It's Been a Busy Six Weeks

We arrived home from China 6 weeks ago today. It is strange to think we have known Hadley for less than 8 weeks. She fits into our family really well and her older sisters are absolutely in love with her. The last few weeks have been busy with kid's birthday parties, play dates, ear infections and a brief stomach flu outbreak that hit our house. Add in the day to day distractions and messes that happen with three little kids and we are ready for winter to be over and to get outside and enjoy some room to run and fresh air. There was a couple of warm days that teased us last week but we are back to the bitter cold and there is a winter storm warning for this coming weekend.

Biker chick!

Swinging in the basement

Hadley finally got brave enough to climb into the ball pit and loves it. It is one of her favorites places to play in the basement.

I made sensory boxes for the girls. This is usually what ends up happening. Unfortunately I did not get a picture the day our two year old Isla was standing on a chair, throwing handfuls of rice out of my colored rice sensory box all over the room... totally naked!

Enjoying our play date at the Louisville Science Center with buddies Cole and Kaden. We were shocked that we were able to get all five kids in one picture!

Isla driving the bus at the science center.

Isla's passenger in the back of the bus. The "Wheels on the Bus"song was playing so Hadley was standing there dancing.

Sisters contemplating the slide.

Isla doing a little shoe shopping today! She loves high heels and unfortunately she will not find many pairs in my closet these days (Or ever really. Who am I kidding?)

I realized I didn't have any pictures of three year old Olivia, so here is a video of her. She is our climber and has great balance so I was not at all surprised to find her in the position. (She does not sit still and let me take her picture very often so that is the reason for the lack of pictures of her. She is getting better but for the last year or so she has been very hard to photograph).

Hadley continues to adjust to our family and our day to day schedule and we continue to see her make progress and experience new things. She is cruising all over our house and is bound to walk soon. Her latest trick is to pull up on something in the kitchen and cruise all the way around the perimeter of the kitchen, holding onto the cabinets, dishwasher, oven, and ending at the freezer door handle. She is over her fear of the bathtub and is excited to get in the tub and plays happily for awhile. She doesn't even mind water being dumped on her face. What a drastic change from 4-5 weeks ago.

I am so glad that the bathtub screaming has ended! What's not to love about bath time?

While she continues to be a good eater and eat a variety of things she is beginning to slow down and show more preferences, occasionally leaving behind a few bites of something. As of a week or so ago there was not a single meal where she didn't clean her entire plate. I think she has realized that we will feed her and she can start to be a little more selective in her food choices. If I had to choose I would say her favorite foods are eggs and bananas, but she will eat just about anything that we offer.

Hadley continues to babble and says "dada" and very occasionally "mama" although I am not convinced she is actually directing it at us. I have noticed that she is understanding more and more things that we say to her and even in new and different context. For example, Isla was playing the other day and told me she was going to take her baby doll in the stroller and go to the library. I said to Isla,"Okay, see you later" and as Isla walked out of the room. As she walked away, Hadley waved at her. She would wave when we said bye bye or she saw us wave but now she is putting it all together and knew that it was appropriate to wave to Isla as she left. She is starting to make connections and it is really neat to see how quickly she is catching on and understanding English. Hopefully she will start talking and saying a few words soon.

Hadley turned 18 months last week and we had her 18-month check up with the pediatrician this week. The doctor was happy and did not have any concerns with her growth or development. She was impressed that given her circumstances she is doing as good as she is and although on the later end, she is still considered to be on track for a typical American child for her physical, gross motor and speech development, which are all areas I had some concerns since she is not walking or talking. I was reassured to hear she is doing great and making good progress! We will reassess this at her two-year appointment or at any point if we have concerns before then.

We have recently renovated our house and moved our older girls upstairs, which opened up a downstairs bedroom to become our new playroom. I am so excited with how it has turned out. The girls have enjoyed it so much and I love having the majority of toys and mess contained in one room. We just got our new floor mats today. Hadley has enjoyed crawling very quickly all over the mat. It is the perfect, softest place for her to take her first steps one of these days

Our awesome bookshelves built by daddy (aka Aaron)!

The desk is our latest Goodwill find. The same kind I used in grade school!

I love this armoire more and more all the time. They umbrellas from China work nicely on top and stay away from all the little hands that would love to get ahold of them.

Old crib mattress repurposed for our cozy reading nook in the closet(often used as a bed when playing house, a trampoline or a nap time place for daddy while he is playing with the girls in the playroom. More than once I have found him tucked in there catching a few minutes of shut eye)

Our new SoftTiles play mat is an awesome addition to the room. So comfortable and perfect for absorbing all the loud noise that happens in here. Olivia has figured out it makes a good gymnastics mat too.

