A muy long recap

Well, I promised an update, although how I could ever recap the past few weeks, I don't know. One week in our lives equals like, a month of activity. Let me think . . .

So on Ari's birthday, we took Eva and Owen to the sitter's and spent the day with Ari. I can't think of a day in Ari's short life where he's had his parents to himself, so we thought he might appreciate it. He spent most of the day asking, "Owen at?" and then answering himself, "Yanna's." We took him to a car auction in the morning, selfishly, since we needed a new vehicle (the old red Escort finally blew its engine). We purchased a 1997 Mitsubishi Montero. It's hunter green, and it's a pretty nice truck. I'm excited to have it. So, after finishing the paperwork, we took him to a special birthday lunch at Chili's, then to Wal-Mart to pick out a gift, then to the water park (see pictures at Flickr). Then we picked up the rest of the family and had a special taco dinner with birthday brownies. He opened a handful of presents, but we saved most of them for his actual party, which was this past weekend. So I think he had a fun birthday.

Then later in the week he had his 2-year checkup (no shots, but a blood draw), and he's of course in the 100th percentile for his size. He's pretty much healthy as can be. He also had his first dentist appointment. He was incredibly good, sitting there still as a mouse while the dentist cleaned his teeth. However, it can't be good when, at 2 years old, the dentist was already telling us that Ari will need braces. Good old orthodontia.

Then this past weekend, for the holiday, the Yus came to visit. We had a very low-key weekend (I only put on make-up once, ha!), playing cards, hanging out, having Ari's 'official' Pooh party. We grilled out, had a big birthday cake, opened lots of presents, and just enjoyed each other, as usual. The kids were funny - four little ones ages 3 and under made for a crazy house. But I think they all had fun. Taya had no hesitations to dive right into the craziness of my three. Eva did well most of the weekend, no major melt-downs at all.

Eva had her major evaluation at Vanderbilt last Monday. She had 8 vials of blood drawn, and a TB test. She then had a follow-up appointment at our pediatrician to start her vaccinations (6 shots at her first appointment), and to turn in her poop samples. She had a rough couple of days, needless to say. Today was her CT scan to check her brain. She was born premature, so the adoption doctor wanted to check for any related issues that might show up on a CT scan. We've heard back from a few of the tests, and so far everything is great. She is small, about 25th percentile for weight, but 75th percentile for height (Hello, thin and tall. Definitely not my genetic material, lucky girl). She is doing well developmentally. She isn't saying much of anything, but she's motoring well, and she took about 5 steps yesterday. So that's progress. The doctor put her on a 9-month level develpmentally, but I think it won't be long before she catches up. She's a tough cookie.

Also, Eva came home yesterday from the sitter's with pink eye. How I'm supposed to keep the boys from getting it, I have no idea. And I'm not entirely sure that I don't have it myself. But we're doing an awful lot of handwashing and Lysoling (is that a verb?), and praying that no one else gets it!

So I'm back to work on Monday. I am totally bummed out. I've loved staying home these past few weeks. Of course, it's been a pain to have work stuff hanging over my head all the time (since I'm working part-time from home), but I've loved it. I will miss my kids so much when I'm back full-time. I hope these past weeks have made Eva feel more comfortable with us. I think she is definitely starting to chill out a little bit. She is definitely crying less, although she does still have her moments of complete breakdown. I myself am breaking down less and less, so that's the best news. Maybe when I can relax and be her mommy, she can relax and trust me.

She is still eating and sleeping wonderfully, no issues there at all. She had been to the sitter's a couple of times now, even up to 5 or 6 hours at a time, and she is doing great. She never cries or fusses over there, just plays with the sitter and her brothers. She eats and sleeps well over there, too.

All in all, we're doing pretty good. The rest of this year, I know, is going to fly by. We have visitors in September, visitors in October along with Owen's birthday and Halloween. Then November is Thanksgiving (hopefully visitors again), and then Christmas, then it's 2007. I'm really looking forward to January, since that will be 6 months since we brought Eva home. I think 6 months will be a big milestone for us, in bonding and development. By then all the new will be worn off, and life will just be normal.

If life is ever normal with a 1, 2, and 3 year old.

I'm updating the goal journal, for those of you that follow it.

(Do you love the orange satin ribbon on Eva? This is all Betsy's doing. I have much to learn about dressing little girls, as my experience lies only in jean shorts and t-shirts for the past 3.5 years.)