Monday, June 16, 2008

7 months of being a family!

and STILL no family photo!!!! We've got to get working on that

It's hard to believe it's been 7 months, June 8th, since the kids have been home. It's hard to believe I've only known my kids for 7 months and at the same time I know the Lord planted them in our hearts long ago. For the most part, it definitely feels like we've been together forever and then there are the challenging times when I remember that we are still "adjusting" to each other. Overall F and O are doing super! They bring life and joy to our family. They are gifts from God. They are excited about each new day and ask a million questions about the new place they live. When people ask us about their adjustment and bonding I typically share that they are probably adjusting better than Jeff and I are as new parents!! We prepared ourselves for all the problems and issues discussed in the adoption books we read, but honestly we have yet to face any serious problems. O and F are 80% of the time happy and easy going kids. Fatu is miss adventure, a ready for anything and fearless little girl. (except when it comes to animals) It took many days in the garden before she would hold an earth worm. Osobie is a thinker. He evaluates everything and is constantly trying to figure out the workings of all things mechanical. He LOVES to build. He really only needs 2 toys in his room, Tinker Toys and Legos. They bring him hours of fun. Osobie is a quick learner. He's starting to read the Bob books and in the fall we'll start Kindergarten. Fatu has her colors, shapes, and letters down. She's a hands on and visual learner, just like her mama. She has a ton of spunk and a little attitude now and then. She's very creative, confident, and outgoing. She loves to cook and play dress up.



They are losing their Liberian accents and have replaced the word "market" for "super market", that was a sad day. They love playing with the Lorenzen gang & their cousin Mackenna. My sis lives only 20 minutes away so we get to play together every week!! F and Nyenna play dress up, while O and Koj play golf in the backyard. F and O have always played really well together but we've been starting to see some more bickering. I was told by a few fellow adoptive parents that when you get to 6 months you start to see their true personalities. I do think that as they become more comfortable and realize that we will be a family forever, they let down their guards and be themselves. So, at 7 months we are learning more about each other and ourselves. We are blessed! God has woven our family together and I couldn't have ever dreamed it would be this good. With summer here... it's been hard to sit down and blog! Here's a few quick photos of our last month!!
Hangin' at church
F and O's first bike ride with training wheels! We only had 2 spills!

Jeremy came over on his lunch break to show the kids the massive grating machine!

Uncle Steve grilling us some mean burgers, brats, and veggie burgers!!

THE semi-quarterly BORCHERT PINOCHLE PARTY--Osobie & Fatu have almost met their whole family.


Hangin' out on Uncle Steve and Aunt Kelly's deck!!

Aunt Mekay and Mackenna

Papa's Day at the Leibherr ranch!!!


3 comments:

Brandi said...

I looked through all the pictures thinking. . oh cute. . love that outfit, etc. . .then I get to the one of Jeff and the kids on Fathers Day and totally just teared up! God is so good. I'm so glad they are home. . sometimes I just sit overwhelmed at that fact alone!

Love you,
Bran
PS See you in UGANDA!!

Jeremy and Kamina Johnson said...

TOO CUTE!

jena said...

You've got a great family photo in there... You are all perfectly in a little row... you'll just have to cut out all the other people!

:)