The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas Day - 10

Our special thing for today was to bake cookies, fudge and gingerbread and take it to our neighbors. We also took some to my mom and she said the gingerbread was delicious as it was still nice and warm. 

We continued reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and we are almost done. I'm sure we will finish it tomorrow and then pick a new Christmas book to read. It is hard to get through all the books we want to by Christmas. 

Baskets

Today Bethany and Tess worked on making small baskets. It took several hours, but they both finished and their baskets are really cute. I got a picture of Bethany's finished but had to run out before Tess finished hers and didn't get a picture of hers completed. But, they both looked really nice and they had fun working on them. They said they might try making another one from some instructions we have in one of our pioneer books we have been reading. It does thrill me to see the things they come up with. 

Bethany has started learning to play the piano - well, teaching herself mostly with a little help from me. We will get her a teacher at some point, but right now she is doing great just learning notes and practicing easy songs from a beginner book we bought. She is just starting to practice some Christmas songs and I love hearing Christmas music. Today Zola was practicing Christmas music on the harp and then Bethany on the piano and it just made my day. 

Summer Evening

Summer evenings outside on the porch watching the girls have fun is one of my favorite things to do. And they love me to watch them and time how long they can jump rope or do the jingle jump or just watch them as they play games together. It does not matter how old they get I still have them saying - "Mom, watch this."

I will remember these beautiful evenings together and hopefully they will, too.

Iced Coffee

Today I strained and put all of my iced coffee in jars - ready to refrigerate and drink tomorrow morning. Last night I put all the coffee and water in a large container to sit for 12 hours for a delicious iced coffee. Making the coffee kind of signifies the beginning of summer for me. I was actually a little late this year - mainly because I could not find my large container that I make the coffee in and since I make approximately 16 quarts at once I need a pretty large container for it. But, we finally found it and I got it all made and now it is just chilling in the refrigerator.  

Funny how all the girls like to help me make it - though they don't get any. You would have thought I was making ice cream. They crowded around till it was actually hard for me to pour and strain all the coffee grounds out. They all just had to help. 

I was going through old pictures today - June of 2016 - the year Piper and Tess arrived. It seems like yesterday, but at the same time so long ago. I look at their pictures and they look so small. I literally can't believe how much they have grown in 4 short years. They look so big now and are growing up way too fast for me. But, I sure have enjoyed these girls. This picture was taken exactly 4 years ago in June. 

Tess and Surgery

On Thursday morning Tess had surgery. The biggest problem after surgery was nausea. She was sick the entire day and evening. Finally, around 11:00 in the evening they gave her a new medication that helped. She is home and doing well and enjoying this time of being able to watch movies during the day -- something we just about never do. 

More Surgery

On Friday Tess had some out patient surgery done. She is doing ok but is having some pain. I think she will be feeling a lot better by Monday or Tuesday. It is odd how different Piper and Tess have been when faced with surgical procedures. Piper hasn't a care in the world and actually acts excited when told she will be having surgery. She will talk about it and tell everyone and talk and talk and talk about it. You would almost think she was going on a vacation. Tess, on the other hand, was extremely anxious. When I told her she was very quiet. Then she started asking questions. I could tell she was concerned. She finally said she didn't want to have surgery and she was scared. I talked to her and explained that I would be there from the time we arrived until she was ready to go home and she didn't have to be scared. That she would have some pain but not too much and the doctor would give her pain meds.

On the day of surgery she was still pretty anxious, but did better than I thought she would. She went back without any tears. She did come back looking pretty mad at me. She would hardly look at me at first. Tess has a tendency to blame me for most of her problems. But, she started feeling sick and I think that took her mind off the fact that the surgery was probably my fault. 

She went home with a pan to throw up in and was sick for about another hour. Then she felt a little better since she got to watch a movie. Today she has complained of pain, but other than that she has been pretty happy and I think I am forgiven.

One Year Ago

I was looking through some old pictures and as I looked at them I realized how much Piper has grown. Tess not as much -- though she has grown. They looked so much younger. How did this happen so fast?

A Year Ago

A year ago today we were in China. Actually, Abigail and I left for China on January 2, 2016 and arrived very late on January 3. We then got up early on the 4th and went and picked up Piper. The next day we had to go out early and get Piper's passport and then catch a flight out to the next province. 

Piper on the day we picked her up. She was out of control wild once we got back to the hotel.

We landed in the next province on Tuesday night and when we were picked up we were told we would be getting Tess in the next hour. We were still in the airport and realized that she would get to our hotel just a few minutes after we did. We were a little surprised, as we were supposed to go pick her up the next day. We were exhausted from the running around and Piper was not on her best behavior, but we were excited. A few minutes after we arrived at our hotel Tess was brought up to our room. We could hardly believe that within two days of arriving in China we already had both girls. 

Tess, right after she got to our room -- she was very quiet and said almost nothing at first. We were so tired that we took very few pictures. Tess was so different than Piper. She was very quiet that first night - and I mean for the first night only. She also cried when she went to bed. She didn't cry out loud but we heard her sniffing and we knew. I lay down beside her until she seemed better and then she fell asleep. The next day she was a different person. 

The next day, Wednesday, we got up and ran around doing all the stuff you have to do - pictures, etc. Then we went back to our hotel and took the girls out for a walk. It was nice to get out by ourselves for awhile and let the girls walk off some energy.

It was quite a trip and Abigail and I remember it fondly - with a few bad spots. But, it went rather smoothly. We had time to shop and walk around and the hotels were all very nice - something I wasn't used to when traveling to adopt. Abigail and I have been talking about our trip and sending and showing each other pictures from it for several days now -- usually saying "a year ago today". 

