Day to Day Life

We've been here at home with the kiddos for one full week now!  Things are going really well- not easy, but well :).  So many people ask the really important question, "How are they sleeping?"  Why is that important?  Because if they're not sleeping, neither are we.  We are blessed to have three children come from a fantastic foster home that had them on a consistent bedtime routine.  All three go to bed without too much complaining and sleep through the night easily.  In addition to that, they also take naps without question (for the most part).  It has been fairly easy to determine a daily schedule, but of course not as easy to stick to or conquer :).  The first couple of days were simply an extension of what our weekend was like when they had their first home visit- but we weren't nearly as exhausted.  Of course, I like to think that the two of us make a pretty awesome team when it comes to parenting.  As the weekend passed and the work week approached, I began thinking about what our weeks would look like when Clif went to work and I became a "stay-at-home" mom for the summer.  Yes, I have to admit, I was pretty anxious about my first day with the kiddos without Clif's help.  Our first day alone went surprisingly well...  okay, well, that's excluding the hassle of trying to lure Sampson out of the van before leaving for the park, and Brian's unfortunate potty accident at the park (let's just say that he has one less pair of underwear haha!), and our return to dirty diaper trash shredded across the floor by our dog.  Yes, other than those things, the day was surprisingly easy.  I now have a daily-ish schedule and we're rockin' and rollin' with it- for the most part, ha!

The kiddos are all adjusting so well.  Hailey (4) has called us "Mommy" and "Daddy" from the first weekend we met.  She tested limits the first couple of days she was here, but is slowly beginning to see that our "No" means no.  She is also opening up more when we have serious discussions with her about certain behaviors.  For example, the first few times I would ask her to stop doing something (minor things like "Don't slam the door") she would stand there and stare at us without saying anything.  I coached her to simply say, "Okay" and follow through.  She is doing just that now!  She is full of random "I love you"s and is so proud to be the big sister who is clean and follows rules and takes on as much responsibility as she can- like feeding the dogs.  Hailey pants is smart and catches on to things SO quickly.  She has only brought up her biological family a couple of times over the week as she is trying to figure all of this out.

Brian (3)...  oh Brian :).  If a child's attention span could be any shorter, it might be nonexistent haha!  He is energetic, FULL of love!!!, and wants to be heard.  He can move from one activity to the next in a matter of seconds and needs complete eye contact before he truly listens to what you are asking of him.  He can hear you, of course, but he definitely may not be listening.  Brian is a "momma's boy"!  And this momma LOVES it!  I'm a sucker for him :).  Today he ran up to me and said, "Wanna give you a kiss momma Casey".  :*)  UGH!!!  Does it get any better than that?!?!  He repeats everything, and I mean everything!  Sometimes he will come up to us and say, "Momma Casey/ Daddy Clif... gasdlkfjwoeijfafjd".  Nope, we don't know what he's saying either lol.  He just wants to know that we're listening.

Hayden (1) is...  there are no words to describe.  I could just eat him up!  He has been AWESOME!  He sleeps through the night and takes naps on a relatively normal schedule.  He eats, eats, and then eats some more.  He's crawling like a maniac and is SO close to walking.  His bright blue eyes stare at me just as he's falling asleep and I just can't imagine my life without him.  The past few days he's been a little cranky because he's teething :/.  But I don't care- I'll take a cranky baby any day over no baby at all.  And when he's happy, smiling, and laughing, it's all worth it.

Yes, we are EXHAUSTED!  Our bodies are definitely adjusting right now to this huge life change.  But, that's to be expected.  Not only that, we also have many things on our minds and are praying that these children stay in our lives permanently.  Just the thought of having them taken away is devastating.    So I will spend every minute cherishing them and pouring into them, even if just for a while.  Thank you, God, for these children!