A "New" Normal
what's normal anyway, right?
our post-adoption update:
summary: things are great. they are challenging. they are busy. they are chaotic. they are messy, but they are great. let me develop that a little more.
so, it's taken me almost 15 years to iron my hubby's (at first i wrote hubbies and had to laugh) work clothes. yep, that a one and a five. when we first got married i was intent on not falling under the classification of "modern 50s woman". house hold chores would be split, no ironing, no "solo" maker of the meals, not barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. all household responsibilities would be split 50/50 and if it were possible for him to bare children, well...that would have been on the list too.
well, after almost 15 years you know what i've realized. things flow better for our large family when i take on the household responsibilities. dishes, cooking, cleaning, laundry. our house has more peace, our relationships with our kiddos are lighter and less strained and our clothes OCCASIONALLY find their correct owners. now, don't get me wrong, marriage is a partnership and jonathan does his more than fair share. he's not a sit by the sidelines kinda guy. but for this season, i stay home and although my husband's jaw would drop at this statement, ....and it's hard for me to type it,....the housework including organizing the lives within it is .....my...responsibility.
there i've said it.
and THAT my friends has only taken me 15 years and the addition of one more child to figure out. sometimes i'm not the quickest and i can be intensely stubborn when it comes to certain ingrained ideas. i know, i already hear it, "how's that been working our for you?". right. got it.
so with the that as the backdrop, back to post adoption news. it has been challenging organizing 6 bodies of people and activities. i feel like non-homeschooling is more organize intensive then actual homeschooling (we decided to put all our kiddos back in school this year, the past two years i had been homeschooling our two oldest). between 5th grade reading logs, spellings tests, pre-algebra (i think), writing assignments, bible memorization, geography, band and piano, hockey and chores, our oldest is lucky if he gets to bed before 10pm. (FOR REAL) 4th grade is very similar, with a little lighter load for 1st and 3-school for our younger two. it a job in itself trying to keep dates, lunches, snacks, library books, gym shoes and the like all it their place. i feel like i'm constantly playing jinga! but we are so thankful for their teachers and the priority that is placed on teaching them about God and helping to develope a Christ world-view in them. THANK YOU!!!
andy has started what we like to call 3s-school. it's a program through our district set up to help kids with different set-backs/delays get ready for the classroom setting of kindergarten. in particular, our little guy has severe muscle weakness and large gross motor delays. he is developmentally similar to a very young 2 year old as opposed to being 3, but has the defiant, stubborn personality to fit his age and ...possibly even older....like 13! lol . he has access to a physical, occupation and speech therapist and he is doing wonderfully. his favorite thing about school is the bus! not the teachers (sorry ladies) or the friends or playing, it's the bus.
(i wish i could figure out how to post pictures on here...i'll try...not the greatest job but oh well! enjoy them!!)
this little peanut rocks our world in the best of ways and i'm always struck by the sobering truth that we all could have missed this. we could have missed him. had we not chosen to adopt. had his mom not given him life. had we not seen him on the special needs list. had i been too afraid of what i would lose to obey God's still quiet voice saying, "just do this." we would have missed all of this, all of him. he's full of laughter, joy, silliness, seriousness, sadness, inquisitiveness, fears, longings....all things we all share. i love that we get to be apart of this process in him. the growth that i've seen in him emotionally, physically, and intellectually has been just amazing. and you know what, i wouldn't love him any more if i had him myself. he has been 'woven' into my heart in the same way my bio kids have been. he needed us. and we needed him. #adoptionmakesfamilies #theyneedusweneedthemadoption #adoption
our post-adoption update:
summary: things are great. they are challenging. they are busy. they are chaotic. they are messy, but they are great. let me develop that a little more.
so, it's taken me almost 15 years to iron my hubby's (at first i wrote hubbies and had to laugh) work clothes. yep, that a one and a five. when we first got married i was intent on not falling under the classification of "modern 50s woman". house hold chores would be split, no ironing, no "solo" maker of the meals, not barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. all household responsibilities would be split 50/50 and if it were possible for him to bare children, well...that would have been on the list too.
well, after almost 15 years you know what i've realized. things flow better for our large family when i take on the household responsibilities. dishes, cooking, cleaning, laundry. our house has more peace, our relationships with our kiddos are lighter and less strained and our clothes OCCASIONALLY find their correct owners. now, don't get me wrong, marriage is a partnership and jonathan does his more than fair share. he's not a sit by the sidelines kinda guy. but for this season, i stay home and although my husband's jaw would drop at this statement, ....and it's hard for me to type it,....the housework including organizing the lives within it is .....my...responsibility.
there i've said it.
and THAT my friends has only taken me 15 years and the addition of one more child to figure out. sometimes i'm not the quickest and i can be intensely stubborn when it comes to certain ingrained ideas. i know, i already hear it, "how's that been working our for you?". right. got it.
so with the that as the backdrop, back to post adoption news. it has been challenging organizing 6 bodies of people and activities. i feel like non-homeschooling is more organize intensive then actual homeschooling (we decided to put all our kiddos back in school this year, the past two years i had been homeschooling our two oldest). between 5th grade reading logs, spellings tests, pre-algebra (i think), writing assignments, bible memorization, geography, band and piano, hockey and chores, our oldest is lucky if he gets to bed before 10pm. (FOR REAL) 4th grade is very similar, with a little lighter load for 1st and 3-school for our younger two. it a job in itself trying to keep dates, lunches, snacks, library books, gym shoes and the like all it their place. i feel like i'm constantly playing jinga! but we are so thankful for their teachers and the priority that is placed on teaching them about God and helping to develope a Christ world-view in them. THANK YOU!!!
andy has started what we like to call 3s-school. it's a program through our district set up to help kids with different set-backs/delays get ready for the classroom setting of kindergarten. in particular, our little guy has severe muscle weakness and large gross motor delays. he is developmentally similar to a very young 2 year old as opposed to being 3, but has the defiant, stubborn personality to fit his age and ...possibly even older....like 13! lol . he has access to a physical, occupation and speech therapist and he is doing wonderfully. his favorite thing about school is the bus! not the teachers (sorry ladies) or the friends or playing, it's the bus.
(i wish i could figure out how to post pictures on here...i'll try...not the greatest job but oh well! enjoy them!!)
this little peanut rocks our world in the best of ways and i'm always struck by the sobering truth that we all could have missed this. we could have missed him. had we not chosen to adopt. had his mom not given him life. had we not seen him on the special needs list. had i been too afraid of what i would lose to obey God's still quiet voice saying, "just do this." we would have missed all of this, all of him. he's full of laughter, joy, silliness, seriousness, sadness, inquisitiveness, fears, longings....all things we all share. i love that we get to be apart of this process in him. the growth that i've seen in him emotionally, physically, and intellectually has been just amazing. and you know what, i wouldn't love him any more if i had him myself. he has been 'woven' into my heart in the same way my bio kids have been. he needed us. and we needed him. #adoptionmakesfamilies #theyneedusweneedthemadoption #adoption
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| 1st Time in the U.S. after a long plane ride! |
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