1st Day of Preschool

Ryan's first day of preschool was Friday. He met his teachers and most of his classmates two days before. He had a great morning. When I asked what part he liked best, he said, "everything." He will be going to preschool at our church 2 mornings a week.

 

The brother comparison ;)

It's a little strange being back in the preschool routine. He is excited to be at school like his brothers.

 Helping him learn the drop-off routine

Our church preschool has grown quite a bit. 

3 years ago, Mason's class had 7, now, Ryan's class has 11.

He has the same sweet teacher that Mason had. 

The older 2 were very sweet to ask him about his 1st day.

A New Season

We currently only have 1 playing 1 sport right now! Wow! Mason didn't handle soccer well last year with the start of KG, so we opted not to sign him up for anything until basketball starts. He only realized this yesterday. I don't think he is disappointed, just shocked b/c it's normally part of our fall ;)

Owen is playing baseball, AGAIN! He had 2x a week practice all summer and Sunday was his first game. I didn't get pictures at the game. It was HOT and Avery's 1st game and I couldn't see past/over the chain link fence (ugh). He is playing on a non- travel, travel team. Meaning games are in different counties nearby, not just the LLpark we are used too. He practices at least 2x a week and plays 2 games every other Sunday. It's nice having every other weekend off. 

This is slightly more serious version than we are used too. The players are more serious, the coaches more serious and the practices are no joke. He is up against some stiff competition and I don't mean the other teams. He has to earn his place on the field, which he really hasn't had to do before. This does not discourage him, he only works harder. If only he felt that way about school ;)

This is my competition :) Good grief! 

And that's just from practice. He said he even had dirt in his teeth ;)

He seems to be enjoying the 4th grade. His teacher is new to our school, but her fantastic reputation has preceded her. I am excited for Owen, last year there wasn't much creativity put forth to his learning. The bare minimum was met. I am hopeful this year will be better.

Learning to Play and Dance

My mind does several little dances ALL. DAY. LONG.

First, a dance between being thrilled at my daughter's progress and sadness at how little it is taking to bring on these amazing changes. (Please know, I mean no disrespect to her orphanage or caretakers by sharing my thoughts/heart. We were told there were 300 kids at her orphanage. That alone explains a lot.)

We are teaching her to play. It is apparent she had very little exposure to toys and probably very little freedom to move around. We kick and roll balls, push cars around, stack blocks, dance, play music, etc. We have tea parties and feed her baby dolls ;) I had to teach her to hug her baby! Now she does it every time she holds her. She has also learned the meaning of "go, go, go" b/c we have races in our household for almost anything! She gives "high fives", blows kisses, waves "hi" and "bye." Each of these skills only required us showing her once or twice. She just needed someone to show her.
I thought watching my boys grow and learn and reach milestones was amazing. There is no comparison to what we are seeing now. I am amazed and in awe of what God is doing in her little brain and body. Of course, this doesn't come without a deeper sadness for those children who are still waiting. It's one thing to read about institutional effects it's another to see it first hand. She, without a doubt NEEDED a family. THEY ALL DO.

Second, I thank God every day that he "matched" us with such a young child. Our age range (by our choosing) was 1-4 yrs. Avery just turned 2. There is no denying that age makes a difference for bonding and attachment. I know God would have given us what we needed to love an older child and I am tempted to feel guilty because there are SO MANY older children waiting and waiting and waiting, but I am choosing to be thankful and trust this is the daughter He had for us.

The most frequent dance in my brain is the one that questions what is next. We've adopted, now what? We certainly can't adopt them all. We did not enter this adoption journey foolishly thinking we'd solve the orphan crisis. Through this whole process I couldn't help but wonder how I would feel about the children we left behind. Fortunately and not so fortunately b/c we didn't visit Avery's orphanage, I don't have specific faces ingrained in my mind. Even though I can see plenty on my agency's website, pictures don't have quite the same impact as real life. While ONE LESS does make a difference, I can not deny that there are 148ish million orphans in the world. SO now what? I am no closer to an answer than I was a year ago. Thankfully, I don't need the answers, I just need to keep asking Him.

Gorgeous Weather

We are enjoying incredible weather.

 Spent some time at my parent's house. Avery's first visit.

 She is not a fan of grass ;)

She is SLOWLY warming up to her grandparents.

They are graciously waiting :)

1st Tooth Gone

Mason raced off the bus to share his exciting news. His tooth was loose. What he meant was, he had been wiggling his loose tooth all day at school and thought it was about to fall out. Well, he couldn't leave it alone and Owen eventually yanked it out while we were riding in the van. The tooth popped out and went flying. Fortunately, they found it on the floor of the van. Thankfully Mason was excited and not mad at Owen. He can't wait to tell his classmates on Monday!