Continuing Acclimation 1.0

We are into our second month of life with these two newest cherubs.  However, we have just hit the one month home mark.  I have to remind myself of this... OFTEN!  It is a bit crazy around here at times.  Life is a bit "upside down" feeling when you find your four year olds explaining life and the "Anderson Way" to your seven and eight year olds. :)  

So far, we have had doctor appointments, settled into a summer routine (of sorts), and have begun to tackle figuring out more space for our expanded family.  Both kiddos have received pretty good results from their initial checkups.  However, with older children that can't explain or understand instructions, it is difficult to really get a good idea of their needs and how to provide the best help.  We will schedule physical therapy for both, Greyson could DEFINITELY use some strength and balance!  We have a prescription for AFOs for Kristyn.  I need to schedule an eye exam for Kristyn also.  She has very little, if any, sight out of her right eye.  We are thinking there may be limitations in the left eye.  We need to get this sweetie some visual help soon.

We are all settling into a sleep schedule and a pretty relaxed summer.  To keep things interesting, we are checking out different options for expanding our living space (buying, adding on, or building).  None of these may pan out, but we were getting bored with nothing to do. Ha ha! ;)

Our newest two continue to jabber on in Chinese during most of the day.  Kristyn is trying out more English than Greyson and both use a very few common phrases to ask for things.  They love to laugh and play.  They don't let the language barrier stand in the way of play and pretend with their brothers and sisters.  They love to be outdoors!

Their Certificates of Citizenship came in the mail today!!  So they are REALLY official and we can file for all of the rest of the necessary paperwork.

One Month with the Newest Andersons

Can you believe we have had Kristyn and Greyson for a month already?  Time really flies when you are having fun!  Wait, are we having fun?

This involves a complex answer.  There are so many adjustments, changes, and growing pains.  We are beginning to find our "new normal".  However, we have a lot to learn about parenting such a large family.  Grocery shopping, meal prep, laundry, showers, dishes, etc all take on a completely different feel.  Imagine you are getting ready for a kiddo's birthday party.  You shop for all of the food you are going to need and then set up the seating for all of those cherubs.  You spend all day making a meal and wishing you had just ordered pizza (when you do, it takes quite a few pizzas).  Finally, you wrangle them all to the table only to realize it is impossible to serve them all in any timely fashion.  You breathe a sigh of relief when the meal is done, because you made it.  Now there is a tower of dishes to tackle.  When you finally get through with them, you turn your attention to the small tornado that ran right through your living room, upstairs to the bedrooms, and finished up in the basement.  The crazy part is this happens at least three times a day at our house and then there is the laundry and showers and potty training and...  

 
I love ALMOST every minute of it!!  I really do!!  I am so thankful that God timed this whole journey so that I could have my entire summer to figure this out and enjoy these kiddos.  Mark and I are constantly catching each others' eyes and giving that "can you believe they are all ours" expression.  :)  It's kind of a "take your breath away" when we unload the van at a store.  It's so interesting to see who decides to play with whom, what games they make up to play together, and how different kiddos step up and really help out.

Now, we have our growing pains too.  We had it mostly "figured out" before the newest two joined us.  There are those instances when Kristyn or Greyson don't seem to understand the "Anderson way", or the appropriate way to respond or act in a given situation.  There are some "rough edges" that occur from spending 6 or more years in an institution where you never learned what being part of a family means.  Neither child really speaks English yet, they spend most of their day talking in Chinese.  We take them to new places and they have to figure out the appropriate way to act and generally don't understand anything that is going on.

However, there are those moments (and they become more and more frequent) that we live for.  The times that we get hugs and kisses.  The unsolicited "I lub you, Wo Ai Ni".  The huge smile and laughter that comes from realizing that they have a brother or sister that truly cares about them and wants to play with them.  Walking in on them holding the blanket up tight to their chin, snuggled in bed with a sibling watching a movie, and realizing that they can just lay there and relax, because this is permanent.  This is their FOREVER family!!

Yup, it's the hardest, most precious time of our lives!!

It's FINALLY Summer!!

I finally finished my last day of the school year!  I can't wait to get up tomorrow with the knowledge that my WHOLE day gets to be spent with family!  Greyson and Kristyn are really doing very well with bonding and attaching, but I need a lot more time to evaluate their abilities.  

Kristyn loves to pose

Greyson trying out his first writing skills

Kristyn tries out new words and knows our names.  Greyson tries a few words.  They still use mostly Chinese.  These are the first kiddos that have someone else in the house that speaks Chinese.  It appears that this might slow down the speed with which they learn English.  This causes some issues with communication.  However, there is something called subtractive language (when an ESL child loses their native language before learning the new language) and this can cause learning issues.  I worry most about Greyson. I am hoping this gradual switch to English may actually help him in the long run.  

Greyson LOVES milk!!

Fried rice was a hit!

The newest kiddos are generally very happy.  They love all of the toys, time outdoors, and experiences.  Everything is new.  Most of our previous adoptions were of younger children.  Meilynn was in a foster-like situation, so household chores were not anything new to her.  Greyson and Kristyn spend a lot of time following me around and trying to figure out what I am doing with laundry and cooking. 
 

So excited to have "new" things to play with

Yes, I can run and play in a skirt (never got to dress up before)!

Everybody having fun

First kiddo to actually like the grass

Wonder who he is calling?

LOVES to laugh!

Cuddly girl!

WOW!  That's a lot of kids!

Please continue to pray for our family as we try to find our "new normal" and all of the kiddos rediscover their "place" among their siblings.  We need extra prayer for our sweet Greyson.  He is a true mystery.  It appears that he has significant delays.   We are having a really difficult time determining how much is due to 7 years in an institution where he was dismissed as incapable of learning and to what extent there is a true cognitive delay.  This is where the communication breakdown is very taxing, but again, in the long run it is probably for the better that it is a gradual change.