Chinese counting cards. I love these!

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One month ago...

I can't believe it has been just over a month since we met Hadley for the first time. It seems like she has always been in our family, yet it also seems as though we are learning something new about her everyday. Our transition to a family of five has been challenging but also very rewarding. Hadley continues to do great, but this past week she has been extra clingy and whiney and I couldn't decide if she was grieving the loss of her old life or if she was testing us or what. On Friday I took her to the pediatrician to make sure she was okay. I had noticed she touched her ear a time or two but didn't really suspect she had an ear infection. I over-exaggerated her condition when I called to book the appointment and sure enough she had an ear infection. I am so glad I took her and didn't wait the weekend. She really didn't have any other symptoms, and I am not usually one to rush my kids to the doctor but I suppose maybe I had mother's intuition.

We had our one month post-adoption visit with our social worker this week. It went really well. We had to give her eight pictures of Hadley (both individual and family shots). Fortunately, we got our family pictures back from the photographer the night before our appointment, so I was able to include those. She asked us lots of questions about how we are settling in and adjusting and how Hadley is doing. We were able to answer everything on a positive note and checked off all the skills she asked whether or not Hadley could do. The only things we need to be working on are walking and talking. She is getting close to walking and will be doing it fairly soon. Talking is a whole other story and hopefully she continues to make progress and start using some simple words soon. She has mastered "more" in sign language and uses that regularly in search of more food. She has also perfected the moan and lean towards anything anyone else is eating. Her big sisters enjoy sharing their food and giving her a bite of whatever they have so that is good.

We got all of Hadley's test results back from the doctor and everything looks great. She is all clear and does not have any underlying diseases or conditions. There are a couple of vaccines that we need to catch up on that we will do in a couple of weeks at her 18-month check up.

Hadley has had a few adventures in the past few weeks including celebrating Chinese New Year, sledding and playing in the snow a few times with her sisters, celebrating my little brother's birthday with a dinner at my mom's house, and a trip to the dentist with her older sisters. Olivia and Isla did great at the dentist (it was Isla's first time so I was a little nervous and took Aaron with me in case I needed backup) and everyone was cavity free. Hadley will get to join her sisters at their next check up in six months, once she is two.

Hadley sledding with her sisters. She was a little unsure and preferred to sit still in the sled.

We all enjoyed our Chinese New Year celebration and look forward to learning more about the Chinese culture and celebrating the Lunar New Year each year. We made dinner and had a few friends over on January 31st which is the start of the New Year this year. It is the year of the horse. I made traditional Chinese pork dumplings which were delicious and General Tso's chicken. I will not be making that recipe again. It turned out pretty good but was so ridiculously involved and took hours to make. It definitely wasn't that good. We enjoyed the decorations that we brought back from our trip to China and made a few more of our own. We ate plenty of mandarin oranges which are said to bring good luck for the new year. We enjoyed a family day at the Crane House on Saturday which is an Asian cultural center in Louisville, KY. They had games and crafts set up. The girls enjoyed dressing up in Chinese masks, learning to write the Chinese characters for "Happy New Year", designing their own kimonos and participated in a scavenger hunt which ended with a prize from a treasure chest. We look forward to being more involved in events at the Crane House in the future.

My pork dumplings. They were better than they look in this picture.

Olivia in a mask. Her silk dress was a hit and she got a lot of compliments!

Olivia the dragon

Olivia practicing caligraphy. She really just wanted to paint with the ink and the paintbrush but was very patient and allowed this lady to help her write all the Chinese characters.

Isla taking a turn at it.

I mentioned earlier our family pictures. We had them taken about two weeks ago and it was stressful. I ran around town for days before trying to find everyone something cute that coordinated but wasn't too matchy. Trying to shop with those three quickly turned into a disaster! I have a double stroller and the older two take turns walking. That usually means they wander ahead or behind and I end up carrying someone and locking the other two in the stroller. I usually have the Ergo carrier as well and after yelling at them for awhile I get annoyed, strap the big two in the stroller and Hadley in the carrier which she is getting less and less tolerant of.  On this particular day I didn't buckle Isla in the stroller and told her to sit still and not stand up. Wouldn't you know that she stood up and fell out, face planted on the floor and I ran her over with the stroller (not once, but TWICE)!! I have since learned my lesson and insist that she is always buckled. I will not be getting the mother of the year award if it is determined by my fellow shoppers at the mall. I did however have one woman compliment me on how I was handling all three of the kids and managing to get some shopping done and get everyone in and out of the store. She obviously did see when I dumped Isla out of the stroller on her face, temporarily misplace Olivia under a rack of clothes or bribe all three of them to sit quietly by forcing snacks in their faces.

