Happy One Month, Selah Joy!

This weekend marks one month of our Selah being home. When people ask me how we're doing and I respond, "Super!" "Great!" or similarly, I think perhaps they don't believe me. I know from reading and have friends who have experienced post adoption depression in various forms and generally rough transitions. That, however, has not been our experience. For whatever reason, God has chosen to give us one of the best months of my life. Selah is such a perfect fit for our family. She sleeps well, eats well, has bonded well, and is overall just a joy to be around! And the boys have been so amazing. Honestly, my biggest complaint is they want to hang on her too much and it weighs me down! Can you believe it?!? So, in honor of this most amazing of months, I have put together a video starting in Ethiopia the first time we met her and ending with a couple of days ago for your viewing pleasure. I cannot say enough how your kind words, gifts, prayers have meant to us. We really have reason to praise God day after day after day.

Dad got some cool new program and has been sending me these wonderful picture montages. On my blog, they're a little small to see, but hopefully you can get the idea. Thanks, Dad. These are such wonderful memories!!!

EWWWW!!!! And a plug for adoptive nursing

In Ethiopia, Karl lovingly stole a nickname from someone to give to me. To my husband, I am now sometimes known as "Filter." You can guess where this name comes from, especially for those of you that know me pretty well. Well, I start this off with that little tidbit, because this might be one of those cases when I should refrain from saying anything. However, as is usually the case in these situations, I simply can't resist.

First, let me seriously say that adoptive nursing is possible. Even for a 6 1/2 month old that's been exclusively bottle-fed for 5+ months. And, in my opinion, it's so worth it if you have the time/money/energy/etc. This isn't a guilt thing for the thousands of adoptive parents who don't, it's just encouragement for those of you who have thought about it but felt like it was too overwhelming of a task. I can be pretty stubborn when I put my mind to something (don't tell Karl I admitted this....he doesn't read my blog, so if you tell him, I'll deny it :) ), but I can also be really bad with follow through on my myriad of good ideas, so I wouldn't necessarily be the best candidate for this sort of undertaking. BUT, I have done it! Selah has done it!!! And I think we are stronger (at several levels) because of the choice I made. Having said that, the following story might contradict my previous encouragement.

Today, my house was a complete disaster when my neighbor came to take the boys to a movie. So, I had app. 2 1/2 hours to nurse and get my house as presentable as possible. Part way through cleaning the kitchen, I realized I had forgotten to take my domperidone, so I popped the pill in my mouth and took a huge swig of milk from this morning. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!! The milk that I put in my mouth was not cow's milk. It was not Owen's rice milk. Oh no. The milk that I made the GIGANTIC mistake of starting to swallow was my own. Literally. That may take the cake for the grossest thing I've ever experienced. For you, too?!?

-Filter

How are the boys?

More than any other specific question, this is what people want to know. And honestly, the boys are great. Now, the day we arrived home scared me quite a bit. First of all, I was tired beyond description. Even with Selah being a complete angel on the 17 hour flight (and again on the layover and 2 hour flight), I was exhausted. So, when Owen had TWO meltdowns within a few hours of being back because I was holding the baby and not him, I was worried...and overwhelmed. But since that first day together, things have been really smooth. At mom's advice, I've been working really hard to include Owen and make him the "helpful big brother" and it's working! As you can tell from the pictures, Selah is much more sure of her older two brothers than her third, but she tolerates him well :) And he really is sweet to her. But the other two are just incredible. The one picture was two nights ago when Braden wore the Bjorn and Selah actually fell asleep on his chest and we put a blanket over her head so Braden could eat supper with her strapped to him. They think it's pretty special that they're really the only ones that get to hold their sister and both Braden and Kole can pretty much make her smile whenever they try. In fact, the Sunday night after we got back I was laying in bed with Braden and asked him how things were going. He responded, "Good as far as getting enough attention [something that he had been worried about since we had tried to warn the boys about anything in case it was a really rough transition], bad because Selah sleeps all the time!" Whew.

My sister has been a complete God-send this week. Because Mom and Dad took time off to watch the boys while we were in Ethiopia, and Karl's mom is coming next week, Alyssa decided to take it upon herself to be our servant for the week. It has been incredible. With Karl describing this as the "Most stressful week of his life" because of the North campus launching Sunday (and he's not the one prone to drama in our family!) having Alyssa here most definitely has made the difference in me saying this was an amazing week, instead of a REALLY hard week. Well, Alyssa and the other three wonderful families that have brought us meals. WE ARE SO BLESSED. I probably say that a lot, but if I said it even ten times more, it wouldn't be even enough!!!

