One Year With Our Little Girl

One year ago today I met and held my daughter for the first time. What a year it has been! When I first met Sitota she was a quiet, shy and frail little girl. She had and still has a smile that will brighten your day. She amazes me with everything she has learned over the past year and how she will try anything! She has learned to read, write, ride a bike and rip stick, ice skate, swim, and so much more in this past year. She has also physically grown A LOT...when we brought her home she was 4 ft 4 in and 59 pounds. Today she is 4 ft 10 in and 85 pounds!! It is hard to keep up with her (on many levels!). She is truly an inspiration to us and we are So Blessed to be able to call her our daughter. Enjoy the pictures of her from a year ago and today...looks like she aged about 3 years!!! Love to all - Melissa

JOB

Do I work? Yes! I work 24 hours a day. Why? Because I'm a MOMMY. I am a cook, a cleaner, a parent, a teacher, a referee, a nanny, a nurse, a handyman, a maid, a security officer and a comforter. I don't get holidays, sick-pay, or a day OFF. I work through the day and the night. I am on call at all hours. Now tell me my job isn't a real one, ITS THE BEST ONE!

Preparing for Christmas

This is a Very exciting Christmas around our house for all of us. It is the first Christmas as a family of 5 and the first time Delson and Sitota are experiencing Christmas (American style!). We put up the tree this weekend and they are loving it. Another thing we have enjoyed is the Christmas music. I am looking forward to seeing them all in their Christmas programs. Sitota and Delson have a school performance and all the kiddos will be in the church program this year too! Here are a few pics of the events so far! Enjoy - Melissa

Colorful

Having conversations with Micah is always an adventure. It is often hard to remember that he is only 2, as he has conversations like a little man :) Here was the talk we had today after lunch:
Micah - "Mom, come here and put your nose on mine!"
(I go and put my nose to his)
Micah- (excited) " Look Mom..we match! Wait, we don't match because my nose is brown! Well, we kinda match!"
Gotta Love that boy!!

HAPPY Thanksgiving

Tomorrow we will celebrate Thanksgiving and boy do we have a LOT to be thankful for. This year has brought about so many changes in our lives. We went from being a family of 3 to a family of 5. We brought home our little guy from Haiti, which was a miracle in itself. I have been blessed with the opportunity to be a stay at home mom. We have certainly had challenges, but through it all the blessings have been overwhelming. I am so thankful for my supportive and loving Husband, my 3 great kiddos, my family who has for the most part been supportive and so generous throughout everything. I am also thankful for the 3 women in my life whom I have NEVER met, but have given me the greatest gifts I could ever ask for...these women gave so much for me to be able to call myself a mom and I could not thank them enough.
This Thanksgiving I pray that you all are as Blessed as I have been and continue to be. -Melissa

Happy Halloween!

Crappy Job

***Caution this is going to be a graphic post, read at your own risk!***
Being a mom is tough, but my job just got down right crappy! We have suspected that Sitota may have some type of parasite for awhile, but nothing had shown up in tests. We recently asked her if she ever notices anything strange in her poo and her response was: "Like the little white bugs?!?!" Huh, Yeah! That would be Strange. See, to her it was not weird as she had lived with them for a long time. We finally got the results back (after pushing them to run more tests and making sure the sample had a "little friend" in it!)and turns out she has a tape worm! We will be treating it this weekend and it should all come out within a day or so. They are thinking it will be about 2-4 feet long!! Sounds like a fun way to start a weekend! So, next time you think you have a crappy job, think again :) - Melissa

We Are Family!

It has been a busy week around here. Sitota started 3rd grade and is LOVING it. Delson also started school, he is in 4k every afternoon. He likes it a lot, especially riding the bus :)
On Friday we went to court for Sitota's re-adoption and for Delson's adoption. Everything went GREAT and we are now the proud parents of 3 kiddos!!! We looked back and figured out that we saw Delson's picture for the first time 4 years and 18 days before his adoption was FINAL...it has been a LONG journey, but we are TRULY blessed beyond believe!
In other news, I am making this blog PUBLIC again...I have nothing to hide and can not wait to continue to share our journey's with friends and family!!! Have a Blessed week!! Melissa

