Visit from the Cousins

The cousins came to visit this weekend. Four kids under the age of four running around was a lot of fun especially since baby Lily can crawls now. Saturday we got all of the girls dressed in their matching outfits and took pictures of them.

You can tell they are all looking up at Uncle Tony/Daddy trying to make them smile behind me.

Riding bikes!

All of the cousins on bikes in order of oldest to youngest. So cute! They love going fast on the open concrete.

Baby Fi asleep on Grandpa.

Baby Lily pushing one of the bikes

Lily with her mommy (aunt Addie)

Grandma and Maggie reading a book

Aunt Addie did Fi 's first set of cornrows (four across the top and then a little fro). I put on Veggie Tales and sat back behind her too so that she wouldn't know who was really doing her hair. Good job Aunt Addie! Now Mommy needs to learn too.

School and other fun pics

The kids in the bath. Tobin really wanted me to take a picture of him, baby and his two little toys in his hand. He calls them his boys, it is super cute.

This week I started "school" with the kids. Tobin has been bored lately and so I am hoping that this will help keep his mind challenged. He loves the idea of school and I even took him out to Target and bought him a pencil box, notebook, and crayons. He was so excited.

So every morning the three of us sit down at our little table and do a few activities. This month we are learning about animals and each month will have a different theme. Tobin has a great time and Jessa just gets into everything.

Every time we learn about a letter Tobin makes it out of play dough with a letter cookie cutter and we put a picture of him with them in his notebook.

Today we played outside after our school time and while baby had her turn in the swing Tobin and I made a little house for "animals".

Beautiful Sibling Moments

My kids are pretty close in age (a little over a year) and there is a lot of crying, pushing, and taking toys from each other in our house. They love each other like crazy and don't like being apart, but it is nice to see it every once and a while. Here are two cute times:

The other day I went to the store with just Tobin while baby Jessa stayed with Grandma. He loves getting out and helping me pick out food. He did great until we got in line to check out. In front of us was a mom with two young kids, one boy and one girl. Tobin looked at them for a second and then sadly told me, "Mama I want my sister. I want my baby sister." He looked really depressed. I have never heard him miss her like that. It was so sweet and I almost started crying right there in the grocery line. He felt better when I told him that we were going to go home and see her. Of course a few minutes after being home he was taking toys from her and making her cry.

Tobin got in trouble for taking a toy from Jessa and had to give it back. He was pretty upset because it was something of his (though he thinks everything is his to a certain extent). Jessa was so sweet and gave it back to him. Tobin ran up and hugged her and she kissed him. It was so beautiful.

These are the moments that make my day. I love my kids.

Family Update

Sorry that it has been so long since my last post, I have been on my deathbed. Well, not quite that bad but in bed not able to take care of my kids. This all happened when Clark was away and my best friend Jillian was in town to see me. I never get sick, but 3 years of not sleeping finally caught up to me. I caught some type of bronchitis and after two trips to the doctor I finally got meds that started to help. I am slowly getting better and am at least able to take care of the kids.

Jillian, my cousin Jenny, and my mom took care of the kids while I was in bed. It was so nice of them. My mom put them to bed and everything for me. My poor mother. One night after putting them to bed she asked me why I hadn't gone crazy yet. Those kids don't sleep, she said with a crazied look in her eyes. Tell me about it. I think I finally have someone who understands a little bit of my life. Of course that only makes my mother more worried about me.

Here are some pictures of the kids playing outside and at 4th of July.

At the Lake

Last month the whole Hutchins side of the family came up to vacation at the lake near by. Usually my Grandma rents a big house in Hilton Head, but with Jessa in chemo we went closer by. The kids and I went up there most everyday that week, but Jess could only be there a few of the days before chemo started again. We had a lot of fun with grandma, the cousins, the aunts, and uncles. Thanks Grandma for a wonderful week at the lake!

Jenny made a video of pictures from the week that you can view here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdCDH3QI1cI

The two jessas.

Clark and my cousin Ben on the tube. Grandma rented a boat for the week so we could go tubing.

My cousin Tara and our future cousin Ronnie (next summer is the wedding). It was nice to get to spend some time with Ronnie. He fits into the family just great!

