Potential

I was seventeen years old at the time of my first pregnancy and was told by almost everyone except Sergio that having a baby would ruin my life. Actually, having a baby did ruin my life and I am forever thankful for that. My life of which was taking me down the wrong path died when I got pregnant with Angelina and I have no idea, don't even want to guess where I'd be if I had made the so called "responsible" decision to abort her. Here's a picture of my beautiful girl who "ruined" my old life.And here is a video that really hit home to me because of what it stands for:

More Pictures

Adjustment at 4 months

I'm hoping all these pictures make up for me not posting in so long! Before we went to Ethiopia I swore I would not be one of those people who spends a lot of time on the computer posting on my blog and to my adoption yahoo groups, only to return home and disappear from cyberspace, yet here I am, definitely one of those people!

Life is so busy around here. And I don't mean busy because we are running around to a hundred different activities a week because we don't, I mean busy being a homeschooling mom and a parent. It is so hard to find the time to blog. Once the kids are in bed I have to decide between getting some work done, spending time with Sergio, spending time with God, or doing something really wierd like relaxing!

The 26th of Nov. was our 4 month mark for the kids being home! As I remember my old posts tonight I am so thankful for God's grace in getting us through those first weeks and for the fast and continued progress in our adjustment. So far the bonding with the kids is going really well. Leul has started being much more affectionate with us, I even got about 4 kisses on the cheek from him today! And his relationship with his siblings is so much better than it was even one month ago. He now uses encouraging words with them, apologizes when he's done something to them, and puts up with them giving him hugs. Hana is bonding well too, but she did right from the start. Her only sibling issue was Olivia not wanting much to do with her in the beginning, but that is getting much better. I don't know what Olivia's problem was with Hana. I think she was mad that we left her for 8 days and when we came home with Hana she decided to hold a grudge against her! More and more they play together now, the other day she even wanted Hana rather than me when she fell!

Mateo went through a little funk a few weeks ago with having a very bad attitude. It seemed to stem from that good old testosterone and his desire to compete and win. I think he was having a hard time dealing with the fact that he now has an older brother who basically (for the time being anyway) can beat him at anything, and not only CAN beat him, but WILL beat him, and feels no need to cut the little guy some slack. Thank God it only last a week or two because Mateo who normally is one of my easiest kids, was no fun to be around at all. He bounced back quickly though and we now only see his attitude every now and then.

I think I am the one having the hardest time dealing with adjustment right now! Once in awhile the heartache of knowing Hana and Leul have been seperated from people whom they love dearly hits me. Today I was looking at pictures from our trip to Ethiopia (so that I could finally print some out) and I just lost it. I spent much time crying about the fact that every day we have to enjoy Leul and Hana is a day that their bio families are missing out on them. It just breaks my heart. I had been looking at pictures of Leul hugging his Ethiopian mom one last time before we got in the taxi to leave. I will probably never know the pain of giving one of my children up for adoption, yet looking at the pictures, I think I felt just a bit of the sorrow she must have felt that day. What an unselfish and strong love she has for her son.

I have also been really uptight lately. Much of the time it seems like our house is either in total chaos, or it's a bootcamp and I'm having a hard time getting somewhere in the middle. The good thing is that I have a good encouraging support system and I am working hard (with God's help, because I couldn't do it on my own) to ease up a bit! The past week has been a lot better than the previous ones and I'm praying this week will be even better. I am constantly having to humble myself, but that's what God gave us kids for anyway right?

Pictures

In the past few weeks......

My precious Isabel turned 7. She picked Cookie Crisp cereal for breakfast and McDonald's for dinner. We had cake at the park with some family and friends, and she also had her first sleep over with some friends from our homeschool co-op! Isabel is so full of life and joy and has such a strong faith in God. It is a blessing to be able to watch her grow up!

My husband became a US Citizen! After 17 years of being in the country he finally had his interview and was sworn in on Sept.25. We had a surprise party for him and ate gorditas and cake. Most people will never know all the miracles God did to bring him to that swearing in ceremony, but let me just say that there were many!

My sweet Grandpa who was so very special to me passed away. This was the first death I've had to deal with since I was in second grade and it has been very hard. He was seriously the best grandpa anyone could ever ask for. He was one of the most loving people I've ever known and I miss him so much already.

Way overdue highlights from our summer!

I know this is late but I finally downloaded our pictures from the summer and I thought I'd share a few with you all. We didn't do any major vacations this year but we did go to a few places like the zoo and the ocean.

How things are going now!

Well, just in case anyone is still checking my blog, I thought I should post some kind of an update. I've meant to do it many times over the last few weeks but it just never happened.
Things are going really well. We have good days and not so good days, and good hours and tough hours but I still can't believe how much better things have gotten just since the last time I posted.
Some of the things that are better:
Our child who was having angry outbursts not only gets angry less often but now stays angry for only a few minutes and I wouldn't even call it an outburst anymore!

The picky eater is now eating what we eat for dinner. (Not everything we eat but at least one thing we are having without much sulking) They even tried chicken nuggets tonight and liked them!
Leul is doing much better with Olivia. He still needs his body space but when she's hanging on him he's figured out that if he gives her some quick loving she'll leave him alone!

Tonight Leul and Hana actually danced together! It's the first time they've touched eachother since we've been home.

I have no kids sleeping on my floor tonight. (Honestly, I kind of like having my kids on the floor once in awhile but it's nice to know it's not mandatory anymore.)

Sergio and I both received our first hugs initiated from Leul a few days ago. I even got a goodnight kiss. I was tucking him in and he sat straight up in bed and told me he wanted a kiss on the lips! (Usually I kiss him on the forehead when I put him to bed)

The kids are both learning the rules and they are getting that sulking and disobeying don't fly in our home, therefore they are testing less and less every day.

Tonight while I had 4 kids all talking/shouting at me at once my almost 7 year old daughter shouted louder than anyone, "God only gave Mom one brain and two ears and one mouth so everybody let's be quiet and only one of us talk at a time." (Finally my little talks are sinking in!)

I'm still exhausted some days, and depending on when you talk to me you might hear a not quite so positive explanation of how we're doing, but over all things really are going well. I am truly amazed at the strength and courage of all my kids.