Lastly, Selah had her first appointment with her pediatrician, Dr. Davis, on Wednesday and she's doing great! She's small, of course, but she is on the chart, and developmentally she's right on target. We'll have an appointment in about a month with the international adoption clinic, but I really think it's just a formality and things should check out great. Oh, and I'm banned from Target. I really think that when I go into that store (like I did with Selah after her doctor's appointment) my brain matter turns to mush and I forget that we're on a very tight budget. There's just WAY TOO MUCH CUTE STUFF!!! So I just won't go. For a long, long time. :)

We're home!

As I type this, I once again have a precious baby girl sleeping on my lap. I think she thinks that night is coming to an end (it's 10:19 p.m. here) and day is just beginning. That's what I'm afraid of since she's been sleeping quite consistently off and on since 12:30 or so. Yikes. Well, as with most of life, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I know that what most people really want to see is pictures, so I tried to post a plethera of those, although pictures never capture just how amazing something/someone is. I am starting to hit the effects of jet lag again, so I'll save the comments for another day and let you soak in some of the pics in reverse order of the week ("starting" with coming home late last night around 11 and "ending" with seeing Selah for the first time). Other pictures include Selah's special nanny; our visit with our Compassion child, Mekdes, and her mother; the moms at the coffee company; time with Robel, our guide and friend; sleeping in the bassinet on the 17 hour flight home; and just lovin on our daughter. Unforgettable. That'a good word to describe much of what took place this week. I'll write more about it later. P.S. Pray for Karl. I think he has the ET funk...and he has to work this week (since Sunday the new service opens at the North Campus and there's still so much to do!)

Thursday news

Hey, all. Danielle actually sent me this update, Thursday night, but I'd assumed she wouldn't be writing any more and stopped checking my e-mail. So I'm so sorry to those of you "blog stalkers" who have been dying for lack of news. Here's what she wrote:

As I write this, the guys are outside the hotel waiting to leave for the infamous "Guys Night" with Robel. He said they were going to the beer garden, but I can't tell if he's joking or not :) Regardless of what they do, I'm sure it will be a good time. We girls are thinking we'll do something too with the kiddos. For Shelley and Anna, it will be their first official playdate! William and Shelley finally got to take Liam today from the TH and he seems like a different kid. PRAISE THE LORD! Speaking of sickness, we had a scare during the night as well.... Selah is an exceptional baby. She is peaceful almost all the time except when she's doing this absolutely ADORABLE cuing thing. Her little voice just melts my (and Daddy's!) heart.

On Tuesday night (our first night with her) she slept the entire night. Literally. I don't think she woke up for a bottle until 7:30 and went down early the night before. We fed her at 10 p.m. and changed her diaper, but she never even woke up! She is so easy! Anyway, last night, she woke up around 2 and was very upset. At first, I wondered if she was grieving but quickly realized by her cry that she was in pain. We fed her (and she ate) but then woke up an hour later with that same pitiful cry again. Daddy rocked her in bed and she fell back asleep until 5:30, but then the same thing. I'm not really a worrier, but I was very concerned. It's so different being in another country, not having your doctor near by, not knowing for certain that it's not just a cold or harmless virus. At 8 after more fussiness, we called the nurse, Fortuna, on her cell phone and explained what was happening. She ended up taking us to a clinic where the doctor who had examined Selah at the TH worked. The Chans also went and the Renos to look over their little guys. Come to find out, it looks like I may have gotten her sick. What a good mommy I am! Early in the week we left, I had a sore throat and felt very achy. Then, it went away, but when we got to Ethiopia, I had a hint of a sore throat and I was so worried I would give it to someone so I tried to be careful, but of course, I'm meeting our daugher for the first time and then it went away so I wasn't being careful. Well, sure enough, the doctor thought after the exam that her body was achy, she had a fever, and a sore throat. I'm trying to get over the guilt. No, I'm fine. I'm sure she'll pass things to me as well, I just feel so badly it happened this quickly. After the clinic, we went to visit the Compassion child and the project she's from. I want to tell much about that, but my precious daughter woke up and is sitting with the receptionist, so I will save it for another time :) Ethiopian culture is WONDERFUL. Karl and I both have been amazed by the people here. More for later.... Oh, one more thing, other than these ailments from the babies that is manageable, the adults are doing very well. I thought much this morning about the prayers of the yg and others and wondered just how much of your prayers have made this trip what it is. Liam is with Mom and Dad now and we are all tired yet content and ready for the long flight home tomorrow night (we leave at 10:30 p.m.) YG, I CAN'T WAIT to tell some of you about your kids!!!