The girls are doing great. Even better than I expected. I know we could have some attachment issues and I may talk about that later, but for now things are going very well. They are great kids. I am so glad I decided to ask if there was any way we could adopt from China when I saw Piper's picture one night. So glad I gave it a shot. 

America

Just wanted to share something that Bill and I thought was really sweet. We went to church on Sunday and since it was Memorial Day we sang several patriotic songs. One of the songs we sang was America the Beautiful. We were all standing and we had said America, America quite a few times when Tess tapped me on the arm. I leaned down to see what she wanted and she said, "Mama, I like America." How that touched my heart as she looked up at me and smiled.

Getting to Know You

We have been home from China a little over two months and things are calming down a little. The first six weeks or so, rather than getting to spend lots of time with both girls, I spent it taking care of sick kids. We had kids getting sick constantly. As a matter of fact we just went through another round of strep. This time our doctor chose to give everyone shots so we had to go to the doctor everyday for three days to get shots. She is hoping this will help and she is also checking everyone again to see if she can figure out if we have a carrier here. She suspects Piper. 

But, I am finally feeling like I am getting to know the girls a little and we are settling into a routine. We went to the playground for the first time last week. When we got out of the car, Tess took off and it was all I could do to get her to wait while I got Bella out of the car. She was like a bird let out of a cage -- she ran and ran and climbed and was so excited. I could hardly keep up with her. 

Tess seems to be fairly athletic. She can hit a ball really well and climb a tree -- but has a little trouble getting down. She can jump rope and does it very well. She loves to be outside and she has started to entertain herself for quite long periods of time while out -- the sandbox being one of her favorite places to play.

Piper was a little easier to keep up with at the playground as she is not as confident as Tess. She watched to see where I was a lot of the time, but seemed to enjoy herself.

Each day I feel like I know them just a little bit better -- though I know I have lots to learn. Piper watches to see what my reaction is to things. She is always running to me but will not sit or hug me for more than maybe a minute. She can't seem to sit still. She is constantly moving and moving and jumping on furniture and climbing on everything in the house-- including me. 

When out in public, she is a little more subdued and hangs a little closer to me. She spent a lot of time at the playground with Bella and me. Piper and Bella sat on the swing for a long time -- side by side and laughing at each other. Swinging and playing in the sand was what Bella wanted to do and Piper played with her for quite a long time.

I think this is going to be fairly picture heavy as I keep seeing pictures I want to post. But, my main intention was to tell just a little about both girls. Tess loves to draw and color. She drew our house the other day and brought it to me. Every single day she checks to see if I still have the picture. She has also learned to write her name in English and does a very good job. 

Piper seems to need Tess around more than Tess needs Piper. I have noticed that now Tess will go off on her own to play a little or to color. Piper always looks for her and calls to see where she is. As soon as she gets up in the morning, Piper asks where Tess is and starts getting out bowls for both of them to have cereal.

Piper seems to want to please me a little more than Tess. Tess is more strong willed and very opinionated. But, Tess can get her feeling hurt very easily -- especially if she thinks she has been slighted by me. 

Piper lost two teeth this week and has shown me at least 50 times that they are gone. Then Bethany lost one and Piper was really into the fact that she lost two and Bethany one. She goes around pointing to herself and saying "two." Then she points to Bethany and says "one." She does this over and over during the day. I guess she is saying they have something in common.

Both girls would eat all day long if allowed. I give lots of bananas for snacks and they get popsicles on the front porch a lot. They ask for a popsicle after every single meal. I do have to say no after breakfast -- it just seems too early. They get a banana. Funny, that before I picked them up I worried about what they would eat and if I would need to make special food. They eat almost anything!

Tess seems to have some special feelings for Bella. She calls her baby and plays with her and takes her hand and walks with her so much during the day. It is odd to me that she is so drawn to her. As soon as she starts to play, she calls Bella to come and join in. Bella loves it most of the time, but she can get tired and irritable if it lasts too long. But, she will sit with Tess for very long periods of time and just play and smile. It is quite cute. My daugher saw them in a chair together the other day playing and smiling and talking and she pulled out her phone and got two pictures. I had to have her send them to me. Bella looks so happy. I love seeing them together. 

I think things are finally calming down and I feel like we are making progress. Both girls are actually beginning to understand more and more English. They are able to say a few words or phrases right now --  Happy Meal, coffee, don't touch, watch me, baby, hungry, popsicle, banana, monkey, dog, elephant, bathroom, bed, no, yes, color, shut the door, mama, and a few other words I may not remember right now. Tess actually called Bill "father" the other day and I have no idea where she learned that as none of my kids say that -- it is dad or daddy. 

Tess has said a couple of funny things. We were at the grocery store about two weeks ago and I was picking up stuff and handing it Tess to put in the cart. I picked up a pack of toilet paper and handed it over to her and as she put it in the cart she said, "Shut the door!"  I guess I say that a lot. I don't know if she just associated it with me saying that as she goes into the bathroom or she actually thinks it is called that. 

Then when we were filling eggs for an Easter egg hunt, Tess would put the candy in and then as she closed the egg she would say, " Close the door." I guess it made sense to her that she was closing the egg and she probably doesn't even know what a door is. It was kind of cute to hear her say it over and over.

I think we are finally getting to know each other a little and I am enjoying doing new things with the girls. They love almost everything we do no matter how small -- from cooking, to painting to playing in the front yard. They are easy to please if they have my attention and I am trying to give them a lot of attention.