Can you tell we have toddlers and teens????

I know I am behind in updates, as you know, life is a whole new thing with our additions to the family.

Any time you add another person the mix of a family, everyone adjusts.  Well, with the addition of two toddlers, we are in full adjustment mode.  Not that this is a bad thing, but we are reworking our life into who we are now.  That is just what adoption is.  We are no longer the family we were before I left for Ethiopia to bring our daughters home.  That is good.  It is fine, it is just different.

I am trying to find our new normal, and we really are.  I am no longer working outside the home, even on weekends.  As it is, whenever I leave the house now without the littles, we have all sorts of separation anxiety.  Tonight I took Alex to a meeting at his work, and even though I had the littles prepared with snacks of popcorn (which is quite entertaining - food is still a big deal) so they would have an easier transition, but still, there was all sorts of weeping when Mom was gone.  I got home and the two were plastered to me until they crashed out for the night.  Hey, at least they are attaching!!!  So, life is good!

It was an amazing Mother's Day - we got up, Steve and most of the boys had left for church already (they have to be there for sound check early) and we were preparing to leave.  Kahsu was snuggly and felt a little warm, but then she had just gotten up.  Well, while we were snuggling, she threw up a little on my shoulder.  Yikes, that is weird.  Not like her, maybe she somehow triggered her gag reflex a little.  Hmm.  Gave hubby the text heads up that Kahsu had thrown up and we would see how things were going, but we were leaving soon. 

And then, well, she threw up, not only all over her, me, but also Azeb (I was standing up holding her and Azeb was below us, next to us on the floor).  Oh yeah, bullseye on all of us! 

Church was not going to happen.  So we snuggled and played quietly and Kahsu took a sweet little nap.

Happy Mother's Day - you have been vomited on yet again.  Yep, you are a mom!!!!  LOL!

It turned out to be a great blessing overall.  Time at home, all five girls, then the rest of the family joined us.  We had a delightful day. 

And I didn't get thrown up on again. 

Twice in one Mother's Day was certainly enough.

But hey, while the littles napped, we got some more ground turned in the garden and some more carrot seeds in!  My bean plants are coming up, spring is here!!!

I love being the mom to many, but I am tired many days.  I can keep going, but as it gets later, well, I head to bed earlier at night than I used to.

My teens are in the full swing of jobs, internships, volunteering and all sorts of other things.  We are still Mom and Dad by a long shot, but they are starting to branch out, which is good.

(I have to admit that I love the toddler hugs after a time of negotiating with teens!!!)  I can still pick them up and put them in time out!!!!  But honestly, while a child being a teenager can be challenging, it is well worth it and we have great relationships.

This all said from the mom who can no longer even see straight and needs to finish this post.

Did I tell you were are rehabilitating thirty some baby rabbits from our Wildlife Sanctuary?  Yep, let's just add that to the plate - but Kiley and Faith are very involved so some days (like today) I don't have to do much - they know what to do.  We have never had so many at one time - a new record for us!!!

Have a blessed night and days to come!  God bless!!!

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

The healing in Blind Hope

I was blessed to read Blind Hope by Kim Meeder just last week and really enjoyed it.  As you know, if you read this blog even once, we are huge animal lovers here and have several rescued animals that call our property home.  Or maybe we are simply suckers - we could accept that.  BUT, the joy and lessons these animals bring with them are priceless and they demonstrate over and over that every life is precious. 

Blind Hope is a great read for dog lovers especially, as well as those that love redemptive stories.  I don't want to spoil the story at all, but a rescued dog transforms a life, maybe more than one.  To see the healing a human and an animal can bring to each other is just amazing.

I have to admit, I read this book in just two days, I was insatiably drawn into it and just had to see the journey these two were on.  I highly recommend this book!!!!

I greatly enjoy being a part of Blogging for Books and am always amazed at the lovely choices that are offered that I might not be aware of otherwise.

A quick update on the family too!

Everyone is good!  We are loud, active and good!  Loving spring, working on the garden in fits and spurts (in between the rain in the last week or so), have eggs in the incubator and one has hatched already.  That lonely little chick is waiting for everyone else to hatch out so he has someone to play with!  Most of the other eggs are duck eggs, which hatch out five days later than chicken eggs, so they should be hatching in the next couple days.  We were thrilled that it actually worked!!!!  Unfortunately, the incubator stays in Mom and Dad's room, in order to keep it away from little hands, so we hear the peeping throughout.  I never knew that the chick could audibly peep before it hatched - in fact, that was how we knew it was going to hatch, I went to turn the eggs, and heard peeping!!!  Sure enough, next morning there was a wet, tired little chick!

