What We've Been Up To

All the kids are playing Airplane on the back porch. Makes me so happy to see all of them playing together, pretending from Landon down to Nolan!

Look out below, Lorelei's the pilot!

Lookout! Crazy Driver!

Lorelei in the driver's seat again!

Nolan loves to wrestle and play which is perfect

because we do a lot of that around here and he jumps right in!

The Ice Cream Man came down our street over Memorial Day weekend. It seems he hardly ever comes around, so the kids all picked something out and Nolan had his first snow cone. He was not too thrilled about it and moved on to something else after a few bites.

Milton was washing out these tubs to get ready for our upcoming camping trip.

Not sure how this came about but I came outside to find naked boy.

He looks like he's posing as a Greek God in this pic.

Isn't there famous statue that looks like this?!

(This is his new way of posing for pictures..... unfortunately!)

He loved this so much I know what to do with him next time

I need to keep him contained for a while.

Here's another pic of his new way saying "cheese."

He cranes his neck putting his head back and says "cheese" over and over again! So funny but does not make for good pics.

We took him to the movies for the first time over the weekend. We put him in his car seat which has always worked well with the other kids and he did pretty well for most of the movie. It took him about 10 minutes to eat the 1st Twizzler, the 2nd Twizzler he put in his mouth all at once! By the 3rd one, he was a pro and proceeded to eat many more in a beaver-like fashion!

Tragedy Strikes the Chapman Family

We are big fans of Steven Curtis Chapman because of his sincere & genuine faith, and consistency to honor God through his music and life, and of course how he & his wife have championed the cause of international adoption.

Sadly, if you have not heard, Maria, the Chapmans youngest daughter, was killed in a tragic accident at their home. Maria was 5 years old.

Please remember the family in your prayers during this unbelievably difficult time.

http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/marybeth/

http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/inmemoryofmaria/

To read more:
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/TUNEIN/80521174/1005/ENTERTAINMENT

Love these feet!

Wish I could really "capture" a picture of Nolan's feet,
they absolutely make me smile at God's sense of humor!

They are Fred Flinstone feet without a doubt! Flat and wide with almost no arch whatsoever!

It's been a pretty good day for a Monday!

Monday's are always a little bit sad for me. Milton goes back to work and I really miss having him around! After 12 years of marriage I still really like being with him... Yea!

I have really tried to stay around the house as much as possible lately. Keeping Nolan on a tight schedule helps life to be more manageable. Today we played and did some household musts. Nolan has done well and has spent much of the day right next to me or on my lap. He is beginning to come to me when he feels emotional or uneasy which is so good to see.

I am so pleased with the progress he is making that I am hopeful our upcoming vacation will not be as difficult as I am imagining it will be. 10 days, 2 destinations, and lots of extended family to meet! Not exactly the best time to take a huge trip, while he is still settling in, but you can't put life on hold & we will just make the best of it and pack lots of melatonin & Benedryl!

Rocking him is a big part of our holding time and bedtime routine and if Nolan does not go through the entire bedtime routine, he has a VERY hard time settling in for the night. I was fretting over not being able to rock him on the trip and decided to purchase a portable rocking chair to take with us! So thankful we were able to find a camp chair that rocks and fold up to fit in a bag! Now let's just hope it's delivered on time!

Well, it got quiet in the other room which is usually not good! I wonder if they're being expensive again?!?!?

Today went so good!

Just a quick post about how well Nolan did today. He was able to stop himself from melting down a few times. It was so amazing! And he was pretty happy for most of the day too!

Thank you God for this HUGE blessing! I guess God knew I had enough on my plate for today.

So, while I don't exactly love totting a 25 pound boy around on my hip in these humid, HOT temps here in state of FL, it's well worth it knowing that it makes Nolan feel more secure and peaceful.

Here's a couple a pics from today. They made me think of something I heard in a parenting series recently. "Kids are expensive." Basically we all just have to accept it and expect that they will break things and cost us $$$ in the process. The sooner we do this, the better we'll handle the breakages in their wake! And so here is Nolan pushing out the screens on our back porch! It does help that he's so cute!

We're hanging in there!

Hey, why aren't these glasses staying up?

Adorable Asian noses do not make effective sunglass holders!

He's copying Mama here; my sunglasses are

almost always on top of my head.

Lorelei & Nolan play well together! And there is our instant poser girl-

I see pageants or modeling in her future. She can strike a pose instantaneously!

I think Lorelei would like Nolan to call her Mommy if we'd let him!

She has a WAY more Mommy in her than a 5 year old needs!

The weekend was better with Nolan. Having Baba home makes for a happier boy and I understand, I like it when Baba is home too I'm just not as cranky about it, at least not usually!

Monday was half happy and half cranky. After naptime he just could'nt seem to get to a good place. He does settle down when I put him in the Hip Hammock so I hope to be onto something.

Part of my personal challenge is learning to stop trying to get my work done and just be with him. I'm not very good at that. It's not that I am a super housekeeper but if I get behind I feel like the world will cave in on me and I am doomed to never catch up again; may sound silly to you but that is really how it feels.

See Exhibit A below the ever present bottomless laundry basket.

High Highs and low lows....

Today I have seen Nolan grieve in huge way. He just got up in a very needy place today. It is so hard to watch him cry but it is the only way he can get out all the emotions built up from not understanding what has happened over the past 2 months. At times he just lays limp in my arms crying; talk about heart wrenching! I am learning to differentiate between crying from not getting what he wants to a very specific cry indicating emotional pain.

He has gone from long crying spells all morning to happy, happy times this afternoon.

I've had to concentrate on holding time and time in the Hip Hammock and am trying to integrate more attachment activities into an already busy life. And while this is exhausting for me, it's so worth it when I see glimpses of happiness in his face again.

Bathtime..... more later.

I forgot how hard this was going to be....

We have entered the difficult phase of this operation! Silly me, I was thinking we'd skip that part; Nolan quickly brought me back to reality.

Nolan has been very challenging over the past couple of weeks, those of you who have adopted before know exactly what I mean. Mood swings, swift and drastic. I know he must be experiencing anger, sadness, and confusion over this mysterious change that has taken place in his life. Imagine that all of the sudden everything you know and are familiar with is gone and you are in a strange place with strange people (no smart comments please- you know what I mean!). And there is no one you trust to help you understand what is happening. I spend much of my time reminding myself to look at this from Nolan's point of view so that I can continue to be patient and understanding.

We are still struggling to handle Nolan's behavior, specifically temper tantrums. The difficult part of handling these particular issues is that Nolan is not wired the same as children who have been home from the very beginning of their lives. Security is not a given and that changes the whole game.

The days are mostly LONG right now and sometimes I may not even get a smile out of him all day. He whines way more than I'd like and falls apart when the tiniest thing doesn't go as he thinks it should. We have noticed some slight sensory issues and will be having him evaluated for Occupational Therapy. Often children who have been in an orphanage from the beginning have difficulty processing emotions and senses (noises, textures, etc.) caused by lack of stimulation and human connections early on.

I am so thankful to know for certain that God had this planned all along. I find peace in that because it gives me certainty that we have done the right thing even when I doubt myself and wonder if I was the best choice for Nolan's Mama.

All that to say, we are still so completely in awe of this funny little guy. Amidst the struggles he continues to be such a blessing and wonderful part of our family.

And the word for the day is.... CRANKY!

Not yet 9am and it looks like today will be a bit of a challenge! Yikes!