WEEDS

Today we decided it would be FUN to measure the kiddos to see just how much they have grown...OH MY! Let's start with Sitota: When Sitota came home she was 4 ft 4 inches and weighed 59 pounds. That was January 2nd...now (less than 8 months later) she is 4 ft 9.5 inches and 78 pounds!!!! No wonder I can not keep up on clothes! Moving on to Delson: He was 39 inches and 40 pounds when he came home January 26th (about 7 months ago)...today he was 40 pounds and 43 inches tall!! That explains why his pants from last school year fit more like shorts :) Micah - Well he is now just over 37 inches and still hanging around 27 pounds.
They are all happy and healthy and we are very blessed. Things have been calming down a little and we are starting to have more good days and really starting to get the hang of our families sudden changes. We will be completing Sitota's re-adoption and Delson's adoption this up coming Friday! Going to be an exciting week!!! Have a Blessed Week - Melissa

Random Pictures (at last!)

Surgery and Court Dates

Yesterday was a big day for us. We started by heading to the hospital for Delson to have his circumcision done. Everything went well and though he was wanting to do EVERYTHING yesterday (like ride his bike!) we tried to keep him calm and resting. He is sore today, but that was to be expected.
We also got everything filed for court to do Sitota's re-adoption and Delson's adoption! Both hearings will be held on September 3rd and we are planning a BIG party on September 19th to celebrate our new Party of 5!! I will be posting some updated pics soon!

Really Bad Blogger!

I know...almost a full month without a post. I should be ashamed! We have had a very busy month. Story times at the library, a visit to grandma and grandpa Troedel's house, my grandmother's passing, camping with a fellow adoptive family, and lots of things in between. We have also been dealing with several behavioral issues with Delson that I will get into at a later date. Anyhow, I will try to post some pics soon and keep you all better informed!! Chow for now - Melissa

Our baby girl is growing up

This past weekend I took Sitota to Miss Kris' house to have her 9yr old pics taken. They turned out GREAT...she is soooo grown up already. I can not believe she will be 9 on Monday!!! WOW! Here are a few of my faves. Melissa

What have we been up too??

Here are a few pics from the past few weeks...sorry I do not get out here as much, but I do most updating on Faceboook :) I will TRY to be better!! Enjoy- Melissa

Random Pictures

Cute

Conversation with Micah tonight:
Me to Micah: "How did you get so cute?"
Micah: "From Mommy..and a brown nose too."
Me: "Who did you get the brown nose from?"
Micah: "The eye doctor silly!"

Rrrrrrunning

I loved when Sitota kept saying "running" over and over tonight and laughing.I asked her what was so funny about the word and she said I am saying running funny, that is when I noticed she was no longer rolling her Rs like she has in the past. I said that she was saying it with an American accent and she LAUGHED :)

1st (2nd and 3rd!)

I have been meaning to blog, but I keep forgetting the camera upstairs so I decided to just do the post and promise you pics to follow :) We have had several exciting things happening lately. Here is a sample of what we have been up to:
Sitota was in her first school performance. It was a musical called "Got Talent?" that her 2nd grade class wrote themselves. It was so cute watching her dance, sing and show off her jump roping. She also participated in several events at the campground and kept coming up a winner: 3rd place in grape spitting, 2nd place in bug races and the 50s costume contest, and 1st place in jump roping. She is excited and sad that school is ending tomorrow. She loves going to school so much and loves learning. I keep reminding her that she will get to go to summer school in a few weeks(I think she is the only kid excited about summer school!).She is also Very interested in taking dance lessons, so I think that she will be trying it out this summer (thanks to Grandma and Grandpa T's birthday gift!)
Delson is really coming along with his English and also has been working on learning his colors. We are trying to teach him how to answer basic questions people ask, such as: What is your name? How old are you? How are you?. He also took part in the events at the campground and took 1st place in the bug races with the Big black ant he caught. He was so proud of the bug catching kit he won...I know I am excited about that prize too (insert sarcasm)!
Micah has been working on potty training and is doing SOOOO good. I can not believe how determined he is. He went a week with no accidents in his pull-ups, so he was able to go and pick out his own big boy underpants. He was SO proud to wear underpants just like Delson and has been doing very well. He does have a Big problem keeping his shorts up now that he has no diaper, but that is a small price to pay for no more diapers! He also rode his big boy bike (with training wheels) for the first time last week. He needs help getting started, but after that look out! He is a man on a mission.
We have been having a fun time as a family and we are looking forward to a fun summer! Melissa

