Six Month Check-Up

Yesterday marked SIX MONTHS that Ellie has been home! It is amazing how much quicker time goes on this side of the adoption. It was six months to the day from when we left her in Guatemala on our visit trip until she was handed to us on our pick up trip.

So, how is she really doing?

SLEEPING

Ellie has always been a great sleeper. If she woke in the night at all, she just needed a cuddle and she was back to sleep in no time. I discovered if I left on a light, she will generally never wake up crying. Maybe she can see where she is and simply falls back asleep. We had quite a few challenges getting her to stay in her toddler bed. It got to the point we were staking it out on the other side of the door to catch her in the act of the crime (getting up). We realized that she was seeking some attention and positive would be more enjoyable for all parties. Now, I will mostly let her fall asleep on my chest at nap time (and I never take a nap with her...hahaha), then night time seems to go smoothly having spent that quality snuggle time with her earlier on.

EATING

I was very concerned about eating issues, but there basically has been none. She transitioned to regular milk from powered with no problems. She eats table food better than most of our other children. :) Ellie moved off the bottle smoothly. We enjoyed that time with her, but she was ready to give 'em up. We have found that if she gets frustrated about not getting what she wants, she will throw whatever food she already has...uh, not so good.

TALKING

Ellie has always been very vocal and chatty, just little that we can understand. She is understanding all that we are saying to her, but her vocabulary is limited to about 5 or 6 words (Mama, Daddy, bye, hi, Austin, and diaper are what I think of on the top of my head). She will say amen when we prompt her with "in Jesus name..." or bed when given "stay in...". Last month, we did a developmental evaluation at Easter Seals. All areas aside from speech needed no further testing. We have a more extensive speech evaluation later on in August to determine if she qualifies for Early Intervention. (I am amazed with all the bureaucracy in this process, and I have even completed an international adoption!) I think her babbles are a good sign and I hope we will have her back on track after some time of more intensive focus on her talking.

BEHAVIOR

We definitely see issues that we need to work through with Ellie. Most of them revolve around her lack of being able to communicate with us. We are working with training her to not grunt or whine to get what she wants, which can be very frustrating on both sides. It makes sense that the baby at the children's home that was crying got handed a bottle, but it cannot work that way in a family. Teaching her some sign language has been very beneficial, even just the two words we use, "please" and "thank you".

She has the tendency to go from 0 to 60, especially where Noah is involved. (Side note: I was actually asked if they were twins recently, ironically on one of the 10 days in which they were both two. This person was even looking at them! Anyway...) So we work on gentleness and calmness often. She received a baby for her birthday, which has been a good tool for this. Overall, we would describe her as having "rough edges".

We seem to notice a few days where we have to be on top of behavior with Ellie, then she will return to an even sweeter and calmer Ellie than before. She laughs easily, loves to receive praise, and shows signs of being a helper. We are praying that the Holy Spirit is getting to her heart though our training of her now.

LIKES

Ellie loves to sing and dance. Her favorite songs would be "Yes Lord", "Ittsy Bittsy Spider", "This Little light of Mine" and "The Wise Man". She got a couple of cards that played music for her birthday and she loved them. Carried them around until they broke or wore out.

Sweets are okay for Ellie, such as M n' M's or marshmallows, but her favorite food appears to be pasta and grapes. I think she would eat an entire casserole dish or bunch if I let her. All other things she has a definitive stopping place, but not with those two.

Swimming, climbing, swinging, sliding , running, baths, dogs from afar, balloons, and babies all rank up there.

DISLIKES

(((LOUD NOISE)))!!!! Ellie hates all forms of it: hairdryers, flushing toilets, mowers, saws, loud cars going down the street. She gets very fussy and clingy when faced with noises she does not like.

Breakfast (doesn't eat much early on), sitting still in church, getting accidentally shut in a room by siblings (do you blame her) are on the down and out list for Ellie.


So, that's basically where we are six months into it. We completed 3 out of 4 post placement visits with our case worker and will turn in paperwork to an attorney to begin the readoption process next week. Daniel and I are relearning the meaning of diligence in our parenting and are relying on His grace daily as we raise our herd (as somebody thought I called our kids recently ) :) .

How did you do it?

After Daniel's sermon on Sunday, I got stopped in the hall and emailed ever since the same question, "How did you do it?"

