A few pics from our celebration of Resurrection Day.

Sorry it's a little blurry but the smile was just too cute!

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!
 

Nothing Quite as Cute...

Yesterday morning before church, my friend Toni (link) texted me that her first sow(mama pig to all you nonfarmers) was in labor.  Now there is nothing cuter than little baby pigs, so I took the kids up yesterday afternoon to see the newest additions.  The piglets were adorable, and the mama was very laid back and patient with all of us playing with her new babies.

the itty bitty babies

Leah showing Shelby her favorite piglet (the runt, of course)

Hunter holding a little buddy

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 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

6 Month Anniversary

Today is the Six month anniversary of our "Gotcha Day".  We met Shelby on May 30 - Memorial Day and what a memorable day it was, frankly alot of that day was scary for us (and for my Mom, whom I called in tears from Manila).  We thought we had dealt with our own expectations and were ready for a special needs child, but God still had some growing work to do on us (which, of course, is not nearly finished).  Then we actually got to take her with us on June 1st, so that is the day we really celebrate as our "Gotcha Day".  The home where she lived tries to have most families do that with their new child.  We spent a day or two as her guests, just interacting with her and taking her out on little adventures to help her feel more comfortable with us (and us with her for that matter).  We went to the International Adoption Board with her on June 1st, and she officially was signed over to us.  It was happy and scary all at the same time.

It's hard to believe now.  What an adventure!  Our little girl is so much different today than she was just six short months ago.  I am so much different today from having her in my life.  This child that was not born of my body is growing to be such a part of my heart.  The process has been slow and sometimes seemed agonizing for both her parents and for her, yet we are finding love blossoming and joy in the little victories we walk through together.  Every so often when I see Hunter and her playing or giggling together or see her in Scott's lap, I sit amazed that God brought this pint-sized bundle of energy from half-way around the world into our family.

The first picture we ever saw of Shelby (She was about 9 months old).

At ICAB, I guess this is our first "official" family picture.

Outside at their nice sign, she was sooo done with pictures!

This pic is already a couple of months old but I haven't shared it yet. 

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.

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)

Great News!

Playing trains, which really involves a lot of trying to get Shelby to drive them on the track instead of throwing them around.

Becoming Buddies!

I threw the pictures on first since I know that's what you all really want to see.  We had our first post placement visit this week (yes, it's been six weeks already), and these are the two pictures I turned in to be sent to the Philippines.  Hunter and Shelby's relationship has seen some big improvements over the last two weeks.  He still tries to parent her too much (yes, Amy, I hear you chuckling and thinking "Just like his mother did"), but they have started to play and laugh like siblings quite a bit more.  As a matter of fact, when our social worker asked him how being a big brother was, he quickly spouted his typical "Bad" but then he quickly added "actually sometimes good now too".  That pleased his mother's heart because I knew it had been a rough transition for him. 

The really great news comes from another set of meetings we've had this week.  Shelby had her First Steps evaluation this week.  First Steps is a state program to help children who are developmentally behind.  They come to your house, do a free evaluation and interview, and based on the childs needs and your family income, therapists come to your home weekly and you pay on a sliding scale.  We knew before we even brought her home that we would be contacting them and that she should qualify for at least occupational therapy, maybe even more.  Yesterday,  we had our follow-up meeting.  We found out that Shelby is behind in most areas (which did not surprise us) which means she qualifies for a physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and developmental therapist to each come for an hour every week.  Besides overwhelming my weekly schedule, I was already seeing big dollar signs in my head as she told us this.  Then she went on to say, our income qualified us to have these services provided at no charge!  Oh yay, to be living on one not-so-large income!!  I really questioned her though only to find out that they have to go by my husband's base pay because production bonuses are economy driven and could be a nice amount or could be nothing.  So his last four paystubs put us in the paying $0 category.  So starting as soon as our doctor signs all the paperwork, we will be having a speech therapist and occupational therapist come weekly.  We are having the developmental therapist come 1-2 times a month.  I figured this was enough to start.  Actually this much may overwhelm her a little but since she was getting therapy 1-2 times a week already in the Phillippines, I think it will be alright.  I'm excited to see what kinds of things they do with her and ways we can be working with her too.  The evaluators even told us a couple of things that we are now beginning to try with her.  I just feel like the more help we can get her early on, the more she can blossom and develop into the person God wants her to be.   

Birthday party for Shelby (and America)

Sorry this is so late in coming.  I uploaded all the pics to our laptop, and then we started having laptop problems again.  Scott's been working at it, and he thinks we may need a new harddrive - yeah!  Anyway,  I'm finally getting pics and videos posted from Shelby's birthday party.  We had it on July 4th with the Schaetzle side of the family since my parents were in NY. 

Hunter was only too willing to help her open presents ;)

She liked the pink ball from Uncle Chad

Yay shoes!!!!!!

There was quite a bit of humor about her getting shoes for her birthday.  When asked what we needed for her I said shoes because  her feet were bigger than I had planned for when we brought her home.  So she got three pairs for her birthday.  The funny part is that she LOVES shoes, and every time she got a new pair, she would squeal/whine to have them put on, even if we had just finished putting on the last new pair she opened.  In the above picture, she got a nice pair of white sandals. Then the very next present that she opened was a pair of crocs.  I have a cute video of that.  I tried to upload it to the blogsite a number of times (which is partially why this post is sooo delayed), and it won't complete the upload.  It's not a very long video so I don't know what the deal is.  You'll have to take my word that is was funny to watch her response every time she opened up another pair of shoes.

After we finished birthday celebration, we enjoyed time with family playing yard games and waiting for it to get dark enough for fireworks.  While we were waiting, I had Grandma snap a family photo.  I wish I had thought of it early as the dusk light didn't make for a high quality result.

Family Day At the Zoo

Mom wanted to get out of the house and spend some fun time together as a family.  So for that reason and partly to celebrate Shelby's birthday, we took a trip to the zoo today.  The day was beautiful, even if it was just a tad bit hot.  The zoo had misters going all over the place, and both Hunter and Shelby enjoyed walking s-l-o-w-l-y through them to keep cool.  As you will notice from the pictures, I didn't take very many of the zoo animals, just pretty much my own two.  Most of them were lazing in the shade anyway.  Some of the more interactive and favorite exhibits included the river otters, the Great Barrier Reef (Sharks, Mom!), the giraffes, and the train, log/river, and carousel rides.  Hunter was also pretty fascinated by the Komodo dragon, an elephant skeleton, and a tank of moon jellyfish which made him a little nervous at first.  Probably just too much Finding Nemo recently, but he made Mom touch the glass first to make sure she wouldn't get stung through it.  After that he was ok and really intrigued by how they moved through the water.  Shelby was pretty much just along for the ride.  Her favorite part was probably the carousel ride which produce lots of laughter, bouncing, and squeals.  Dad can't wait to get both her and Hunter to Cedar Point, although that may take awhile for her since she's such a little squirt.

Walking from Franke Park where we had a picnic to the zoo entrance

Riding the tortoise - not very quickly of course

Feeding the geese, ducks and catfish; Shelby is wondering why Dad turned her around so she can't see.

Betcha didn't know that I hatched my kids from an egg!

Riding the endangered species carousel; both kids loved it; Hunter was sure his black panther was the fastest, and Shelby just kept squealing and grinning the biggest grin.

Hunter got to feed the 18 ft. male giraffe some lettuce.  The giraffe is on the ground and we are standing on an elevated platform.  As you can see the giraffe could easily reach over the railing.