We are in a big birthday season right now - Tsion has hers in April, then Kiley and Zeri in May and then Solomon in June.  So, if you ask me how old our kids are and I screw up my face a little and seem to ponder it carefully as I tell you, that is why!  It is great fun and keeps us on our toes to say the least.  The littles are not really sure what to make of birthdays, including the birthday candles - that kind of freaked them out a little.  But all is good when you get to eat.

Life is good, life is busy, kids are growing, babies are being born on the farm, it is spring.  Each year there is a new project on the farm.  Last year it was the goat barn.  This year it will be the horse shelters.  Each year, taken in small bites, we can make it better out here.  The renovations in the house are nearly completed, at least until we decide to refinish all the floors, but that is about it.  Thankfully.  Next we tackle the basement and really declutter.  It is so easy to safe things because you "might need them" and then you just don't.  After a while you look at it and really don't know why it is still there.  Well, we are working on changing that.  If we cannot use it in the next year or so, then someone else would be blessed to use it RIGHT NOW.  God has taken care of us, we don't need to hoard for the future.  We keep what is very useful, and pass on what others could use.  Besides it maximizes our space in our home - and with twelve of us, we can use every inch!!!!

I will post more photos soon.   This one is of Kiley and her horse JT as they were doing a demonstration of half arabian halter horse for Horse A Rama last weekend.  We had one sunny, nice day, and then second one rained throughout.  But Kiley and JT did really well and all their hard work is paying off!

Next week is graduation (if they pass) for all three obedience class dogs (kennel club classes), so I hope to have photos of them too! 

Have a great rest of the week!

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

You know you are....

You Know You're An Adoptive Parent When . . .

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.

2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.

3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.

4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you....

5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.

6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.

7. You have ever been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth. (2 years!)

8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide.

9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you just met.

10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.

11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.

12. You know what the word "Dossier" means, and you can actually pronounce it!

13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.

14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

I haven't posted much lately, well, basically because life is really busy with our new additions and life in general!   I will try to get better about it, but you know, life needs to be focused on our family. 

Today was Kiley's first day at Horse A Rama and she did her demo with her beloved horse JT.  He is so good and they have worked so hard!  It is the start of show season! 

 I was thinking about it, that for ALL of our kids, there are beloved people in their lives, people that touch them and take them places that we (as their parents) can't quite get them.  Today, I realized, and I actually have known for some time, that Kiley's special person is her trainer, Gail Rentmeester.  Gail first took Kiley as a working student, basically so Kiley could get more advanced lessons.  Well, it has been a year and a half, and those two are just really important to each other.  Gail has stretched Kiley beyond what I could as her parent, and helps to pave the way for more.  I can keep things moving, but not in the way that Gail can.  Together, they are dreaming great dreams.  And actively working towards them.  What more can a parent ask for than a person who loves your child, teaches your child, pours into your child, that which is beyond your reach?  I am so grateful for all that Kiley has had the opportunity for.  I will do my best to move it forward as much as I can.  But it is now in their hands!   Doesn't it look amazing?  She has done all the work, learned all that is needed (though there is always TONS and TONS more to learn), and has earned where she is.  I am so grateful for the lovely people that pour into our kiddos, that speak into their lives with their experience and interests and truly care about our kids.  It is amazing to see Gail and Kiley together, to see how they feed into each other, learn from each other, and their relationship as it has grown.  I can never thank Gail enough.

So, in other news, the band Alex is in, Sanctify, has made it into the talent contest at Lifest in Oshkosh, WI!!!  The middle of July they will be competing.  It was very, very exciting all the voting that went on that got them this opportunity.  They deserve it and have worked so hard also!!!!  You can find Sanctify on Facebook and hopefully they will be up and coming!  They have a few videos on YouTube too!  I have no idea how to link them or I would.  I guess that will be my task in the next few days - to learn how to do that!

Soccer season is about to start - a couple more weeks!  That will up our busyness!  But this year only four boys are signed up for it.  Alex is too busy between work and band, and the girls were simply not interested at all.  

Homeschool continues throughout the summer so that doesn't change for us at all.  We are having quite a good time with active learning.  Though that is harder to document!  LOL!  

