Joshua's love party :)

Ok, that title sounds a bit off, but I swear it's legit! I also know that I was supposed to talk about the zoo, but I couldn't resist sharing what happened this afternoon after school. Joshua came home today and said that he wanted to have a "love party."

He "decorated"

He gave us a present--he colored penguins and made them penguins in love.

Finally, he wrote us a letter:

"I love you because you are you. You are the best, and you too Papi"

What a fabulous surprise! I know you were expecting the exciting moments of the zoo--they're coming next time.

travelling to Indiana

So, we left the courthouse, played in the fountain and then headed up to Indiana. It was a two day trip, so we stayed in a hotel and it was actually not bad. As it turns out, long road trips are made so much smoother with the addition of the portable dvd player. We have a little one that we can put into the van for long trips, but we don't have in on a regular basis. Here's the part that made it amazing: we bought headphones at the dollar store (that's a whopping $1 for each pair) and it made the van virtually silent! Of course, we were still told everything that was happening when the boys got a bit bored, but for the most part, it was a nice, quiet ride and Ben and I actually got to talk to one another a bit and listen to an audio book. Honestly, I have no idea how people survived long car trips before this--there's only so much license plate bingo that can be played before the screaming takes over!

We had a very late night when we stopped because my husband has yet to plan a road trip with 3 young boys in mind. He didn’t plan for extra chi-chi stops or long meals where we need to run off a bit of energy or quite frankly for the time it takes to get all of the junk a family of 5 needs in and out of the car or find the snacks, etc. before we get on the road again from each aforementioned stop. We planned for a slightly late but respectable 9:30 arrival into the hotel. At 12:30 we rolled in, carried in sleeping bags and boys and they crashed before changing into their jim-jams (pjs).

We got out a bit late the next morning, but rolled in to Indianapolis at about 6ish—spent much time looking for Ben’s cell phone (which he lost at some gas station between Florida and Indiana—ugh) and then headed off to a great dinner with some of Ben’s family. They had reserved the banquet space for us and we enjoyed a ridiculous amount of pizza, pop and as much running around as we could get! We owe a big thanks to Barb, Jessie, Meghan, Stephanie and Aaron who planned and executed a wonderful night for us. All we did was show up and everything was taken care of, including our children’s introduction to pop rocks. Here is a sample of a new pop rocks experience:

step one: a mouth full of pop rocks (strawberry if I'm not mistaken)

step two: "what's happening with this strange candy?"

step three: "It's like a party in my mouth!"

Samuel just laughed and laughed as he ate the rest of the pop rocks. It was truly amusing. The other boys got theirs as well, but not chronicled as well. :)

Next time on Te Quiero Hasta La Luna: Our trip to the zoo.

re-adoption

We've had a hectic summer, so I'm going to put posts in the basic order of how they happened in an effort to catch up!

First and foremost: YAY! Our children were great through the re-adoption. We were a bit worried because the boys were not happy about this whole process. We started preparing them a few weeks ago with what was happening and what they could expect. They were a bit worried that if we were adopting them again, it meant that maybe the first adoption was not official or that we weren't somehow a family. The adoption for us was a bit complicated, so it wasn't just an easy signing of paperwork. As it turns out, like with many things, preparation is key. The boys sailed through and were fantastic and even excited about it in the end. Here are some photos of the boys. Aren't they handsome? Notice that only 10 minutes later they are not exactly as put-together... :)

getting ready for the hearing... They clearly all have my flair for the dramatic!

with the judge after the hearing! YAY!

little boys to water = moths to a flame


I just love this one--my little man looks so grown up!

After the hearing, we played in the fountain and then had a celebratory lunch. We then hit the road for real and went up to Indiana to see Ben's family! We'll post all about the amazing trip soon, but for now I'm going to head to bed to get some rest.

how many things can fit down the drain???

