Life in General

- Life has been speeding by lately and I can hardly believe that Yohanis has been home almost 4 weeks already. I can't say it enough: Yohanis is an amazing little boy! I can't believe how well his adjustment into our family is going. I am in awe of this kid! 


- This week has been hard for Colson though. I think he is starting to realize that Yohanis is here to stay and he doesn't like it. It's tough going from being the oldest child to suddenly being the middle child. He has been acting out more this week and I think it's his way of saying he needs more attention. I have been making a point to spend more one-on-one time with Colson the past few days so that he doesn't feel left out.


- You know how Yohanis was deathly afraid of taking a bath in the beginning? Yeah, not so much anymore. He absolutely LOVES it now. This kid could live in the bathtub if we let him! He asks me all.the.time if he can take a bath. He goes crazy when he gets in the bathtub, splashing and giggling and having a grand time! 

-We have been in the US for almost 3 months now and are so anxious to get home to Turkey (we have a few more things to take care of here, but hope to go home by the end of March). We have loved every minute with our families, but we are looking forward to having our own space again and to get settled into our life in Turkey with Yohanis. We talked to some of our Turkish friends yesterday over Skype and they keep asking us when we're coming back :( We miss them! It's been hard feeling like I'm living in two different worlds. 

-We got a family picture taken this week. I wasn't sure how it would go so I brought along lots of candy and gum :) Trying to get a family picture is stressful. This is as good as it gets, folks. I'm just happy everyone is looking at the camera and smiling, even if they are big fat fake smiles (thank you, Colson).  

-Last week I finally got to meet my blog-friend Becky! I first got to know Becky when I started researching Ethiopian adoption. I found her blog and was hooked. She writes with such honesty and from her heart. I finally left a comment one time after stalking reading along for a few weeks. Then we started emailing back and forth and a friendship was formed. She has prayed for me and spoken so much wisdom into my life over the past year and I'm so glad that God has put her in my life. When I found out they live close to Joel's parents I knew we just had to get together. I'm so glad we did, we had SO much fun! They are the coolest family and totally "get us". I felt like we were old friends even though we were just meeting in person for the first time. It was such a great evening and I can't wait to do it again! Thanks for having us, Becky :)

Vienna and their daughter, Heidi, had almost identical blankies. They both suck their thumbs too.

It got a little loud at times - we felt right at home :)

 All the kids, minus Heidi, in their jammies.

Vienna really hit it off with their son, Shane. She just adored him and he was so sweet to her.



Have a great weekend everyone!