Sprinkler Fun

Today was HOT and I decided to get the sprinkler out. This was a First for Sitota and Delson, and judging by the pics I would say they LOVE it :)

New Shoes

I LOVE shoes! I remember when I used to buy a new pair of shoes and rush home to put them on. I would basically "show off" my new shoes everywhere. Over the years things have changed...less money and different priorities have meant few NEW shoes for this mommy. I got the shoes pictured above for Christmas and Just now broke them out...of course I could not wear them today because I did not want to get them wet in the rain or take a chance they would get dirty. This is not the first time I have SAVED new shoes in fear they would not be New anymore. Christmas of 2008 I got a pair of shoes for Christmas, not just any shoes but TOMS (look them up if you do not know them!), and I first wore them about 3 months ago in fear they would get dirty or I would wreck them and would no longer have them. This is not exactly an earth changing post, but just a funny thing I noticed :) Tomorrow though, I will wear my NEW shoes with pride and Not care if they get a little dirt on them! Melissa

Very Happy Mothers Day

Today was such a special and wonderful Mothers Day for so many reasons. It was my first Mothers Day as a mom of 3 rather than 1 and there are so many things that happened to touch my heart! My kiddos all wanted to spend some of their "own" money on gifts for me so Scott took them to the Dollar Tree (let's face it, they don't have a big income yet!) and let them choose their own gifts. Sitota had made me a poster at school that says all sorts of things she Loves about me and then she bought me some lotion and ice cream! Delson made me a hand art work project in school and bought me circus peanuts and sixlets. Micah proudly presented me with an open box of gummy lifesavors(I guess he needed to make sure they were good!) and a NutRoll. All the candy was Great, they really know what I love :).
Today we also had dedication at church for Sitota and Delson. It is so special to be able to dedicate the children back to God on such a memorable day. It just so happens that Micah was dedicated last Mothers Day! We had lots of family join us for the service at church and were then able to enjoy some time with them after at our home. The weather was beautiful, so we were able to let the kiddos all play and sit and enjoy lunch outside. Was great to catch up with everyone.
After everyone left and we had a chance to clean up I begged Scott to take us to the local zoo and park(it did not take too much convincing!). This was Delson and Sitota's first visit to the zoo and they LOVED it. It was really fun watching their reactions to the animals. They really enjoyed feeding the goats and sheep. After the zoo we walked over to the park and all had a great time playing.
Ended the day with pizza supper outside along with handmade Frappes. Then inside for an episode of Little House on the Prairie.
I could not ask for a better day. I am so thankful to 3 Very special ladies who made this all possible: Verigene (Delson's Haitian Mommy), Worke (Sitota's mommy who is with our Heavenly Father), and Micah's Ethiopian Mommy (though we do not know her name, she is always in our hearts!). Without the gift they gave me I would not be celebrating this day as a Mother...Thank you is not enough! - Melissa

Imaginary Friends,Identity Crisis',and Talk of Marriage

I have had several funny conversations with my little ones over the past few days. Here are a few examples:

Librarian to Micah: "What is your name little fella?"
Micah: "Delson!"
Me: "Your name is not Delson!?!"
Micah: "Micah silly..Me Micah!"

Lady in the mall to Delson: "Aren't you handsome. Where are you from?"
Delson: "Ethiopia!"
Me: "No Delson, you were born in Haiti"
Delson: "No...Yeah!"

The kids answers to who they will marry:
Micah: "Emily and Gracie." (looks like we will need to move to a different state!)
Delson: "Sitota" (again, marrying your sister is not allowed in WI!)
Sitota: "I am too young to know that" (PERFECT answer!!!)

