Friday, October 31, 2008

In Case You Were Wondering

...Men CAN multi-task.

Case in point - notice the house cleaning while babysitting.
Poor PD, we're still working on 'proper' babysitting behaviors.
The funny part about this is that when PD starting vacuuming, Abigail got in front of him so he couldn't move and when he stopped she climbed on and wouldn't let go. Is that a sign she'll love to clean house when she gets older - doing some wishful thinking!!! :-)



And who says homeschooling can't be fun. You know a little math, a little english, a nature walk where we explore leaves and find the biggest one ~ it's all good! Abigail loves leaves so much. We have to find them whenever we go outside.


And yes, babies can wrestle - 2 points takedown Abigail, looks like you have TanTan right where you need him.


YES, I am Pretty in Pink!!!


Wow, if I keep up at this pace you'll have a post (guaranteed) once a week. How lame is that. Still trying to figure out this thing called "Life with a One Year Old, 2 Teenage boys, 1 Pre-teen son, a dog (who loves the attention and is needing more of it since little Miss A showed up) and don't forget the most wonderful Husband ever!!!" Now, if there weren't such things as colds, infections, the crud we'd all be in better shape.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Just Because


Wanta smooch?

Big brother's idea of babysitting - so how's that working out for you PD?? I guess he figures she needs to get started on the Guitar Hero now so she can whip her big bro's booties later!




Now that looks a little more like babysitting a 1 year old!


No, she's not pulling his hair - Daddy's just really ecstatic about taking a picture!



I'm just way too cute for my own good.


Okay big brothers, I'm almost ready to paintball:
Goggles - check
mask - still working on it (not to mention the fact that I can't stand a hat on my head)
paintball gun - is it pink? and does it say "Princess wand of goodness" on the side



And YES, I am a hug waiting to happen!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

If only...

It wouldn't be LIFE WITH ABIGAIL without cute pictures...

Loving my food


Boy do I love to go for a stroller ride


Did I tell you how much I love to go for a stroller ride?


Mommy rubbing the gums for those aching molars!

****************************************************************

If only...

* there were more hours in the day
* I had more hands, arms, legs, ears, etc to handle the many "mom" demands
* there weren't horrible respiratory colds
* there were a blogger nanny who would post daily for me
* dishes, laundry. vacuuming did it by themselves
* ways to understand 1 year old baby-ese
* there were a never ending kleenex box (gone through my fair share this week)
* there were a book titled "What to expect now that you're home with your newly internationally adopted child..."
* my cup of tea stayed hotter longer
* there wasn't any whining
* there weren't dogs who piddle on your sons sleeping bag
* the road through this new phase of mommy-hood wasn't so challenging
* adjustment & bonding were so much simpler
* if only
* if only
* if only

Life has taken me by storm these days! Most days I don't even know what day it is (thank goodness for teen-age boys to set you straight). The transition has been slow and hard. I'm just trying to figure out what my new role of Mommy looks like.

Thanks for hanging in there!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

{{{...sigh...}}}

To all of our blogger friends and family ~ WELCOME to Life with Abigail!~ We are so glad you have joined us. We hope you enjoy your time here.


~ ~ CAUTION: consider yourself warned. The remaining blog entry may get long, lengthy, wordy, menotenous, boring... If you've ever been in a situation where you spent all day without any adult contact and the moment your husband (loved one) arrives home, you have to expend all of your 25,000 words all at one time? Need I say more!


Well, the title of this post about sums it up! And to think I didn't get anything done before - whatever was I thinking.

I actually had the thought this evening that I really should have savored the time I had "pre-Abigail" as I certainly don't have it now. After all, what was I thinking! I mean really a 1 year old at 40 - sheesh!

If you haven't already gotten the hint - I don't get a whole lot done during the day with a new baby in the house. The boys have been adjusting to homeschooling the best that they can. Classes for them began (well technically while we were in China) just 4 days after returning home and thus did the "school work". Never mind the jet lag for the boys, it just wasn't scheduled into their daily agenda. They didn't have the time for it, so therefore we told them it didn't exist. YEAH RIGHT! Actually for them, the jet lag did not hit them until they'd been home about 6 days. Then came the sleeping long hours and multiple episodes of yawning during the mid-day.


Nonetheless, it appears that we have all recovered from our jet lag from China. Now, it's just called "BSDD - baby sleep deprivation disorder" (I know there are many alternative acronyms you could put to these)! I've been hearing many families from around the country are suffering from this, so I don't think it will be long before the American Medical Association will assign it its own ICD9 code so Dr.'s can adequately prescribe relief for these said families.

