Cloud 9

Had an ultrasound this morning....

Adam is finally going to get a little BROTHER!!!

We're walkin' around on clouds over here. :o)

Valentine's Day 2011

Well, I guess I can't let Valentine's Day come and go without tellin' you all what we did!

Yesterday morning when the kiddos woke up, they all got a little felt "Valentine bag" of treats, which I fully expected would be gone by noon, and I was right. ;o) Even Brynn got in on the action, and by 10:00, I had chocolate-marshmallow heart candy ground into my carpeting. The kids had all made Valentines for each other which they had stuffed into eachother's bag. (We hung the bags by the fireplace, right where our Christmas stockings had been.) This is the first year that Abrielle really has a clue about the holiday, and I guess we broke her in right, because at lunchtime, she prayed, "Fant you, Dod, fow Balentime's Day tanny." (She *can* say those c's and g's now, but they're so much work to articulate without coaching...) ;o)

Anyway, John had to work of course, so we had a normal school day, except that we had a minor incident of a big brother tormenting his next younger sister with squirting water at her from the iron. (It wasn't hot, but she didn't know that.) Such a wonderful pause in our otherwise lovey-dovey day. (They're siblings, what can I say?) LOL!

The big thing that happened was that Brynn really took off walking today! She started the day off only taking 3-5 steps, and ended it with her walking from the livingroom into the kitchen to welcome Papa home from work. It was his favorite "Valentine gift" as she was all smiles and saying "Papa!" on her way to see him. So cute.

Then last night we decided to all get gussied up, and eat downstairs in front of the fireplace. We have a diningroom table down there that we pulled over, (away from the far wall in the picture), put a table cloth on, set, etc. Aleksa was in charge of that. She did a very nice job, too. Pretty centerpiece, candles, etc. Liana had put red heart lights on the mantle as extra ambiance (those had actually been there for several days. The little girls LOVE those.) We had shrimp (major craving over here for that recently), and chicken enchiladas (John's favorite) for supper. Adam made angelfood cake for dessert... with strawberries and whipped cream. Num.
(click on the photo to enlarge...)

After supper clean-up we hung out a bit, and then after the kids went to bed John and I watched a movie together which would have been all cozy and intimate, except that Abrielle could not sleep, and so it was the three of us cuddling on the couch. :o)

Aside from the usual roses (he gets me some every year... *swoon*...), we also got a new garbage disposal. !!!. You can tell we aren't newly-weds anymore, 'cause I was MIGHTY excited about that! John also got flowers for the kids, which the girls L.O.V.E.D. I think Adam sorta made a sword out of his or something... it didn't last long! lol!

It was a happy day for us... Hope you enjoyed showing your family you loved them too!

To the rescue!

It's been a long week over here... I've been down with a chest cold, and have had very little extra energy.

On Wednesday, however, a friend had heard about that, and came over early that afternoon to wrangle the kids and help me with school. She sat and quizzed the girls with their music theory, and did who-knows-what-else with them, while she shooed me away so I could go take a nap.

I woke up feeling so much better, and while she and my kids were all off playing who-knows-what downstairs, (I did see that our guest had been gussied up in one of the girls' dress-up dresses!), I made supper without interruptions! It was amazing!)

Good friends are such treasures... So thankful for her! It was a gentle rebuke to me, though... "How have I been a friend to someone today/this week?" What about you?

V-Day countdown!

So excited.... Valentine's day is less than a week away! Gotta iron out the Big Plan with the kiddos. This will be the first V-day that Abrielle will have a clue, so I'm excited to make this one special... (though, if you remember, I try to make 'em all special!)

Stink.

Ah, one of the more fragrant days over here...

Aleksa just walked past the bathroom in time to see Abrielle spilling her little potty all over the floor, and Brynn crawing on into the bathroom and sitting in it.

Bathtime at the Fisher house!