What he refered to is how I walked out of a store with 4 cart loads of stuff and was paid $90. This particular deal was at Walgreen's. For every 3 packages of diapers I "made" $7 toward purchases at Walgreen's. I was able to use a July monthly coupon, August monthly coupon, and pharmacy coupon. There are usually 2 days that the monthly catalogs overlap. The computer automatically applied each coupon to every pack (not just $5 off of 2 as the coupons listed.) So, I was left with a negative $2 after and had to add an item to keep the balance over $0.00. (I picked up lots of milk, paper towels, baby toothpaste, donuts...keeping the kids occupied...yes I did this mostly with all four kids in tow). Then, the computer spit out a $5 coupon toward my next Walgreen's purchase, good on any item. Picture this, running this scenario twice at the cash register, unloading the cart in the car, and repeating. When I realized how the coupons automatically worked in the computer and that taking three packs of diapers out of the store was profitable, I began picking up all sizes for other families in the church, stalking up the church plant nursery tubs, and for the pregnancy center. The cashier told me other ladies had been in doing the same thing earlier and the manager confirmed that it was okay to use three coupons each time (they were store coupons, it would be coupon fraud to use 3 manufacturer coupons on one item).

Back to saving money on groceries in general. I stumbled onto a "frugal living" website from an adoption forum. A woman claimed to spend $35/week on groceries for a family of four in California. Doubtful, I followed a link to her blog....and found this great site:

www.moneysavingmom.com

She seems to be fairly Biblical in her approach to finances, etc. She basically lists bargains for the week, internet coupons, matching coupons with sales, and so forth, on her blog daily. I read through the posts when I am planning my shopping trip and see what works for me (as far as having the right store, coupon, time that week). There are several other links you can follow from her site if you are interested in doing more research. As I helped my sister in TX get going on this, there was only so much I could do until she spent some time reading through the site and figuring out what approach she wanted to take.

I started with buying the Sunday paper, going to coupon sites and reading up on "CVS 101". CVS is definitely the most "user friendly" of the drugstores (and it is right by Five Points Washington, so I coordinate my stops with working out). Most of the items pictured below are a result of combining coupons, sales, and using the "Extra Care Bucks" I have earned on previous purchases to pay, leaving me only owing less than a $1 for several sacks of items and more Bucks to spend the next time. CVS helps greatly with grocery budget because it takes out most of the expense of cleaning items, toiletries, make-up, and a few food items that really add up. I shudder to think that I used to walk into Wal-mart and let the kids pick out a character toothpaste for $4-$5 a pop. Now they get a kick out of "shopping" for toothpaste in the linen closet. I was a dedicated generic shopper before, so I doubted the use of coupons on name brand items. But after combining a coupon with a sale and getting things for pennies or free, I have become a believer. :)

((Did you know that if you use a Buy-one-get-one-free coupon on an item that is on sale for Buy-one-get-one-free at the store, you get two items for free (manufacturer pays for one and the store for the other)! I let the kids do this on sugar free gum recently and it made their day to hand the cashier a coupon and a penny(tax on one item) and get to buy two packs of gum. They were confiscated as we left the store (by Mom) and they were encouraged to pick a friend to share a pack with. :) ))

This is such a good tool for people in all stages of life. Obviously, if you've got kids in diapers or a number of kids, totally necessary. I am thrilled to make money for our family just by not spending it and I could never have imagined being able to give away two of the biggest budget killers: diapers and laundry detergent! If you are a college student and just became a CVSer (ha) you could not only have all of your beauty items for a dollar or two a week, but you have a ministry to your entire hall in the dorm. Families with kids out of the home can bless others with their abundance and save plenty of money that can be used for giving.

Homework: If you are interested, do some research on the site and consider what is best for your family. Then call or email me if you have questions!

Where the stockpile started, I have expaned to another closet ;)

Can't seem to keep the diapers neatly staked. We hear a crashing sound every now and then in the girls room. The stacks of diapers in the garage are the ones for giving away.

I used to HATE to buy laundry detergent, now it is part of the game.

I have some cereal rules: under $1/box, not too much sugar and a decent amount of fiber. So, far, I have rarely departed from the rules and generally pay much less!

I started this way of shopping about three months ago. I think the money saving mom recommended giving yourself three months to see if it was really working for you and I can't imagine shopping any other way. As with all things, there has to be moderation. It makes no sense to drive 20 minutes into town to save an extra dollar on one item, but keep the amount of time (and money....it is tempting to get carried away with stockpiling) within reason. A sale will always cycle back around, so if you miss it, it is okay. I have also become more aware of every dollar. I am less opt to pick up a drink at the checkout or stop at McD's for lunch. Since I am devoting more time to grocery shopping (planning and stopping at more than one store) than before, I have lost a lot of desire to shop for other things, thus reducing our spending even more. I get to use some of my math background (don't worry it is not necessary... just makes that part more fun for me).

Consider the Proverbs 31 woman, who provided for her family in industrious ways . She did not fear the snow (or end of the month when grocery money runs out) and opened her hand (or closet) to those in need.

Fresh Pics

I had seen a picture on a blog of a fellow Guatemama of silhouette pictures of her children and I wanted to figure out how to do it myself. So, I simply brought out the camera at dusk and shot the kids from behind as I was near the ground. Then I went to a great photo editing site, Picasa, and bumped up the shadow feature.

