4 Down, 2 Up

Well today I took zero pictures. I just did not have time. There are too many not well feeling bodies in my household who want to be held and hoping that mama will make them feel better. My Beloved was forced to go to work today but came home looking worse than when he left. He managed to say that people kept asking if he was okay and he WORKS at the hospital!

Please pray that this viral plague will pass from our household. Pray that I will continue to be able to love these sweet sick babies and their precious Baba until they are back to bouncing.

Ups and Downs, Part 2

Today I again affirmed that the nursing profession is far harder than it looks. My Beloved is still down for the count. This flu has hit him very hard. Today he managed two blocks of time being upright without the fit of woosies that was the plight of yesterday. I was glad for at least a hint of progress in that direction. He is usually the stalwart one, healthy and robust, that is except when he gets sick of course.

My oldest button got better today by a lot but my other 3 buttons are running fevers as of tonight. They were all out of sorts today as well and I should have checked them earlier but I missed it until suppertime. So far God has preserved me in the midst of all this yuck, I pray for His strength to continue.

Even with the viral plague going round the family we managed to get some school done, mostly reading stuff and enjoyed some playing as well. There were moments in the day where everyone was almost content. At the end of the day I realized that I had not had 5 minutes all day to do any of the things that I needed to get done. I wonder how I am ever going to progress in life when right now I am so snowed under, then again there is always spring and perhaps the things that are buried will bloom into beautiful flowers? Probably not but pardon me for being delusional for just one moment to think this might happen.

Today in devotions I was encouraged by this passage:

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by
human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives
all men life and breath and everything else. Acts 17: 24-25

I was encouraged that the God who gave us life and breath this very minute knows our needs for the future and will provide the " everything else" that we are often anxious for. I marvel at God's love for us.

3 Up, 3 Down

I knew today was not going to go well last night. Still I prayed and was hopeful that everyone would wake up feeling better and able to go to church........it did not happen.

My Beloved was the first to declare himself officially sick yesterday. It looks like the flu and it is hitting him hard. My littlest button has been running a temp for both days and while not fully sick is feeling under par while my oldest button keeps running to the bathroom and telling me that she thinks she has what Baba has. That leaves the other 3 of us to nurse and care for the sick 3 while staying clear of them in hopes of keeping ourselves from getting what they are clearly not enjoying.

It's the joys of Christmas, eh?

On the sweet side today Sweetpea came dashing to me asking how to spell her name. This has come up many times and there is a struggle in her mind because she knows how to spell the name she was given in her first family but we keep talking to her about wanting to name her a new name. Well today she floored me when she told me she wanted to know how to spell the new name and then ran back to the littlest button to relay the new found information. This is a positive step.

Tonight as I was putting her to bed I asked her about her hair. I wanted to know how she would like her hair to be styled as the cut is beginning to grow out and I wish to know if I need to plan a trip to the hair dressers. She looked at me with such sweet eyes and melted my heart as she told me she wants long hair, it came out of her almost like a plea from the depths of her heart. I told her that would be fine, we could grow her hair out long and find a style that she liked. She rewarded me with such a look of love. OHHHHHH, sweetness!

A Wonderful Christmas

Christmas Day was a whirl of excitement and activities. Every year we go as a family to the inner city and join a group of people who make soup and sandwiches to deliver to the homeless and poor on the street. IT has been one of the highlights of our Christmas celebration and we all look forward to it. This year my Beloved took our oldest two daughters while I stayed at home with the youngest two. The night before had proven too much for Sweetpea to handle and we wanted to safeguard her from another overload at our expense. Hopefully next year we can all be together in participating. The ones who went had such a great time they came home with color in their cheeks and excited stories to tell. They jumped back into their pj's to get comfy and regaled us of their adventures. We 3 girls at home had not been idle as we were putting on the brunch feast. It's a simple but heralded feast of scrambled eggs, fruit, toast, cinnamon rolls and BACON! It's the one time in the year when I cook bacon for my Beloved and everyone loves it. We feasted and talked and made merry while the tree and it's presents sat unmentioned. After eating we all nestled on the couch and I read aloud from a book we are trying to finish. After a few chapters we set that aside and my beloved donned his festive hat and gave the children their presents. They were delighted.

