Day 3 Home: An Unplanned Adventure Out

I know I can't keep up blogging daily much longer, but I am trying to show a realistic picture of our lives to help out others who may be considering, or are in the process, of adopting.  I also like keeping our friends and family in the loops, since you guys have been walking our journey with us since the beginning.

I was a little worried about how today would go after our rough morning start.  Ramya had a hard time listening this morning.  Instead of time-outs, where we would separate ourselves from her, we do time-ins, where we stay close, when she just won't listen.  Well, we had to do about 3 of them this morning in a span of maybe 25 minutes.  We are working on accepting no and listening, and I know that is something that will just take a while.  I have to remind myself that Ramya may be 5, but emotionally, she is much younger.  When she's in "a mood", she will look right at me and do what I asked her not to, then gets really upset when she has to sit out (close to me).  It's nothing that surprises me at all and I know we'll continue to work through it, but that it will just take some time.  Heck, I still work on that with Conner and Madi too!

We all stayed home from Church together today to spend time as a family.  We went on a wagon walk together and she really loved it.  Conner, of course, got a little tired of walking, so we ended up with 3 in our wagon :).

 

 

At 2:00, I sent Conner and Madi off with David for a birthday party.  Turns out, the party wasn't until 4, so David came back.  While they were gone, I took Ramya to the grocery store and wore her in the Ergo while I shopped (she's been asking to be worn in the front, not the back, she knows just what she wants!!).  We got what we needed and came home, but she asked about Conner and Madi the entire time.  She was VERY excited when they came home.  We played outside a bit with the neighbor kiddos and Ramya loved the battery-operated princess car.  Madi rode her Amtryke (we have one for Ramya too, it just needs the bolts put in it), and Conner rode his bike with the neighbor boy.

 

 

(Don't ask me about Conner's outfit.  That kid's got a style all of his own, but I love it!)

 



 

 

It came time for the kids and David to leave again, and we decided to just all go as a family and hope for the best, with the understanding that 1- I would hold her or sit by her the whole time, 2- We wouldn't have anyone else hold her, and 3- We may have to take her out and sit in the car with her or just leave and head home early.  We talked to Conner and Madi and let them know we were going as a family but that we may have to leave early, and they were fine with that.  Ramya was quiet, but quite curious during the party.  She was in my arms or on my lap the majority of the time.  The only time she left was to crawl off and get a toy, but she brought it back and sat with me while she played with it.  She really enjoyed the spaghetti, meatballs, and bread.  She ate a whole plate full!  Towards the end she asked to go outside and started getting a little cranky so we headed out.  Overall she did really well though!  It was nice to get out as a family and relax with friends.  I asked her if she had fun with her friends and she gave me a big smile and nodded her head "yes".  She is very social and enjoys being around other people. 

 

So far sleep has been pretty good.  Conner and Madi wanted to sleep with me when I got home because they had missed me, and I wanted to sleep close to Ramya for bonding, so right now we are sharing a bed.  They also really wanted to sleep next to Ramya.  Pretty soon Conner and Madi will head back to their beds but likely I will have Ramya stay next to me, if she will (she loves sleeping with Conner and Madi).  David and I have been catching up on our date-nights-in and are enjoying them.  We know it will be quite a while before we are ready to have a date-night out again and we are fine with that, but it's still nice to relax and watch a movie together or play a game or whatever.   

 

 

We are getting in to a little routine and that's always nice.  My house is still needing lots of attention, as I spend a lot of time one-handed still, but it'll get there.

 

Tonight I am thanking God for all 3 of my little blessings, whom I love so very much!  It is wonderful having them all together and watching them laugh together!