And the Littles - Azeb and Kahsu.  They are doing lovely.  We have several new phrases that we use a lot and one is "no yelling" in Amharic.  They understand that really well.  Not that it is helpful all the time, but the yelling meter has showed some reduction in the dB meter.  When I look back, we can see how far they have come based simply on the reduction in tantrums!  I was once again realizing today how many words they have learned.  We certainly don't have a ton of unprompted English (less that fifteen words), but we do have lots that they do use and they understand a ton.  I am surprised day after day.  And they are growing!  Not just in stature and weight but in play skills and social skills.  And attachment - wonderful lovely attachment.  It is coming.  Some days the process of that is exhausting, but it is wonderful!  Kahsu is nearly 18 pounds now - from the 15.8 she was when she got home eight weeks ago.  Azeb also, but she was never underweight and is even heavier now, though obviously growing taller!!!  It is hard to put into words all the changes in their lives.  We are firmly in the land of diapers, naps and toddlerhood.  It is challenging and wonderful and amazing.  I cannot believe they have only been here for eight weeks, and then it seems like just yesterday I was aching to hold their little bodies in my arms and snuggle them!

 Well, and on that note, I have to get them changed and up to bed.  We are out of our routine due to the horse events, but in such a lovely day, who can complain???

 

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

No, this isn't about.....

Nope, this is not about what happened to my hubby today.  Nope, it isn't.  Hee, hee.  Really, it isn't, because it isn't funny at all anyway.  Nope, so if you know what happened to him today, feel free to comment or not, but I for one am NOT tattling on him today.  (LOL!  That was just to really rib him, but no, I won't share.  Let's just say that he is just fine, thankfully, and tomorrow he will feel somewhat better.  Pride wounded, but other than that, he is well.  Bruised but well.  For that we are really, really grateful, as stuff can be replaced, but HE cannot be.)

So on to  a real blog post.

Spring is coming.  It is here.  Amazingly, early in Wisconsin.  I am just itching to do so much stuff.

I am looking into raising some meat chickens this summer and giving that a try.  Of course, honestly that means that Steve and the boys will do the butchering but I would do all else up to that.  I keep trying to figure it out.  I figure that we need two chickens to feed this crew for a meal.  And I would love to make chicken once a week or so.  Maybe one every other week.  For a year.  So, if I figure every other week, for nearly a year, that means 26 meals, two birds a meal.  Hmm.  More than 50 birds.  I don't know if I can manage that many at one time, or that I would ever consider asking my guys to butcher that many at one time.  That would be a really long, ugly job.  We only need to raise them eight to ten weeks before they are ready to butcher.  So we could get a couple batches in during the summer.  (I am SO done with having baby chicks in the house!!!!  Five years running and I really, really don't want any more in the house!!!!)  Hmm.  Hubby promised me he would put together a brooder and chick run for them.  Outside.  Yay!  I have looked at several hatcheries before, and we have ordered from a couple, but I really like Cackle Hatchery and they have great deals.  If I was crazy enough to order 100 at a time, I could get a huge deal, but that really sounds like suicide to me.  My hubby and boys may never speak to me again if I do that.  I can raise them, but um, yeah.  So, if I get up the courage, I will order some maybe yet this week!

I am also cleaning out my herb area of my garden - I have been cleaning out and seeing what is coming up.  The problem is, well, um, I didn't document what is where, and now I have forgotten.  Drat.  I can recognize the borage, but the rest is sort of a mystery right now.  I will pull out my books and get looking on that as soon as I find a moment.  Azeb and Kahsu were helping me, and let's just say, the plants barely survived!  I may bribe big kids to play with the littles on the swingset or trampoline while I try to garden!

Naptimes tend to be busy for getting stuff done - in theory I really want that to be my shower time, but that hasn't happened yet either!  Laundry, sewing, sorting, decluttering, and on and on.  I tend to be a bit distracted and want to get stuff done, but can only see what is right in front of me. Of course the big kids generally are also wanting to take that time for some more intense mom time too.  So, we could say that I am having difficulty getting in regular showers yet!  I so recall that when my other kiddos were newborns I rarely got one either.  That is what it feels like, times two!

We are working on getting our school schedule worked out with toddlers in tow.  I haven't done school with the kids this way in a very long time, since Faith was little and then when we had Emma.  We are slowly getting it worked out.  There are adjustments that we are all making, but it is coming.  The kids are doing lots and lots reading, and we are tying in their book report books to their lessons in one way or another.  We are using lots of living books and that is really turning out to be wonderful.  Quite the range of books with the age ranges and reading levels!