I have been concerned coming into Christmas as Sweetpea really struggles with seeing anyone else receive a blessing of any kind. She struggles with jealousy and comparison and often would go into a royal sulk even when she had gotten something as well. I was delighted this Christmas day that their was none of this evident. She was curious but seemed content and quite happy with her own blessing. I sense a settling in her understanding in how our family functions. How we are different than previous families she has experienced and that she will get her fair share without having to compete or demand it. At least for today. This mama's heart is rejoicing.
After gifts we all got dressed and made our way over to our friends home for the big feast. I love the fact that this friend who claims to be no M*Stewart constantly opens her home and her table to many offering simple nourishment for body and heart. I wish at times I could be more like her. At this moment I am just so glad to be invited. We spent an evening of engaging fellowship and I laughed like I haven't laughed in the last 6 weeks. It did my heart good. It was better than a vacation for me and I left with a light heart.

I am overwhelmed by God's goodness to us during this season of our lives. He is allowing us to watch the miraculous work in Sweetpea's life, He is guiding our other 3buttons in areas of growth, He has surrounded us by a cloud of friends who become pillars for us in our weakness, and the overwhelming gratitude I feel for His redemption in my life.

That dreaded Christmas Pink Slip

All you don't want for Christmas is that dreaded pink slip, and yes my beloved got it. Can not believe the timing of it though. He will work thru until mid January. We are trying very hard to keep our eyes on Jesus as we face this trial, nothing is unexpected to Him. The biggest thing that my heart struggles with is the loss of health benefits having kids with critical medical issues. I know that God is faithful and I will keep my heart stayed on Him.

This Christmas Eve we went to church and enjoyed the singing and service. I was amazed that even Sweetpea is singing along to some of the songs. Her favorite by far is Joy to the World, she knows most of it. My second and fourth buttons were on the stage singing and it was sweet to see. Sweetpea had a very hard time with having someone else have something special. She became very disruptive to the point of striking out at me. I realize that the whole day has been an overload of stimulus for her and it would have been better for her to skip this evening but I selfishly did not want to miss my buttons' performances. For most of the service Sweetpea was fit to be tied and it took some time afterward to see her transition back to calm.

We arrived home to the towns annual fire brigade neighborhood parade with a Santa and a sleigh. Sweetpea has been waiting for him for a little while now. His wagon stopped in front of the house and all the girls still festooned in their princess dresses from church hopped around on the sidewalk. They gave him a plate of cookies (there's a funny story about that from a couple years ago, oldest button is still holding a grudge, AK) and he gave them each a candy cane which they rushed in to put high up on the tree. Sweetpea wanted to know if that was all there was to be with the big guy and why did he have goats driving his cart? So funny we just laughed.

We took some Christmas pictures mainly because I'm a mama'ratzzi and they were so beautiful in their couture. Then we sipped eggnog and shared what we were most grateful for this Christmas. It was a sweet evening. Now they are all snuggled in their beds begging to sleep in late tomorrow.........yes, we raise them wrong around here right from the start.

We send you each our prayers for a blessed Christmas and that you would know the miracle that happened that silent night long ago in Bethlehem for yourself.

MIA? No, just overwhelmed

Banana Eating Races

Sorry to be so long in getting back to the blog. The solo parenting thing was so much hard work with no break.....I really would not volunteer to do that. I managed to keep everything going and sustained life and limb but the sheer lack of rest was too much. By Monday I could not truthfully vouch for a conversation I thought I had on the phone, did I really make that important call or did I just dream I had? Too many flying monkey's through this old cranium at the moment.

It was such a relief to have my beloved husband and daughter back home. I slept soundly the moment I heard them come in the house even though I had not managed to sleep most of the night up to that time. They had to wake me just to make sure I knew they were home.

We are feebly making an effort at Christmas preparations this year. No cards have gone out, I don't know if they ever will. We have a tree up and it is specially decorated by the two littlest buttons. That is to say that the bottom front quadrant is well decorated and the rest was bare up until an hour ago when the older girls threw a few more on the top boughs. It will do I am sure for this Christmas, we are downgrading our standards. The mainstay of decorations the creche inside and the manger scene outside are up and I am glad for that.

The littlest button is trying to learn three songs for the Christmas eve service at church. She was trying her hardest in the card today when she grew silent. I asked what was wrong and she said the sweetest thing, "I can't understand what the song is saying. It's too mus-ee-ish." She's such a hoot.

Sweetpea is greatly looking forward to Christmas. We don't know what part yet though. She likes the tree and the cookies. She liked Grand's spice cake yesterday when we got it in the mail but today she declared it had too many raisins in it for her. I think she's liking the festivities but she is not delighting in the frantic pace that our lives have taken, even though it is not anywhere near full pace for us.

