A Recap

I sat down many times last week, looked at my blank blog post, and ran out of steam before even beginning.  It was my first week on my own with the three kids, and it's been a bit of an adjustment.  But here are a few highlights from the week.

Monday:  We went to see the cleft palate doctor here, and he said her lip/palate repair is one of the best he's seen from China.  No more surgery until she's at least 5!  We also got to see Liz learn to free stand, and she's turned into quite the little walker.

Tuesday:  We had our first excursion as a crowd of four to knitting group at the library.  Liz spent most of the time toddling back and forth between the play area and my chair.  I even got to knit a few rows.  :)

Wednesday:  Choir crossed my mind, and it took me a good two-three minutes before I realized that a) choir was on Tuesday, and b) it was Wednesday, and c) I had totally and completely spaced about it.  We also did our first grocery trip with all three kids.  Liz handled it like a pro; Luke, on the other hand, kept wanting to throw the mangoes around in the back.

Thursday:  A little more rough, and my thoughts kept going through the following cycle:  "Why can't they go play/go to sleep/let me get something done," followed by "If that's how I feel, why did I have kids?"  Regardless of how you do it, going from two to three kids is not easy.  I realized by the end of the day that I needed to change my expectations about my schedule, the kids' schedule, and what all we can get done.  Of course that night, Liz was up several times before midnight and awake for about 2.5 hours after midnight.  

Friday:  God sent respite in the form of my sister's capable help for the morning.  Thank you!  I was able to get the kids' rooms tidied (I tried to start moving Liz into Katie's room earlier in the week), and I also sorted through all the clothes and figured out what to keep/what to send to Baby Mya.

Some people have asked how Katie and Luke are doing.  At the beginning, I think Katie was a little confused because Liz was too big to baby, but not big enough to really play with.  We found some things she can do (like help feed Liz at the table), and I'm hoping to find some things they can play with together.  I was a little more concerned about Luke, but he really seems to be rolling with it.  He doesn't seem bothered by her, and while there was a little bit of grabbing at the beginning, it hasn't been a huge problem.  He and Liz have done some great parallel play at the little kitchen.  We'll see how things go when Liz starts wanting to play with them or with their toys, but right now I'd say everyone is adjusting quite well.