6 month post placement

Today we had our 6 month post placement.  Micah has only been home 5 months, but it takes a month to write up and submit.  After our social worker left, Micah and I both got pretty sick with some stomach bug.  He is the first of the three kids to get sick like this.  Elliana and Andy have never really thrown up or continued to do so all afternoon.  Poor boy, but he does love extra cuddles.

Here are some of the photos we had to turn in.  We give 10-15 photos of Micah.

Nine and a half months

I apparently never updated from Micah's nine month appointment so I will try to get on that.  He weighed 24 pounds, but now I think he must be up to 25 pounds!  He was 90th percentile for weight and 75th for length.  I don't actually remember his length, but it is written down somewhere.  He played with the blocks and did all that he needed to do to show how awesome and smart he is!  Of course the nurses love to comment on how cute and fun he is and he loves the attention.  He smiles and waves to anything that moves.  Micah can say mamama, dada, babab, and such sounds.  Micah's favorite game is to chase around a big ball and wrestle with Dad.  Mainly, I think he likes to do whatever Andy does and that is Andy favorite things too.

I need to download pictures from the past month and then I will post a few.  Andy has a speech assessment today to see if he will quality for the local school district once he our grows out early intervention-it only goes until age 3.  He has gotten much better the past few months so I am not sure he will qualify.  At times it can be difficult to determine if Micah or Andy is talking so maybe he will!  Elliana is loving preschool and with her teachers recommendation she will not move on to kindergarten in the fall, unless I homeschool her for one year and then send her again to kindergarten.  I change my mind weekly on the issue.

I often wondered about comments adoptive families receive.  Well, I mostly get smiles and good stuff.  I have run into a few adoptive families while I am on outings and it if fun to talk with them and hear their stories.  The past week was the first time a received a comment that I was not sure how to respond to.  The elderly man did not mean anything mean by it, but just not informed or have a heart to the orphans.  He said he did NOT NEED to adopt because he had five boys.  I was not really offended but more thrown back that he thinks you should only adopt if you can not have bio kids.  It should be no surprise then that there are so many orphans in the world.  Imagine if God said that He had Israel and therefore there would be no need to offer adoption the Gentiles!  Please!

Okay, that is my rambles for this day.  Now off to make my house presentable for the speech assessors.

Early September

Time flies, so they say.

The first few weeks of September have been potty training time in our home.  I had been warning Andy all of August that after Elliana's birthday we were going to begin going on the potty.  He would let me know that he had different ideas so I knew I was going to be in for a time!  Well, my plan was to let him go without a diaper until he got sick of going on himself.  The first day we had three accidents and no success.  The second day we had the same.  The three day we were out most of the day so it was also a loss.  On the fourth day, Andy actually went on the toilet!  WooHoo!  Then more accidents.  Oh well.  On the fifth day I was ready to say maybe we would try again later when out of the blue, he did not have any accidents all day!  Now, he does not wear a pull out when we go out and he has not had any accidents while out, well one that I may share.  Andy's only hold up is that while he does go, he can only tell that he needs to go if he is free.  So no undies for this little man, not yet.  I will push for them when he is better at knowing when he has to go. 
Okay, the story.  Andy has not pooped on the potty yet.  The first few days, he went outside (still in his clothes, just trying to get away from Mom).  Well, we went to this park that is a fort, pretty cool.  I got lost and took 45 minutes to get there when it is only 10 minutes away.  Then within minutes, Andy says he needs to poop.  What!  He has never told me so I want to take advantage of this.  The only bathroom there is outhouses with NO running water.  Gross.  So Andy tries.  Then goes to play for three more minutes and repeats.  We did this about four time.  Of course, we did not actually make it when he went.  So home we went for a smelly boy to get a bath.

Anyways, I am very proud of Andy for learning and taking charge of himself:).

Elliana began preschool today.  She loves it.  Her friend from dance class is in her class and she sang her good morning sang with her friend's name in it all day.  She was so pumped that she did not even slow down for a nap, which I had thought would for sure happen on school days.  She did eat better than I had seen her eat in a while and went to bed very early.

Micah is doing great.  He is growing so fast.  His legs bend now when he is in the ergo.  He smiles at me anytime I smile at him.  It is a fun game to play while I am feeding him, mostly for my enjoyment.  He climbs and crawls on everything.  It is hard to believe that he has not even been home for three months, he is such a perfect Walls:).

I wanted to add some pictures, but I am running out of time so I will not label them.

