Last waterslide before the rapture

And the first waterslide of the summer season.  We set the waterslide up in the front yard yesterday afternoon.  One of the neighbor girls from our home group joined us as well.

We bought this three years ago when Levi and Noah were Luke's age.  Best money we ever spent on a birthday present.

Shhhhhh, don't tell his mother.  It was this, or let a dripping wet kid in on the wood floors to use the proper facilities.  I chose to preserve the wood floors rather than his dignity.

Ella still hasn't outgrown the fun.

Karter was a little daredevil.

Noah, with no fear.

Levi apparently took a good tumble off the side of the slide while I wasn't watching them.  He spent the rest of the time cautiously going down with a tight grip on the side rail.  Must of been a good tumble if it slowed Levi down.

Karter trying to warm up her little buddy Luke.

And since I am posting this on Sunday, we are obviously all still here, and will get to enjoy another summer of watersliding...

Sophie's First Birthday

What to the EVBC Commons and Sponge Bob have in common?

 

I can't think of anything really.  Except Sophie's birthday party / open house.  We rented the Commons so that people could come meet her, and so we wouldn't have 50 some people in our house.

Paige's friend from church made us an awesome cake.

We brought the birthday girl.

Who couldn't wait to dig in.

And then did.

Of course, we found out a few days later that she has Giardia.  Which can make digestion of sugar difficult.  Which explains why the entire piece of cake she ate didn't stay down for long.  She enjoyed it though!

So where does Sponge Bob play into all this?  Paige rented a giant bounce house for the older kids to play in.  Apparently someone offered her a deal on a bounce house... significant savings if you chose the bounce house with the weird sponge and his friends.  Being a good Dutchwoman, she went with the cheaper one.  Even if church seems like an odd place for a giant sponge.

Two other tidbits.  We opened all the presents when we got back home.  Someone thoughtfully gave us this little toy... which we all found to be nearly as weird as a giant sponge.  So you just in case you are reading this, we do sincerely appreciate the gift, as it gave us all a good laugh.

We also got this spinner car toy thing.  Levi fairly quickly snatched it and repurposed it.  This inventiveness could be very, ummmm, interesting come college.

Thanks to everyboy who came to help us celebrate!

So how is is going?

The first question everyone asks is how is it going? Followed by how is Sophie adjusting? So here is my summary for all three of you out there wondering.

It's going great.

The first week provided the least amount of sleep as I tried to convince our daughter that day and night were now reversed. She eventually got the hang of it and I am very grateful. I already blogged about her pediatrician visit after three days home. Our pediatrician was very pleased with her overall health and growth. Today we had a follow up appointment and a one year well visit.

So after two weeks of being home Sophie had gained a pound, grown an inch longer, and her head grew another cm. My doctor just chuckled when she saw her growth curve go straight up in two weeks time. She might be a big girl after all, now that she is getting adequate nutrition. Time will tell.

All her medical reports from her blood work came back with good results. Her stool study came back with a diagnosis of giardia, which we already expected. We have been on meds for two full days now and the treatment lasts for five. The goal is for better intestinal health by killing the parasites, but I am here to tell you that today was by far the winner for nonstop blow out diapers! Disgusting! Let's hope we improve over the next three days.

Sleeping is going very well. She takes two naps a day for 2-3 hours each. She goes down with no fussing at all. Wakes up screaming and mommy comes running, so she has me trained well already. She goes down great at bedtime too, but still wakes for that middle of the night feeding she was accustomed to getting at Toukoul. She has skipped it a few times by herself, so I am hoping she will out grow it herself by getting more nutrition in the day and the reassurance that she will never go hungry. For now, when she cries at 2 am she gets a bottle. Thankfully she goes right back to sleep.

She is getting braver in her surroundings and can be found crawling through the house getting into all kids of things that siblings have left lay all over the place. She is still a bit wary of the dog, but every once in a while she will crawl up to Banjo and just touch her. She will pull herself up to play at her musical table, but mostly just crawls. She keeps a close eye on my proximity at all times and while she can be on one side of the room fine one moment, she will panic the next, bursting into tears, until I come and pick her up.

