Socks and Love

Too cool with her shades

Many keep asking how Shelby is doing in all the change that adding a new baby to our family has brought.  She has her up days and her down days, but nothing has been what we haven't expected. She loves her baby, but often a little too roughly.  She continues daily times of struggle with the amount of attention the baby requires (and takes from her).  She has however managed, even during this time, to make small steps forward.  First she has learned how to put her socks on by herself and is almost to the point of dressing herself.  The socks and shoes are a big accomplishment for a girl who doesn't have good fine motor skills and still lacks a lot of the strength she should have in her fingers and hands. Second, she has started attempting words and gets quite a few beginning syllables.  Again, however, this is all on "Shelby Time" meaning she will spontaneously use words when she wants but never when mom or dad tries to get her to say something.  She walked to me last night carrying a book to read and clearly said, "boo_"; she has said "ba-oon" numerous times since her favorite thing to play with currently is a big blue punch balloon; she has also used "aw-done" especially when she wants mom to be done doing something she doesn't care for like combing her hair or lotioning her very dry skin.  But the best word attempt has happened two times with me, and both times took me by surprise.  One night, I was giving her a kiss, then signing and saying "I Love You" as I always do with her when I tuck her in bed, and she tried to sign it back (which she often tries now) and then said "Wuv".  Then just a few days ago she was on the couch giving me a big hug around the neck and she said " Iwuv".  Each time made my heart jump.  I am so anxious to have her start talking and hear all the fun little ways she says things.  I'm having a hard time waiting, but as I'm learning with this girl, there is just no rushing her!

fuzzy blue bear

Quick update on Caleb...he is doing well.  He is now sleeping at least 5 continuous hours during the night (Yay) and is grinning and cooing up a storm.  He had his first wellness check last week and already weighs 10 lbs.  Scott has started calling him "Big C" (which is a lumber/hardware place around here).  I didn't realize until I picked this photo to put on the blog because of his cute grin that he has on his champion eater shirt, ha,ha. I would not actually call him a great eater because he is so slow and sleepy when he eats, but obviously he is getting enough to grow well!!! 

What a grin!
 

Trick or Treat

This was such yucky weather for trick or treating, but the freezing rain didn't seem to keep too many home. However after about twenty minutes, Shelby was signing "cold" even though I had 3 layers on that girl. We got her to last about another 30 minutes by blasting the heat in the car, but then she whined and fussed all the way home. Thank goodness "town" is only 7 minutes away.

Tigger and the cow are ready to head out.

Digging into some goodies-Hunter was thrilled with this little chocolate ball wrapped like an eyeball.

Cousin H came over to Grandma and Grandpa's house where we also ended up.  I don't think real pirates were ever that cute!

Noises in the Dark

Last Thursday morning was quite warm and dry, so Hunter and I walked down our lane to wait for the bus even though it is now dark in the mornings when the bus comes. When we got to the edge of the lawn where the field begins, we suddenly heard some very strange noises start up.  It took us both by surprise, but after listening for a minute, I assured Hunter it  must be some kind of bird that we startled nesting in the edge of the field, probably the turkeys we had seen off and on throughout the summer.  Of course in my mind, I knew that it was not a turkey call but it reassured him and we continued on to the road.  Then as the bus squeaked to a stop and Hunter started across this road, I suddenly had this eye-watering over-powering smell of skunk.  I thought "Great! Now there is some strange bird/creature and a startled skunk between me and my house, and I can't see either of them until I'm within a few feet of them".  Needless to say, I made it back to the house safely, but I'm pretty sure from now on we will be driving the car down to wait for the bus!

Later that day, Scott went down to get the mail and called me to come look at what was making the strange noises at us that morning.  A quail family was crossing our drive from one field to the next.  I just had to chuckle because those tiny birds sure make one big scary noise when it's dark out!!! Never did see the skunk but that was fine by me. Trust me when I say it was closer than I wanted it to be that morning.

