Something to Laugh about

Some days you really need something to laugh about.
Days when your child bosses you around too much and you realize you have left it go too far.
And then in the same day, she does other things that she should never do to her mom that I will not list. Defamation isn't nice, right?
The same day that the babysitter mentions the fact that she wasn't the model child...
The same day that she whines with every sentence she says, even though you make her say it nice every time, and you are sick of it!!!

Finally you make her sit on the naughty step and set the timer. Only to discover when it dings that you weren't paying attention and during the time that she was supposed to be sitting, she apparently got off some because she is sitting there with several toys!! So we clarify expectations and set the timer again.

Well, to the part that I finally found some humor...
She went to her play kitchen and made her microwave beep. told me I was in time out! I want to work on making sure she knows who IS the boss around here, so I suggested she use the puppy and put him in time out. I thought of it spur of the moment, but loved the idea instantly. I thought of using a doll, but was afraid I was pushing it too far. So a puppy it was. And she went for it!!! ( you need to understand this is the child who would barely touch a stuffed animal and certainly not a doll!!! She hated them!) That poor puppy did more time outs in five minutes than she has done in the last month!!! You should have heard his naughtiness!!! :) and he even had to nerve to get toys when he was in time out!!!
I'm hoping we just took a big step into doll playing! She still has him, and he just got done playing with my phone, listening to the musical manger scene and looking at pictures of her.

Well, on the bad days, it's good to have something to laugh about to keep from getting too discouraged.

Oh, My! the dogs in time out AGAIN! He's been chewing on her slipper!!

helping dog watch the musical manger scene

She thought that baby Jesus was in a boat!! Remembering last night when
read about baby moses. :)

Life Improves Momentarily

I'm going to quick write about how it's going better, quick before we take two steps back. :)
We have been having Evangelistic meetings this whole past week. That means church every night, and while I haven't gotten there eeeeevvvery night, I think we did pretty good. I was kinda dreading it. Sunday morning wears me out! Why would I want to go more than that? let alone every night!?!?! Well, I am glad to report that G is actually kinda enjoying it, and has gotten much better at sitting still for small periods of time and actually looking at a book quietly by herself for a little bit!! Every now and then I realize that my child has been sitting nicely and quietly, and I heard a few consecutive sentences from the speaker uninterrupted!!! I smile and look proudly at my well behaved little girl sitting or standing beside me. :) One thing that may have helped is that I am trying to be more proactive. I took her to MD the other night before church and had her run and run and run in the playground. that was before it got soo cold! The last few nights I just got there a few min early and had her run laps in the basement before going up to sit.

One thing I may have learned (just in case it doesn't last long) is that she is able to obey better, if I smile at her while telling her what or what not to do. I don't know if this is typical and I'm a slow parent, or if this is unique to her, or if it's because of her fight or flight tendency. Either way, a child who responds the way you hope they will is much more fun to be around, so I will be smiling more!!

Anyone else have crazy cold weather!?!? this morning at 8 my weather app said 19* and it said it feels like 2*!! A few days ago we were going outside with a light jacket! BBRRRR!!

  

The other day, I settled into the sofa figuring I would soon have a little girl bouncing on top of me, but, lo and behold, she picked up my book instead, settled into some cushions and pretended to read! The book she chose was ummm, interesting... I thought maybe she was self diagnosing?

Oh yes, I don't want to forget! she has learned her full name! "Umbreya" Kate Landis. The last two are very clear. I told her my last name is Landis too, and grandma's name is Landis and .... anyway, after going through a long list of people with the name of Landis, she somehow must have decided that anyone with the name of Landis also has the name Kate! When I asked her who gave her the pretty thanksgiving card, she says 'Grandma Kate Landis!!" and yes, Ginny, I got it on video.

Another thing that has/had been going better is morning time. She sleeps in her own bed till sometime in the morning ( anytime between 4-6am) then comes and climbs in with me. I was getting sooo frustrated because she was coming over but now settling down and going back to sleep. Lately (holding my breath) she comes over, I lift her in bed and cover her and we both go right to sleep! no kicking! no wiggling or odd noises, just blissful sleep! Understand why I can right a nice positive blog post?! I'm getting some sleep!