Something that speaks to our hearts

Adventures

Today we were up very early and off the the airport to take my beloved husband and eldest daughter to their plane. They are off on an adventure together.

So I am solo parenting until Monday. I do not do solo well and I am glad I am not required to do it often. This case was very special as it was for Kiyoshi's wedding and I wish we could all go, but it just wasn't feasible at this time.

The trio and I did some errands and I really stretched myself because before today we have not really run errands with Sweetpea, especially solo. But we even did a warehouse shopping visit (brief trip for basics) and she did very well.

I love the fact that she has become very "us" in a short time. She has converted to loving ketchup, not as a condiment but as a food group. She has decided she likes pasta with red sauce, for most instances. She was truly against cheese when she came and I did not know how she was going to avoid all the cheese in our culture but I need not have worried because today she begged me for cheese. My all time favorite is that she would not go near a salad and yet over the month she has come to love salad so much that I feel guilty if I have a salad for lunch and the kids are not.

When we got home we found out that the lovely adventure had taken a turn for the worse. They were stuck at a midwest airport unable to make their last flight to their destination. Not only that but at least 2 other family contingents were also stranded far from their final destination. The grandfather who has had a nearly 20 year moratorium on airplane travel broke it to go to this wedding and he was one of the ones held captive at some diverted airport. I wonder if he will ever set foot on another plane again! I mean AFTER he gets home. Well after many long hours of drama they finally all got there 7 hours late.

It has been a looooong day. I have 3 small bodies camped out in my bed, I wonder where I am going to sleep tonight?

A Ray of Sweet Sunshine

Today was a bright spot. I don't know how the pressure valve was released from today but it was and I am so grateful. For everyone who has been praying for me and us I want you to know that it matters, greatly and I am so appreciative.

Today the big excitement I had was that as Sweetpea was talking during dinner she talked about this new family name of the day she gave us all and then proceeded to call us all out by these names. Then she included herself but she used the pet name we have been calling her by for these several weeks. I am delighted that she is referencing it.

She also opened up to me about when she first came to us and that she cried because she really missed Carmelita. It was so great to hear her initiate a conversation about her feelings and want to draw me into it. What a great day!

We're the Hunny Bunny Fam-a-lee

Today Sweetpea named us the Hunny Bunny Fam-a-lee. She named all the people in our family including herself as belonging to this Bunny Family. That is a great step forward. Even if it is play it is wonderful to hear.

That was the high point of the day as much of it was very hard and very sad. She had a lot of sad to get out today and it is so hard for her to let me into that sadness. Yet she is always good at rewarding me for my persistence in some small way after the time we spend together. It is an exhausting experience for us both.

Tonight was historic in that my sweet beloved and I got to enjoy a date out. YES, you did read that correctly, we went out without any children. A real date, it was like manna in the desert to my weary heart. It was 2 hours of not being mom to anyone and finding pleasant conversation with another adult. O joy! That must be a new personal best for us... date after a month of having a child - inconceivable!

Please pray for me as I have reached a new level of tiredness and have found myself growing weary of the constant strain. I want to be a great mom for this super kid but I have lost my stamina. Pray that with every new morning I would find God's refreshing mercy enough to do what is best for her in the way He intends it done.

We heard from the parents for the first time in 4 weeks. They wanted to discuss the legalities. They did not inquire at all about Sweetpea. That makes me so sad for her. She has lost so much.

Monday in Pictures

We had a long playdough party today. Some sweet friends saw the plea for playdough and tools and came to my aid. The kids indulged their creative juices and kept the party going for as long as they could.

Here are some sweet sisters who were shocked to find out that they matched for pj's tonight. Sweetpea wore these new pj's for the first time and then realized that her oldest sister's pj's had the same pattern and color. What is it about matching that makes a person feel special? It worked twice today that way when both littles got dressed and ended up with butterflies on their shirts as a coincidence. Sweetpea dubbed us the "Butterfly Family" for the day.

This has to be voted Sweetpea's funniest sleeping position yet. What a silly girl.

First Month Anniversary

Today I spent praising God for His faithfulness in bringing Sweetpea home to us. There is this song that plays on the radio a lot and during the wait it spoke to me heart and always gave me hope to continue to pray for her, regardless of the outcome. Today I heard that song once while driving to church and once while driving home from church. I cannot contain my tears of joy at how things have changed. I am so grateful that I do not have to worry about her being there when I know that she is in a family which is trying very hard to love her, in spite of all she is doing to undermine that love.