She loves to play with her daddy but does it better if I am not around. If I pass by she will cry and reach for me. She screams loudly and the tears come instantly. A faker at times, but she knows how to make her needs known. I wear her on my back in the Beco often, so that I can accomplish a few simple things around the house, or so my arms are free to hold Luke.

She really is adjusting to all these changes well. I feel so sad when I think that she has only been here two weeks and how foreign it must all feel to her. We are her fourth change of care that we know of in her first year of life. There was her birth mom, the orphanage in Harar, the Toukoul orphanage (who knows how many different care givers there in the course of 9 months) and now home with us.

That is a lot of change in 12 months of living.

The City of Addis

Thanks to our friends Adam and Sabrina, I ran across this video on their blog.  We didn't go to any of these places while we were there... but the sights are the same.  The goats, the kids in school uniforms, billions of blue Toyota vans, the crazy haired old men in the streets.  Is it weird that I felt like I missed it a little bit when I watched this?

The City of Addis - A short documentary from Session 7 Media on Vimeo.

The video is produced by the same guy who runs the Ethiopian Guest Home.  Obviously has a heart for Ethiopia and the people there, and we loved staying at his guest house.

We actually seem to have spent a huge portion of our time there like this.  It's the drive from the Toukoul Orphanage to the YGF Guest House on our first trip.  Sped up 8X.  Don't miss the guy at 29 seconds taking a leak against the wall.  Another very common sight in Ethiopia.

33 years old, mother of 5, ages 7 and under

Last Sunday was Mother's Day and I was still in a fog adjusting to time changes with Sophie and we had house guests. So it was not thee most relaxing Mother's Day, but I think it was by far the best.

Noah threw a terrible fit and missed out on lunch. My mom was/is out of the country so I couldn't talk to her on the phone, and I think Jason ended up leaving his mom a voice mail because he couldn't locate his mom either. My gift from Jason was a doctor bill for pink eye, since our doctor office is now out of network on our new insurance. (long story)

But all in all, it was the best Mother's Day thus far. This year I have five children to be thankful for. This year I am blown away at the blessings God has given me to parent. This year I want to freeze time and just stay right where we are forever. 7,5,5,3, and 1. That is one amazing line up. I would keep it this way if I could.

It is hard to believe that I have been a mom for seven years already. It was the greatest thing ever in my life when I became a mom and Jason and I took on new roles as parents. We were/are so in love with our sweet baby girl and loved being a little family. Ella was our first taste of God's plan for family.

Adding to our family was an easy decision. And while I was in shock at my ultra sound when the tech said there were "two little somethings", my husband shouted out with glee "Yes!". And we instantly had become a family of five. Levi and Noah were wonderful easy going babies, tumultuous toddlers, and are growing up into fun boys who constantly challenge me to live out the fruits of the Spirit. (Specifically patience and self control.)

Luke was the next addition three years later. He was a sweet answer to prayer to a very fear filled pregnancy following a miscarriage. I wasn't sure I could set myself up for pain of losing another child and was terrified the entire nine months. While most people responded with shock that we would be having another baby and that we were crazy for wanting four children, we new this baby was a sweet answer to prayer and a healing for our hearts. God sent the perfect addition to this family in the form of Luke Hendrik.

Perhaps since we had already crossed the societal norm of three children max, we should have been done growing our family. But that was not God's plan for our family and I am so very glad. Around the time that Luke was turning one, Jason and I began to seriously look into international adoption. Now almost a full two years later our Sophie Joy Tufah is home where she belongs.

She has been prayed for, loved, and wanted since before she was ever conceived. Only God could orchestrate her story and ours to become one family from two different sides of the globe. God is so good, and we are so blessed to welcome this child into our family.

I am not Sophie's first mother. There was someone else, whom we will never know, who loved her first. Who gave her life, and then chose another course of life for her. There was another mother who put her child's needs above her own heart and gave Sophie to us. There was another mother who is remembering birthing a beautiful baby girl one year ago and was only able to have her for a very short time. There is another mother with a piece of her heart missing.