First Week of School/ Garden Craziness

Hunter started school this week - a big first grader! He was wwwaaaayyyy more nervous for this year than he was last year (not sure why). His teacher has been doing a lot of testing, procedure setting, and just getting the year off to a good start this week, so thankfully he has had no homework. Each day, he has had good things to report, so I think we are off to a good start.

Ready to head down to the bus.

The rain over the last few weeks has turned my lack-luster garden into a sudden bumper crop. Today, I snapped and canned a batch of green beans, made a batch of spaghetti sauce, and made a batch of dill pickles to use up all the crazy cucumbers. I'm exhausted, and tomorrow I get to pick beans again and make another batch of spaghetti sauce with all the tomatoes ripening in my garage that will rot over the weekend if I don't get to them.

A good day's work - man, was I tired!

Love/Hate/Love

Shelby has a new love, unfortunately it is one that alternately loves or hates her.  She loves the cat, which is Scott's 12 year old moody scared stuck up old lady of a cat.  For some of you, these pics may be the most you've ever seen of her because Alaska runs and hides when there is a knock on the door.  Shelby now squeals and tries to "love" her constantly.  Most days Alaska puts up with it pretty well (must be she is feeling ignored often) but there always comes a point when the growling and hissing starts.  We've warned Shelby about leaving the cat alone hundreds of time, but she has come away with a few bites.  Thankfully, the cat is good; she never bites hard enough to break the skin.  It's just a definite warning.

Uh,oh, she caught me!

Trying to lay her head on the cat

This doesn't feel so bad

That's enough - escape!

Winter blahs

Winter hasn't really been that bad, but I'm done with it!!  Thankfully I saw a robin and 3 red-winged blackbirds on Monday, so it has given me hope that spring is approaching.  Our days have just run together between sickness and routine days of work, school, and therapy.  We've really pulled back in to our home during the week.  We just felt that Hunter needed more sleep to keep up with school and not melt down, and Shelby just needs more home time and sleep to help with her bonding and sensory issues.  This keeps us home a lot which keeps Dad very happy and drives me nuts, but I'm dealing.  I like the predictability and the added degree of calmness it brings to my kids and my home. 

So here are a couple cute quotes:

As overheard by Mom cleaning the kitchen after supper when kids were playing in the next room:
(Popping sound - quite loud actually)
Hunter - (laughing) Oh, I'm so glad I taught you to do that Shelby. You are such a good fart-er.

Asked by Hunter to Mom at the dinner table:

H - Tonight R (cousin) plays basketball, but when does she run and jump turtles cuz I want to watch her do that again?
Mom - I think you mean hurdles and track is a spring sport.

Winter Fun

These pictures are a blend of the last two snows.  The first one wasn't very much...just enough for the kids to get out, eat a little snow, and get cold.  Last night, though, we got a good 5-6 inches of super fine powdery snow.  Poor Shelby can hardly walk in it considering it is up to her knees.  Scott packed her a snowball which she carried around licking while Scott and I shoveled out (and shoveled and shoveled since the snowblower has a major flat tire!).  Since this snow wasn't really sticking together for snowman building, Scott hooked up the sled behind the lawn tractor and pulled the kids around. 

Shelby's first snow; looks like she is a fan.

Making a snow angel

The nicest finished angel

Hangin' on but havin' fun

Potty Training and Catch-Up

All right, life has just gotten too busy and blogging keeps slipping further and further down my list of priorities.  Then I read my sister's blog (see post), and she had more pictures of my daughter in one post than I have put on here in the last month. So, yes, unbelievably, we have started potty training.  It just really happened last week.  I've been periodically putting Shelby on the potty and showing her the potty signal.  Not to get to graphic....I've also been emptying her diapers into the potty and saying, "This is where we do that."  (again with the potty sign).  However she really wasn't seeming to connect at all with it, so I figured I was pushing things.  It really is much harder to work on potty training with a child that doesn't speak yet.  Then last week, she started coming to me and doing the sign for potty.  I thought, Ok, if she is initiating this, I might as well work with her.  Well, I soon found out that she is signing to me as she is going in her diaper, at least #1.  A huge breakthrough came Saturday night, though, when we were at Scott's family Thanksgiving.  She came out to the kitchen signing potty to me, so I took her right in.  She went #2.   YAY!!!  So this week, I will be buying pull-ups and starting this whole process for real.  I am just tickled pink, and I'm not being sarcastic because the fact that she can understand what her body is doing and communicate it to us is huge to me.  With being so far behind developmentally, I didn't think we'd be getting to this point yet. 