I told you that yesterday I was not on task with her and I knew there would be fall out. Today was the fall out, which was hard to go through, but not as bad as it could have been. She just feels so insecure that we will be like all the people she has ever known, that something will cause us to reject her and she is waiting for it to happen. Today she was pushing for it to happen. In one moment she was pushing me away and then the next moment I would catch her up in my game of love and she would grab me for a hug and let me kiss her to then be angry with herself for allowing this to happen. It is so interesting to watch from an objective point of view but I am not always objective as I get exhausted and tired of always giving out to a child who cannot give back.

We have great hope for her and our family. I am so glad that God pursued us when we were content with the life we had. I know with just a month tucked under our belts that it's only going to get better from here, maybe not quickly but definitely better. I love this little girl. I am becoming fiercely attached to her.

Speedy Saturday

The day flew by and with it came a lot of things to do around the house in preparation for Christmas and the week to come. The flurry and inattention to Sweetpea made her feel very insecure so we saw a lot of acting out. I have to say this was the first day since being in our family where I was not totally focused on keeping her level and let other priorities creep up into first place, she saw it too. She retaliated towards me a bit. I just don't know how to handle the pressures of life at the same time as I maintain this capsule of safety and calm for Sweetpea, either I do one or the other.

I am reading a really great book that promises a lot of good info and ran across a lot of profound material. It helped me a bit today when I met with certain conflicts. The book is: Parenting the Hurt Child : Helping Adoptive Families Heal and Grow by Gregory Keck and Regina Kupecky. I would recommend it.

Sadly today there was not one photo taken, it was as if I have lost the camera. I haven't- I was just too busy to stop and take in the wonder who is Sweetpea. She did rename our family the Orangutan family, which I think is funny. She says orangutan so funny that if you don't know what she is trying to say you probably would not catch on and she said it a lot today. She included herself as the baby orangutan in this family so maybe that's progress. I promise pictures tomorrow.

Thank You God that I Lived Through this Friday!

Today the older girls were blessed to get some respite at their dear friends house for the whole day. They were loved up and sent back to me tired and hungry. I am so happy that they get a break from the constant strain that our family is under, they need the mini vacation to just go be girls and not worry about what is happening on the homefront.

Being that I was minus 2 and I woke up with a really happy heart I decided to do the unthinkable.........try to get portraits taken of Sweetpea. I was very sneaky though. I started with just some nail filing and it seemed to "naturally" flow to nail polishing which littlest button adores but Sweetpea has had a very negative reaction to. Well this morning she could not be left out of the girlie fun. She loved the way all our fingers were having a party after they were painted. Then we went into the bathroom where I had the curling iron ready and proposed that we try curling the short locks for a more feminine look. Blew me over when she agreed to it. It did not look at all good so we had a great time spraying it down and getting it to lay down straight again.

Time for a break so as to not push my luck, we had a snack and read some books. Then we did some therapy and before you knew it I looked at the clock to see we were running out of time. It is really hard to be sneaky and nonchalant about something when under a time pressure. I got the hose, dress and shoes out and the child knew I was up to something not good. It was full stop and I was prepared to let it go and not make it a battle when her curiosity overwhelmed her and I was able to coax her into the tights and dress because she really wanted to wear the shoes.......dress shoes need a dress wouldn't you agree?

Her hair came last and I had not a clue as to how to make it styled especially when she is twisting and turning all the while. I got something into the hair that did look cute and I left it, it was the case of good enough will do, and it really did.

I got the two buttons out the door and into their car seats. No minor feat with this Cinderella dress she was wearing. We had just enough time to get to the studio when the car wouldn't start. DEAD BATTERY. Those triple A's came after about half and hour but I knew I had lost my appointment slot. I decided to just chance it not knowing if another day Sweetpea would be so amenable to let me play dress up with her. They did let us take pictures and I prayed my thanks to God.

I find it a funny thing that as we do something now that Sweetpea does not want to do she voices her dislike very loudly and begins to act out but then for some reason that I can not decipher she does not go through with her threat to thoroughly object and defy. Without my having to bargain or beg she concedes to do what is expected of her and in the end appears to actually enjoy it, but would never admit it.

After taking pictures of her outsides, which by the way turned out stunning and I can't wait to share them later, we made our way over to the hospital to get pictures of her insides. She thought that was so funny, it's a big picture day. So many "why's" I was tired of the talking loop by the end of the afternoon and grateful when they both fell asleep in the car on the way home.

