AH..some sense of normalcy :-)

The monkey of the family: Hannah

Sadie enjoying her first swing experience (she completely enjoyed it for about 1 minute, then she was finished)

Hannah sliding down the firepole - shh..don't tell her teachers. They're not allowed to do this at school. :-)


Sadie trying out Hannah's old bike. Although she can't quite reach the pedals, she enjoyed walking it around.

Total entertainment - watching the pictures print out at the CVS computer. These two were mesmerized - I'll have to remember that for those really hot "what are we going to do today?" days of summer. We may be printing more pictures off! ha!

Hannah: play-doh fun

Sadie - more play-doh fun

We are doing well and have finally hit some sense of normalcy with sleep and being on the right time zone. We slept great the first few days - just in the middle of the day. But yesterday, we spent a LONG time outside and I think it really helped us click with the right time zone finally.

For the first time since being home, the girls went to bed at 8:00 p.m instead of say, 2:00 a.m. 0r 3:00 a.m. because they slept all day. Of course, Hannah was up by 4:30, but it's progress! Sadie is the good sleeper right now. She sleeps soundly for the most part. She has gotten where she cries when I put her to bed if she thinks I'm about to walk out of the room. I see that as a good sign and all it takes is for me to sit in their room a few minutes and rub her back until she goes to sleep. Then, she's good to go for the night. She's also eating very well.

For the most part, Sadie is adjusting well. She has such a sweet spirit about her and is absolutely precious! She's exploring the house and beginning to play with some of the toys. Having Hannah here is a huge help, because Sadie is copying a lot of what Hannah does. (And for the girl who's spent the last year saying "somebody copy me" -Hannah is delighted to finally have someone who will!). Sadie is also interacting more with me in very playful ways. She still has this look in her eyes though - I can't quite describe it. It's a look that comes and goes and says "I'm not fully present in this moment" if that makes sense. NOT being a therapist, I think it's her mental way of protecting herself from too much overstimulation. EVERYTHING is brand new to her. She's also had a couple of 2 year old temper tantrums. Not many and not bad - but enough for her to voice her opinion on a couple matters! I see that as a mostly good sign too. We're trying to keep things rather calm and almost "boring" in a way. It's not boring to her since it's all new. We're staying home a lot. Playing simple things like play-doh and sidewalk chalk, etc. We have been out a little. We took Hannah to dance Saturday because it was her last class of the year and yesterday, we visited the grocery store, CVS, and the park. But we did it early in the morning when it wasn't crowded. Hannah and Sadie had the park to themselves which was nice. We skipped church this morning because although it would have been good to see everyone, I think it would have been too much, too soon.

Hannah went back to school today for her last week which she was excited about. She has a little gift for her classmates from China and she has pictures we developed at CVS today to show her teachers and friends. Hannah also starts t-ball practice tonight. Hannah has adjusted to having a sister very well. She does get into the attention-seeking act a little at times, but really not that much. She had big expectations for what having a sister meant, and at least so far, she is not dissapointed. She is constantly hugging on and kissing Sadie (who tolerates it for the most part but has pushed Hannah back a couple times when she needed some space!). Hannah is sweet and encouraging and understanding too for the most part. I say "most part" because well, she is 4 after all! I had to laugh tonight when Sadie was having a momentary melt-down at supper because two (yes, two - really) spaghetti noodles fell off the fork onto the side of the bowl. As Sadie is falling apart apparently over that (but more likely over all the changes in her life), I pick her up and start to rock her a little. Hannah says "Sadie, it's okay - don't pitch a fit. Just take a deep breath and calm down. See, I have spaghetti on the side of my plate. I'm not pitching a fit. It's okay". Ah - wise words from a 4 year old who has "been there!" hehe!

Thanks for checking in on us. We are transitioning well and having fun together. I'm still amazed at all that God has done and continues to do. One of my concerns pre-china was what to do with Sadie when I go back to school in August. Hannah barely made the cut-off to be able to come with me (in the preK program) that first year. It's been great having her right next door to me the last two years. But Sadie is just young enough NOT to make that cut-off. So, she is not eligible to come with me in August. Finding someone to keep her was on the top of my to-do list once we got over the jet-lag. I knew of a couple good childcare programs in the area, but I was hoping to find someone that would keep her in their home. I had a list of liscensed home daycares in the county to start calling through. Well, the perfect plan just dropped in my lap. (thanks God!) A friend and neighbor offerred to keep her when I go back to school. It's perfect! She lives right down the street from me (great convenience!) and has a 3 year old also adopted from China. Sadie will have a good playmate and peer to model language for her. And, this great mama adopted her daughter also as a toddler, so she knows all the implications that brings! I'm so excited!

That's it for now. I'm off to play with my sweet baby girl!