We went to Hershey to see my niece, the children's wing is so nice for children, she loved running around trying all the colorful things.

In the Parking Garage elevator. 1st time she could see outside and see we were actually going up and down. SHe loved it! We may or may not have gone up and down multiple times.

Favorite pastime

My little alarm clock

It all started with an old, old book, called Clocks. This old book is a very, very well loved book by a certain little girl in this house. We read this old book many, many times. Thankfully, there is not much writing in this book or I'd be tempted to hide it. bad momma!
Here on the first page, we need to talk about which clock we would buy, we each pick one and then we need to decide which one other friends and family would buy. Basically anyone we have been with lately needs to be decided for. This is great fun and cannot be rushed!

The next page is where my alarm clock came from. Early each morning, a certain little girl comes in my room, rattling the door knob loudly ( I need to fix that!) and climbs into bed with me. Now this little girl is supposed to go back to sleep, but she doesn't usually. She will toss and roll and whisper to her self, pretty much anything but sleep. Her momma is tired because she usually tries to get work done after her little girl goes to bed, so therefor does NOT want to wake up. Her little girl is very considerate and waits till the sun starts making the room bright ( she did this before daylight saving time too!) and then cheerfully quotes the next page of the book!

She pops up and says rrriiiiiiinnnnnggggg  rrriiiiiinnnnggggggg  rrriiinnnnnngggggg!!! over and over, Once she sees her mommy laughing, she says, "Me alarm clock! wake momma up!!" What momma can resist that?! Even if she really wants to sleep! Well, every now and then this momma can resist longer than the little girl likes, so the little girl pulls out her next trick - kiss momma and wait expectantly for her to pop her eyes open in surprise and say "who kissed me?!?!!" then dissolve into giggles.  I'm awake.
I think I'll go hide that book! :)

The Good, The Bad...

Life has it's ups and downs. Some days lately have had some of the biggest of both. G has grown and changed so much in the last two month that everyday she amazes me. New words, new expressions, new levels of happiness, and right along with that comes the expected extra sensory needs. Her OT was here and reminded me that when a child is going through a growth spurt, you can expect another area to fall behind or get worse. With kids with sensory issues, that means their needs will become more pronounced and more challenging.
Maybe it's because we have both been struggling with colds and sore throats, maybe because of big changes in weather, maybe because life doesn't always go the way we wish, but it's been a difficult week.
I have found that being a mom to a child with sensory processing issues can be extremely challenging. While she loves life and wants to take it all in at once, it can overwhelm her at the same time. She can be loving something to the max, but spazzing two seconds later. flip flopping between over stimulation and needing stimulation keeps me guessing as to what she really needs. Knowing when to be there and help her calm and regulate herself, and knowing when to give a consequence is a very hard thing for me to figure out. Being in public or with friends can be the best and the worst, while I am feeling great that I can finally have an adult conversation, I am also constantly on edge and alert for her next move. She loves going out, begs for it usually, but can't always handle it. I just hope my friends can bear with me while I try to learn the dance of being a mom to my daughter and a friend to them at the same time.
Today is Orphan Sunday. My daughter knew that existence in a very real way and I thank God that she is no longer an orphan!! I want to celebrate her and all the amazing little God given things I love about her. Here are some of those.

I love how the sun lights her hair into so many
different colors of brown.

Her busy little hands

I love her eyes and how they sparkle!

I love her huge smile that I see more and more every day!

I love how athletic she is and how she tries almost anything.

I love how her little legs stick out over the swing as I push her
as high as I possibly can,
even though it's never quite high enough for her.

I love that she looks great in bright colors, and that her big personality
matches her bright colors.

Love her little toes that were never celebrated when she was a tiny baby.
Love how God has set these feet on a new course
in a new country
and in a family.


Thanking God for my amazing child.

Celebrating one Year Home!