One of the conversations this afternoon was very telling and hopeful to me that I am making a dent in her logic about who she is and what is happening to her. She wanted to talk about our dog, out of the blue random conversation. So I was telling her that we got our dog from a family who did not want the dog anymore but we wanted that kind of dog. She makes this connection: "That's just like me. You take me that way too." I assure her that she is much more valuable and important than a dog and that we are so glad that we get to be her family. Silence. Okay, that's better than her canned instant rebuttal of "NO!".

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Some cute observations she has made is that we have foxes and kangaroos in our back yard. She is quick to yell for me to come to the window to see her discovery of them. When I look out all I see are the resident squirrels and they are not something I get excited about. It is just such a cute routine as they constantly fascinate and excite her.

A family tradition of sleeping under the Christmas tree. I didn't know if Sweetpea could handle it but she wanted it so badly that she did just fine ---- after she fell asleep, that is.

Secret Treasure

I have been trying to help Sweetpea connect the dots about her past so that we can step towards the future together. In order to do this we need to tell the story of who she is from the beginning. The part of the story before she was in the institute will remain a mystery for a long time, perhaps permanently. Yet she lived for 3 years in China and we have not one shred of visual evidence to show her about that part of her life.

I have done some sleuthing, in my spare time, and have been greatly rewarded. I have found 2 absolute pictures of her before she joined her first family. I have also run across a few people who saw her during her adoption and wrote about it. If I can track them down they might also have more photos of her when they look at their collection from their trip. Then there is the icing on the cake, someone references that they have a video clip of babies and lists her name as one of the babies shown! I am waiting with great anticipation to hear back from her to see if we can get a copy of that video.

These are wonderful treasures to begin building her story and to treasure for her lifetime. I am so grateful that there is something to find. I hope there is much more. The other discovery is that many people cared deeply about her when she was in China. They were trying valiantly to find a family for her. I am so grateful to these people who showed her care and concern during her life there.

I showed Sweetpea the treasures today, along with many pictures of the general facilities. She was in absolute denial that the 2 toddler pictures were her. She kept saying to me, "You not telling the truth!" I don't know where she is in her thought processes about all this. She was not distressed by appearance but interested, curious but closed to the idea. Perhaps she did not like the way she looked in the pictures, a lot of the little ones have that response to their institutional photos. My other buttons call themselves boys when they see the standard short crop hair cut on themselves and all the other kids. It just doesn't jell with the internal image they now hold of themselves. I wonder if this is what Sweetpea is struggling with as well.

The day overall was a rough one as I woke up to find my oldest button in need of a visit to the doctor. After that excursion it was an uphill battle to get the day off to any good start. By mid day I had a major migraine and rested on the couch where I could keep an eye on the little buttons and try to keep the din down to a dull roar. I was very blessed when the doorbell rang and one of the many friends who keep blessing me arrived with a piping hot dinner. God is soooo gracious to me. I cannot be thankful enough for His tender mercies to me.

Destined for Stardom????

These funny girls could not get over themselves trying to be starlets. Oh, I am loving the laughter.

What's in a Name?

Today Sweetpea and I took to the love nest after lunch to have a little discussion. She soon found the discussion not to her liking but stayed with it all the same. We talked about her adoption into our family. She continues to insist that she is waiting to return to Singapore. We talked about some of the hard details surrounding that hope. She did not seem to want to comprehend them. I decided to try and talk to her about names, the fact that she has many names. She is disconnected from most of her life story, perhaps as a defense mechanism, and does not acknowledge her adoption into her first family but does differentiate between the biological offspring and herself in that family. I told her that when she becomes a part of our family through adoption she will have our last name. She then made a comment about the first family wanting to take the name back. Then I talked to her about the idea of having a new first name and she got agitated for a moment and blurted out "What! They take that back too? They give it to a new girl in their family?" My heart sank, she really was wounded by their replacement of her with a new daughter, a more perfect daughter in their eyes.

I quickly assured her that they could not take those things away from her. I wanted to get out of this detoured conversation and back into something I felt I could handle wisely. I asked her for suggestions on names that she would like to consider changing to IF she were to ever consider that an option. She came up with some silly ones and then settled on "Singa-rella" her cute version of Cinderella. So we closed the chat with my asking if she were to be called Singa-rella would then Singa-rella want to be tickled. Singa-rella certainly did!

Grief

Grief does not always take the form of tears.

It sometimes takes the form of anger, of destruction, of quietness, of shrinking into invisibility. Sometimes it takes the form of snot-flying-all-out-fits.

The fact is that we have a little girl who has a lot to grieve about and it is coming out in many different ways. Sometimes I lose sight of the fact that it might be grief that is showing itself to me in something she is doing. Tonight was a good example.