AGCI Picnic and Birthdays

Saturday was our agency's picnic in Grand Rapid, Michigan.  Elliana and Andy wanted to stay and Grandma and Papa's house to go swimming.  Micah and I drove up early to go meet one of Micah first roomies while in Taiwan, Leyton.  It was so sweet to see the boys' first reactions.  Leyton gently touched Micah's head and Micah looked a little shocked.  It only took a few seconds for him to start relaxing and start playing together, well, side by side.  We headed to the picnic to meet up with another roomie and our case manager, Kate.  I have been so excited waiting to finally get to meet these ladies in person!  I have emailed with these other moms since the beginning of our journey and spent many hours talking with Kate.  Kate also spent lots of time in Taiwan with Micah and giving in lots of hugs and kisses while he was waiting for us to come get him.  After the picnic, we went back to Leyton's home to let the three boys have more fun together.  Micah laughed harder than he had in a few weeks!  He loved, loved seeing and being with his friend:).  He fell asleep the second we left.  I am so glad he has such a great time, I know I did!  We will definitely be getting these boys and adding a few girls to the mix next year!

Micah and Leyton

Micah, Matthew, and Leyton

Kate and Micah

On Sunday, my sweet little girl turned FOUR.  Since she was just a baby, she has been tenderhearted and compassionate.  She is the protective big sister to her two brothers.  I love to watch her giggle with joy when she is playing house with daddy.  Elliana loves to swim and play with her dolls.  She is looking forward to going to preschool in the fall and being a big girl:).  She asked to go to Red Robin for her birthday dinner. Chris and I took her on Thursday before he left for Brazil.  She also really wanted a pool, Buz party.  She had a great day and loved having family around her for her big day.

Elliana in her Buz outfit.

Mom and the birthday girl

A week and a half

Chris's sister, Ursula, and my sister, Amber, both flew into Michigan to meet Micah.  Aunt Urs lives in Colorado and Aunt Ber lives in LA, Cali.  I drove up with the kids on Tuesday and stayed until the following Thursday.  We got to spend time with more than just those two Aunts.  Micah got to meet the rest of his cousins and enjoy to cuddle time with Grandmas.  Elliana and Andy loved to swim every chance they got at Chris' parents house and Aunt Ursula was always willing to go in the water with them.  Elliana liked to climb down the ladder and sit on the pool floor.  Andy enjoyed jumping in, whether anyone was ready to not.  Neither one can swim so two adults are needed to watching them!  Micah also loves the water, but he doesn't do anything dangerous yet.

Chris came up on Thursday and stayed until Sunday.  We planned a Tigers game for Bill's birthday.  Micah was the only kid allowed and of course he was sweet and slept through the game and fireworks.  On Saturday we went to a lake out by Tina's, my step-sister, house.  The kids loved the beach and could not get enough of playing in the sand and water.

The week and a half was action packed and lots of fun.  We will be headed back to Michigan again on Friday!  I am really looking forward to going to Grand Rapids for our agency's picnic and meeting one of Micah's roomies!!  Chris leaves for Brazil on Saturday and will be there for a week for work.  Once he is back we jump into September and craziness all over again!

Above:  Shannon, me and Amber at Greenfield Village.
Below:  Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Bill at Greenfield Village.

Dates

We have been pretty busy, not sure with what, but I know I am exhausted from it all.  I am sure there are some cute stories from the week, but I will stick to just sharing about the weekend.  This weekend was my MOPS Steering Retreat weekend to plan the upcoming year.  My role is leader of the Discussion Group Leaders.  So I just help the ladies, but do not actually have to lead a table this year.  I have been looking forward to the retreat for some time.  I was not going to be staying the night with the ladies because I would be bringing Micah with me all day on Saturday.  Well, on Friday at 6:16 Chris was finally able to get a hold of the Dentist that had replaced a filling earlier in the day.  This was the sixth or so time that he had been in for the filling.  It was very soft to the touch and hurt very much so he needed to get it fixed before the weekend really got started.  However, that would leave me with three kids and only 15 minutes to find someplace to take them all.  Elliana, I took to VBS (she was a little late, but still made it).  Andy, I called a neighbor and begged her to take him- he was screaming the whole time on the phone so I am sure she was really looking forward to it.  He turned out to be very well and did not cause any problems.