We've also got the upstairs finished in our new addition.  The carpet was laid last Wednesday, and the kids are (semi) moved into their new rooms.  That meant putting Shelby in a toddler bed.  I thought that would be another huge adjustment, but thanks to the weighted blanket our OT has let us borrow, it has gone really smoothly.  I am SSOOO happy to have this poor girl out of the pack-and-play, and into her own "big girl" space (and it only took us almost 6 months, yikes!). 

So here are a few pics from the last few weeks:

Ready for trick-or-treating, Tigger and a frog

Learning that she loves the results of trick-or-treating.  Fun size candy bars make more than a fun size mess, but she is so stinkin' cute doing it!

Playing "Bad Guys" together which she gladly did with Hunter until he tried to switch masks.

Time flies...

Ok, where the time has gone I just don't know.  I'm getting worse and worse at this blogging thing.  Our family is just busy with family stuff, school stuff, church stuff, etc., and I spend less and less time on the computer.  So here are a few highlights of what's been going on:

*Scott has almost gotten the upstairs part of our new addition ready for carpet.  The big push has been on since hunting season is coming quickly (and we need some meat for the freezer).  All of the trim and baseboard is up.  We are washing walls and doing all the little but time consuming touch-ups.  Hopefully we will have carpet installed and kids moved into their "new" rooms in just a few weeks.  Of course, many of the other 'getting ready for winter' things have needed his attention too. 

*Shelby is initiating more signing - Yay!!  Even at places other than home, she will tell me she is hungry which is a big step in my eyes.  Her favorite sign is cookie which she tries to tell me she needs all the time.  She also has clearly (to me anyway) said "Hunter" 3 times in the last week.  All of this is very encouraging to a momma who is getting very tired of whining, tantrums, and meltdowns.  Hopefully she is starting to realize that she can communicate in ways other than those 3 things.

*Hunter is loving school and completed his first nine weeks last Friday.  Last night he read me a book (mostly) that he had checked out from the library last week.  I was thrilled with all the sight words he could get and all the words he could sound out or get  from context clues and pictures.  He is growing more independent and sure of himself (and Mom is STILL missing him every day!).

*I have been busy canning, getting some sweet potatoes and late tomatoes put up.  I still need to tackle applesauce but my enthusiasm in that area is quickly depleting.  Pray for one last burst for me to get applesauce put up because Shelby loves it and will eat about anything that is mixed with it.  I am also coleading a small group at our ladies bible study and really enjoying it.  They put up with my emotional blubbering well, and I get to pray for them.  I was really nervous about it because, frankly, I'm one of the younger ladies in our small group, but the Lord has helped us find some common bonds and share openly with each other pretty quickly.   I'm also enjoying learning the leadership side of a group of women that have really blessed me in the past few years.

*God has blessed us with two wonderful therapists for Shelby.  They come twice a week.  They are willing to work on everything from eating to health issues with her in addition to the speech and developmental things.  They are both sooooo knowledgeable and easy to work with.

We had a nice time at a Schaetzle extended family gathering on Saturday.  I didn't take enough pictures of the kids decorating pumpkins, but I got a few.  I'll try to post about that soon.  Right now housework is calling, and I've procrastinated long enough.

The Smell

This morning as I got Shelby out of her bed, it dawned on me.  She smells like my child!!!  To most of you, that is probably the wierdest statement you have heard in quite awhile, but I was so excited.  Let me explain because if you have not adopted you may have never thought about this.

