First Week Home

Life with three?  There are so many words that come to mind to describe our first week home.

Chaos. Noisy. Laughter. Healing. Firsts. Food. Boundaries. Love, love, love.

The short of it is, the kids are doing amazingly well.  If you walk into my living room at any given moment, you may feel differently.  It may look completely nutso to you.  Ahh...so be it.  We've got a lot of growth going on.  We are busy, busy, busy (3 for 3 kids) learning and testing and experiencing what it's like to be a family.

Random thoughts I have at the moment on the motherhood:
- I have this backup tank of energy and patience that I never knew existed.
- 2 weeks ago I gagged at every poopy diaper, now I wipe butts like, I dunno, someone who wipes butts a lot?
-I am 100% confident that I have swept and cleaned my kitchen floor mores times in the last 10 days than I did the previous 4 years we lived here.
- The person who invented picture in picture for television surely was a stay-at-home mom with toddlers
- Burping is a universal "boy" language, so are superheros
- "I love you" sounds really darn cute in a Russian accent
- When did Fareway become my favorite shopping destination?
- How do single parents do this?

 And a few get-to-know-you facts about the kadiddles:

 Joel:

Loves all things superheroes. 

Wants to go swimming every night.

Ipad extraordinaire. 

Very determined, hates it when he's not good at something. Competitive. 

Banana lover - maybe part monkey?

Counts to ten in English. 

Scared of the dark. 

Crawls into our bed at some point every night.

Loves to read books.

Major cuddle bug in the mornings. 

Sings and recites Russian rhymes and songs. 

Wanted to buzz his hair like his Papa.

Can climb anything, and I mean anything.

If he sees it done once, he can repeat it. 

Stella: 

Daddy's girl : ) 

Loves her new haircut

Gets excited every morning to put on a new outfit

Likes to know the rules and point out when her siblings are breaking the rules

Obsessed with dogs

Thinks Dottie's name is "Gentle"

If it's dirty, she will clean it. 

When she's tired, watch out. 

Repeats everything in English

(My) current favorite phrases she says are: "Stiiiinky poop!" "I love luuuu" and "Hold on, lady!"

Can kinda sing her ABC's

Loves pickles!

Likes to do things herself or be totally babied - there's no in between

Olivia:

Pretty ornery once ya get to know her! : )

If the older kids do it, so will she.

Always a member of the clean plate club 

Likes "foo foos" in her hair

Pretends to be Mommy to her dolls (Lah-lahs she calls them)

Puts everything in her mouth

Throws a mean rock (yes, I'll be seeing a dentist for my chipped tooth later this week)

Flashes a huge smile when she's told "no"

Arch Nemesis with Dottie

Best buddies with her Dadushka who she calls Dah-dah

Survived a nasty case of chicken pox and MRSA

Throws one hand in the air when she's falling asleep like she's praising the Lord

Favorite games: Stinky feet game, this little piggy, and "Where's Olivia?"

There's a quick update of our first week home, there is so much more to tell, but I wanted to get a few thoughts down before I forget! : )