Micah also has his first imaginary friend. His name is Mr Grace and he has been hiding in Delson's bed. It was hard to explain to Sitota what an imaginary friend was and that we could not really see him. Mr.Grace joined us for dinner tonight and lucky for us, he does not eat much!! I will do my best to post some pics soon!-Melissa

Surprise, Surprise (aka Will the Changes Ever End)

It seems as though international adoptions are full of the unexpected even after the kids are home. We have sure had our share of surprises with all our kiddos, mostly involving birth dates. To recap - Micah was issued a bday of Nov 25, 2007 by the Ethiopian government, but we had knowledge and recordings of his actual bday being February 23, 2008 and thus changed it to that at his re-adoption. Sitota was issued a bday of July 12, 2004 and after several medical and dental tests have a more accurate bday of July 12, 2001. We thought that Delson was our one kiddo that we would have no issue with his bday since they have birth certificates in Haiti and that is where the agency would have gotten the info from...or so we thought. Today we got a translated copy of Delson's birth certificate and it actually lists his birth date as February 15, 2006!! Meaning that he just turned 4 (and was actually home with us for his bday!). This means several changes including that he will NOT be able to attend Kindergarten next year. I spoke with his 4K teacher at Head Start tonight and she said that he can attend their program again next year and that may actually be a Great benefit to him. We also found out that we actually passed IBESR(that is what we were waiting to pass for several years before putting the adoption on hold in June 2008)on July 31, 2009! It is totally a God thing though that we were not made aware because otherwise we would likely not have Sitota home with us since we started her adoption in July 2009!What a week of changes and it is only Monday...Melissa

Upward Climb

I have not posted a real "progress" report for awhile, so here is a little update on how the kiddos (and myself and Scott) are doing:
Sitota got her first report card from school. They no longer do the A,B,C,D,F system any longer it is now a 1,2,3,4 kind of thing with 4 being best and 1 being needing a lot of work. We were very happy that she got some 2s and several 3s. She did have a few 1s, but that is to be expected since she has only been in school about 2 months. Her teachers had nothing but great things to say about her and said that once the language barrier is gone she will SORE. We were very proud. She continues to help around the house to earn her allowance and really enjoys doing it. She has been talking to us a lot about her family in Ethiopia and is very open with us about her feelings. She obviously has a LOVE for them(as do we), but she tells us all the time how much she Loves being here and in our family. Sitota has many friends in the neighborhood now and enjoys getting to go and play with her friends without her brothers tagging along :) Her re-adoption will be coming up soon and we are all excited about that day!
Delson continues to make forward progress. His speech is still pretty poor, but it was recently discovered that he has a Lot of fluid in his ears and this may be affecting his speech and also balance. He is going to see an ear doctor to find out if vents may help. He likes going to school and seems to be picking up on a few new things there, but has a long way to go. His fine motor skills are still very poor as he can not even grasp a pen or crayon. Also can not zip or button, but we are working on it. He is still VERY full of energy, but is sleeping better at night so that is helpful to all of us.
Micah is Micah. He is so funny lately and has been learning SOOOOO much. He recently learned to jump and wants to do that ALL the time. He is also obsessed with going to school and can not wait to join the big kids. He is enjoying going to story time and got to move up to the Big kid class with his other friends. He is eating SOOO much, only problem is that he keeps growing taller while not gaining any weight...tough one when it comes to pants!
Scott and I are doing well. We are preparing to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary next week and even have a baby sitter so we can go for dinner! We are just starting the planning stages to go on a short term mission trip to Africa in 2012. It is in the very early stages, but we are so excited to have been blessed with this calling! We will be opening the camper up this weekend and will see how that goes with our now family of 5 :) That is about all we are up to...Be Blessed - Melissa

Spring Break Fun

This week is spring break for the kids and we have been having a Fun filled week so far. Monday was story time at the library and also lots of outdoor fun at the Caters. Monday night Sitota braided my hair...fun, but I can not pull it off as well as her! Tuesday we went to Monkey Joes with Aunt Heidi and the kids. Unfortunately the camera was not working, so I only got one picture. Then we came home and played hide and seek, Simon says and play dough. Today we took the city bus for the first time. The kids have been asking to take the bus since Delson started taking the school bus, so I gathered some other moms and kids and off we went. We rode downtown and took the kids to the coffee shop for smoothies. They had a blast! Then we played more hide and seek, did a little bike riding, and had a play boona(coffee)ceremony. Fun week so far...who knows what the next few days will bring!!

Fun Times! (and Pics!)

