Sunday, February 12, 2012

A Long Overdue Post!

Three Princesses and their new bed!

Jaidyn, Jordyn, and Jailynn

Jaidyn smiles for the camera!

Jailynn is 10 yrs old! Can you believe that??

Jailynn is my monkey girl...she loves to climb trees...how she ever got up into that tree is beyond me!

I had to have at least one picture of JonMarc on his bike!
 Just a couple of pictures to post to try and catch up. Where to begin is the question because so much has happened in the last few weeks. New Year Day has come and gone and we missed celebrating the Chinese New Year. I had to work :(
We had our first post placement visit with our SW just two weeks ago. I'm sorry, but one month PP study and visit is just too soon. I was not ready,  my house was not ready, and Jaidyn was not ready. I was a basket case trying to get my house presentable because raising 7 children in a small house creates a mess all on its own accord. Never mind working 40 plus hours and still not feeling quite like myself yet. Bonding time with Jaidyn has been very slow because of having to work. Bottom line is that I was not ready for my SW. My vision of our pp visit and the reality did not quite match. I had imagined that I would have new furniture in the living room and kids rooms (because our old furniture is needing to be replaced in a bad, bad way), brownies baking in the oven, pot roast in the crock pot, and everything in it's proper place. So not how it happened!! I had worked the night before and stayed up past my bedtime cleaning like mad and barely got to take a shower before she arrived. My kids got off the bus and we discussed how they MUST BEHAVE while dear SW was here and no tv during the visit. I then bribed promised them special rewards for good behavior. Then, she arrived and I was so shocked at how well my children all got along and talked with her. Jaidyn had not a clue about what was happening and locked herself in her room. She finally came out and helped Jordyn and Jailynn put a puzzle together. In the end, I was very happy with our visit and collapsed in bed for a much needed nap.
I did get some of our furniture replaced thanks to craigslist and answered prayers. I have wanted a doll house bunk bed for my girls for a very long time and finally found the bed of my and their dreams on craigslist!! The price was unbelievable and just in my very low price range. We realized that the price was a steal because  the bed was very difficult to take apart and reassemble. Thanks to my DH Tim, and our friend David, we had the bed home and put together for Jailynn's 10th birthday. All three girls absolutely love the bed. Jadiyn was very happy with the bed and she is making huge progress at home. She actually posed for the camera with her sisters and let me take her picture. That may seem like a small thing but I literally had to sneak in pics of her in China and Christmas. She is starting to say more English words and phrases and she will say she is sorry when she corrected. She also is better at the store with Tim and in public. I am very happy to see her doing so much better. I am also starting to feel like myself again and feel much better. I had allot of issues in China and when we came home that had more to do with me and how I was handling everything than with Jaidyn. I plan to post about that later. I am just thankful that Jaidyn is starting to bloom and we are starting to have a new normal.

3 comments:

  1. Morning Melanie - yeah - that first SW visit is 'exciting' eh? ;)

    Great to hear that you guys are finding that 'new normal' - sounds to me like everything is progressing like it should - in it's own good time!! ;)

    hugs - prayers - aus and co.

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  2. I'm so sorry that things were so rough. Going straight back to work has got to be hard. I'm happy that life is starting to settle down, and you are all settling in to your new norm. The girl's new bed is beautiful!!! It is terrific!

    hugs,
    Sheri

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  3. I cannot imagine the chaos you must have felt at a 1 month PP with 7 kids under your roof. Hoping things have settled down a bit for you guys.

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