Home for a month

Hi,

It's been so long since I posted and so much has happened I don't know where to begin. We've been home for a little over a month. It is amazing how far Halle has come. She is starting to settle into a semi routine sleep wise. She is only taking one nap a day for a little over an hour. When I'm lucky and catch her right when she is waking up I can usually rock her back to sleep for about half an hour more. Luckily she has an early bed time. We get in the "tub tub" around 7:15 and she is usually asleep by 8:00. We've started with a lotion rub down after her bath due to her very dry skin. She seems to really enjoy that and her skin seems much better.

We went to Children's International Adoption Clinic on Friday and Monday. So far she has gotten great reports. We met with a doctor, nutritionist, physical therapist, audiologist, psychologist and had blood drawn and gave 2 lovely stool samples. All the doctors think she is doing great. I have to agree. Her vocabulary is increasing daily. But what amazes me is how much she comprehends.
Last week was a struggle. Paul's first week back to work and I had a big work project and a sweats order. Grandma Sue came for a few days to help out. She and Halle did great for the first hour or so and then she only wanted Mommy. I'm finally becoming the preferred one although whenever Sami or Paul spend time with her it's all them - love the one your with is her philosophy. It was a struggle to try to get all the work done. Luckily I had a very understanding client and a great big kid. Sami gets home from school a little after 1:00. I don't know what I'd do without her help! Everyone said that sometimes "the wait" was because the perfect child wasn't ready for our family yet. While I tend to agree that Halle is the perfect child for us, what I think now is that the wait was necessary for Sami & Jacob to grow up. If we would have gotten Halle 3 years ago Sami & Jake would be 3 years younger and in much more need of mommy time. They wouldn't have gone with us to China which would have been a travesty. I keep saying it was an amazing adventure but that of course is an understatement. It is hard to describe it. Now it seems almost like a dream. I feel bad that I'm not spending as much time with the big kids but Halle takes up so much time. I get to see Sami more because she is home more in the afternoon. It's Jacob that I worry about most. We talked briefly about it the other day but I'm sure he feels left out. Hopefully we can have some good quality family time together over Christmas break.

Jacob has his first basketball game on Saturday. He is playing in the community recreation league. It seems funny that both kids aren't at basketball practice and/or games every day. It has been great for me that it means I'm not running every where every day with Halle in tow but we do miss the games, especially Paul. Jacob is also playing on a club volleyball team. They practice twice a week and have tournaments. I think that will be kicking into full swing in January. Sami has her soccer practice twice a week and she is hopeful to play on an indoor team in January. I think January is going to be a blur.

We had a very nice visit with Paul's sister and nephew and his family (Linda, Johnny, Erin and Lauren). Lauren just turned one year old last month. Halle was definitely territorial with her toys, especially the stuffed dog they brought her. She put all of her toy's on her lap or behind me. When the baby came near she would cry and try to gather all the toys. I'm guessing she had to fight for what was hers in the orphanage. That makes me so sad to think about. By the end of the visit she was offering her toys to Lauren so it seems she is starting to understand the sharing phenomena.

Last weekend we went to Westlake for Christmas with my whole family. My dad and step mom flew up from Florida for the gathering so almost all the gang was there. The only one missing was my nephew Gary who lives in California. I think that made 27 in total. It was a nice chance for most of my family to met Halle. We had planned for her to nap on the trip up. Unfortunately she had other plans and decided to fall asleep 2 minutes from home when she was coming home from shopping with Paul & Sami. We couldn't wake her up until just before we left. She did pretty well on the trip, just a few minutes of all out screaming. Paul has taught her that gummy bears come out of her ear and that seems to be her best treat that helps settle her down. Halle did amazingly well considering so many new faces were so eager to meet her. She had a good time rolling around the floor with her cousin Blake that had just turned 10 the day before. She loved the swimming pool. It was so warm that I even got in and enjoyed it. Halle had fun swimming with many of the teenage cousins.

It has been an incredible month. Never a dull moment in our household any more and I wouldn't change a thing! I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful family.