Keeping Abrielle busy

As soon as Brynn goes down for her nap, Abrielle gets to do a "project." It also means she gets to listen to a cute nursery rhyme cd. Today she got a giant coloring page/crayons, and since that didn't take her long, she got to pull out some playdough too. The big girls don't like to be too far away when there's fun happening, so they joined her at the table to do their math. Today I'm supervising with my laptop here with me. :o) Adam is in the livingroom doing his own thing. He concentrates better away from distractions.



Keeping Abrielle busy (safely) is one of the toughest challenges I have right now. Thankfully, though, with Brynn still taking morning naps, it makes that job a little easier. Abrielle loves getting out the paints (of any kind), doing baking projects with me, coloring, pasting, reading books, etc. She's also been on a "play with dolly" kick lately. It's fun having a three-year old in the house to be able to do this "little girl" stuff with. :o)

Breakfast Bliss

This week our "breakfast chef" has been our sunny Aleksa. Each week the big kids rotate who cooks the morning meal, and that person also helps with other misc. cooking during the week as needed. We've been treated to fruit smoothies, pancakes, peanutbutter granola, oatmeal, sausage/cheese muffins and probably something else I can't remember right now. They enjoy their cooking time, and have learned a lot in the process.

With the Chef in the kitchen, it also frees me up to feed and diaper the baby, check my email, get things ready for school to start, dress the Littles, make the bed, straighten up a bit, start a load of laundry etc. before we all hit the floor running once school starts. Of course, the whole house looks like a hurricane has hit by the time 3:00 rolls around, 'cause we have these little cyclones called the 3yo and 1yo. We're constantly picking up after them, even during school, but alas, they're fast, and determined, and enjoy watching Mama crawl around on the floor. Or something.

Anyway, back to Leksa's fabulous cooking. She's on my mind right now because not only is she making the pizza crust for tonight's supper right now, but she also has the bread machines (I have two) running. She's making some delicious cinnamon bread for tomorrow morning's breakfast. Num-o.

I love Saturday breakfasts... John is usually zooming out the door headed to work when we are getting our breakfast going (his breakfasts are grabbed out of the freezer and nuked lately... usually leftovers of what the rest of us have already enjoyed during the week), so when we can all sit down to eat together, my domestical self sighs with contentment to have everyone's feet under the same table. I actually am usually the Saturday morning chef, but today Leks was on a roll with her pizza dough, and having a great time getting floured up. I wasn't going to argue. ;o)

When John and I were first married, we loved cold cereal for breakfast. Every single day. If we did that now, we'd go broke, completely. Though, I have to tell you that last month John did some grocery shopping for me once and came home with like TEN boxes of cereal. The kids were in heaven. Cold cereal is definitely is not the norm over here. I still do miss my bowl of Life, but when we get it, it's for a snack more than a meal... My family can eat two boxes of cereal in one meal really easily.... because "just one bowl" doesn't fill anyone up. Not after being used to pancakes or oatmeal every day!

Another thing we do to keep the costs down, is that we older folks drink a cup of tea every morning, (occasionally hot chocolate),instead of juices. The Littles drink milk. I try to only buy juice for weekends. Much cheaper that way. Besides, the kids and I have sort of spoiled ourselves with our tea... It's one of our simple pleasures to sip tea over a nice breakfast with great company to chat with. We have some of our best talks over breakfast, and do our daily Bible study/reading then. While we do spend more time in preparation and eating, I consider our breakfast time sacred family time... One of life's simple pleasures that we would have completely missed out on if we had a much smaller family and could have continued our cold-cereal-while-watching-tv newlywed mode...

Warning!

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the whole "big family" thing. With the addition of each extra child, my own job has obviously become more complicated, and whereas I might have been able to "slip by" without doing certain things in the early years of just having the three home, by now, that is waaaaaaaaay noticeable, and unacceptable. I might have been able to run the dishwasher every other day, for example "back then." These days, if we don't run the dishwasher, there will be no dishes for the next day. Kind of important, folks!

