{{{...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.