Well, I had better get going towards bedtime.  Mornings start early here.  I think I will try to hit the shower first.  That may be my only hope of getting one.  (I hate showering at night, I just do.)

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

We're really fine!!! We did get home!!!

I need to apologize to anyone who may have been looking to see how we are doing and if I made it back from Ethiopia!!!!  WE DID!  It was a wonderful, crazy, intense, insane and amazing ride, but I have been home with Azeb and Kahsu for three weeks as of this afternoon!

It has been a time of adjustment and transition for everyone, getting to know our wee ones, and changing our lives to be a family of twelve with TEN children, ages 2 to 17.  The little girls are doing great.  Kahsu is the little one, two years old as of the end of November, and came home at a miniscule weight of 15.8 pounds.  As of Thursday the29th she weighed in at 17 pounds! So a gain of 1.2 pounds in two weeks.  She runs around, plays with the animals and her siblings, and chatters up a storm.  She is a strong willed little girl, but as she adjusts she is doing more interacting rather than tantruming, which we are grateful for!  In fact, tantrums are generally reduced to twice a day, and generally over predictable things that you would expect from two year old.  She loves to be held, and will take us by the hand to show us things she is interested in.  Her smile lights up the room and it is hard to not give her everything when she smiles at you.  (As I write this, she and Aman are playing and she is giggling up a storm, squealing and chattering with him.)

Azeb is the bigger of the girls - three years old Christmas Eve.  We didn't really have preconceived notions about what a three year old with Down Syndrome would be like, given that she hadn't had early intervention or anything.  Well, I haven't done a formal assessment, but she is pretty spot on as far as I am concerned.  She runs and climbs and is well know as the "entertainment committee" , and she has never met someone whom she did not consider her best friend.  We know that she uses at least 20 words in Tigrayna, and has learned four signs (more, eat, please, all done) since I took custody.  She understands and follows multistep directions - some in English with gestures, and some in Amharic.  She remembers really well and imitates everything wonderfully.  She is a sunny, energetic, expressive child.  Busy is a very good description of her.  But in a delightful way.  We had to get child sized brooms because she was wanting to sweep like we do and nearly taking everything out with the handle of the big broom!!!  We even bought a little broom to take to the stable with us because she loves to follow behind and sweep!

Oh, my.  The big kids are playing with the littles so I can write this, and they are surely getting them wound up, and hopefully exhausted.  I am hearing squeals, laughter, screams and giggles quite loudly.  It is an interesting mix having teens down to toddlers - the phrases you hear sometimes are hysterical.  Such as:  a teen is sitting between the two car seats in the car as we run her to a friend's house - "Don't you touch me with those sticky fingers!"  I just giggle.  Of course, said teen did end up part way covered in cracker crumbs!

When people ask the kids how it is going they generally say "loud" though that has gotten to be less and less of the response as time has gone on.  It is getting easier every day and more routine.  When Kahsu runs in here by the computer as I type this, with Faith crawling close behind, pretending to be a puppy, Kahsu squealing all the way, and she puts up her arms for me to take her, and throws those tiny arms around my neck - well, how can you not just melt?  Then she wiggles down, blows me kisses, waves "bye" and runs off, big sister close behind.

I have to say, having parented toddlers before, raising them to teens and getting to start over, is great fun.  It turns out, I still have a huge bag of tricks and tons of experience that really means not much phases us.  If we haven't experienced it, we have talked to other parents over the years who have.  So, I can confess to you, that YES, I DO duct tape Azeb's diapers closed.  NOT on the skin, but across the tabs to keep them closed.  You really don't even have to ask why we had to resort to that - let's just say that you can only fool Mom three times (and make a horrible mess that nearly makes THIS mom gag) before she pulls out the big guns.  So, yes, in our diaper bag you will find a scissors (needed to get it off) and duct tape.  And the diaper bag stays securely closed and up high, away from little fingers.  LOL!  I have a whole different perspective on it this time around.  I have seen my littles grow up into bigs and all that goes between, and can relax a little and enjoy this without some of the worries I had before.  Each child is different, and has different needs and challenges, but I find that wealth of experience is great help.  I can relax and delight in some of this, where before I may have felt unsure about some things.  I know that many things are phases of development and will pass, and some are growing experiences.

So, yes, we are fine.  Exhausted, but fine.  Learning to balance our new life.  I don't try to go to Wednesday night church myself - the littles need to head to bed and it is just too late, but I take the bigs to meet up with Dad, swap vehicles and head home to snuggle the littles before sleep.  It is a new pattern, but a nice one.  There are some things that we just have to change.  There are some things that need to flex some.  But it is all good.  We are thanking God daily, when we have a moment to breathe and realize that after all that, they are really here, really thriving, and our family is blessed.  Busy, but blessed.