Here's what I got:

Pretty cool, huh?!?!! The best part was not worrying if they were all looking at the camera at the same time. :)

This is using the focal black and white feature

This is the pose that the kids requested, feet and all. :)

We had a fun evening outside helping Daddy with a project and mowing, while listening to stories about Grandpa Bob's hammer. :)

In Honor of...

Meeting Ellie and the wonderful week we had in Guatemala a year ago, I am reposting our visit trip video.




Last summer was so pivotal in my walk with the Lord and in our family, it is impossible not to continually look back to where He has brought us from.

Happy Birthday Noah!!

20052006

2007 (A few days before his birthday, because we were meeting Ellie for the first time on his actual 2nd birthday)

2008

Our Adoption Story!

This video has been finished since April, but I was waiting to post it until I could mail it as an adoption announcement for Ellie. I hope you have found our journey encouraging!

God Abundantly Provides

I mentioned briefly in an earlier post how I have been working on bargain shopping lately. I got home from a stop at Target today and this was the conversation I had with Daniel:

Me: "Guess how much all of this (9 pks of diapers and 9 large pks of wipes) cost?"
Daniel: "Ahhh...$50" (a pretty low guess, but he knows how I like to shop
Me: (After a game of lower/higher) "Just Under $16!!"

Me: "Wait...that $16 also included 5 jars of peanut butter! And I have a $5 gift card that I earned with the purchases left"

I have no plans on turning our blog into a deal-of-the-day, but this was too good not to share how God is providing. Just this past Sunday, I was able to give one of the "Senior Saints" in our church a bag full of toiletries and nonperishable food items. I am pretty sure she left lipstick on my face when she kissed me and there was a thank you note in our mailbox by Tuesday. If any of you would like to join us in this coupon/drugstore/etc game, it will not only save your family a significant amount of money on grocery items, but we also desire to help out many of the seniors at church that are on a fixed income. And, with the assisted living complex right next to the church plant meeting place, there is tremendous potential for ministry in sharing of our abundance.

58 seconds of Cuteness

Swim Meet

As Daniel and I discussed who would get "posting rights" for the meet pictures, he said "You get the kids to practice, pick them up, pack all the gear and dinner for the meet, hand me the camera (after you have packed it) and ask me to take pictures as you watch the little kids...it's only fair I should post!" Hehehehe and you see where you are viewing this post!

We went to our first away meet last week. It was bigger than anticipated, but fewer of our team goes to the away meets, so our kids got to swim more than at the home meets. And when I say more, I mean I about fell over when I was writing down all that Hannah was in and thinking "how is she going to finish all of this?!?!" They were both troopers and finished with good attitudes and smiles on their faces!

Austin: being cute!

Hannah in the bullpen. Does anyone else notice the difference in the leg length between Hannah and her competition?!?

"Swimmers take your mark"

My Baby in the 100M IM...i.e. (What I learned after I saw that she was in it from my swimming buff hubby) 25 M, length of the pool, of each stroke...I don't think I could finish this race, but Hannah held on to the end!
Doing the Butterfly

Back stroke is looking good!

Freestyle to the end

Austin in the bullpen

I need a picture of his exit from the blocks, so cute and typical "Austin"!

Austin is doing a great job at the breast stroke! Unfortunately, he was swimming the 25M freestyle...still a work in progress. :)

A lots of snacks, a few little toys, and portable DVD player for watching "Letter Factory" are very helpful tools for getting through a 4.5 hour meet with these two!

Back from My Blogacation

I am responding to the threatening email I'm getting as to why the blog has been so neglected. :) We have been up to our ears in swimming, VBS, swimming, out-of-town guests, swimming, spending some quality time together as a family, swimming, birthday stuff, and swimming! AND...Whoohoo!!! I have finished the big project I have been working on which has been eating all of my computer time...to be unveiled in a post to come!

I'll start with Ellie's birthday celebration. We kept things low-key, went swimming (for fun!) and had a simple cake and ice cream party in our back yard.

Ellie loves balloons, so that was our party "theme". And Daddy loved spending an hour after the party was over dissecting the ceiling fan to untangle the pair that had gotten caught! :)
Ellie pointed to the camera that was in front of me then sat down to pose!

Lovin' her cake and ice cream!

We opened family presents today. She opened some PJ's from her aunt and went to get the pants on right away...just like Hannah had done at her 2 year old birthday!

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl! We praise God that He has entrusted you to our family and delight in the joy you bring into our home! We pray that the Lord would find pleasure in revealing His Son to you in His saving grace!

20062007

2008

Before and After

Before: 2007After: 2008

Before: 2007
After: 2008 Before: 2008 pre-cut

Before: 2007, just a phone to hold

After: 2008, the real thing is so much better! And post-cut, too. :)