We have been really busy lately.We went to a cultural event at our local library and the kids LOVED it. Micah and Sitota got to wear their Ethiopian outfits and looked so cute. Delson dressed as an American since we have No Haitian outfit :). All the kids loved the food, playing drums and watching the dances. We also got to bring the kiddos down to meet their Great Grandpa for the first time. He was Thrilled to finally meet our latest additions and show them around his nursing home. They loved meeting him and especially seeing the cat and birds they have there. We finally broke down and bought a minivan. Yup...we are one of those people! It is very nice to be able to go as a family of 5 comfortably in one car. Today at church the kiddos got to go upfront and wave their palm branches, they all did a Great job! Here are some pics of the fun times we have been having! Melissa

Luck without a leprechaun

We have had a very busy week. Monday was Delson's first day of pre-school. He did pretty well, but the true test was Tuesday since that was his first day without me there and his first ride on the bus. He did cry for a bit on the bus, but then had a pretty good day. Today he had a Great day at school and came home excited to show me the contents of his backpack which included a pencil and stickers for St Patricks Day.
The kids and I made a leprechaun trap this weekend and put it out last night, but we had no luck catching one. We did get some gold coins and stickers...oh well, better luck next year :)
We have been enjoying this nice weather and LOVE playing outside. I really will post pictures soon...as soon as my laptop is fixed :) Enjoy - Melissa

Ages and Names and School...Oh My!

It is only Wednesday, but already has been a busy week. Between the dentist, doctor, school conference and lots of other little errands and updates, I don't know which way is up :) The first update I would like to give is on Sitota's age. We had the hand x-ray done on Monday and the results were in today.....it appears she is about 9 years old! Since we know her b-day is July 12 (the date is not in question, only the year), the doctor has written a letter that concludes that she is currently 8 years,8 months old currently. We have been talking with her about her age and how the picture of her hands would help us to better know how old she is and she seems to get it. She will still remain in her same grade level at school since she has a lot of catch up to still do.
The next update comes with names. As you may recall, I had written a post a little while back regarding Sitota's middle name. She had not liked the original middle name we had chosen and had decided to use my middle name instead. She would never write her full name out using the middle name and just did not really seem attached to it yet. About 2 weeks ago she brought up that she really wanted Sara to be her middle name and proudly writes her entire name all the time now and also writes LOVE after it :) So there you have it official name will be Sitota Sara Troedel. While we are talking names,let's talk about Jean Delson. Most people will read his name as Jean (Gene) and think expect that he is a girl. We ran into this with school, doctor and dentist so far. He is not real attached to using the Jean part of his name and more listens for Delson. We have asked if he would like to be called Delson and he said Wee (AKA Yes). So his name will be officially Delson Scott Troedel.
Sitota had her first parent teacher conference yesterday and the teachers had nothing but good to say about her. They absolutely LOVE her and she loves them as well. She is doing well catching up with reading levels and is working hard on math as well. She will be able to attend summer school as well, which will help her further advance. Delson will be starting the 4 year old program at Head Start next week. I am excited and nervous at the same time...I really think it will be a great way for him to learn and hope that all goes well.
That is all for tonight! Take care...I will post some pics soon!!! Melissa

Growing like Weeds

Today all 3 kiddos went to the doctor and here is where they are at:
-Micah had his 2 year check-up. He is now 37.5 inches tall(97%), 28lbs.(50%) and his head is still huge :) (97%)! He is doing great and they were really impressed at how much talking he does! They did hear a little mummer on his heart, but may have been caused by his cold but they will keep an eye on it.
-Delson gained 2 pounds this month. He had a HUGE amount of wax in both ears and that may have been affecting his speech and balance issues. They cleaned them out good and we will see if there is a difference. We are going to continue to work on some things with his sleep, but otherwise there are no other changes for him.
-Sitota grew 2.5 inches and gained 10 lbs in 2 months!!! She is now 4'7" and weighs 70 pounds! It has become very evident that we are still off on her age, so to be most accurate we had them do a xray of her hands and that should tell her "true" age. It will be very interesting to find out the results!

Baby talk

Here was my conversation with Micah today:
Micah:"Micah's mom and dad have baby?"
Me:"haha, ask your dad!"
Micah:"Micah ask Santa!"
Me:"That sounds like a great idea!!"

What's going on???

