The last few days have been really good with the kids. It's like they are finally starting to feel at home in our house and with each other. Tuesday evening, they played and giggled together all evening. I only had to step in once or twice. Tonight was the same. Ben put 101 Dalmatians on and all three climbed up on the couch to watch. They didn't stay there long, but they continued to play together nicely through most of the movie. I only had a few "Abby, that is Libby's toy" and "Libby, don't sit on your sister's head" and "Ben, nice touches to Libby". They also ate tonight, which was a blessing. Ben and Abby are not good eaters. It is difficult to get them to eat, let alone clean their plates. Tonight we had spaghetti. All three cleaned their bowls and all three enjoyed a Popsicle after dinner. We also sang the family cheer... "Go Abby, go Abby, go, go, go Abby... Go Benjamin, go Benjamin, go, go, go Benjamin... Go Libby, go Libby, go, go, go Libby" I need to get it on video. Abby is our best cheer leader!


Here they all are waiting for the movie to start.

I haven't blogged much about the challenges we have faced, but it has been a tough 2.5 months. There have been a lot of adjustments, not just for Libby and Abby, but also for Ben, Papa and Mama. Though we knew it would be chaos adding two more children, there was no way to truly prepare ourselves. We have had our struggles with Libby. At 3 years old, she has been more affected by orphanage life than our other two. We have had behavior challenges and they continue to linger. It has been difficult for us to attach to her as we deal with some of her behaviors. And I am sure her attachment to us is going to be a long process. Ben has had some major adjusting to do and it has been hard on Mama and Papa to watch him struggle. We miss our one-on-one time with him. We can tell he likes having the girls around to play with, but he has had a hard time always sharing Mama and Papa. Abby is a joy during the day and seems to be taking this new life with little issue... until night time. She wakes up screaming at night at least 2-3 nights a week. She refuses to go to sleep at times. Today, she spent 3 hours in her bed refusing to take a nap. She didn't cry or scream, but sat and stood in her crib talking. Papa kept checking on her and tried to get her to go to sleep, but she refused. Of course then tonight she was a whiny mess.

I do not write all of this to complain. My children are wonderful and I wouldn't trade them for the world. But I am learning a lot these days. Our transition with Ben was so easy, I think I just assumed it would be as easy with the girls. But adoption isn't always easy. Adjustment and transition are not easy. The last 10 weeks have been a bit dark, but it is nice to see the light of dawn coming our way.