On the sleeping front, we are working hard to establish good sleep patterns for Abigail. Many of you remember while we were in China, when Abigail napped it would be no more than 1 hour at a time and usually on either mine or Brian's shoulder. Once we motioned to lay her down in her crib, she'd arouse and end up crying for who knows how long. Well, that pattern continued during our early days at home, until I got smarter than the baby! (love the use of english??) We were very careful (as well as concerned) to try and not administer any routines/patterns that Abigail may have had during her time in the orphanage, therefore I was not in favor of placing her in her crib awake so she could quiet herself to sleep. She'd lived 11.5 months never having been rocked to sleep, sung to sleep, cuddled to sleep, I sure as heck wasn't going to let her go 1 day without feeling the closeness of us who loved her. So, we rocked, hugged, kissed, sung her to sleep each day/night only to have her stir when we layed her down and awake not long after that. I decided (after the wisdom & advice from one who'd been there, done that before-thanks TB) that I would lay her down in her crib while she was still awake and let her 'work it out' (so to speak). Lo and behold, it worked. The routine is the same each time : hug her, tell her I love her, say a little prayer, tell her it's time for ni-night and leave the room. Yes, she usually crys, but never for more than a few minutes. At least I don't let her go longer than that. If she sounds like she's really upset, I don't leave her in her crib (as that would be a pattern of care in the orphanage). Most often though, she will "whine, fuss" and then settle down and go to sleep. And bedtimes, she'll go almost 9 hours, sometimes more - which is good news for the mommy! :-)

Mealtimes are going great too. She loves food! But not too much. She's very "vocal" when she's done eating and would prefer not to sit in her chair a minute longer than she has too.

She loves her Daddy! ALOT!!! She would rather be in his arms than anyone elses, but Mom does in a pinch when Daddy's not around.

She doesn't like her car seat - after all why would she when she can sit in the front seat of a car (taxi to be exact) on Mommy's lap with only a mere seatbelt?Ahhh, Chinese transportation.

She loves her big brothers! Gets a smile on her face everytime they enter the room. Little do they know she's already working her magic of getting them wrapped around her little finger (not to mention the Daddy as well).

Ninja training is going well (as you can see from the photo below). She is picking up really quickly the "army crawl over various terrain" technique. We'll soon move to the nunchuks, ninja stars and training swords. Noah is convinced that because she is "Chinese" she has natural 'Kung Fu Ninja Skills'. We just smile and nod!


Fall weather is in full swing here in Washington and winter is right around the corner. The days are crisp, the leaves are falling, rain is imminent. As you can see, she's ready for it!



She's learning how to blow kisses - though most of them are wet!



She also is learning how to gag herself - not a trait we are proud of. Not sure if it's a game to her or a really weird new sensation but she'll look like she's going to cough and then gag herself. Only a few times has she thrown up because of it. Most of the time I put my hand over her mouth and say, "No you don't!"



She's becoming a ferocious reader (as you can see from the photo below). And she loves her new chair. Can I tell you how much Mommy and Daddy LOVE her new chair!?!?!



Oh yeah, I almost forgot - TEETH. Yes she has them. 10 to be exact. She had 8 when we got her in China and has since had 2 more break through the gums, molars to be exact. Needless to say the crankiness has a reason, at least for a while.

So...I think that about catches you all up with what's happening. We continue to adjust, bond, get acclamated to each other. Home, even through the chaos is beginning to feel more like home. We are each and every day more and more becoming the family of 6 that God intended us to be.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Goin' Private!!!

We're Happy!



We're Ecstatic!!!




We're Thrilled!!!


We're Overjoyed!!!


We are beside ourselves that you have chosen to pop in and see us this morning (thanks for visiting).

As the title says...We are going private on our blog. Why (you may be asking)?!? Truthfully, so as to protect the privacy of our family. Yes, up to this point we have posted pictures, etc, but we've been careful about what photos we've posted and the detail that goes with it. We are at the point now where we'd like to monitor the "viewing" of our blog a little more closely.

So...what does that mean for you? Basically, if you want to continue as a reader/commenter, please send me an email privately (ruth(AT)thinkfluidly.com) and I will add you to the approved list of readers. I will be changing the status of the blog in one week (October 8th) so get your name on the list before time runs out.

Have a Happy Day.