When the air conditioner stops working...

Let the baby swim naked

Get your pigtails wet

 Take an extra sip of Mom's water when you think she's not looking

Ask your dadushka spray you with the hose "one moh-wah (more) time"

Dance in the swimmin pool.  Swimsuits optional still, apparently.

Singing and Dancing

Here's a quick video of the crazy dancing I get to experience on a daily basis.  There is no lack of personality in this household, that's for sure.  Kris Bell, thanks for the tunes!  We love them! 

And here is Stella's version of the ABCs.  Pretty close, right? Who needs Y and Z anyway?  

Have a fabulous weekend!  Hope you do some crazy singing and dancing at your house, too!

The Village

We sat together on the couch in front of our new social worker for our homestudy.  I could smell the Pledge from the side table that I had dusted that day. 

"How do your family and friends feel about your adoption? Are they supportive?"

I remember feeling so eager to share an emphatic, "Yes!" and go on to explain that our families greeted our news of adopting with happiness and how our neighbors had thrown us a congratulations party. 

Supportive?  That girl from September sitting in her freshly cleaned house had not one inkling of an idea of what the word supportive truly meant. She was so naive. 

But she does now.

It's really hard for me to find the right words to describe how you've wrapped your arms around us.  Enveloped us with your love.  Overwhelmed us with your thoughtfulness. Your generosity.  But you have, and I am in awe.

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and I can say with no naivety that we have one helluvah village.  Seriously you guys, I don't get it.  Who am I to be so blessed to have you?  

You have come out of the wordwork to support us.  Family. Friends. Family friends. Friends of friends. Coworkers. Friends of coworkers. Neighbors. Blogreaders. Random strangers.  Acquaintances we haven't talked to in years.

All to share your gifts. Kind words. Anonymous cash donations. A card in the mail. A welcome home crowd at the airport. A huge adoption shower. A meal on our doorstep. An open invitation to your swimming pool.  A facebook message. Gift cards. A handmade heartfelt something. A swing set. A text that you're thinking of us. A care package full of goodies. A ride on Dadushka's shoulders for the 100th time while Nene cleans my kitchen. A car-full of goodies for our trip home. Something fun for our children. Hand-me-down clothing. More meals. A comment on our blog. A question and happy conversation with my mom at Walmart. An "I'm coming right over" when three seems a little too much. Invitations to play dates. Prayers, prayers, and more prayers. Requests for more kooky videos. A weekend visit when you've been extremely busy. More generous gifts for our children. Offers to help in any way you can. Preschool buddies.  Neighbor friends who play with us even though we don't speak the same language. An "I love you" and "I love your family".

I could go on and on and on. And it all means so so much to us. Thank you.  All of you. Thank you for loving us then and loving us now. Loving us through the crazy ride to build our family and watching us as we grow together.  Loving us more than I thought humanly possible.  You rock something fierce.   

How can our children not thrive when they have a village like you?

Iowans

Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa. : )

We had no temper tantrums today.

No time-ins.

 Great quality time with Babushka NeeNee and Dadushka. 

A friend brought us some AMAZING dinner.

A visit from Uncle Joe. 

Bedtime took 1 1/2 versus 3 hours. 

And when they were all asleep, this Mama had time to play fetch with the dog AND paint her toenails.

Oh yah, and post this blog. : )

Now THAT's a good day. 

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! : )