Making Progress

Its been awhile since I have posted about Kaleb and his transition. We have turned a corner!!!!! I went back to work for 3 1/2 weeks in May. The first two weeks were hard, he doesn't like change and screamed his head off for the first couple of minutes we were in the sitter's house. (She would text me before I was even down the road that he had stopped.) We talked with our social worker in April about whether or not I should go back to work. She suggested it might be good for all of us. Kaleb will start to learn that mommy always comes back and I will get a little break and rejuvenation. We were a little worried that he might go backwards in the progress we have made with bonding, but it was the exact opposite. I had only left him a few short times with Brad, so he never had the chance to get excited to see him. It was great for him (and me) to see him run to me when I came to pick him up. After about two weeks of going to the sitters, I saw a real change in our relationship. We had many more positive moments in a day! I am so thankful we are still moving in the right direction. Kaleb seems much more comfortable with life these days. He used to get all uncomfortable and wouldn't eat in new places. But last weekend we were all friends for the weekend and he did great. He was in destructive mode and he actually ate dinner. He seemed comfortable all weekend, and it was so good to see!
Our social worker came over in April for Isaiah and Kaleb's 30-day post placement, in May for Jacob's 12 month post placement, and in June for the boys 3 month post placement. She said she noticed a huge change in him too. In April he ran up to her and wanted to be picked up, etc. In May he didn't run up to her and really didn't pay much attention to her. In June (four days ago) he sat and cuddled with me the whole time.
I am so thankful that Kaleb's heart seems to be healing and he loves to cuddle with Brad and I now (he HATED cuddly when we first met him). There are still some hard days, but we are so thankful that we have more good days than bad now.
Thank you for all the prayers for Kaleb and his bonding, they have been working!!

Fun Day

These boys make me laugh and smile all day long! Isaiah thought he was so funny being a mannequin. He really stood there for more than five mins. Some of the workers even came up to me and started laughing, but Isaiah didn't move.

 Jacob and Kaleb love to say "Oh No!" and Jacob likes to tell us "jokes". Here's a little video too!

At the Skinner's Pond

Our friends have a farm with pond a couple of miles down the road. The boys went fishing and for a paddle boat ride. The moms kept the little boys out of the water :) Isaiah was so excited to catch his first fish!!

In the Car

This is what I turned around to find the other day

 These two are so stinkin cute!

Swimming with Cousins

We got to go swimming at a hotel recently. They boys LOVED it!! Cousins Kylie and Taylor were visiting too!

Isaiah LOVES his googles

Jacob was so cold

until he got a snack

Thankful for fun memories with family!

Camping with the Mowens

We spend lots of time in the summer with the Mowens at the campers that are about 30 miles away. Here are some pictures of the boys enjoying the first camping weekend of the year.

Jacob Loves Books

We have hundreds of books at our house, and Jacob wants to try to read them all everyday :) The other day I walked into the dining room to see this

He must not have find anyone to read to him so he thought he would climb up to the table himself and read a book.
And this was before bed last night

He is so darn cute!!! I could have 20 pictures like this from the last month, I love that he loves reading!

Melt my heart

These three boys LOVE eachother!!! Isaiah is the best big brother. These moments just melt my heart. They are all brothers FOREVER!

Choo Choo's

This used to annoy me:

But now its their favorite part of a car ride.

Jacob and Kaleb get so excited and yell "choo choo choo" the whole time. 

We live in a town that has tons of trains, so they get to see one about everyday. It makes them so happy!

Fun with Gramps and Gram

My Dad, Cathy, and Grandma Pat came for a visit this past Saturday. Isaiah and Gramps were looking forward to playing lots of sports together. We started the day with Isaiah's soccer game. It was neat watching Dad and Cathy so happy watching Isaiah play his favorite sport. Then Isaiah and my Dad played tennis and baseball. Kaleb and Jacob thought they needed to "hit ball" too! Here are a few pictures from the day.

90 Degrees

Last week it was 90 degrees one day when we got home from school. I got out the little blow up pool and all three boys had a blast! All three of them love to be outside as much as possible. I can't wait for all the summer fun!!

Mother's Day

Last year for Mother's Day we were in Ethiopia awaiting our Embassy appointment in 2 days so we could bring Jacob home. This year it was spent chasing my THREE SONS around!! God is so good!!!!
The whole weekend was spent with family visiting us. Friday night Isaiah had a baseball game and 10 family members and 3 friends came to watch him.
On Saturday we loaded up one van and one car and hit the garage sales, then off to Isaiah's soccer game. There were 17 people from our family there. Isaiah and Kaleb got to meet my grandparents who recently got back from AZ. Then we spent the rest of the day together. My mom, sister, grandma, and I left the kids at home and we got coffee and our nails done. So nice to have grown-up time :) Then we took the kids swimming at the hotel where my grandparents were staying. They had a blast! We finished off the night with dinner back at our house.
We had 12 people that needed to get ready for church on Sunday morning. At about 6:45am there was a loud blow, twice, and the transformers by our house blew. Of course I was the only one that had showered yet. So everyone scrambled to get ready before the hot water was gone. We learned it was a squirrel that chewed a wire or something. The guys were all excited to run out and see the fried squirrel that the power company knocked off the wires. I was trying to figure out what I could feed 18 people for brunch without power. I had all the breakfast casseroles ready to throw in the oven when we left for church,but with no power, that wasn't going to happen. We finally decided we were going to get donuts and have the fruit I had ready (not exactly what I was planning, but oh well). Thankfully when we returned from church the power was back on so we were able to cook everything, it just took a little longer that I planned.
We were able to dedicate the boys at church today too! The boys wore their traditional Ethiopian outfits for the special occasion. It was so nice that all of their grandparents and my sister and brother and their families could be there to show the boys how much they love them and want them to love Jesus too.

We ended the day hanging out at home, such a beautiful day!!!