Oh, My! It's really been a year since I walked in the door to my house with Gabriella Kate Landis in my arms! My sister was kind enough to come and stay with me the first night just in case it was a long horrible night. It wasn't. She did very well. I thought I would start out right by putting her right in the crib but that didn't happen. She cried so pitifully that even my sis said to take her to bed with me. Which is what I did - for the next 6 - 8 weeks. There she slept very well, sorry to say I can't say the same thing about me. The flying arms and legs got worse and worse till at the end I was going to sleep on the sofa after she fell asleep. Eventually she did transition to her crib. She has always done pretty well going to sleep, once she gets to sleep. Even now, it usually takes her an hour to wind down and fall asleep.

On Wednesday we celebrated Family Day, our first day together in Perm, Russia. G's friend Zander came with his mommy and we went swimming! They both loved that! Then take out chinese and an evening of playing. The last time we did that together was in January. I found old pictures and they still looked like babies!! Here is the difference 10 mo makes! (G somehow changed my cell phone camera settings so the pics got horrible!!)

But, bad pictures are better than none.

Today, Oct 20 is our Home Forever Day!
We celebrated by spending the evening at home together and baking chocolate chip banana muffins together. I stuck one candle in for one year home. SHe loved it.

Celebrating Fall!  

This was one of her family day gifts. A Matryashka doll bank. Good place to put change that makes my purse heavy.




















The first night home I took a pic of her standing in the doorway to her bedroom. At 5 month home I did again and tonight I did again. She grew!! She is wearing the same PJs each time and the first time we had a hard time keeping them on cause they were so big. THey are now a bit small but, still fit on.

Speach

Learning a language you never heard before and then are suddenly totally immersed in - not something I think would be that fun! Well, G did amazing with picking it up. I think she did a lot with visual cues too. We used some sign language at first too.
The last few month she adds words every day and it's amazing to watch! The following conversation is probably very normal for most moms, but for me, it's over the top! Hearing her put sentences together still thrills me!

Playing doctor w G

Hang on hang on almost done
Hang on hang on no more laughing
Be quiet
U got boo boo in ear
Lots of dirt in ear!
Almost done, soon clean!
This knife very sharp! See ouch!! As she pushes a dull play knife into my cheek.
Trip t trash to throw away the bug and dirt she found in my ear! (Pretend!!))
Hang on hang on, me check
A variety of instruments get pushed in my ear as she declares I have a belly ache.
At some point she insists she needs paper. Finds a book and consults it, nods her head importantly and slams it shut. Puts her hands on her hips and surveys me skeptically with squinty eyes and declares me all better!

Welcome

Welcome to the blog about daily life with me and my little girl. I used a blog when I was in the process of adopting her from Russia called "prayers for my baby." I kept it locked down tight because I did not want it to hinder the adoption in any way. Now G has been home a year and I love reading others blogs and decided to start a new one and keep it open so anyone can follow.

I am first and foremost a Christian. I don't think I could have ever done what I did in the past 2 years with out God's power and miracles helping me through it. It is NOT an easy process!

I am a single MOM and carry the title with happiness! I adopted my little girl from Russia one year ago, Oct 2012. It was the best thing I ever did! It was also the hardest. Kids who have dealt with trauma, as most kids from other countries have, are more emotionally fragile than most kids. They need more understanding, more time to heal, more attention than you think is possible for any one person to give to another and more love than we can know. God has led me to, through and from the adoption and continues to do so. He is her father after all, as he is to all children.

I am not a perfect mom. Not even close. But I want and try to do my very best for my precious little girl.

I am single, so therefor I do work - outside the home. I wish some days that I could stay home with her always. Other days I'm glad to have a break and have some room to breath.
I am a graphic Designer and love my work! I can make my own schedule somewhat and that helps a lot!!  She is with a wonderful babysitter with three preschoolers of her own and also three school children and G LOVES going there!! It makes it a lot easier taking her, but there are still some days that I drop her off and cry on the way to work.

So, all around, I'm pretty typical. Ok, maybe not.

Little G. I think God blessed me with an exceptionally beautiful little girl. But then, doesn't every mom think that?!?

Here is a timeline with pictures showing what love and nutrition do for a child. She grew so much in the year she has been home!

She gained 10 lbs! She went from size 18mo clothes being a bit big on her, to size 3T and some 4T!

She went from size 4 shoe to size 7/8