A Birthday To Remember

This last week we had the opportunity to celebrate our little girl's 5th birthday.  We are so blessed to have spent the last 5 years with her.  She is such a joy to each of us, including her 2 little brothers.  She's our little princess who loves to play rough with the boys.  She has the best imagination of any kid I know and she's so smart.  She's such a caring and loving big sister and she's daddy's little girl.

This birthday was super special just because of Kristin's excitement level.  Each day for the last month she'd remind us of how long it was until her birthday.  The week of her birthday these reminders came with great excitement that is was completely contagious.  So we were all excited.  Her birthday was a fun celebration, even though she did get sick during her party (all over her uncle) and I was sick the day of her party.  Definitely won't forget this birthday!

My Hero

Without him we have no reason to celebrate.  My King.  My Hero.  The best Christmas gift ever.

Finally Pictures

My computer is back and working wonderfully, so here are some pictures to hi-light the last couple weeks.

Tree Trimming

Normally the day after thanksgiving I eagerly get out the Christmas decorations, but this year it took me a few days to get motivated to do so, I spent that weekend in bed feeling a bit ill.

This year Kristin took it as her personal mission to make sure the back of the tree looked pretty, I normally don't put anything on it =)

Kyler was completely in awe of the tree and just stared at it =)

 Advent

 I've always wanted to be more intentional at Christmas, well this year we are doing that.  Each day we read part of the Christmas story.  I made this advent calendar, thanks to the many helpful ideas I found on the internet.

Quiet Time

 Since Kristin is almost 5 I told he she could have quiet time instead of naptime.  Well as you can see this adjustment as been hard on her body.  She still falls asleep many days.

Puzzling

 It wouldn't be an average week without Kristin doing at least one puzzle.

Multi-Purpose

I use lots of baskets in our house for storing things.  The kids usually dump everything out and find some other use for my baskets. =)

Brothers

 I love these matching shirts

Bundled Up

We had many days of temperatures in the negatives.  The kids don't mind getting all bundled up, Kyler hates wearing his hat though and he conveniently lost it in Walmart last week.  Pretty sure he did this on purpose. =)

Nutcracker

 I took Kristin to see the Nutcracker for the 1st time.  It was so much fun, her reactions were the best part

Sickness

Some kind of flu visited our house, hoping no one else gets it.

Bath Time

I love all the rolls this little guy has acquired in the last month, so stinkin' cute.

Favorite Moments

Being a stay at home mom is definitely one of the hardest jobs in the world but also the most rewarding.  Here are some of my favorite moments that I get to enjoy everyday:

- cuddling with each of my kids, all three are very busy but they each have at least one moment everyday where they want me to hold them, so of course I drop everything to take advantage of this moment because it is rare, I cherish these cuddles

- feeding Kyler his bottle is also a moment I love, it's just him and I in my favorite rocking chair staring into each others eyes, with some singing of course, I love this time so much that he will definitely be taking a bottle much longer than recommended =)

- homeschooling, definitely challenging some days but also so rewarding, I get quality time with all 3 kids that I love (Kyler hangs out in the ergo), and everyday I watch things click in their little brains, I love seeing those ah-ha moments, nothing could be more rewarding than watching your kids learn while spending time with them

- I also love reading, I'm very fortunate that all 3 kids also love to be read to, so many times a day we take adventures to far off places thanks to the many great books out there

- cooking, I love to cook and all 3 kids love to help (Kyler being in the ergo of course), so we have lots of quality time in the kitchen preparing meals and baking yummy treats

- ergo time, it may appear that Kyler spends a lot of time in the ergo (which for those of you wondering is a baby carrier that puts him on my chest or back), I love this time, I love to be so close to him and he seems to love it too, he always looks up at me with the sweetest smile and the look in his eyes says I love you and love being close to you

- playtime, I love just watching Kristin & Kade play, they have such great imaginations and everyday they pretend to be someone else going on random adventures, I also love that they include Kyler in their imaginative play, of course he has no idea what's going on, he just loves being around his brother and sister

