A Good Week

It was Caleb's 10th birhtday last Saturday, and so mama let us rip down the crepe paper and so i wrapped it around my head - aren't I cute!

This is my papa tossing me around. I like it when he lifts me up high.

This is me listening to my brother's CD player. He's nice and shares with me - plus I really like music.

This is me helping mama with the laundry - i like it when she gives me a ride.

This is me loving my sister Olivia (when we're not fighting :)

This is how I look when I don't get my way (it's kind of a fake cry). But I'm doing this less and less as I trust my mommy and daddy.

This is me singing and dancing to a song "He Loves Me" that I learned in the orphanage.

It's been a very good week! It's been a lot of work, but Josiah and the rest of us are adjusting well, and each day we see small steps in the right direction. I had hoped to post several nights already, but with the new demands of our expanded family and getting back to work after being gone for 2 weeks, it's been quite busy.

Josiah is fitting in very well with our family and it's hard to imagine our life without him. Unfortuntately because our stay in Liberia was so short, we weren't able to talk to his nannies or see the environment he's been in for the last year so we could be more understanding or sensitive to some of his responses, but considering everything, the transition has been incredibly smoothe so far. Josiah is a great eater and great sleeper, very adaptable, very outgoing, and at times very dramatic, but I can see he's growing in that regard - and it really is difficult for us to comprehend the incredible changes he's been through in the last 2 weeks. We purposely had him sleeping in our bed since we brought him home - something Kim and I never did with our bio children. But neither Kim and I have slept very well since then because Josiah's a mover. And he seems to like the middle half of the bed while Kim and I get the outter quarters. The first couple nights he was here, it would take 40 minutes to calm him down to sleep but the last couple nights, he seems to know the routine and has been doing quite well. He still doesn't necessarily like getting his pajamas on, but he's doing better. We rearranged our bedroom last night to have his toddler bed right next to ours. That way Kim could still touch him, and let him know we are close by, and he didn't complain and made it all night in his own bed. We also have a crib in our room as we anxiously await Gabriella's arrival.

Speaking of Gabriella, her mother was scheduled for the DNA draw on Thursday, but we found out there was another new requirement that the birth mom have her birth certificate with her and they weren't sure they could find it in time. But we later found out the consulate cancelled the DNA draw. So we are still waiting on that. Once drawn, it's supposed to take a week to get it to the US and processed. So we are still hoping that within a couple month's we'll be able to bring her home, but nothing definite yet. So please don't forget about her and to pray for all to work out with regards to that.

Other than that, the van rides are less traumatic, putting the coat on is less traumatic. He likes talking on the phone, and wearing jewelry. We bought him a couple pairs of shoes yesterday because it turns out his has a double wide foot. We could tell he had some sores on his feet probably from shoes that didn't quite fit him at the orphanage. He loves water, and despite the cold, he likes shorts and a t-shirt and really doesn't like sweatpants or sweatshirts. He's a good eater and has fallen in love with sugar, so we've had to put up all access to it and make sure our kids aren't leaving it out because he wants too much of it. That was hard with valentines this week. He's taking correction better (just us saying "no") without being traumatized or "fake" crying like the top video. He likes to not use his words, so we are trying to make him talk when he wants something. Not sure if he's learned some of that from Olivia because of her speech problems, but he's getting better. By far that is the toughest relationship. Olivia wants to mother him, and he doesn't want her touching him and in his face all the time. If one sits on a lap, the other one wants to. If one gets a toy, the other one wants that same toy, but that's all normal sibling stuff - so they are learning and adjusting. But thanks for your continued support, and we look forward to show him off to you in person very shortly.

This is me being absolutely adorable - and yes it is cold but I don't seem to mind.