Flooding

The title has nothing to do with the weather - in fact right now we have a ton of snow - but rather with the state of Little M's pants. Take a look!

He has been wearing 12 month pants and 24 month tops since we came home but just a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that his pants were getting too short. Normally this would bring dread to a mom who either had to go out and buy more cloths or dig through the closets for the next size, but this was big news in our house, Little M is growing! We were at the doctors last week and he has gained 4 pounds and grown 0.75" since we came home, that is wonderful.

We also got our first post placement visit under our belts this past weekend - that was nice too. We are finally getting around to completing the remaining of the paperwork that we have left to do. I so dreaded the paperwork from the months prior to the adoption that it took 3 months to bring myself to working on it, and the only reason I did was because we needed to get his SSN. 

It is unbelievable how much his speech is improving! He is now using 3 word sentences that I can understand. I am just so amazed at this, I could not even come close to learning the equal amount of Russian in the same period of time.

We have our ups and downs as most do but we had a big turn for the down last week. Normally. when there is something that M is doing that he will just not stop doing, he gets taken to his time out spot. It is a spot in the kitchen, where I spend most of my time it seems. In the past, he would just cry, we would have a little talk and he would say he was sorry( in his own way) and life would go on. Well, last week, he started with what I would call little fits. There is yelling of "NO", he will not walk to the time out spot but just fall to the floor and start tossing his hands all over the place. And then then there is the all out, toss your body on the floor , literally kicking and screaming(well more like yelling) - I almost had to laugh at that one because it was typically a 2 year old. And then biting has begun to rear it's ugly head.

So there it goes,  but I do feel like we make 2 steps forward and 1 step back and not 1 step forward and 2 steps back  - so hey, there is progress. 

I have to say that all this, along with the issues of the other three kids(yes they have issues too), had me really at my wits end - feeling like I was such a failure as a mom and every other negative thought that come through my mind. But then I got to get together with my friend Phyllis and oh what a difference that made. THANKS PHYLLIS! I got out of the house, away from everyone and got to talk with an adopted mom who know all of what I was going through. I came home and felt great and was like a new person the next day. So for all you moms that are wondering how you are going to do it - take a break, get away from it all, force yourself to do it. Yes, you will be returning home to all the same problems, but with a new strength.

Packing Up Christmas

Finally we have gotten around to packing up our Christmas decorations and I had to post a few pictures of the two items that M thought were the "torture" decorations.
First is our "Singing Santa" that goes on our tree and says "HOHOHOHO". Well when introduced to this ornament this was M's reaction:

But when I began to pack things away, He had to say one last goodbye:

The other scary toy was our singing snowmen. I really thought that he would loves these since he loves music so much, but I was wrong. It took several days for him to start liking them but soon, he would be asking to turn them on.

This week was a major one for little M because we had decided that we were going to have him circumcised. Yea, I know that it was not necessary, but with two older brothers and the giggles that were already occurring, and we figured in the long run, it would be best. I have to say that he was a real trooper. After the surgery, he did cry almost constantly until I was able to get some food in his stomach, it had been 15 hours since he had eaten, and after that he was back to normal. He had a little pain medication that day but you would never know that he had been through surgery.

Right before Christmas, I mentioned that M was starting to speak in sentences, at least long strands of "M" words. Well that is about all he is doing now. In fact, after the surgery, he was talking through his version of what happened and I could actually understand him(with the help of motions). It was so cute to see his version of things. In his explanation he kept saying Ho Ho Ho, and then I finally realized that someone in the operating room must have had a beard(like santa). It was a great feeling to understand what he is saying. This week, we meet with the school system to get things moving on getting M into speech therapy. 

I will leave you with my picture of the week of M:

A Sad Beginning to 2009

I mentioned in my previous posts that things were very stressful after our return from Russia. It was not just the adjustment to having a new member of our family (which is a big stressor on its own) but the week after we got home, Russ's mom got sick. Soon we found out that she had an inoperable brain tumor that was quite large. So on Jan 2nd, after 2 months of a good fight, my sweet mother-in-law left to be with our wonderful Savior. She was no typical mother-in-law and there is nothing that I have to say about her but praise. I have learned a lot from her over the years and was always amazed at how patient she could be with others. Fortunately she was able to meet our little M and see him full of energy running around her house. We even have a picture of her smiling as little M is screaming in the background because he did not want to be held. Oh how she loved kids and Little M completed her dozen grandchildren. She will be sadly missed but I can not help but smile as I imagine her with her new body in the presence of our glorious Savior. Twice in our family we have brought a new child into our family at the same time we have mourned the passing of a sister and now a mother - it makes the new child just that much more special.

Glory be to God