Trip to the Mountains and Halloween!

It sounds cliched, but I cannot believe October is over. It is by far my favorite month....but with all of the adjusting we've been doing around here, it has flown!

We've had a lot of fun this month to go along with all of the trials.

There's been lots of pumpkin festivities of course.

We also took a spontaneous trip to the mountains over the weekend. This was the first year we haven't made it to a Virginia Tech football game, and we really missed being in the mountains, at least for a day or so. We were planning on going to pick apples anyway on Saturday, and at the last minute, decided to make a weekend out of it, since amazingly we both had the whole weekend off (which rarely ever happens). We were able to find a cabin in the woods that was still available. The time, the views...everything....was awesome. We had the best time. It was a much needed getaway after going through the last month of change! I wish I could live there!

And of course, Halloween....

Reagan had a party at preschool. We missed our church's awesome Fall Festival since we went to the mountains. But the kids did trick or treat when we got home and had a great time. Even Rylie LOVED it! She walked around the whole neighborhood excitedly, held open her bag for candy, and interacted with the homeowners! She was so cute.

Today was a month since we arrived home from China! It feels weird to say that, because it feels like Rylie has been here a lot longer than that. The past 2 weeks have gone really well. She seems to have learned some of our general rules and limits very quickly and doesn't push as much on those fronts. She has been healthy and eats everything she can get her hands on. She has been using her signs a lot to communicate her needs. She is playing with more toys, has been fine with the dog, and seems to be happy in general. We are really enjoying seeing more of her personality and silliness come out! It was cool to take her to vote in the election on her one-month-home day!

We also met with her plastic surgeon on Friday, who said we will likely do her cleft palate repair in February. :)

Losing my mind.....

So, I've been a little distracted recently. I just feel like there's SO much to do, and not enough time to do it all. I'm trying....but you know how it is....

Anyway, the other day was a doozy. I am I still hoping none of my neighbors were watching through their windows. If they saw my spectacle, they haven't admitted it to me!

Saturday, I worked all day. As soon as I got home, Rush left to head to D.C. to run a race. So, Saturday night I was solo with the kids. Things were ok for the most part, aside from getting Rylie to bed. Sunday morning, we skipped out on church. Because Rylie is not going into the nursery yet, I thought getting 3 kids to church, only to do some solo child-wrangle during the whole service didn't sound too appealing. So, we stayed home. It was a beautiful day, and Jonah suggested going on a walk. Better yet, I thought he could ride his bike.

So, I loaded up the double stroller with the girls and got Jonah's bike out. We went out in front of the house and I started to help Jonah get on his bike. Once he was securely on, I turned around, only to find the girls careening backwards down our sloped cul-de-sac. I forgot to set the brake. Awesome. Ironically, both of them were just sitting there, quietly, as they wheeled backwards at increasingly fast speeds. It wasn't until I started chasing after them that Reagan started screaming. Fortunately, they didn't hit a car. They didn't hit a curb. They perfectly went into our neighbor's driveway and I was able to catch them right before they hit the garage. Whew.

I turned back around and realized that I had dumped Jonah, who was now on the ground, in the road, under his bike.

Sheesh.

I ROCK as a mom of 3! :)

Updates!

I've been meaning to update for a while, but we have been drowning around here. Even with Rush working a lot less than usual, things have been crazy!

Week 2 with Rylie was definitely better than week 1. I think a lot of that had to do with us being more rested. We were able to get out and about a little more and get back into some semblance of a routine which helped a lot. Rylie still had a lot of issues in terms of sleep and hating life with our dog. We did see more and more of her personality come out every day. She definitely has a BIG personality. It will be interesting to see it in full bloom some day!