Anyone who has done family pictures with three little kids, inside, in the winter can imagine how this session went. There was lots of bribing the older two with candy to get them to participate, sit where they were told to and smile. This worked for a few minutes until Olivia decided she didn't like to color of the photographers candy selection. She is so picky! One of the three were constantly crawling or running away or frowning. We thought the whole shoot was a disaster but somehow our photographer, Hollie Colwick, managed to get some awesome shots of each of the girls individually and a few good family shoots. I am so thankful to have photos of all of us together and have been waiting to have a picture of all three of my girls together since we saw Hadley's face for the first time on Sept. 9, 2013.

Olivia (age 3 1/2)

Isla (just turned 2)

Sisters!

Hadley (17 months)

Our behind the scenes shot as we were attempting to change her clothes.

We were so happy with how well they turned out! We are continuing to try to figure out our daily routine and our new normal as a family of five which has been tricky with all of the snow days we have had lately. I am thankful with all the quality time the girls have had together cooped up in the house for the last few weeks but ready for some warm weather and to get these girls outside to play. Hopefully spring is just around the corner.

Life with Three Girls Three and Under Isn't Easy

Our Airport Homecoming

Our first family hugs!

Livi and Isla were so excited to meet Hadley

Livi wanted to hold Hadley. Hadley did not like that very much.

Sweet Isla. These two are seven months apart and I think they are going to be very close friends.

My favorite picture from the day!

More hugs from Isla.

We have been home for nine days now and we have been busy. I have always said I was busy in the past before we had Hadley, but I didn't realize there is a whole other level of busy. Somehow having one more small human in our house has drastically increased the amount of laundry, dishes, food consumed and overall time it takes to get anywhere. I feel like I have four extra kids to get dressed and get out the door. It takes a long time to get three girls, ages 3 1/2, 2 and 1 1/2, fed, dressed and out the door. It doesn't help that it is freezing and won't stop snowing outside so we have to get boots, hats, and heavy coats on everyone. We haven't really even had to be any where on time because school was canceled all week and Aaron was off of work. It is going to be really hard when I am home alone and both big girls have school. Don't expect to see us anywhere on time for the next several months (possibly years). I apologize now for our tardiness and general appearance. I cannot promise clothes will always match or hair will be brushed (both mine and all the girls). We have been settling in well and staying cooped up at home to avoid the frigid temperatures. Hadley has been a few places including Target, Chic-Fil-A, the toy store, the doctors office and the children's hospital (for lab work, we will get to that story later). Otherwise we have been home and she is doing great. She is adjusting well to our schedule, seems to be attaching to both Aaron and I and generally enjoys her older sisters. They get in her face a lot and she is easily annoyed and overwhelmed with them but otherwise she likes them. They love her and do not seem to have a lot of jealousy towards her which was an obvious concern of mine. The first question out of Olivia and Isla's mouths when they wake up is "Where's Hadley?" They like to keep track of her every move and our very interested in everything she does. Hadley's personality is coming out more everyday and we are beginning to see more and more progress from her. She loves crawling around the house and is getting very fast. She pulls up on anything and everything that stands still and is taking some steps with the walking push toy and while holding onto our fingers. I think she will be walking before we know it. She continues to be an excellent eater and has enjoyed everything we have offered including chicken chili, quesadillas, meatloaf, prunes, green beans, Chic-Fil-A, chicken pot pie, bbq chicken and coleslaw. Her favorites so far seem to be eggs and mashed potatoes, although she has literally cleaned her plate at every meal. Yesterday she even licked her plate clean! You would think we are starving her, but I promise we are not. We have found one food she will not eat, pickles. She does not like pickles. I don't either, so I can't blame her.

We had one warm day before all the cold and snow hit last week. Hadley loved being outside. She will fit in well with us because we spend the majority of our spring, summer and fall playing outside.

She was very interested in touching and crawling on the concrete

She loved the rocking chair and watching our cat walking around

I am so excited we can finally fill all three wagon cars!

Hadley likes Chic Fil A as much as the rest of us

Playing with water. She is still very nervous in the tub and with water in general so we are making an effort to get our hands wet every chance we get. (Yes, I realize those tiny bears she is playing with our a choking hazard and I supervised closely). She is tolerating the bath if Aaron gets all the way in with her. 

Biggest sister Olivia always wants to hold Hadley. Hadley is not up for the idea.

We had our first doctor's appointment with out pediatrician a few days ago and it went great. He had nothing but good things to say and thinks that she looks healthy and seems to be on track. She is weighing in at 20 lbs and is in the 7th % for her weight, 10% for head size and 3% for height. That is all on the American growth chart so that is a decent size given that she will likely be smaller being that she is Chinese. She received two shots to catch her up to where she needed to be for her age by US standards. We are waiting on blood work to confirm the immunization record that we got for her from China. Assuming she had everything they said she had, we are caught up. She had a TB skin test that came back all clear. We had blood work done Friday as well as a stool sample, so we are waiting on confirmation that all that looks good.