Our current list of activities for all the kids include: work (three kids), horse training/lessons, kennel club (same class for three kids and three dogs), 4H (less active than we had been previously), church, music lessons, and band (Alex).  It is busy, wonderful and fairly balanced.  We try to have only two busy days, balanced by two entire days at home, and two less busy and then Sundays.  The big kids need to have their things that they are interested in and growth, but it needs to be balanced by sanity and everyone's needs.  The boys are looking forward to soccer season starting in May, and Kiley to horse show season, also starting in early May.  Thankfully, the little girls love the horses!  And running around watching the soccer games will be great, but we will need to make sure they don't run ONTO the field to join their siblings!

I will try to update more frequently, but it will likely be at weird times (when everyone is asleep and I hv
"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Wow, what a whirlwind!!!!

I have to tell you, we have been riding the whirlwind in the last week!  We got a call on Tuesday that the interview for our little girls at the Embassy in Ethiopia was completed and we were cleared to come and get them - when did we want to come?

Wow - hadn't expected that so fast!    Takes your breath away.

After two days of numerous phone calls, emails and wrangling, and God sized miracles, I have tickets for me and my dear friend April to go to Ethiopia, leaving Monday - yep, you read that, March 5th I leave for Ethiopia!!!  Tuesday we heard and by Thursday morning it was all final and we were confirmed.  I even got the airline tickets overnighted to our house, so I have them in my hot little hand.

Overwhelming, bewildering, emotional, there is just no way to describe it!  I went from planning kids' school lessons, music lessons, riding lessons and all, to planning to get to the other side of the world.  Knowing our life will never be the same once I set foot on that plane - though in reality, that happened once we began this process over a year ago.

I spent the last two days grabbing last minute things we need, organizing things, getting help with the kids at home, and packing like crazy.  I keep packing and repacking.  I am so tired now.

Oh, yeah, and did I tell you that it is play week?  The week that the community theater production that Kiley and Alex are involved in - Alex is the student director and Kiley has a part in the play.  Faith and Tsion are helping with costume changes as they are fairly complex and the actors need help.  The way it works, the last two weeks simply revolve around the theater as they do this.  Seven performances later and we are done.  One more to go and then they are done.  All the shows have been nearly sold out, even the one in the midst of a snowstorm.  By the way, it is Anne of Green Gables - forgot to mention it before.  So, it has been really popular and Evergreen Productions really does a great job. 

And on top of that intense week - I added in going to Ethiopia.  Let's just say that I plan to sleep on the plane.  Hee, hee! 

So, I will try to update as I can.  Last time we had access to internet over there, but who knows.  I would appreciate prayers as we go through it.  Peace and safety for everyone at home, peace and safety for April and I as we travel, and for comfort and peace for our little girls who  are facing the biggest change anyone can ever face and at very young ages.  We all know that this transition will be exhausting, emotional, wonderful, loving, challenging, and amazing.  Prayers for all members of the family as we all change and become a family of twelve! 

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Insightful??????

I wish I had something really profound to say, but I don't know if I do.

I am fighting a cold, exhausted from a long day of stable work, kid care, organizing kids and running all over, and once again revamping how we run things around here.  There is so much to do!!  And we are living in limbo right now - I don't know when I am going to Ethiopia, and we are still waiting for those refunds to be deposited into our account.  So, a wait is a good thing to give it time.  I have a long day tomorrow, fewer bits of running around, but lots of home work to do.  But, I have the suitcases down and ready to work on packing!

I am trying to come to terms with not knowing what is going to happen in the next couple weeks.  I like to have things planned out, to know what is happening and when.  My calendar can barely be looked at right now.  There are so many question marks on it!  And the reality of doing life with toddlers as well as our crew!  It will be great, but it is also so nerve wracking, knowing the change is coming, envisioning it, but not yet seeing the reality.  Soon!!!!

I am so tired.  I have been reading a lot lately.  Sleep is not my best friend right now.  Too much going on.  So, instead of stewing, I read.  I have been able to get some books off of my bookshelf and off to paperbackswap.com.  Yay!  I am trying to declutter and simplify as much as possible before our lives change yet again!  I got the beds put up in the little girls room, and are prepping the walls in the big girls room for the big painting project!

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11