In other words, as the family has expanded, I've really had to learn self-control, discipline, diligence, and perseverance. No more getting by without a meal plan or a shopping list, 'cause if I try it, we waste hundreds of dollars per month. (John loves that. Not.) It can get scary without some semblance of order around here. Of course all this "extra work" means that either Mom is lazy and her house is falling down around her, or she's exhausted from doing it all herself, or, Mom is a smart lady who has trained in her family to be helpers.

Sure there are things we "can't" do with a family our size, but the trade off of what we (*I*) are/am learning is invaluable, and I hope the children all leave our home with some really solid character traits engrained in them...and in me too. I have to remind myself each day to persevere. But I sure wouldn't trade my job for the world... truly, I've never been happier.

In that regard, though, I thought I'd give you all a heads up on a different direction I plan on going with this blog in the weeks/months ahead. I'd like to start using "this place" to keep myself accountable and organized. You might see a weekly menu here, or a to-do list that needs to happen by a certain time; or a list of things that we have accomplished for the day. Or a list of who is doing what jobs for the week. Maybe it will give you ideas for your own home, or, maybe it will make you rethink stopping by and reading here, but I thought it only fair to let you know. I still plan on talking about my kiddos (carefully, mind you - they're getting older and more mortified at Mama's rambling on about them... but my little ones, I think, have a few more years before they'll really care.) ;o) Regardless... consider yourselves warned! :o)

Six Years Home pics from last summer

I was digging around for pictures to send to Ukraine yesterday, and came across a few that I should post. This one was taken on the kids' "Six Year Home" anniversary... I love it!

These are individual shots from their big day.




In the days ahead, I'll look for some pictures of the little girls so you can get to know them too... But for now, I'd better go console a fussy baby, and the three year old is begging me to play "llamas." Oh to be in more than one place at once!

Letter from Ukraine!

The kids got a letter from Mama Zhanna today! Very exciting stuff over here. She was confirming that she had received a packet of photos/drawings/etc., and let us know a little how she's doing.

I let them all make Valentines to send her asap, and I've been collecting more photos to include in the next letter... While it is always wonderful to hear from her, I have to admit, it often stirs up some insecure emotions among our crew. I've already heard this afternoon that I love the little girls best...

Much hugging, cryin', 'splaining, reassuring, and etc'ing going on over here. Sigh.

Adam's Kitchen

I think I mentioned that Adam (16!), cleaned my kitchen for me the other morning... This is him in the middle of his hard work. Saturday morning he had emptied the dishwasher, scrubbed the kitchen floor, set the breakfast table, and started breakfast, all before any of the rest of us woke up. If there's one thing I don't regret in raising my crew, it's that kids CAN be taught that hard work is fun, and serving others is a joy, and that they can learn early and well how to cook and clean. I am sooooo reaping the benefits of that right now... especially since I've been in the thick of morning sickness with two busy littles running/crawling around. The older crew has been a lifesaver for me in many ways, and they are all great helpers.

Brynn's First Birthday!

Well, as far as birthdays go, this was about as low-key as you can get.... but Brynn didn't seem to mind. :o) We had church this morning with a potluck afterward, and then she had a nap, and then we partied by eating cupcakes and Brynn opened a few pressies. I didn't even cook supper 'cause I've been sick most afternoons, and since it's Sunday, I sorta called myself a day of rest. ;o) I doubt she'll be scarred for life.

One whole year old. Can't believe how fast time flies. Brynn is taking two steps at a time. The kids say they saw three, but I didn't, so it didn't happen. ;o) She is also repeating a lot of what we say. Her new word as of yesterday is "Peek-a-boo," but otherwise her vocabulary is "Mama," "Papa," "night-night," "all done," "day doe" (there you go; as in when she hands you something) "na-noo" (thank you), "diaper," "hi," and "bye-bye." I'm sure I'm missing one or two, but that's what we've been hearing so far, along with some odds and ends repeating what we think "could" be what we just said, but we're not sure. In other words, we're at a really fun stage with her. :o)

Even as I'm writing this, Liana is walking with her, and letting go here and there so she takes steps alone. I guess I finally saw "three." I'd better sign off before she heads to college on me...

Updated At Last

Wow, what a great way of completely losing your readership, Shelly. Just completely quit writing for over a year. Oy.