Our pediatrician sent us to the local children's hospital, Kosair Brownsboro Children's Hospital (if you are in Louisville and haven't been you must go if you ever have to take your kids to the hospital. We have been once before when our oldest fell down the stairs and busted her eye lid open as a toddler and it is amazing. It is the most kid friendly place I have ever been and if it weren't for the circumstances of the visit, it is a very enjoyable experience. I will never go to another hospital, even though it is a little further away, it is worth the extra few minutes drive). Anyway, I couldn't figure out why they didn't just take the blood at the doctor's office. Now I know why! Our poor 20 lbs. girl had to have 8 vials of blood drawn. they said that is the max amount for her weight. I hopped on the hospital bed with her in my lap. They have a Child Life Specialist come in with an iPad with kid's games and music to try to distract them during the procedure. This worked for the first 20 seconds before they ever touched her. One nurse started with her left arm, tied the rubber band thing around it and the screaming began! They hadn't even stuck her yet. She was so angry at being held down by me while they tied that band around her arm. I could tell this wasn't go to go well. I held her down on my lap, while another nurse held her arm and the third nurse stuck her arm and tried to get some blood. I guess she couldn't find a vein. I didn't watch for fear of passing out. Well, that nurse left after her failed attempt and lots of loud screaming from Hadley. A man came in and explained that he was going to try. He grabbed the right arm, as another nurse held her arm and I held her body down. The screaming continued for the next ten minutes or so while they managed to squeeze 8 vials of blood out of an IV they stuck in the back of her hand. She was flailing the entire time and pulling her hand and arm away from them so blood was going everywhere. I was not watching the whole process, but saw the aftermath once we were done. There is blood all over the bed, the floor, the nurse and doctor, and Hadley and myself. The doctor doing it said he had only seen this happen one other time and that was in Iraq. It did look like a war had occurred in that exam room. The doctor and nurses were surprised that Hadley was as strong as she was and they said they liked her spunk! That's my girl! She is still worn out and sleeping a lot even several days later.

She was so happy while we were waiting to go back to the exam room. She clearly did have a clue what was about to take place.

Sunday we attended church for the first time as a family of five. We did not even attempt to sit in the sanctuary with our noisy little friend and instead sat in the atrium and watched on TV. Hadley charmed people all around us and made a lot of friends as she seems to do everywhere we go.

On the way to church. Aaron thought she looked like an Eskimo in her white coat

Hadley looking preppy at church on Sunday

Sunday was also our sweet Isla Kate's 2nd Birthday. We celebrated with a small family party with cake and ice cream. The girls all had fun and our family enjoyed seeing Hadley. She did great with the small crowd and charmed everyone as usual. I love a big, elaborate birthday party and look forward to this summer when Hadley is more comfortable and ready to party for Olivia's 4th birthday and Hadley's 2nd!

Martha Stewart Raspberry Cream birthday cake. Her's was much prettier but mine was very tasty!

Happy 2nd Birthday Isla Kate!

Today was the first day Aaron returned to work and I was left to get everyone up, dressed, fed and out the door on time. We did it and were even a couple minutes early! GO Mommy! I am sure it will be the last time we are early for a while. We just got lucky I think. The little girls and I went to the mall in search of curtains for Olivia's new room (didn't find what we were looking for) and outfits to have family pictures. I am so excited to get a good picture of all five of us as well as some professional shots of Hadley. I have always loved having professional pictures taken of the girls as babies and am sad we didn't get to do that for Hadley. We will have to make up for lost time and take a lot of pictures taken in the next few months. We got our first few comments while we were out at the mall this morning. One older woman stopped me to tell me how beautiful my children were. Thank you lady! Another woman asked how far apart the girls were and I told her they were seven months apart. She looked confused and said "So they aren't yours?" I explained one was adopted. Did she not notice she is also Chinese. I look forward to people's funny comments like this and welcome the opportunity to talk about adoption. I am sure I will feel differently in a few months after I am getting it all the time. I am sure I will be more annoyed then but for now I think it is amusing to watch people try to figure it all out.

Hadley playing on the mall playground. I was surprised she crawled that far from me. She turned and crawled quickly back after I took this picture. 

I hope to be able to blog more regularly but these little ladies are keeping me busy! I think we will get into a better routine this week with Olivia (3 days/week) and Isla (1 day/week)  being back in school (assuming they don't cancel due to the extreme cold. That is definitely a possibility these next couple of days).