If only there was a way to show that mother our hearts. To show her how we are bursting with love for her child. To let her know that we will cherish her forever. To somehow say thank you for the life she created.

God's plan for my family may look different than others, but I wouldn't change a thing. I am the mother of five children, each chosen by God to help refine me, as I humbly try to mother them. Thank you God that this Mother's Day you have entrusted five beautiful children to my care. Please give me the grace to honor you in my parenting.

Help has arrived!

Paige's sister came out this weekend to meet Sophie and help out Paige for a few days. And by "help" she apparently meant "work on her tan."

Not saying where I got this spy photo from...

See you when I get off work L... ;)

Our tomatoes are spoiled rotten

Shade umbrellas, for a garden? Apparently so. Our tomato plants were getting cooked in the sun, so they needed a little relief (yes Nate... too much sun in May.) We shall see if this works.

Salsa! The first few tomatoes are starting to turn red. That plus the garlic, onions, cilantro, oregano, and basil in the garden and we should be able to make almost complete salsa from our back yard.

When we first planted the garden, Luke skipped outside the next day looking for carrots. He was disappointed they weren't fully grown in one evening. But he is now plucking and enjoying them.

Sophie, just hanging out in the high chair, looking super cute.
 

I don't think he really planned out his exit strategy

Nacho Libre + 300 = Funny

Maybe just to me though...

He refers to themselves in the third person now

I picked up all the kids from school yesterday.  A few minutes after Ella got in the car, the following conversation ensued.

Noah:  Ella, what are you doing?!?!?

Ella:  Pick'n my nose.

Dad:  Where are you putting them?

Ella:  On the seat.

Dad, looking over to see a neat row of boogers attached to the seat:  Ella!

Levi, who has no shame in nose picking:  Gross!!!!!!

Noah:  That's not what "the twins" do with boogers, they eat them!  And they are the "stars of the nose pickers"!

That conversation was followed by an in depth debate regarding the appropriate times for winkus tugging, with admissions by both boys regarding inappropriate behavior.  But at that point I was laughing too hard to faithfully record the details.

Nearly lost in the shuffle

The Monday after we left for Ethiopia, Levi visited the bone doc to see if his arm had healed enough for the cast to come off. The doc gave him the OK. Grandma took him, and had specific instructions to take pictures for the blog. Good work Grandma!

That looks like one excited little boy. He was so proud when we got back home that he could make his arm go straight again!

Pictures of Luke that don't look like Winston Churchill

From his birthday party at Grandma's house when we were in Ethiopia

We are home. An update by the wife, since my husband has gone nutty.

So it has been a few days home now and I have a few people in particular who keep pestering me about an update.  I made Jason take Sophie in for her lab work so my arms are free for a few minutes so I thought I would catch you all up.

I will start at the beginning and you can fast forward to what ever you are interested in.

The flight home:
The flight home was very long as we knew it would be.  Sophie and Ella both did very well considering the lack of sleep and disruption of any sleep they were attempting to get.  On both flights we were given bulkhead seating with a bassinet, so that was nice.  Sophie only spent about two hours in each.  The rest of the seven hour and nine hour flights she was climbing up and down me and all over me.  But, she did not scream or cry like I feared she may.  She did really, really well.  She kept busy charming any and every one who would walk by and stop to say hello. 

Arriving home:
We finally arrived at our destination a day after travels began.  We were greeted by our wonderful family and friends at the airport with balloons, posters, hugs, and well wishes.  It was so nice to have those there with us who have walked along beside us in this journey and have showered us in their prayers for months and months on end.  Seeing all their smiling faces when we arrived was wonderful.

