I've been a major slacker on our family blog the last few months as we completed our adoption of Jaymi. Wayne was a trooper to play Mr. Mom here at home during the month I was in Russia. Thankfully we have wonderful family, friends and neighbors that helped us so much! Here is the post I just put on Jaymi's blog. I'll be back in business updating this blog more often, as soon as I figure out this family of 5 business :)
So if you couldn't tell, life with three little ones at home has been keeping us busy. I've just barely been able to find time and ambition in the last couple weeks to finish up the posts I wrote on the flight home. Life has been good and we are all enjoying our time together as a family. Everyone is doing their best to adjust to this new life of ours. I remember those first few days when we started talking about adoption over a year ago, my mind kept coming to this part of the process. The "adjustment" period. That space of time between your "old life" and your "new normal". At the time we had just found ourselves entering our "new normal" after the addition of Bryn into our family who was then 3 months old. Everyone was sleeping through the night, I was getting better at carrying Kaelyn and a car seat holding Bryn at the same time and I think I had even made a successful trip to the grocery store with all three of us that didn't involve tears from any of us.
I know it was very important for me to remember that time of transition and how we made it through and were now much happier with Bryn as part of our family. Any transition period is difficult, change is difficult and although amazingly rewarding, adding another little soul into your life has its challenges. Heavenly Father wanted me to remember that difficult times in life are
"for but a small moment" and this too shall pass. That knowledge and experience has helped me so much these past couple weeks home. For the most part life is great, simply amazing, but of course not without challenges, lots of learning, re-does and trials of patients, patients, and more patients from us all. She is learning the rules and testing her boundaries, trying to figure out how serious mama and papa are on certain things and if we really do mean business. That means lots of tough love and consistency from us as parents and of course lots of loves, praise and hallelujah you did it's!
Although we find ourselves in the midst of some big changes here at the Bonner house, we are having a wonderful time getting to know and love even more deeply our new daughter and sister Jaymi. She is such a sweet little spirit, doing her best to find her place in this world. She is very affectionate and absolutely LOVES her new life. She is very helpful around the house and always wants to be doing whatever I'm doing. She helps with laundry, trash, dishes, wiping the table and any other chore she sees me doing. She is a great example to her younger sisters when it comes to eating, baths, brushing her teeth, going potty, letting mom do her hair, dressing herself and many other things. Bryn already looks up to her so much and does everything she does. Jaymi learned how to fold her arms, close her eyes and say amen for prayers and after seeing her do it, Bryn started doing it too. Multiple times throughout the meal one of them will fold their arms and bow their head for another prayer and of course the other one will follow suit. Its pretty dang cute!
We have been privileged to be a part of many new "firsts" for our little girl in these first weeks home. Its so fun to watch her learn and discover this new life of hers. I just get excited thinking of all the other wonderful first she and my other girls will all get to experience together. Here are some pictures of what we have been up to;
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| Mom and me trip to target. She loved looking at everything in the store and we even left with some fun things for her and her sisters. |
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| Of course I had to wear my new "Russia" coat to target after Wayne said, "Where are you going to wear that?" when I showed it to him. "I'm wearing it to Target right now!" ha ha. |
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| Playing with cousins. We LOVE our cousins, luckily we have lots of them. |
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| Eating some of our favorite food, Chick-fila! She approved. |
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| Party-time in mom and dad's room. |
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| Playing dress-up, today's theme - tutu's. |
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| Play dates with new friends. |
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| Play time with the neighbor kids, notice Kaelyn the accompanist in the back ground. |
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| Mia was adopted from the Ukraine last year and her story, what a major factor in inspiring us to adopt. |
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Birthday parties and more new friends. It was a party for sisters Bree and Mia who are also cuties with Ds.
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| She was a natural at the party games. |
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| She LOVED the cake and ice cream. |
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| Playing a duet with Bryn on Grandma's piano. |
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| Driving a blow-up car around the playroom. |
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| Sister game night. |
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| Tuesday night pajama dance party. |
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| Rides in the laundry basket, this is one of the favorites. She brings me the basket just about every day to do rides. |
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| Saturday morning signing time viewing. |
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| Don't know what it is about hanging out in the laundry basket, but its fun! |
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| Playing some bball roll with papa. |
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| My cute basketball team sent home a basketball and hat for her to have. So will be ballin' in no time. |
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