Apparently quite a few things can fit down the average bathroom drain before the average parent notices the slow drain while helping a small child brush their teeth. When Ben finally emptied the trap under the sink it included all of the following: a penny, 2 paper clips (large), ½ of a bar of soap, a toy skateboard, mami’s hair tie (rubber band), a nail file and an old toothbrush! We were stunned not only how many things could fit down a drain, but that the drain was pretty much doing fine until the final blow (the toy skateboard). It makes us wonder what exactly they shoved down there that might have made it through the trap without getting stuck. Ah, boys! :)

Aside from cleaning out the bathroom sink, we spent some time on Saturday with another family who is on the waiting list to adopt a girl from Colombia with the agency we are going through (Children’s Hope International). We went bowling and had so much fun! They were fantastic and Joshua was particularly taken with their oldest who played with him. As soon as we were in the van, he was asking when we will see them again. What a great time!

We also spent the weekend buying up school supplies—we got everything at either Costco or Target and only laid out $65.00! That included two new snazzy lunch bags and double supplies in case they ran out (as the teachers warn us they will). If you happen to be waiting or looking for things to donate, you can’t beat the sales going on right now—we got 24 packs of crayolas and elmer’s glue for 25 cents each! We get excited about the craziest things. :) The boys are so excited about the new school. We have taken Joshua out of the local public school and put our two oldest in a small private school that focuses on positive discipline with very open and hands-on learning environments. It’s going to be a bit of a struggle financially, but the school has given them a scholarship because of the diversity they bring to the campus and the school has a lot of experience with non-traditional learning styles. Every time we drive by, we wave hello and talk about how great it will be. Joshua will be in 1st grade and Samuel is starting kindergarten, so they will be in the same school for the first time!

We're heading off to Indiana this week, so wish us luck with the trip!

i love my boys

I have been really sick this past week, we're talking unbelievably sick. On top of that my husband accidentally stepped on my ankle which twisted it and left me unable to walk and just as I was up on my feet, I was attacked by a dog. Seriously, blood, ripped clothes and all. ugh. Of course if we look at the silver lining: my boys' level of empathy has come forward by leaps and bounds.

The boys have worked diligently to take care of me in their own ways. Santiago told his brothers to "be nice to mami" because I was not surrounded by attention. Joshua has been cuddling with me on my rocking chair and Samuel has been reading to me. I especially love this because he just brings his favorite stories over and guesses at the words based on the pictures he sees. He's so creative it always makes me smile.

Ben has also worked to give me the weekend so he has taken the boys to the park and store while I was at home trying to sleep despite the horrible coughing and miserable headache, so there has been a few good days of "male bonding." The boys have had a great time with papi and we have some new pictures for the one year post-placement homestudy. My favorite is below:



It's hard to imagine that it has almost been a year with us. They have all grown so much both physically and emotionally! I can hardly believe that our boys have changed so very much:



Aren't they cute little men? It feels so strange to be able to look back like this and really think about how far we have come as a family.

We're heading up to visit Ben's family to celebrate our one year anniversary as a family in August. We'll make sure to post some pics of the whole family together!

we have a court date!

For those of you who don't know, we have been struggling to get the boys re-adopted in the US for quite some time. It is not a requirement to re-adopt in this state, so it was kind of hard to find a lawyer who specialized in re-adoption cases. But, we found an great lawyer and then focused on choosing developmentally appropriate birthdays for the boys. We then had to get all of the documentation to the lawyer so that we can finally get birth certificates. Hurray!

Summer has been a busy time for us--I am so looking forward to the beginning of school! Josua and Samuel will be starting at a new school in the fall and they are both looking forward to it. They have been having play dates with their new classmates and I will be working in Samuel's class as a class mom, so the transition should be pretty easy. Plus, it's a very small school so I think they will have the chance to really get to know their new classmates and grow up with the same people.