Settling in:
Other than Sophie still being on ET time, life is going well as a family of seven.  Sophie is relaxing more and more each day and will crawl away from me to play with toys on the floor and will even allow Daddy to hold her for short periods of time.  She is sleeping next to me in a co-sleeper at night and wakes often to check to see if I am still there.  She will crawl into bed with me and snuggle for a bit and then I can shift her back into her co sleeper.  If only we can get over the 2 to 4 AM party with mom each night, the days would be so much nicer.  I love my Sophie dearly, but I would rather not spend so much one on one time together at that time of the night.  She has the option of taking naps during the day to recover from our late night play dates, me, not so much. 

Sophie eats like a champ.  All baby food, yogurt, cheerios, wagon wheels, puffs, noodles, rice, bread, this girl will chew it up and eat it all.  Its like she has been doing it for years!  Not to mention the bottles she is inhaling.  No trouble at all transitioning to American food and formula.

Doctoring:
We had a new patient check up yesterday to look over her medical files and form a plan of attack for life in America.  We have decided to repeat all vaccinations.  We are also running a battery of tests (via blood work) to check for all sorts of things that are typically done at newborn screenings.  And the joy of stool collection to check for parasites and the like. 

Our pediatrician says she does not feel that Sophie should have a doc band.  She said if we were a new patient just moved here from Ohio she wouldn't recommend it, nor would she since I am a worried mother of a baby who laid a lot in an orphanage crib.  She said the side was "not that flat" and should round out in that area now that she is upright and more mobile. 

It was obvious at the time of check out form the orphanage that Sophie had had chicken pox recently.  Her medical file indicated that she had them in March.  She has lots of scars all over her body that we hope will fade with time and Mederma.

She weighed in at 18.1 lbs., and developmentally was right on track.  She mimics our facial cues, crawls, pulls up, picks items up with a two finger pincer grip, self feeds, babbles, claps, waves.  The only thing she was lacking was teeth.  She only has four right now.  But then, there is a range for that too.  Our pediatrician would like to see her again in two weeks for her one year well visit and we can go over lab results at that time too.  Our doctor was thrilled at her overall well being. 

Siblings:
The three big kids really love their new baby sister.  They are constantly bringing toys over to her, asking to hold her on their laps, and checking where she is.  Luke is still trying to find his place in this new family setup.  Sophie has only been home for four days, so it will take time for his little heart and mind to process that he has not been replaced.  Mommy's arms are now very busy with someone else and this is a BIG change for my snuggle bug.  Wearing Sophie on my back still allows me to hold my 38 lb 3 year old.  I tried to talk to Luke about Sophie last night and he informed me that he loved her, but he was crabby because he was not getting enough sleep.  You and I both buddy!

Letting it all hang out

Now that we aren't under the thumb of our adoption agency, and we won't be yelled at and threatened for saying online that we got a referral, this blog is going back public again.  At some point in the future I will try to go back through all the posts and tag the adoption related ones for any blog stalkers who run across this blog.  I'll probably turn comment approval back on as well, just so I can filter out any riff raff.

Happy birthday little man!

Hard to believe it's been three years since this little duffer entered the world...

Some birthday Krispy Kreme

Making a "gwass angel" in the front yard.

His present, a new "big boy bike."

Kid hasn't sat in his high chair for a year and a half.  But Sophie sits in it, and suddenly he wants to as well.  Weeeee bit of jealousy going on around here at losing his spot as the "baby."

Happy birthday little man!

Welcome to 'Merica

[The following post requires reading it with a redneck hilbilly accent, in the manor of my good buddy Jonathan.]

We 'rived home on Sunday night after 20 some hours on them aero-planes. Back to 'Merica, where we cling to our guns and religion. Land of the free. Home of the brave. Country of abundant bacon!

Land where George Washington slayed the zombie hordes of evil King George!

Land where Abraham Lincoln rode grizzly bears into battle to free the slaves!

Land where Teddy Roosevelt cleared the west of sasquatch to make it safe for civilization!

(I want all three of those posters)

Land where dad flies flags on your first day in 'Merica (at least until that nasty HOA writes him up.)

Land where your brand new brother feeds you all 'Merican food like Cheetos.

Welcome to 'Merica baby girl!