When we brought Shelby home and for many weeks afterward, she smelled strange to me, often in a bad way.  No, it wasn't messy diapers all the time, although, believe me, they ARE BAD!!  It was just a smell her body had, and it didn't smell like us, our bodies, our home, etc.  Like, you know when you stick your nose in the back of your child's neck as you are hugging them and your mind says, yep, that's my kiddo (even if it is a stinky boy who has been playing, ie sweating, outside).  Well that was not my reaction when I picked her up, trust me.  Until this morning, when I realized that she doesn't smell strange to me anymore.  She smells like my little girl. 

I'm probably explaining this badly, but it was a nice little "Thank you, God." moment.  I know that most of you adoptive moms that check in are sitting there, grinning, totally "getting" what I am talking about while the rest of you are just grinning because I'm making such a big deal out of a little smell like I'm going crazy or something.  So glad I could give you all a smile.

On to pictures, which I put last today so you would at least skim my thoughts.  These are a few weeks old on the last couple of hot days of summer.  I realized I had not taken any swimming pics all season, so I got a few.  Both kids love the water.

Goofing around on the ladder

Mr. Tough Guy getting ready to jump in.

a crazy jump

Mom and Shelby (photo taken by Hunter)

Life Gets in the Way

I know it has been forever since I posted anything.  Thank you for your patience.  Last week I had to be in class each day from 8-5 to earn the final credits I need to renew my teaching license.  It was poor timing, but we made it through due, in no small part, to my mother who moved right in with us for the week since Dad was gone on a missions trip.  This week has been busy, and we have been having problems with the laptop again which is where I upload my pics and do my posting.  So that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

Life over the past few weeks has had its ups and downs.  I know we expected that, but sometimes when you are in the middle of a down and everybody is tired and crying (especially me), it's hard to keep a positive outlook.  Thankfully God brings a little up, like my son helping me clean and vaccuum the living room today or pushing Shelby around in the little tikes shopping cart so I can post this, to help put things back in perspective.

So I won't take time to go on and on today.  I just show a few pics which is really what you want anyway :)

Why is he hugging me?  Getting Shelby to look at the camera is usually a lost cause.

Finally, the one smilling, looking at the camera shot.  Thank heavens for digital because I think I delete about 5 bad for every 1 good one I keep.

The shopping cart keeps them both occupied for a while especially with cheez-its thrown in.

Day Two or Three Home (I Can't Keep Track)

It's good to be home, even though we are still adjusting.  My email inbox is so full, I can't even keep up with all the responding, so please forgive me if you don't get a response for a few days.  Thanks for all the support, emails, cards, texts, and phone calls.  It helps keep me keep going despite the grogginess and mountains of laundry and dishes.

Sleep is a precious thing right now.  Last night was much better, only up once for an hour or so.  However the night before she woke up before I went to sleep, around 10:00, I think, and was just awake until 5:00am.  Then we both slept from 5:00 until 7:30am when Hunter woke us up.  His schedule is still just fine ;).  Everything is so new to her, which I realized it would be, but just not how much until you watch her.  She likes the carpet, the grass, the swing, and especially the mirrors. She is not really liking all the new foods, yet.  Last night I "hid" everything in applesauce to get her to eat.  At this point, it's whatever works!

Hunter pretty much just hovers.  He is still trying to figure out how to interact with her.  He wants to play with her so much, but she often just doesn't understand.  We keep telling him to give it time.  Any time he is not hovering near her which is only usually during her nap time, he is shadowing Scott and I needing a little extra attention.  He has been such a good helper though, and so quick to please.  Last night we tried a bath together.  It was Shelby's first bath ever, and they both had a great time.

