How It's Going

We've been home now for almost 3 weeks. It just doesn't seem like it has really been that long yet at the same time I feel that we have been home longer. The kids had their first doctor visit with their first round of immunizations and blood work. We had a lot of crying that day though later they were showing off their band aids like they were trophies. We are all adjusting to the newness of our family.

For the most part Maya is enjoying being an older sister. She loves helping Hannah Meretech get dressed in the morning and cleaning her up after meals. She loves that there are people around to play with besides Mom. Sometimes though her brother and sister don't want to do what she wants or they might be playing with her toys that she doesn't want them to play with it's at those times that she realizes that being a sister isn't always fun. I have been amazed at how well she is sharing her toys and how much responsibility she is taking on in helping with the younger kids.

We discovered that Elias is a jokester. After being home only one day he was acting dramatically when throwing away something into the stinky trash. He'll tell you his name is Mommy with a straight face then crack up. He'll pretend that he is afraid of Maya when she walks in a room and he'll hide behind me. He does have his bad moments too. It hasn't been so easy learning the rules of the house and he's been testing me to see what he can get away with. For the most part he is having fun. He loves to play outside, especially if it involves getting wet or it involves a ball. He is also really excited about learning and we are working on getting him to recognize letters, numbers, shapes and colors. He is practicing writing too and can already write his name. He should be ready for Kindergarten in a month.

Hannah Meretech is a sweet girl. She has a stubborn streak in her but mostly she is just happy to be doing whatever her big brother and sister are doing. She finally started talking (all the time) after about 2 days at home. She has a very cute little squeaky voice. She has done some testing of the limits and discovered that I don't like whining. Her manners get better every day. She is very girly in that she likes to wear dresses, have her hair done and loves babies. She had a ball playing dress-up in old costumes of Maya's. Many of Maya's hair binders end up as bracelets on her little arms.
I am enjoying getting to know the kids during my time off work. We are taking things easy for now and mostly staying around home. I did start signing kids up for fall activities. Elias will be playing soccer, Maya will be swimming and Hannah and I will go to ECFE. We are planning a short trip to visit my sister and her family next week, hopefully the kids will travel well and behave well when we get there.
Enjoy the new pictures for now.