1 week home

  I've had lots of people ask me how the adjustment is going. We have been home a full week now (which is hard to believe) and I can say it's going better than we expected. I had read a lot of books and was prepared for the worst case scenario. God had really prepared my heart for the initial hesitation she might feel towards us. She still has her moments where she will just get sad all of the sudden and cry but those times are getting less and less. She has good days and bad days. Some days she is smiley and laughing all day and some days she will cry for hours and we have no idea why. God is good though and at the end of those long days with lots of crying there is usually a redemptive moment where clarity seems to come and we remember what a beautiful thing God is doing in our family. She definitely doesn't like to be told no but what 2 year old does like to be told no. :) Telling her no usually sets off at least 15 minutes of crying which makes it tempting to just let things slide but that wouldn't work for long. We try to remember that she is still a 2 year old who is going to test limits even in the midst of all of her changes. If we don't lovingly set limits now it will be that much harder later.
  Of course, we are all adjusting to life as a family of 5 just as we would even with a newborn. Our little girl is adjusting well. She has done amazing blending with our family and sometimes it feels like she has always been with us. Then there are other times when she will look at me very confused and I remember she is new to this whole American family thing. She is understanding pretty much everything we say now. She is picking up some English words. She can say dog, stop (thanks to her sister), mom, dad, no, and ball. She copies everything we do. It's so cute to watch her try to position her arms exactly like mine are when I'm sitting or like one of her siblings. It's fun to watch her try to figure us out and it reminds me that she is trying to figure us out just as much as we are trying to figure her out. Gavin went back to school yesterday for the first time since we've been home. I have always wished I could homeschool and maybe someday I will but for now we are very blessed to be able to send him to a Christian school very close to the house where his dad, grandparents, uncle, and cousins are all in the same building. It was really cute when we picked him up from school and Kannika was a little overwhelmed by how many kids there were. Then she recognized Gavin and her whole face lit up. She ran to him and hugged him. I love those moments.
  I am so thankful for the moments God gives when I can see Him. Today was one of the harder days and on the drive home from taking the big kids to Awana at church the sunset was just beautiful. It just reminded that God is amazing. He paints the sky and He can handle our hard days. The day was still hard and nothing changed that but God used that sunset to change me. My constant prayer lately has been God help me to love my children (all 3) like you love me.