Josua is starting 1st grade and is learning to read and spell. He has started reading simple books and starting to spell the words he uses with us which is hilarious! He very quickly learned, "p-l-e-a-s-e" which always makes us smile. He is responding so well to the family environment, and has turned out to be the family cuddle-bug (he would not call himself that though because he is my big man).

Samuel is starting kindergarten and his favorite thing to do is his "homework" where we color and read books and he gets to go through his book with his big-boy pencil and eraser. He is so clever and is so excited about big-boy school he can hardley stand it! He's sporting his new sunglasses here--he LOVES them!

Santi will be in pre-school in the same school as last year where he is really starting to flourish. He is starting to get a handle on colors and he loves people so much that we can hardly keep him away from school. He has started announcing to anyone is hearing distance that he is Santiago and he is three years old! He doesn't know the meaning of the word shy. This is his new face when he's trying to be funny and get his brothers to laugh.

The boys are doing well. As hard as it has been over the past 11 months, the boys are responding well and we are starting to really find our way togehter as a family.

We know that we have been inaccessible to a large degree, but our beautiful boys have required an intense amount of focus. We think it has paid off--and are so thankful for all of the support, prayer and kind thoughts/words we have been receiving. As we are slowly coming out into the world agian, we are so excited to be seeing all of you and that we have such a happy family ready for the adventures of a lifetime together!

te quiero hasta la luna (I love you to the moon)

This was my favorite thing my boys used to say to me and I have to admit the one thing I miss most of their Spanish. We decided to name our blog after our favorite family saying.

We are back into blog-world, but with far less time and too much to say. We have worked so hard to keep afloat for these first few months that we had little time to do anything else. For our friends and family who have not seen much of us: please forgive us! We are re-starting a blog and promising to keep up on it so that you keep up with the regular antics of our daily lives.

Life has been tough and adjusting to a new family has been hard. It has rewarding elements, but it has been largely exhausting and emotionally taxing. We have been fortunate that my mother has been visiting regularly or the house would rarely get cleaned (she goes straight for the bleach and the shower stalls). The boys have had a bit of a rough adjustment too, but seem to be doing quite well and are happy. We laughed out loud the other day when Josua announced that he wanted to go to a "nice" family when we made him put his clothes in the dresser. We decided this was the ultimate proof of a settled and adjusted child--for the first time, he is not afraid that he might be taken away to an unfamiliar place and a new family. Of course a few minutes later he decided we were a nice family (probably because he wanted a piggyback ride from Papi).

The boys are settling down and now we are starting to remember more and more of their pasts and are learning coping skills, so life is getting a bit more complicated as we learn to navigate these memories, but easier as the boys are working to make sense of it all. We have also had to get deeply creative in our approach to discipline. Recently we introduced the "no touching" gloves--an set of bright orange gloves for dishes and cleaning and the like. We put them on Samuel for 30 minutes whenever he touches something he has been forbidden to touch. We had to figure something out when he walked into a store, ran for the first unstaffed cash register and began pushing every button on the thing. ugh. Good news is that he has been responding well. I think it's some combination of the visual cue to remind him not to touch as well how much he hates losing the tactile sensation. That coupled with adding in some tactile fun (corn starch and water makes a lovely gooey mess that he is particularly fond of) has at least started him thinking about touching everything, so that's nice.

Santiago is still our sweet little jekyll and hyde: often our precious Santi, but with no warning or pattern whatsoever becomes our Iago. Goodness--he is stubborn to a degree I didn't think was possible. Aside from that, he is doing well. All the boys were tested for their developmental level throughout the year to track progress and try to establish firm ages. Santi tested, for the most part, at his appropriate age level of 40 months with one notable exception: our little charmer tested at over 60 months for social skills! We laughed so hard--of course his talent lies in his social skills :)

We are all doing well and working to keep cool and busy over the summer. We'll try to keep blogging not only for our friends and family, but also because we enjoy reading so many other blogs that helped us get through these tough first months. Until next time. . .