Finally sending pictures

Because I know everyone's dying to see some. I uploaded several into Flickr, so click over there and take a look.

We're alive and surviving. The boys are absolute champs, and you'd never even know what a change they've had. They've adjusted way better than I have, that's for sure!

Eva and I are on better terms now than we were. The stress of the trip to Kazakhstan, by myself, with her, was too much. It was not the best way to start our new relationship. But we're getting to know each other more every day, and having Keith around is making all the difference.

I'm finding out that we were ill-prepared for the aftermath of an internationally adopted child (although the 'international' part is probably irrelevant). It astounds me that we were never given any heads-up on the trauma of the adjustment period. Maybe it's because we had a terrible agency, or maybe it's just not as widely discussed as the pre-adoption issues (paperwork, travel arrangements, etc.). The 16 months leading up to meeting Eva Louise was cake compared to the 2 weeks she's been in Nashville with us.

But she's a good girl, and she's trying her best to acclimate to this strange house, with these loud boys, weird food, different language. For a baby who's lived her whole life either in a crib or a 4 x 4 pen, having the entire house to roam must seem a little scary. She seems to be attaching well to me. She prefers me over anyone else. She eats everything we put in front of her. She is in love with her bottle. She sleeps from 7:30 PM to 9 AM, and then naps for about 3 hours in the afternoon. She's teething like crazy. I think she's gained some weight, although I won't know for sure until her doctor's appointment, coming up soon.

I will write more later, but wanted to get some pictures and thoughts up quickly.