She had a lot of labwork done at the pediatrician's office and we got the results last week. Nothing too surprising, although we will need to make a visit to a Pediatric Gastroenterologist soon for a few issues. We also found out that Rylie brought a little present home from China. The dreaded "G" word of international adoption.....giardia. A lovely little intestinal parasite which is highly contagious. I half-way expected her to have it, so we have been very diligent when changing her diapers, but it was nice to get confirmation that she actually tested positive. She's been treated now even though she was asymptomatic, and none of us has been affected (although the Health Department has been bugging us and forcing us to divulge a lot of information you generally don't like to share!). Perhaps her little parasitic friend has something to do with how much she eats! She is tiny...less than 24 pounds and just fitting into some 18 month size clothes, but she eats like a horse! It will be interesting to see if her appetite decreases some now that she'll actually be absorbing more of her nutrients.

We've definitely had some more ups and downs. It's hard to believe we've only been home for 2 1/2 weeks. We have to keep reminding ourselves of that when we get discouraged at the slow pace of the progress around here. It definitely feels like she's been here longer and that we should be farther along than we are. But to think that just over a month ago she was still living in an orphanage, I think she's actually doing pretty well. I have to continually remind myself how much has changed for her in such a short period of time. I cannot say that the ride has been pleasant or even that we haven't second-guessed what we were thinking getting into this. But, we KNOW that no matter how hard things are on any given day, we are still doing what we were meant to do and that she is the child who was meant to be in our family. We see it in little moments here and there when she lets us see the real Rylie...when we witness her crazy, goofy, happy, silly self that meshes so well with Jonah and Reagan it's amazing. It's almost scary how well I know she will eventually fit in. It's a process though....it's not magic. It's not sudden or overnight. It's not a fairy tale. It's not love at first sight. It's a process that takes work, and patience, and troubleshooting, and tears and frustration. One day though.....things will be different. For now, we are trying to find the joy in the fleeting moments here and there and take them as they come....they are blessings that carry us through the less-joyful moments.

We did hit the pumpkin patch last week and get to go again this week with Reagan's preschool class.

Jonah is also wrapping up his fall ball season. Only 1 more game to go!

This past weekend, we had Rylie dedicated at church. Unfortunately, in the craziness of the day, we forgot to take pictures, so this is all we have. Maybe we'll have to dress up again and stage a picture!

Jonah had picture day at school, and decided to go all out.... :)

And today....ahhh, today was magical. Well, a little part of today anyway. And last night. Last night, in addition to going on a family walk in the amazing fall weather, Rylie actually pet the dog!!! It wasn't much, nor was it really voluntary, but she did it. We sat with her in our laps next to Bailey and took her hand in ours and had her try it. She was ok for a bit and then had enough, which was fine. We just want her to start to see that it's ok to be near the dog. Well, I thought that was a great first step considering she has continued to scream any time she even sees Bailey. Today, I worked with her a little bit again, using Jonah and Reagan as good examples for her...and this afternoon, for the very first time, she walked around the living room...one her own.....right beside the dog....WITHOUT FREAKING OUT!!!!!!!!! It may not sound like a big deal, or maybe it sounds silly, but I truly cannot over exaggerate how big this is. Her intense reaction to the dog, next to getting her to sleep at night, is the single biggest issue we have been dealing with. It has made it nearly impossible to get anything done at home, much less just function without collapsing due to the constant (and I mean CONSTANT, every waking moment) attention she demands because of her fear. Trying to balance that with 2 other kids, their needs and life in general has been difficult and frustrating to say the least. So seeing this little step forward is truly making me rejoice in a major way! In fact, I have a little video....which again, may not look like much, but it is one of the most wonderful sights I have ever seen!!!

Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for all of your prayers as we continue through this transition! We definitely feel them!

Oh....and 2 more pictures, just 'cause I think they're cute. (You can do that when you're the mom.)

One of Those?

Yes...one of THOSE.

One of THOSE days.

I hate THOSE days. The ones that bring me to my knees wondering what the heck I am doing. Today, one arrived. And it was in full force.

It didn't rear it's ugly head right away, but eased in so I wouldn't notice it. They like to sneak up, you know.

The day started off normally enough, except for the fact that Rush picked up an overnight extra job, so he rolled in the door at 6:30 this morning after working all night. I got Jonah off to school and got Reagan ready for preschool. I even took a shower in anticipation of a dental appointment in the afternoon. Not bad! I fed Rylie in a mad rush to get out the door to preschool and dropped Reagan off. It was raining today, so any and all attempts to make my hair look presentable went out the window as soon as I went outside (see, it's starting).