There are so many more moments everyday, but these are by far my favorites. =)

Being Intentional

Intentional parenting is hard, you are always busy and not always supported by everyone around you.  We learned this early on when family and friends criticized us for some of the boundaries and structure we had with Kristin & Kade.  Well, we now are being intentional with Kyler as well, but for many more reasons.  As an adoptive parent it is SO much more important to be intentional and I've realized today that the honeymoon is over.  It's so much harder being intentional with Kyler because not only do we try to have boundaries and structure like we did with our biological children, we are also working on things like attachment, sleeping habits, etc.  It is so much more work and you definitely start to feel isolated  (as well as drained) after a while because we are definitely the minority.  When you realize that your new baby willingly climbs into the laps of strangers, this is a huge red flag, which makes my effort at other places even more demanding (one more reason to not go places).  And when you battle nap time daily, it becomes draining, because the reality is that I need that break just as much as he does.  So today we took many steps back after I thought we were moving forward.  He used to cling to Luke and I and have discovered within the last couple days that he willingly will just go to strangers.  We also taught him how to nap when we got home (he wasn't napping in Rwanda) and now he's not napping again.  So today it looks like we are starting back at square one and we need to be even more intentional. 

Still Here

I apologize for the lack of posts lately, life with 3 kids is definitely more busy. It also doesn't help that my computer is currently not working. So here's a quick update since I know you all want to know how things are going. We are great here, lots of random events which I don't particularly enjoy keep happening. Like my computer crashing, my debit card number being stolen, etc. But all things considered we are good, those things just mess with my OCD. =) The kids are all doing amazing. Kyler has grown tremendously, this kid has some serious rolls now and they are so cute. He is also so close to walking. He can take about 5 steps and tries walking all day long. He so badly wants to run after his brother and sister. Crawling is just not fast enough for him, although he does crawl really fast. I love how perfectly Kyler fits in, it is like he has always been here, and all the kids get along so well. Well, here's a glimpse of what's going on, maybe if you're lucky I'll find more time to blog tomorrow. More pictures will come once I get my computer back.

Thanksgiving

Growing up, Thanksgiving was a time where we got together with our extended families, I have such great holiday memories from these large get togethers.  As a teenager we moved away from our wonderful California family and holidays have never been the same since.  This year I was brought back to my childhood memories.  We had the priviledge of spending Thanksgiving with extended family that came to visit.  Some of this family we haven't spent Thankgiving with since I was a teenager.  Yesterday was by far the best Thanksgiving ever.  I'm so Thankful for all my family, I love them dearly even though we don't live close.  I'm even more thankful for the fact that I still have all 4 grandparents whom I love and admire.

I will leave you with some words from the song we sang lastnight that brought tears to many of our eyes.  So much to be thankful for, God has blessed us in ways unimaginable!

"Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassion, they fail not; as Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be. Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Thy hand hath provided - Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

SO Much to be Thankful For!!!

Puzzling

There has been some serious puzzle action happening at our house lately.  Both Kristin and Luke love puzzles, I guess they make for a nice winter project.

 The kids got this puzzle in the mail and had tons of fun putting it together

 Kyler wants to help too, of course his version of help includes chewing the puzzle pieces =)

The kids helped Luke start his puzzle, or should I say the part Luke didn't want to do, flipping all the pieces over

 Kristin has been slowly working on this puzzle for the last couple days, its 250 pieces for ages 7+, this won't stop her, she refuses to let anyone help =)

Unexpected Plans

Last week was a bit of blur, and for good reason.  We made a very tough decision last week but knew that it was definitely in Kyler's best interest.  Luke's grandma passed away and as much as we all wanted to be there with the family, we knew Kyler would not do well on such a long car ride nor would he handle those busy days with lots of people.  So, Luke went to Iowa and it was just the kids and I at home for 4 days.  Between getting Luke ready to go and then being here by myself, we were busy.  We had fun just hanging out here at home, and I was blessed by some great family and friends who provided us food and some much needed adult interaction.  Here are some of the hi-lights of our stay-cation (I apologize for the low quality pictures, Luke took our camera with him, so these were taken via the ipad).

