Updates

Lots going on, little time to sit down and type it all out!  But I'm trying to make time, if nothing else so I can journal our lives in this crazy time!  So bullet points it is for now!

1) We got Anna's ears pierced tonight!  We noticed that Agnes and Mya had theirs pierced and just this week, I got around to putting earrings in their ears.  Since then it's all Anna can talk about.  She so badly wanted "pretties" in her ears and she was constantly asking me to "get Anna's ears pinched!"  So we thought we could treat her since she's been through a lot of change in the last month and she seemed to have no issues with the fact that it might hurt.  Let me tell you, that girl is tough!  She didn't cry or even flinch.  I had my phone out for her to play with and frankly, she was totally focused on that.  As long as the lady wasn't interfering with her phone playing, she was fine.  She picked out some cute start earrings to put in and she can't stop talking about her "pinched ears".  Agnes is excited for her, she keeps saying that now all the girls have earrings in! 

2) A few people asked how the name change is going for Agnes.  We haven't actually started calling her that yet.  It's a violation of our foster care license to call them anything but their legal names without consent from their case worker.  We see her on Wednesday, so we'll ask then.  But we've talked about it with Agnes and she's excited.  We tied it in with her Baptism, since we'll baptize her as Agnes.  She talks about it all the time and asks us to call her Agnes.

3) Speaking of Baptisms, they're being baptized on Saturday!  They're really excited, both are particularly excited to wear the pretty white dresses.  It will be a really wonderful day!

4) When they're case worker comes Wednesday, we're signing the "Commitment to Permanency" paperwork.  Basically, we're putting in writing what we've known all along.  They're ours and they're here to stay.  We're stressing this with Agnes as she's very leery of anyone sticking with her.  In her experience, just when she starts to trust people, she gets sent away.  We're being very clear about our intentions of adopting her and this being her forever home.

5) We got some snow last week!  It seems so early for winter weather, but already I've gotten quick at putting coats on/taking them off in the car and getting kids in and out of places all bundled up. It wasn't much snow, but the kids loved it anyway and can't stop talking about it!

5) This little lady is quite the handfull around here!  Toddler doesn't even begin to describe her!  She's IN TO EVERYTHING!  And climbs, oh my does she climb!  Such a change from my lazy son....  But isn't she just so sweet?  We call her "destructogirl" or sometimes just "the bull".  She's stubborn and destructive and we love her to pieces.  But man does she make me want to sit on the couch by the end of the night!

6) This little guy cracks us up.  He knows how to run the dishwasher and does so 3-4 times a day.  I've gotten quick at the "reset" button and Jeremy and I are constantly asking each other if we ran it or if he did.  And when we're loading it, he likes to lay under it like a mechanic...

7) These two are best buds.  And they're double trouble.  So goofy!  Here they were making my parents an anniversary card and Agnes kept exclaiming "Happy University grandma and grandpa!"

8) Hair.  Oh my!  All that hair!  Today was a hair day, so we basically spent all day in front of the TV (luckily it only happens once every few weeks!).  A and M are getting better about sitting still and letting me do it.  Although Mya still thinks the comb is equivalent to a razor coming at her head.  They look pretty cute with their beads.  And I can't believe how long Anna's hair has gotten!  That girl has A LOT of hair!

 

9) Things are crazy around here.  We're pretty settled into a good routine and the kids are being really good.  There are certainly challenges each and every day but overall everyone's adjusted well and it feels like we've been a family of 6 for forever!  I'm still trying to figure out how to keep up with housework with 4 young ones underfoot, but it takes time. 

10)  We're so very thankful for the gift of our children.  We are excited for lots of family to meet them this weekend, especially my brother in law and his new fiance!  And we're thankful we get to have them baptized so soon!  We just feel so blessed by our four beautiful children.  It's more than we could've ever asked for.  I go to bed each night thanking God that this is my life.