Actually, a year ago, I sat down to say that I had just had a new baby girl, and even included pictures, when ZAP, just as I was finishing up, the whole post poofed and I'm sorry to say, it just took the wind out of my sails to want to write any time soon.

Anyway, a year ago tomorrow, John and I welcomed another baby girl into our family. Brynn Michelle joined our crew, and has been a sheer delight to have around. She's a relaxed and snuggly baby, who smiles easily, and is as layed back as they come. Can't believe she'll be a whole year old tomorrow! Sweet Bryncess, Mommy loves you! She doesn't fuss when we lay her down for naps and bedtime, and just happily goes with the flow. Oh how I needed a baby like that around here! Lets just say that her bigger sister, Miss Abrielle (just turned 3), is a weeeeeeeeeeee bit of a handful! ;o) In fact, She has earned the nickname Tornado Tot. It truly is a term of endearment, but oh, how appropriate the name fits. We've had flour incidents, food coloring experiments, plumbing disasters, (we've had to buy two or three different toilet augers because of her, plus dismantle the toilet altogether, and my super-snazzy cellphone was recently flushed...) She's also taken a scissors to a string of Christmas tree lights and blew the lights on the whole tree. She scares us. But we love her dearly.

As for our older crew, oh, what a crew I have! Just this morning Adam woke up early, emptied the dishwasher, scrubbed the kitchen floor, set the table, and started breakfast, all before anyone else woke up. Let's just say, I'm in the "Terribly Lucky" category of moms with that one. He just turned 16 this January, and while he isn't emotionally ready to handle a car, he can and does help out enormously. This summer he started his own lawn-care business, and passed out fliers all over the neighborhood. He stayed rather busy all summer long. Very proud of him!

Liana turned 12 this summer, and is still a little mama. She loves little kids, and is wonderful with the babies. She took a babysitting class through the Red Cross this summer, and came home much smarter than me. ;o) She and her sister have enjoyed taking voice lessons this school year, and hopefully they'll both stick with them, as they've really made a lot of progress so far.

Aleksa is now 10... Can't believe that! She is a true "middle" - Not a big kid, and not a little kid. Some days she wants to be big, and the next, she's offering her back to her little sisters to ride her around like a horsie. She's a perfect "pal" to the little girls in that regard, since she still thinks the little kid games are great. (Every other day, that is!) ;o) She's my sunny girl, and I'll be very sad the day The Hormones Hit and she starts getting moody on me. Her big sister uh, well, lets just say, the Hormones Have Hit. ;o) (Not always though. Don't get me wrong, Liana is a sweetheart of a girl, and I wouldn't trade her for the world.) Anyway, Aleksa is my little opera girl, and her voice is really, truly beautiful and I can't wait to see how it develops with those lessons she's taking.

And so, that brings everyone up to speed with our family. Except. Lightning has indeed struck again, and we have just in the last few weeks been announcing that we are expecting yet another little Fisher blessing in August! S'prise! Everyone is super excited!

I'm hoping that now that I've broken the sound barrier and actually remembered my password here, that I'll update more often. But, well, we'll just see about that, won't we? ;o)

Adam's 15th!!!

Wow, Adam is 15 today. And he looks every bit the part. Tall, dark and getting handsomer all the time. Great kid. Most days. ;o) Just kiddin'. We've lucked out with all our kiddos, and Adam is no exception.

The girls and I served him breakfast in bed this morning on his birthday china... Not sure if I've shared what that is... A year or so ago we sent a package to "Mama Zhanna" in Ukraine, and in it we included a tea cup, saucer, and dessert plate which each kid had a match to. On their birthdays, they would use their dishes in the hopes that Mama Zhanna is doing the same. Kind of a nice way of keeping her in their lives, and something meaningful for her also. She cried when she opened them, so I hope that today, the china is used on both sides of the world.