Nesting

Ok, I think I have started nesting this week, or at least as close as I'm going to get to it.  I decided to clean the ceiling fan in the dining room the other day.  It was really gross and needed it (our woodstove tends to produce a lot of dust during the winter). Then the next day I was dusting and for some odd reason started dusting off all the door and window trim and wiping down walls.  I thought, "What is wrong with me?" cuz if you know me, you know that I am not one of those gals that thoroughly scours the house weekly or even monthly for that matter.  I decide it just must be my homage to spring cleaning, but then the next day, I became obsessed with reorganizing Hunter's bedroom and putting the crib together.  Since we probably won't have Shelby and Hunter's new bedrooms quite finished by the time she comes home, we've decided to have them share Hunter's old room for the first month or so, at least until we can get the baseboard finished and the carpet installed in the new rooms.  She is probably used to having other kids sleeping with her in the same room, and hopefully it will also help them bond as siblings, although Hunter is worried about her crying a lot during the night. 

Anyway, Hunter got excited to help me, so we hauled all the crib pieces upstairs in "a teamwork" as he calls it.  Then we layed out all the bolts and screws and tried to figure out what went where.  We've borrowed the crib from friends, and they forgot to bring the instructions when they brought the crib a week and a half ago.  Of course, I told them we wouldn't be setting it up for awhile.  But I just kept thinking that if we got the call to travel, the poor girl doesn't even have a place to sleep.  So Hunter and I put the whole thing together by ourselves.  (Scott was elbow-deep in an electrical box that was not wired correctly for the type of chandelier we bought and he was trying to hang. Frustrating work!) Hunter really loved the allen wrench, and it only took us a couple of hours.  An added bonus was that I had a wonderful place for a little guy to take his nap when I babysat for a friend on Friday!

"Shrooms"

Ok, honestly, I've been avoiding blogging because we have heard nothing, NOTHING, about when we can travel. It's been a frustrating couple of weeks!

However, Sunday afternoon was very nice here, and we had a family "outing" to the woods behind our house to go mushroom hunting.  This is something I never did until I married into this family.  They love it, and I find the thrill of the hunt fun too.  Usually I'm really bad about finding them in the woods, but this year I've found 4 or 5 really nice ones in our yard.  Does that tell you how wet it has been?

The boys heading to the woods, eyes to the ground already

Aha, found one (it's really there just in front of his hand)

Thought it was cute that Hunter brought two buckets - optimism/faith of a child!

Not a very good haul, but a fun time tromping through the woods

Here I consoled myself with the thought that it was early, wet, and cool so that is why we only found a few.  Scott's brother went out the next evening and found 27.  Go Figure!!!!  He said he has the advantage of knowing where to look based on where he has found them in past years.  Let's hope we find a few more because I don't think we even have enough to make the cooking process worth it yet.

New Accomplishments

With the nicer weather in the early part of last week, our family gravitated outside.  Hunter pulled out his bike, and Dad suggested they take the training wheels off.  Hunter was nervous and wobbly, but with both Dad and Mom's help over the next two days, he really is getting the hang of it.  It was a good lesson on having to practice new, more difficult activities when you don't succeed right at first.  He is pretty proud of how much better he is getting at it though.  Getting started is the worst part, so Scott set up cinder blocks in a couple of areas so Hunter can stand on those to be a little taller and give himself a good boost to get going.

Hunter also showed me this week that he can now get himself up on the "big" swing and pump to swing himself.  Suddenly my little boy is growing up.

Ugly Pie

 Hunter and I found a new book at the library that we just loved.  It's called:

 It's about Ol' Bear who is just itchin' -truly itchin'- for some ugly pie.  He goes around visiting all his other bear friends who each give him something "ugly" from their kitchens which he ends up making into an ugly pie which he shares with them all.  The book is definitely folk-tale-ish with good rhyming verse and repetition that had Hunter chiming in.  It needs to be read aloud with different voices for each of the bears, a southern accent, and Ol' Bear's singing done in a gravelly blues rendition.  Very fun.  Needless to say we've renewed it twice already.  At the back of the book, the recipe for ugly pie is included, so this week I gathered all the ingredients, called Hunter into the kitchen, and set to work.