I came home and tried to figure out how to tackle dealing with Rylie's constant need to be held and "protected" from our dog, entertain her, keep her quiet enough for Rush to sleep, clean up the house, and sort through the girls' clothes which are currently burying their bedroom. I was able to do a little bit here and there, but Rylie was really needy today, so the pulling, running into things, screaming mess that she was this morning complicated my plan (you would think that I would know not to have a plan by now, being that this is my 3rd almost-2-year old). Anyway, long story short, I ended up getting Reagan home from preschool. We walked in the door, Rylie was screaming about something, Reagan made a mess I won't mention any further (I think you can infer where it goes from there), I cleaned her up real quick and frantically tried to find my toothbrush and toothpaste to get a quick brush in before heading to the dentist. I grab my toothpaste and an entire shelf in the bathroom collapses sending personal items everywhere in the bathroom. By this point, I am a raving lunatic (did I mention Rush was late getting home from a run, which is making me more crazy, as I hate being late/rushed anywhere!), I throw my toothpaste in frustration, my bracelet I am wearing flies off and smashes sending beads screaming through the bathroom to join the already present disaster on the floor. Seriously?? SERIOUSLY?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, I brush my teeth, sit Rylie on the couch away from the dog, scoot a pants-less Reagan out of the way and go sit in the car, in the rain, in the driveway and wait for Rush to get home so I can leave...to go to the dentist. (Don't worry, I could totally see them from the car...don't go call CPS on me! Believe me, it was better for them that Mommy went outside for a bit.)

You know it's bad when your reprieve from your day is going to the dentist.

It's a good thing I didn't have a cavity.

I am happy to say that the day got better from there. Our friend, Carlos, came over this afternoon. He is moving on Saturday.....to Bogata, Colombia, so we certainly won't see him for a while. We had a great time visiting, which certainly turned my day around.

My Day is Officially Made

Because of this.....

and this.....

and this......

She is making baby steps. Actually playing with toys was something I thought we were going to have to wait a while longer for. Granted, sometimes she has the attention span of a small gnat.....but it's progress!

AND I took Reagan and Rylie to the park today and she got on the swings, and climbed on steps, and came down the slide...by herself. That means she wasn't attached to my leg. That means she walked on her own 2 feet...for a while anyway. It was great. (I didn't take my camera along...so there's no proof. But it really happened!)

She takes longer to do things than other kids her age. Her gross motor and balance is obviously delayed. But she has more freedom and opportunity to move now than perhaps before so I am certain she will make strides quickly on that front. Right now she reminds me of our other kids about 1-2 months after they started walking.

In other news, we took her to the doctor on Friday for a checkup. She did amazing...she is so cooperative with people. She was like that in China too. The only time she fussed was when she had her TB test placed on her arm. They even did a finger stick and she didn't make a peep....strong girl! The doctor thought she looked great. She was 23 pounds, 8 ounces and 32 inches long. She made it on the American growth chart! Monday she had to go back to get a lot of bloodwork drawn, so we will wait to hear those results and go from there.

We are learning more and more about her personality....which I will save for another post being that she just dumped crayons all over the living room!

Week One...Check!

Well, we have officially survived our first full week home. This week has been full of jet lag, tears, frustration, screams, laughs, doctors appointments, sick kids, visits from friends, troubleshooting problems, baby steps and even some periods of joy. :)

I am definitely glad to be to this point. I certainly don't want to experience another week like this one, because quite frankly, it pushed us to our limits. But, things should start to get easier with each passing day (we hope!) and we are looking forward to each new bit of progress we see with Rylie.

Ultimately, we are glad she's finally here! We can't wait to watch her get more settled and adapted to our home and family and to watch her blossom as she grows. We have 3 pretty amazing blessings!

Today....

....was a good day!

I guess that's what happens when a certain little girl sleeps for 15 hours overnight!!! Thank you all for your prayers!