Micah cannot stay with anyone beside Chris or me so he came with me.  The ladies, of course, loved that and it was the first time most of them had seen him.  These ladies are so awesome!  I cannot tell you how excited I am to work with them all year and see what God is going to be doing in our lives through the MOPS ministry.  Well, Micah was not going to make it as long as I planned on staying so we headed home to put him and I to bed.  We got an early start on Saturday to make it back to the retreat for breakfast and are first meeting of the day.  Micah was so great all day!!!

Chris took Elliana and Andy to the zoo and enjoyed their time together.  We also had a couples baby shower to attend on Saturday afternoon.  I had lined up a babysitter to take over for Chris.  Apparently, it was the best baby shower ever!  I am sure it is the only one Chris and been too, but he is still sure - the best!  They played minute to win it games and had a good time.  The babysitter had few problems with Andy so we ended up texting while still in meetings to work out his dinner.  I made it back home just in time to give baths and get everyone to bed. 

Chris and I had a lot of cleaning to get started on since our social worker was coming right after church for our three month post placement.    Notice it is Saturday night and I have not stop to breath, goodness, I am tried.

Our social worker came out and asked lots of questions and watched all the kids interact.  At one point in talking about the readoption process, our sw said something about Micah moving away (as an adult) and Elliana stopped me and very nerviously asked  "Micah gets to stay forever because thats what adoption is?!"  She was getting really sad and I immediately explained that she could not take Micah away and that is not what she was saying.  I don't think the sw heard Elliana and Elliana was comforted in my answer.  Everything was great for the first hour.  After that it all fell to pieces.  Elliana had not napped and was losing it.  Crying, needed me to hold her and stop talking to this stranger in her home.  Andy through a couple of nice fits to show how he started to deal with all the changes in his life.  Micah was just as sweet as ever:).  Really, Andy had been doing pretty good until last week.  He now has a meltdown every day and needs Mom more than ever. 

Okay, so that was the weekend.  It was fun, but I do not like to go, go, go like I thought I did.  We are headed to Michigan so Micah can meet the rest of his aunts.  We will be gone for a week and a half.  Chris is really hoping it will be restful for me.  I am really hoping too, but I think I know reality:).

I have been wanted to share some neat date stuff for some time:
May 6- our first hearing                                 AND our birthmom's birthday
May 26 - Ruling for final decree                    AND  Chris' mom's birthday and the day my grandpa passed
June 7 - Final decree                                     AND  Chris' birthday
June 21 - issued final decree and GOTCHA day  AND Father's Day

God's timing in always perfect:).

The crazy life

Micah can now sit without any help from his front arms or support from me.  He can move around on the floor just about anywhere.  He can also hold himself up on all four for quite a long while.  He has started rocking and even jump forward.  The jump is pretty funny, his arms don't move forward, only his legs.  He lands in a face plant, but seems to laugh it off and try again.

To start the day, I took the kids to Entertrainment Juction to play and burn off some energy.  They had a field trip there and it was the busiest I have ever seen it.  We played for about two hours.  The kids were able to ride the Thomas train, but only after waiting in line.  They were very patient and had a good time.  We did not actually look at too much of the train display, but we have seen it many times.

We attempted to take all five out to eat for the first time.  Today is my birthday so I did not want to cook or think about what to eat.  Everyone did great!  Sometimes it is not a good idea to take a two year old out where he will have to wait to get his food, but Andy controlled himself and didn't cause any problems.  Micah sat in a high chair for the first (not at home).  In Taiwan, every restaurant ask if he could sit in one,  he would only last 30 seconds.  But tonight he made it through all of the eating time!  After dinner, we all went to the library.  I had stuff to return and Chris apparently had never been!  We showed him the videos and computer area.  Elliana and Andy are very into Signing Time videos.  They are actually pretty helpful with Andy's speech too.  He is very hard to understand and mumbles horribly.  If he knows the sign, it really helps.  His favorite sign is the color "orange". 

The number one question I get is "what is the hardest part so far?"  Really, it depends on the day.  Overall, I would say the mental exhaustion.  There is hardly any down time to think or process.  I used to be able to check email and respond any time of day.  Now I am good if I read an entire email, but don't count on a reply to fast.  If I have slept, my mental state is much better.  Strangely, it was difficult getting used to not nursing.  I will leave that at that.  When I go the the grocery store with all three, I get some pretty good looks.  Lots of comments, but mostly crazy looks!  The comments are mostly from moms thinking back to when they were in my shoes and how fast time has gone for them.

I love have three kids!  I can't imagine what life was like before each of them.  We have enjoyed each other much more.  Instead of getting together with others, we have really focused on spending time laughing and play with each other.  What a joy family is!