He had to flute the edges of the crust in the pie dish (above), and then mix in all the ingredients (below).  It definitely looked ugly to us, but as it baked, it smelled quite good.

 

The finished product

 We took the finished pie up to Grandma and Grandpa S.'s for their anniversary.  I have to say I didn't really care for the taste too much and probably won't make it again.  It wasn't too bad, but I didn't like the molasses in it.  I'm not a huge molasses fan anyway.  If that was left out, it really would be an apple pie with raisins and nuts in it which would probably be better, in my opinion.  Oh well, it was a fun way to take our reading into the kitchen and even mix in a little math with measurements.  It also made for a fun way to spend yet another cold, snowy day indoors.
If the snow and cold are getting to ya, check out what's new at your local library.  We've been quite pleased with ours, even though it is very small.  Over the past month or so, Hunter and I have been in there at least once a week (yes, they greet us by name now) and have read or listened to over 100 books.  We've even started listening to some chapter books on cd as we eat lunch together and discussing them.  It's been a good way to perk up the winter doldrums.  Thanks for the idea, C. 





Just An Update

We finally heard from the Department of Homeland Security this week.  We are approved for a visa to bring a dependent into the country.  Yeah!  One more step completed.  We are waiting for an important document from the National Visa Center which should be here this week. 

Our house has been consumed in sickness this week.  Scott has gotten a whopping case of bronchitis, and Hunter has been up and down first with a head cold and now just running a low-grade fever and not eating well.  Strange.  I've had a few days of not feeling myself but not totally down sick either.  It just makes me want to throw open the windows, lysol everything, and head to someplace tropical. 

My high point of this week was yesterday when I got out of the house for a couple of hours to go to the first meeting of an adoptive moms group that is trying to get started in our area.  I met some neat ladies who all want to learn to support each other through the journey of mothering the children that God has placed in our lives.  When that happens through adoption, it brings some different kinds of challenges mostly due to the fact that our children have not been with us their whole lives.  I think it's going to be really nice to be able to share ideas, learn from and with, and pray for these women.  We're hoping to get together monthly and eventually maybe even pull our families into activities together. 

Other than that, I am just ready for winter to be over, frankly.  It doesn't look like it is going to happen though, since they are forecasting frigid temperatures and more snow for this week.  Ugh!!  I think I'm finally hitting the winter blues.  I'm jealous of my little girl right now who is enjoying her "winter" of 70 degree temps.  For her sake, I hope we don't get the call to go get her until things get very spring-like and warm around here.  She's sure to have climate shock.  Just another major change we'll be thrusting upon our little darling.

Snow Fun And Updates

Went outside the other day to shovel off sidewalks, really a waste of time since we get another inch of snow every other day. However, Hunter really wanted to go out to play, and I needed to fill bird feeders.  While out, Hunter asked if I would help him build a snowman.  For the life of me, I could not get the snow to pack into a good ball and get the ball to grow bigger and bigger.  I don't know if it is our snow consistency, or if I have just lost the knack since I haven't built snowmen frequently in a few ok many years.  Well, I had to think quickly or face the disappointment a my four year old, so instead we made Gus the snow seal (with the help of some mulch and leftover stalks from my flowerbed).

Hunter likes him and checks on him out the window every day.  Whew!  I'm glad we could save the day.  This creation probably is a little more like a walrus with his buck teeth, but I'm not about to argue that point since the boy is happy.

Adoption update:

We have heard from our agency that Shelby is still progressing with physical and occupational therapy.  The home where she is at is getting a second opinion.  Apparently they didn't really agree with the latest diagnosis either.  We have requested a video.  However our agency was not very encouraging on really getting one.  It doesn't really matter if we do, although we would LOVE to have one.  Kids come with uncertainties, and no two are alike.  She is ours, and with God's strength, we'll deal with her needs as best as we can.  We feel the love, support, and interaction of a family will go a long way to improving whatever conditions she comes to us with!