I had originally planned that birthday cake would be served on the plate, but Adam wanted his cake this weekend when we're having a house full of company. I made him "birthday cookies" instead of cake for today. He passed them out at church last night, but we have extras to celebrate with today. So anyway, this morning we put his scrambled eggs and sausage on the plate, made him some tea, homemade cards, put it all on a nice tray, and woke him up to a majorly off-key rendition of "Happy Birthday."

Lots of other little surprises up our sleeves for him tonight, but that's the day so far!

Oh, some have been asking if I've had the baby yet. *groan*... Nope! I'm due two weeks from today though, so hopefully it will be soon. Abrielle was six days early, so, you never know! :o)

Family tree

Thought I'd share a current picture of our "family tree." Everyone is growing up so fast!

Long overdue

"Oh, where, have you been, Shelly Girl, Shelly Girl, oh where have you been, Charmin' Shelly...?"

Old song, supposed to be Billy Boy. Nevermind.

Like a thorn in my side I've been putting off posting here for a million years. Which is sad because so much has happened with us worth sharing. So many little memories lost because I couldn't make myself sit down and write them out here. *sigh*

Big news over here is that we're expecting another baby! *picks you up off the floor* Another little miracle will arrive around the end of January. We're thrilled. Well, aside from the bout of gestational diabetes that showed up again, we're thrilled. I wasn't thrilled with the holidays falling right in the middle of my "no/low sugar" diet, but nobody asked me. *wink*

I think the last time I posted was talking about Abrielle worries. I decided to not worry anymore, and just leave the poor kid alone. She eats when she wants to eat, and while she's tiny, she does have "tiny genes" working against her, and she's really healthy as a horse, so I'm happy. She just turned two last week. Can't believe it. She's talking up a storm, and we are having full-fledged conversations with her. Our eyebrows are constantly raised at what she is understanding and saying to us. She's a smart cookie. She also goes potty on the "big girl" potty now. Has been since this summer. Evidently I was potty-trained pretty early too, so I guess my side of the family isn't too surprised to hear about this trick, but boy was I shocked to see that she was asking to be put on the potty at so little of an age.

We celebrated FIVE YEARS HOME this summer as well. Wow. Ya know, though, while this was a huge milestone for our kids, it didn't strike me as such... They feel like they've always been with us, and a part of us. The first thing I tell folks about them isn't "that they're adopted" - it's that Adam hates math, and won't change his socks, Liana is a second Mama to Abrielle, and Aleksa is on a major horse-kick that means she crawls around on the floor for long periods of time thereby putting holes in every pair of pants she owns. Normal kid stuff. While their adoptions aren't secrets, I try hard to just let us be a family doing normal family stuff, and if their being adopted is somehow relevant to whatever, then I'll bring it up, but otherwise, we're just trying hard to "be us."

Perhaps that's been my hang-up about this blog lately. I just want to be us. Just want to be a family without having to analyze everything and wonder if they'll have life-issues because of certain things having happened to them. It has just felt good to be the Fishers and not have to wonder who is thinking what about whom.

Anyway. That's the deal. I probably won't post much anymore, but I thank you for checking in, (if you're out there!), and thank you for being my friend on this wild ride of international adoption. There are happy endings in older kid adoption. We're proof of that. I hope our story has helped your own somehow. If you are on facebook, I'd love to add you as a friend so we can still "keep in touch." I have enjoyed the two-sidedness of Facebook very much. Instead of dropping a note in a bottle, like it feels like I do here, I actually get to "see" and interact with others. Much more gratifying.

Take care!

Shelly

Abrielle update

Well, this weaning thing has been easier than I thought. Abrielle still gets her mama before bed/naptimes, but she has been easily distracted when she's asked to nurse other times of the day.

Thank you everyone, for your notes of encouragement. I know there are plenty of worse things in life to have happen, I realize, but it has been hard for me nevertheless.