I bet you are all wondering what has been happening in the Troedel household lately. I noticed it had been awhile since my last post, so here is a little update on everyone:
Micah - He is doing Wonderful as usual. He has started to really get into tickling lately, he loves to be tickled and to tickle others. Too funny. He also has started singing a lot. He does concerts where he will play the guitar or piano and sing songs for us. His favorites are Twinkle, Twinkle, the ABCs, Baa-Baa and Happy Birthday. He really wants to go to school because Sitota is going and he hears us getting Delson prepared, but I convinced him I will teach him some things while the others are at school and he is happy with that.
Delson- I am not sure if he is calming down slightly or if I am just getting used to the constant movement :). He has found some things that interest him: stickers, blocks, and dress up are is favorites. He really thrives on getting one on one attention and is not too keen on sharing my attention. He LOVES Micah and gives him kisses and hugs all the time. It is so cute. He also loves Sitota, but what he LOVES is to annoy her and knows just how to do it! Just how a little brother should be :). He is going to be starting pre-school in a few weeks and will go 4 half days per week. I think this will really help him with language.
Sitota- She is doing Great. Still a happy girl and so smart. The teachers are always saying how impressed they are with her. We have her first conference at school next week, I am excited for that. She has been ice skating a few times and really likes it. It is fun because she has no fear of falling and does pretty well on skates. She also talks to us a lot about things in Ethiopia and is going to try to teach me how to make Injera. I am excited about that!
Family over all - We had our first post placement visit with the social worker this week. It went well and she is impressed with how far the kids have come in such a short time. We have one more visit in 3 months and then we can finish up both adoptions stateside! Then NO MORE SOCIAL WORKERS!!! YIPPEE :) We also had our first family meeting tonight. We hung up the family rules and also went over some things the kids can do to earn money. They all seem excited to help out and to make some $$! Scott and I are having a date night this weekend and are SUPER excited about that. (Thanks Karen and Kara!!!) Over all we are getting used to the new normal and things are improving!! Here are some pics of dress up time! Enjoy - Melissa

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

I can not believe that my baby is 2 already! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home and he was a little baby...now he is already like a little man. He has learned So much this year and amazes me everyday. He says over 150 words clearly and also uses 5-6 word sentences regularly. He loves singing and his favorite songs are: ABCs, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Old McDonald. He is just amazing. This year has brought about a lot of changes for Micah and he has taken everything with ease. He could have regressed and been jealous of his new siblings coming home, but he was more than happy to share the spotlight that had shone only on him. He chose to instead love them, play with them and even learn a few words in Amharic and Kreyol (which he uses correctly and can tell you what they mean in English as well!). He learned to crawl this year :) that is funny because he walked before he was 1, but never crawled until 18 months. He has a LOVE for Jesus and says his own prayers to Baby Jesus every day(Baby Jesus because Christmas is when his true Love began!). I am so proud of Micah and could not Love him more. God has truly blessed me and I am Lucky to be able to call him my son. Happy 2nd Birthday Micah. I look forward to what this year will hold! Melissa

Crawling in the Right Direction

I have not talked a lot about all the feelings I have had over the past few weeks with the changes that have come into our lives. I have had a lot of trouble adjusting to our new life's and what has all come about. Things have been so different with Jean Delson's arrival home than with the other kids. When I met Jean Delson in 2007, he was 22 months old and I fell in Love with his smile and loving, caring way about him. Then when we chose to put his adoption on hold I chose to totally remove myself from the Haiti adoptions all together, for me it had to be a clean break. It was so heartbreaking to have to walk away, but it was what was best for everyone at the time.

When we met Micah it was instant love for all of us. He instantly became attached and wanted no one but me or Scott to hold him and care for him. My love for him has only grown stronger with everyday that passes.

The first time I saw Sitota's picture and the video of her crawling from a tube telling us her name and waving it was Love at first sight. Meeting her just made my heart filled with joy and it was like I had found the missing link for our family.

We were just starting to adjust being a family of 4 and we were happy in thinking our family was complete....then we got the news that Jean Delson could come home. All the feelings from our meeting him years ago started to take over...problem was Jean Delson was no longer that 22 month old little lover, he had turned into a 4.5 year old little man who had lived the past four years in an orphanage where he basically ran free. He knew no boundaries, was not used to structure and we had no real way to communicate. There was No instant Love for this child and I began to doubt my ability to parent him. I just did not know how to get through the wall and it was sucking every ounce of my energy and I found myself hating getting up everyday to go through all the struggle. I also found I could not bond with him at all because it felt like I was just taking care of the problem someone else had created. I talked with a lot of people and tried searching for new techniques and answers. I needed to be able to find a way to get through to him for both of our sakes.