I'm on a boat!

Uncle Todd, Grandma, and Aunt Jen.

My cousins Jenny and Cloe. Jenny is my cousin from the other side of the family and lives with Jessa up in NYC. But, since the cancer she is living here with us this summer to help out. She was adopted by the other side of the family as a Hutchins for this week. Cloe loved doing her hair. Cloe came home from China when she was a baby, so Jessa Fikrte is not the only adopted kid on that side of the family.

Tobin was not so sure of the boat at first.

Tobin with Uncle Todd's family and Grandma (we missed you Luke and Amy).

the cousins with Aunt Jen. Ben, Will, and Cloe were so great with my kids and loved playing with them.

Trip to AL

Sorry this is so late in coming, but I wanted to post some pictures of our trip to Opelika, AL to see the Grandparents. Clark's cousin Sharon and sister Addie threw a shower for baby Jessa.

Grandpa has built a really cool stream down in their backyard so the kids had so much fun!

Aunt Addie with Lily and the dog

The cousins having a dance party at night before bed.

Maggie, Tobin, and Jessa all a year apart. Three toddlers is very tiring.

Swimming with the family.

On the way back from the pool. "Diaper babies" as Tobin says.

We had a great time though I didn't get any pictures of the shower. Thanks Sharon for all of your hard work, the shower was wonderful!

My Crazy Toddlers

The following are some updates and thoughts about the kids and our bonding process with Fikrte (mostly for their grandparents who love to read anything about the kids):

Jessa Fikrte:
We are coming up on 6 months of being home with her. This is a big deal because she was with her birth mom for about 6 months before being left at the orphanage and was there for six months before coming home with us. I wonder if she senses this because her behavior has been changing. She falls apart all of the time with some big fits or she is the happiest little thing ever. It is hard to know what is her personality and what is adoption related. I do notice that she gets very panicked and clings to me at times. She gets a wild look in eyes like I might disappear at any moment. I think those fears put her on edge and set her off on her fits when she doesn't get her way.

I see why people who adopt toddlers say that there are a lot of fits to deal with. I don't mind though (Tobin had gotten me ready for anything). Even though Fikrte was 1 when we brought her home, she was not a baby for very long. While I do wonder what she was like, I don't feel like I missed anything. God meant for us to have her at this age and on. I can't wait to adopt even older kids one day when ours are a little older. She is getting me ready for that as well.

Adoption:
All and all the bonding has gone really fast and really well with her. She is so attached to me that I know that it will grow into a really strong bond. I now feel as if she has always been here, but I still don't know her or have as strong of bond like I do with Tobin. I don't expect to. I have known Tobin a lot longer.

Personality wise she is very intense and dramatic. Tobin feeds into that with his own drama and our day is filled with screaming. They scream when they are happy to see each other and when they are fighting over a toy. She is already dealing with toddler stuff and wants her way all of the time (what toddler doesn't). With Tobin, the 1 year old stage was so much harder than the two year old stage. I wonder if it will be the same with her. It would seem that my darling children are not content with being a simple baby and insist on running quickly into the toddler years. However, at 1 they do not have the ability to communicate or understand the way that they want to, so there is much frustration.

My house is pretty crazy though with two toddlers with endless energy and lots of drama running around all day. It has gotten easier each month and I don't want to crawl into a hole and hide quite as often.

Tobin is talking more and more everyday and says the funniest things. He still goes to time out often for taking toys or hitting, but I have seen a huge amount of improvement since Fikrte came home. He now says his name (Tobo) and loves to list all of the people that he wants me to pray for at bedtime. I love the 2 1/2 age! It is my favorite so far. He is becoming such a little person. The whole family is having so much fun with him! Last night my parents, sister, and I sit around and talk about the things that he said and did that day and laugh and laugh.

Both kids have brought my sister a lot of joy during this hard time. She is half way through with chemo and it has really started to get her sick and keeps her in bed for a week or so at a time. The kids go up and visit her a few times a day and they keep her laughing. They can't be up there long though because they are exhausting (I should know). But, they bring all of us such joy! I do so love my kids.