Update

Things are going well around here.  We're adjusting to live with 4 children.  It's complete chaos most of the time.  And bedtime is a nice reprieve.  We're still in survival mode and will be for a while.  Friends keep bringing meals which has been AMAZING and we have 2-3 weeks worth of meals in the freezer from friends and family, so that has helped tremendously.

I'll update kid by kid so you get an idea of what's happening around here.

Agnes is adjusting quite well.  We know she had some behavior challenges in her previous home.  We also know many of them stemmed from not listening/obeying.  Sure, she has trouble listening and obeying often.  However, so does Anna.  We're not finding it to be more of a challenge than we expected.  She's 3.  3 year olds don't generally listen and obey right away every time.  So a lot of my day is spent reminding her of instructions.  Reminding her of appropriate behaviors.  Reminding her to use her inside voice. Praising those who are listening and obeying right away so that she catches on.  Well, pretty much sounds like when I worked in a 3 year old room at the day care, nothing too out of the ordinary for that age group.  She is very attention seeking, so we've carved out some times where she gets 1 on 1 attention each day.  That's helped a lot.  And we're reminding her a lot to only worry about herself, not what others are doing/saying/getting, etc...  She asks about a billion questions a day and we're learning quickly when she's actually being curious (we answer those, no problem) and when she's just trying to get attention (and then we generally try to redirect or remind her that it's not an appropriate time to ask those questions).  Overall, she's a very smart girl and she loves to color, draw, play, read, and hang out with Anna.  She's very sweet and loving and she makes us smile and laugh a lot.  She's incredibly interested in all things God/Church, and since we're starting from scratch in that area, it's been interesting to come up with answers for everything...  She's really excited to be named after Mother Teresa and she reminds me constantly that "Mother Resa's praying for me!  That I be good and listen and have fun and listen!"  (Can you tell we stress the listening part around here?)  She started preschool and really loves it.  I think it's been good for her to have that time away from the other three to do "older kid stuff" and I know it's been good for Anna in particular to have some of the extra attention back on her for those 4 hours a week. 

Anna is having the most challenging time adjusting.  Just as most 2 1/2 year olds do when siblings are introduced to the family, regardless of their ages.  She's trying to find where she fits in all of this.  She's having a LOT of meltdowns, tantrums, whatever you want to call them.  She's an emotional child to begin with and it's been magnified by about 100 in the last few weeks.  We're working on reminding her of good ways to get attention and also carving out 1 on 1 time with her too.  She loves Agnes in particular and they were fast friends.  They can play together for a very long time with minimal fights over toys.  Anna's vocabulary has gone through the roof with a 3 year old in the house and she's cracking us up with the things she says.  I think in a few weeks her emotions will calm down a bit and she'll be a little less dramatic.  She's always had a drama side, so I know it won't go away, but maybe less would be nice.  She's adjusting fine overall, nothing we didn't expect.  She loves sharing a room now and is doing much better falling asleep than she was at first.  She too makes us laugh a thousand times a day.  She's the cutest, sweetest little girl I've ever seen and many times a day I find myself giving her a big hug cause she's so darn cute, despite her tantrums.

Anthony's pretty much the same happy Anthony.  He thinks having two new sisters is like winning the lottery.  Mya in particular.  When he wakes up, he asks for Mya instantly.  He's still happy all the time.  And he's finally walking full time.  I've never seen a cuter walker.  Seriously adorable.  He talks nonstop and is recently obsessed with buses.  It's like Christmas when there's a school bus outside!  He couldn't be friendlier and he attracts a crowd everywhere he goes.  He hasn't even noticed the transition, and frankly, I don't know that he ever will.  The child's as chill as you can get.  What a beautiful reprieve from all of these drama filled girls!  I daily thank God for the blessing of my calm Anthony and the patience he brings out of me.

Finally, Mya.  She has definitely transitioned well.  Although we figured she would, being so young.  This little lady is a challenge though, let me tell you.  She is a toddler for sure.  She's into everything.  I was fairly confident that after 2 toddlers, our house was baby-proofed.  She's proving me wrong each and every day.  She climbs.  We joke that she's our little spiderman.  I catch her standing on the kitchen table or sitting on top of the changing table.  Or trying to yank our curtains down or scaling baby gates, etc...  There's not a challenge she won't accept.  She reminds me a lot of Anna... Not sure I'm ready for that.  She's also incredibly sweet and she loves her sisters and brother.  She kisses and hugs a lot.  She's very quiet most of the time (and sneaky!!!) but all of the sudden she'll say, "I love you mommy!" in the clearest voice you've ever heard.  The words are there, she just doesn't choose to speak much.  She's a rock star of a sleeper.  Wow, I thought Anna and Anthony were good sleepers.  They don't even come close.  She falls asleep (after begging to go nighnight) in seconds.  I literally lay her down and she's out.  It's amazing.  And we almost always have to wake her up in the morning.  She takes 3+ hour naps every afternoon, going down just as easily.  It's a dream.  She's sassy and fun and wildly entertaining and we joke that she leaves a path of destruction everywhere she goes.  She can destroy a room in seconds.  It's exhausting and wonderful all at the same time.

So there you have it.  They're all doing well, with Anna being our biggest challenge.  But then again, what's new?  I'm hoping that our diligence with behaviors now stifles any behaviors that Agnes may throw at us later.  We're being 100% consistent with all the kids at all times to show her and the other three that she won't get away with anything.  And we're giving out lots of hugs and reading tons and tons of books.  I'm cleaning up lots of dishes and seeing all those kid plates makes my heart happy.  When we walk up to go to bed in the evening, we both just stare at the 3 closed doors and smile.  What a blessing to have all of those bedrooms full of sleeping babies.  We thank God for these beautiful blessings and we look forward to the future with them.