Almost Four Months Home

Bella has been home for almost four months. I have been amazed with how well she has done and how seamlessly she has assimilated into our family. 

She is so lively and spirited and active, which works out so well with our two little boys. 

I imagined that the boys would more closely bond together when she has arrived and leave her out, but the opposite usually happens. They compete for her attention. They want to sit next to her. Tell her what to eat. Hold her hand. Sometimes, it feels like we have a movie star in our midst. 

She has always been a fantastic eater. She has developed some preferences in the past few months, and now she keeps up with Eli who is 6 1/2 and will eat as much as him at any given meal. 

Her language has been exploding lately. Just 2 weeks ago she would only respond with one word, and it was usually just to parrot what someone had said. Now she is starting to put words together and use phrases like, "I fell down," "one slide," and "no, carry me!" She still isn't the best at answering our questions consistently, but I am so incredibly proud with how far she has come and how much she has learned. 

She is so brave. She watches the boys on the playground and copies them step for step. 

She gives us hugs and kisses. 

She always has to be with someone from the family. 

She doesn't like TV or anything media related, which of course makes me smile.

She loves photos taken of our family and will yelp with joy when she sees anyone she knows in a photo. 

We are so thankful that she is ours. She makes my life better every day, and I am so thankful to finally have a daughter. 

We still are struggling with sleep, and she wakes me up 2-6 times a night most nights whimpering or just wanting to be close to me. But after all the adoption blogs and books I have read, I was expecting that and since we coslept with the boys quite a bit, it is not something I am unfamiliar with. 

I am thankful to have my joyful adventurer by my side. She takes on life with arms wide open and for that I am so thankful! 

Everyday Magic

"Wherever you are, be all there."
One of my favorite quotes for being a mom. Motherhood is all the time. And it helps to focus on being present.
A wonderful reminder for a beautiful day in the midst of this beautiful, changing life. ;-)
Was going through things and found a photo album of art photos I've taken over my lifetime. I have always enjoyed seeing the beauty and magic of "normal" things. I wish I could freeze them, so many of them, which is probably why I take so many pictures every single day. My effort to remember the things that are precious to me.
Like this very "normal" moment of the boys crouched together imagining they are BB-8 brothers planning their next move at Spinny Rainbow Park. Everyday magic.

Happy Birthday

Happy 2nd Birthday, Sweet Bella. We miss you.

So many hard things happening in the lives of my friends and family right now. My heart woke up heavy. Sitting in sadness this morning. Praying with those who are struggling. Praying for my baby girl. Praying for the transitions ahead. Those things we are gaining, and the precious things we are leaving behind.

It has been a lot, and I have been getting too many headaches lately. Thankful but nervous. Excited but sorrowful. Help me to bear one another's burdens and still know how to take care of my own. Help me to live a thankful, joyful life filled with love for those that I have the opportunity to love. Today and every day.

Family Trip to Yosemite

"Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world." John Muir 

The mountains are in the top five of my most favorite things, and Yosemite National Park has some of my favorite mountains. This week my family got the opportunity to spend five days camping there, and even though I was nervous to go because snow was in the forecast I am so thankful we went forward with it. It was such a wonderful time to go. There was no one there compared to the summer, and it was wet everywhere. The waterfalls were rushing, the creeks were overflowing, and the streets were flooded with life giving water. And it did snow. We arrived at 10 AM and as we were finishing setting up our camp, it started snowing, and continued to snow for the remainder of the first day. It was absolutely amazing. 

There is nothing like the beauty of Yosemite. It took my breath away every time I turned around. My hiked Vernal, Yosemite Falls, Mirror Lake, the meadows, and more. The boys biked into Curry every night for pizza. We climbed countless giant rocks. We biked everywhere, pulling the boys in a bike trailer. Max and Eli constantly had rocks and sticks in their hands: collecting, battling, admiring. If it weren't for sleeping on the cold hard ground, I wish I could have stayed for a month. 

One of my favorite things was that my phone died an hour after arriving, and there was no way to keep it charged. For five days we had no idea what time it was. We ate, slept, and journeyed when we wanted to and didn't worry about what time it was or what someone had posted on instagram. It made me feel wonderful, and I feel like I have culture shock coming back because I want to be back in that world, where everything is beautiful and still and wet. I was nervous that the boys would be too cold to want to do anything, but I was so proud of them. They loved it! The last evening when we were talking about it, they said, "Every part of the vacation was my favorite except getting dressed in the morning in the cold. The whole vacation was top level. I loved all of it." I have a deep love and appreciation for nature, and I wish that there was more of it here. 

"Thank you, Lord, for your beautiful gifts, for time with family, and a look at one of the most magical places you chose to create."

"The mountains are calling and I must go." John Muir