This week I have FINALLY made some progress. I found a way of doing time outs to correct bad behaviors that actually works and today we had the first time out free day since he has been home. We had him evaluated for Head Start (preschool) and he should be able to start 4 half days a week soon. I have been able to find several things that he likes to do that actually give me a few minutes of free time during the day. And most importantly...tonight while I was praising him for the great day we had he gave he a hug and I actually started to feel something for the little boy I had fallen in love with years ago. I know that we still have a LONG way to go and there will be steps back along the way, but today was the first day I started to fall back in LOVE and it felt good!!! Melissa

Poopy in the Potty

Not to get gross on you all, but Micah went poopy in the potty for the first time tonight! He is not even 2!!! He looked a little scared at first, but then we all praised him and he got a special piece of candy. Now he will proudly announce, "Micah go poop on the potty!". Gotta Love that boy!
In other news, Jean Delson was evaluated for Head Start today and they should be accepting him into their 4 year old program soon. He will go Mon-Thurs from 8-12. It will be good for him to get into a real learning environment that can prepare him for school next year. It will also be nice to have a little one on one time with Micah. - Melissa

Snowed In

It has become increasingly harder to think of things to keep the boys occupied during the day especially with the cold weather. I was talking with my good friend Kara who had some Great ideas that I have been trying. One idea was that since it was too cold to play outside, why not bring the snow inside. What could it hurt, it is only water after all!?!?!?! I went outside and gathered 2 huge bowls of snow and got out plates, spoons, bowls, and lots of other misc utensils. Let's just say that they LOVED it and I got to have 20 minutes to get the dishes done and go through the mail. Here are some pics of the FUN. - Melissa

Going Private

We got an email from our placing agency for Jean Delson today that was Very disturbing. Someone, we do not know, had apparently read our blog and misinterpreted several things and is trying to cause problems. Fortunately, there was a lot of mis-truth in her email and other things mentioned were already handled by our agency and cleared with USCIS before Jean Delson was issued his humanitarian visa. So that is the short version of why this is private, if you know of someone who would like permission to view this blog, please leave me a comment or shoot me an email! Thanks all - Melissa

First week as Five

If I had to sum up our first week as a family of five the word would be CHALLENGING! Don't get me wrong, there were some good times too but a lot of the week was spent crying, questioning, and praying. Thankfully we have had the support of a lot of our family and friends, even people at church that we did not know prior to this journey. Jean Delson (we will be calling him Delson as that is what he likes) came home with a few health problems such as a sinus infection and Giardia (which is a parasite). He is on meds now and they seem to be helping. He also has a lot of behavior issues that we are trying to work on. He is literally jumping off the walls all day, pushing over the furniture, running into the doors, throwing everything from toys to chairs and also has decided that he does not want to sleep. We have tried sitting with him by his bed, holding him, singing with him....last night finally after he screamed for 30 minutes with everything we tried we had to rock him and then was able to sneak him in his bed only for him to wake 4 hours later..... Needless to say it has been a struggle.

Sitota continues to do wonderful. She is doing great in school and just seems to do so well to the change. She trys to be very helpful with the boys, although I make sure to let her know that I can/will do the things for them so she does not feel like she has to "mother" them. I want her to have her childhood. She is doing great at learning to read and is speaking a LOT of English now. There are very few things she will not eat, which is nice and she now enjoys taking hot lunch with the other girls. It is fun to hear her talk about her friends :)

Micah is going to be 2 at the end of the month and it shows! He is in to everything! We have resorted to putting locks on the fridge and stove to keep him from going in them constantly. He is testing his boundaries, which is normal. He remains very active and talkative...boy does he talk a lot.

Scott and I are trying to remain strong and support each other. He was recently ill, which proved to be difficult for both of us but lucky it only lasted 2 days. I have a cold and am very tired, but I know that this will pass and things will work out. We are going through a very challenging time, but with the grace of God and the help of family and friends we will make it through and grow stronger! Better run the popcorn is almost gone and I will need to start running around again...I really enjoyed this 10 minutes of rest :)Melissa