We had had a long day and I have been threadbare, maintaining, but the voice is getting a little sharp at the corners and the answers are coming out a little quicker than I would like. The faces of my children tell me that I am not doing a good job at keeping it together.

I had planned to go to a bible study tonight and was really looking forward to the escape and the recharge. The whole day was worked around my having everything done by 6:30 so that I could leave. I cooked a real-meal dinner even and fed all the girls before my beloved husband got home. I got 2 kids showered and into pj's. I was helping Sweetpea fold her clean laundry when something else called my attention. I told her to do something and call me when she was done. As I was in the other room for not more than 3 minutes I hear indication that she is way off track. I march back in and ask why she was not doing it and then reset her to do as I had requested, now with my full supervision.

Well, she shut down and did not move. Then I noticed that she was crying ever so secretly. I took her and cradled her and she got mad. After a long time of mad and telling me that she did not want me, she calmed enough to accept my touch. After a very long time of silence and hiding from me she let me talk to her eyes. She was not doing much talking through this all and I was trying to get at the issue with empathetic talk but nothing was hitting the nail. After a long, long time I asked her again what happened to cause her to cry and be mad and to my surprise she told me. I had "yelled" at her when I had returned.

I fought the desire to vindicate myself and inform her that she has never seen me yell, yet. Rather I responded with appropriate empathy and this time the nail was struck and the tears poured forth from a broken hearted little girl. I held her and she accepted my comforts. I soothed her for a long time until she was done.

I feel sad. She went to bed with such a downcast heart, swollen eyes and her guard up against me still. Such a minor infraction in the scheme of life and I bear a costly penalty. Have I crushed the fragile trust she had put in me? How long will it take to regain it? I am not a perfect parent, I am not close to a perfect person and I know I will fail her on a daily basis.

My heart is sad.

Beauty from Ashes

the Hello Kitty Girls - they had to match today

This morning I was holding Sweetpea on my lap and liberally applying as many kisses on her face as I could sneak in. I just casually said to her "How did you get so beautiful?"

She looked at me with quick darting eyes and replied accusingly, "You did that!"

Then with all the power in her six year old body she plowed herself into me as if she was performing nuclear fusion.

I got chills up and down my spine. I think she sees herself reflected differently in my eyes. I pray that she does.

Must be Monday

Mondays are hard. It started hard but it had a sweet surprise in the middle.

This morning it was cold and I think it made everyone more prone to crankiness than usual. Sweetpea was voicing her strong opinion about not wanting to get dressed before breakfast and other minute problems. We finally got everyone ready for breakfast and prepared the ritual bowls of cereal. I had just finished praying when Sweetpea baptized me with her full bowl of Cheerios and COLD milk. She began to howl with uncontrollable laughter and the dog rushed in to get at the unexpected feast. The coldness of it took my breath away, which was a good thing because it gave me a moment to collect my emotions and not react in anger. That is an evidence of God's grace in my life.

So after cleaning up the mess and finishing breakfast I decided that it would be best to try to bleed off some of my stress through exercise. I am really trying to use this widespread but often unused (at least in our household) theory while going through transition with Sweetpea. Well, it worked for a while as the two littles were content to color while I exercised but just as I was really getting into it they got their fill of crayons. I tried to incorporate them into some stretching with me but that only gave Sweetpea more ideas of how to inflict bodily harm on me. So much for my taking a break, I decided that littlest button would go play by herself and that Sweetpea and I would do some therapy.

I got the bouncer out and expected full blown resistance and was delighted to find her mildly agreeable to the therapy. Off she started and soon gained herself some verbal praise which just motivated her to do even better. She has not shown this aspect before of responding to verbal praise so I was even more stunned. She did the whole therapy with great success and got a lot of positive reward for it. Not only that but the activity served to calm her down immensely and for the next 2 hours she did not have any big issues.

After a late lunch and some playing we were having devotions and everyone was on the coach. I was under a blanket to stay warm and Sweetpea got another blanket to coverup with. I was sandwiched between the two littles and before the devotions were over both were sound asleep. My little button still takes daily naps so I knew she would fall sleep but Sweetpea has resisted taking naps since she came so I did not expect her to succumb. It tells me that she is letting her guard down and not having to be as vigilant and on guard for being victimized, at least to some extent. I was very blessed that she took a nap on me and when she awoke she was a cuddly critter. Yum. I wanted to take a picture of it but I was afraid of disturbing the scene.