

Gingerbread!

Have to quick blog about one of the coolest presents the kids have ever gotten. Well, according to their mama anyway...

We got a package in the mail the other day from a very special aunt... She sent the kids the Jan Brett book called The Gingerbread Baby, and then gave them aprons, (the girls' aprons were make with gingerbread men fabric!), stuffed a cookie cutter in the pockets of them, included the dry ingredients for gingerbread, plus a jar of molasses, gingerbread men cookie cutters, a sweet little red corduroy dress with gingerbread men on it for Abby, gingerbread men Christmas ornaments, etc. Talk about going all out!! She even gave ME a cool book and wrapped it in a gingerbread men kitchen towel as the wrapping paper.

Today the kids and I rolled out the gingerbread men, and while they sure don't look all that "professional" the kids had fun making them, and boy were they good! One of those really fun memory-making kind of presents... Loved, loved, loved it!

Tired

And so, we're closing in on three weeks with an infant. Very different from having three Ukie kiddos home three weeks. Yup, it's hard work having an infant, but, oh is it infinitely easier than what we went through the first weeks having the other three home. Do you know that when we lay Abby down, she STAYS there? lol! And while she does cry when she's lonely, hungry and wet, she never once screamed "Durka Mamka!" at me ("Stupid Witch Mother!") Or run away from home, or tried to pee in anyone's sippy cups or broken anyone's prized possessions, or, or, or...

That said, however, I do admit to being somewhat of a zombie lately. The Little Miss loves being awake at night, and that means I am too. And because my energy level is so low lately, my laundry is piled higher than it has been in AGES, and the house is about ready to fall apart with clutter. The girls' room is a disaster zone. I didn't even make our bed this morning. I *ALWAYS* make our bed. This is big news over here.

But we're happy! :O) And Abrielle is getting to be a little, uh, shall we say, um, spoiled? lol! I don't think she's been set down by herself more than a handful of times Ever. Not unless we're putting her in her swing, and that doesn't count, 'cause it's educational. (It has a mobile and plays music..) There is always someone who wants to hold her around here. If she makes even the slightest peep, there we all are trying to pacify her. We're pathetic.

Abby was just now in her crib, and started to fuss. I thought, "I should see if she knows how to calm herself down..." And so, instead of running over to the crib, I let her cry. Not five minutes later, John came into the room and said, "Aren't you going to get her?" And he picked her up, and instantly, she quieted down. John said, in his gurgly I'm-talking-to-a-baby voice, "All she needs is a little love... oh look! A TEAR puddle on her matress! Ma-ma! Shame! It's ok, Abrie, Papa is here..."

And so I invited him to go love on her for a while. Hopefully she'll stay awake longer so she'll sleep tonight. I really just plain gotta get some laundry done tomorrow...