Abrielle, however, is completely oblivious to any problems whatsoever, and is happy as a clam doing her own thing. She's busy, learning new things all the time, talking up a storm, and will pretty much repeat anything we ask her now. She calls Adam "Da-da," Liana is "La-la," and Aleksa is "Lessa" (light on the s's). She also tells us when she is wet, and when she has had a diaper leak (we use cloth diapers at home) -She says "Uh-oh, peeeeew!", and because of her tell-tale concentration look, she's even gone potty on her little potty once when we rushed her to the bathroom. (Got it on video to pull out when she starts bringing boys home...) *tee-hee* She's a fearless climber, loves her babies, tucks them in and kisses them good-night in their little beds, puts her own shoes on, and absolutely loves her big brother and sisters. They take her places. For a while she was calling Adam "Wing-wing" (swing-swing). It was so cute, Adam just could not say "no." She's a little spoiled.

Anyway, just wanted to post a quick update to thank you guys and to say we're hanging in there and doing well.

Stressed

Been having a rough time with this blog thing, haven't I? I figure that by not writing anything on it, that nobody will be getting any older, and my babies will stay my babies just a little while longer. My older crew is really old. Makes me teary. *sniff, sniff*. I don't even want to write about the baby, because SHE is also growing up. *sniff, sniff*.

I've got issues, man.

Actually, I have been a little stressed. Abrielle, now 18mos., has not been gaining weight as she should. She actually fell off the growth chart and is now considered "Failure to Thrive." Can I just say, this is pretty devastating to hear? MY BABY???? She's developmentally just fine, and even advanced, but she just isn't gaining weight.

It is so weird having this happen after having the opposite happen with our oldest crew. They came to us starved and they instantly grew seven stories tall. Then we have a baby "on our own" and she's having a hard time gaining anything. It's definitely not something I ever expected to have happen, for sure! The doctor just told me Friday to wean her immediately - like by next week. (!!!!!!!!!!!). Having a hard time with that. Baby Girl is not going to like that much at all.

Anyway, been feeling a little melancholy about writing. Hope you understand... (I doubt there's even anyone out there anymore anyway, but anyway, in case anyone does check in from time to time, this is what's up...)

She's growing up

Bought Aleksa her first bra today. She's growing up. *sniff, sniff*

On the way home, she asked, "Mama, how do you put it on?"

Jokingly, I said, "Well, first you put one foot into it..."

... and she said, "That's what Liana does!"

LOL

After I laughed a few minutes, she asked me another question.

"Mama, which way is the front?"

I laughed the rest of the way home....

Happy Valentine's Day!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Valentine's Day? *sigh* Well, I do!! I do!!

In an effort to squeeze every ounce of mushiness out of the holiday, we've actually been celebrating all week! I bought little felt "Valentine bags" at the Dollar Store, and kept them hanging on the backs of everyone's diningroom chairs. Then every night I'd add a few treats for the kids to find in the morning. We've also been working hard this week to fill out some Valentine fill-in-the-blanks for each other. "One thing I admire about you is ________" kinds of things. The answers ranged from silly, to waaaay mushy. The last question was "I love you more than _____" Answers ranged from "bubblegum" to "myself" which is what Liana wrote on Abrielle's valentine. Since we each had so many to write, we've been making one each day and putting them in each other's Valentine bag to be read the morning of the 14th (today!)

Our homeschool group had a Valentine party last night where we not only exchanged cards and goodies, but we also made cards for the folks in the assisted living home next door. The little old grandmas sure loved to see all the little ones.

The kids have been working on memorizing I Corinthians 13 - the "Love Chapter" since mid-January, and they've had a few chances to recite it already. Mama forgot to ask them to do it at last night's party, but we've had company a few times in the last few weeks, and the kids have been able to practice it for them. Good public speaking opportunities you know. ;o) They'll do it for John tonight.

We opened our Valentines to each other over our nice breakfast (french toast, fresh fruit), and the kids were also able to read their valentines from last night's party.

The postman brought a package from Grandpa and Grandma with some Valentine goodies in them. That was sure fun! Oh! And this morning, I woke up to a great big heart on the floor made by my favorite - Kit Kats! Num! I also got some roses! (He loves me!)

Tonight I'm planning to make one of John's favorite meals... Nice and quiet day otherwise though.

I just love this lovey-dovey day!