We enjoyed some quality movie time, pretty sure my kids don't know how to sit properly on chairs.

Kristin & Kade had fun playing beauty shop.

We also had fun making our annual thanksgiving tree.  Some of the things Kristin was thankful for are flowers, parrots, flamingos, sand, and sky.  Kade was thankful for the sun, music, chairs, and hole punchers.

We will miss our wonderful grandma.  This was from our last visit with her this summer.  This woman had an amazing gift for hand stitching quilts and she liked listening to the police scanner radio.  She also had 11 children, so when you factor in all their spouses, her grand children and great grandchildren, her immediate family consisted of 75 people.

Pictures of Kenya

Pictures of Rwanda

1st Meeting Kyler

This Weeks Happenings

Nothing really new has happened here this week.  We have just been hanging out here at home, which I must say is one of the best decisions we have ever made.  It's been nice just hanging out with the 5 of us.  We have seen so much more of Kyler's personality this week, and it has been so much fun watching him get to know his brother and sister.  Kyler has turned into a little entertainer and likes to make his siblings laugh, and it's so cute watching them all laugh together that you can't help but laugh either.

On a completely random side note, Luke ran to the store this week and this is what he came back with:

10 Months Old

Kyler is 10 months old today.  He's finally recovering from the jet lag a bit and has been super happy this morning.  So happy in fact that he has felt comfortable enough to be more than 1 foot away from Luke or myself so he could explore the house.  Kyler crawls all over the place.  He can pull himself up to stand against just about anything.  He has discovered that he can walk behind certain toys on wheels.  He can stand by himself for short periods of time.  He currently hates getting a bath.  He has the most beautiful smile and he loves to cuddle with mommy & daddy.  Here are a few pictures:

Getting the attention of 2 kids to take a picture is hard, but 3 kids is even harder.  So here's what I got. =)

Orphan Sunday

Today is Orphan Sunday, the thought of so many children without families is an emotional burden for me.  Just take a quick second and click here to watch a video.  There are so many more children here in the U.S. and the across the world who you can make a difference for in so many ways.

Home Sweet Home

We made it home safely Thursday night.  The flights home went well, Kyler was amazing.  He slept a lot and when he was awake he was very happy and playful, couldn't ask for a better flight experience.  Okay, I could have done without the 2 hour delay (which we sat on the plane for), making our plane ride 10 hours instead of 8 and making us almost miss our connecting flight in D.C.

The last few days have been draining only because we have some serious jet lag.  Kyler has had the toughest time with this time change, he has been up all night the last few nights and so desperately wants to sleep all day which we aren't allowing him to do.

We have also had a bit of a temperature adjustment.  We left nice 60/70 degree weather and came home to 20 degrees the 1st day.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple days.  This week I'll go through the pictures from our trip and post some more on here.

Kyler loves food, although he may change his mind about this when I start feeding him some green veggies today =)

biggest snowman we have ever made thanks to the help of daddy

marshmellow baby =)

Sweet Relief

We are officially done with our paperwork here in Kenya!!!  This morning we went to the U.S. Embassy and put together a large stack of papers for them, then came back this afternoon to pick up our visa.  It was of course a lot of waiting, but I must say we are really used to it by now, so...even though this took all day it didn't feel like it.  The wait was so worth it.  Every little detail of this process, no matter how long it took, or how hard it seemed was so worth it.  We can't imagine life without this little guy.  Can't wait to get him home.

I don't really have many other exciting stories for you at the moment.  It's been a busy and long week already and we are exhausted, so I guess I have few words.  Tomorrow we get to go on a Safari, then we will fly out.  So, goodbye from Kenya, pretty sure you won't hear from me again until we are traveling or home.