Thankful for all these cuties.........

Blogging subjects have eluded me lately as I have been completely preoccupied with my family. Thank you to those who continue to check up on us. We are very blessed, indeed, by amazing friends and family.

Selah continues to amaze us and frustrate us and bless us and......well- all those things that come with being a toddler. She really is precious and is spoiled rotten by her big brothers, especially Sam. The adjustment has been harder in some ways and easier in others. It's just different bringing home a new toddler vs. bringing home a new baby!! Selah attracts attention wherever we go, particularly by little old men. I'm not sure why. Perhaps they are veterans from the Vietnam war?

Silas and Sam are handling their big brother role with the character that we prayed they would. Silas does get frustrated some, but has completely accepted that Selah is here to stay and loves to show her off to his friends at preschool. When I meet Sam for lunch at his school, he likes to hold Selah and take her around to greet all his friends. He usually has a flock of little girls following him when he does this. Should I be worried?

It has been a crazy few weeks in which the Lord has taught me some invaluable lessons. In mothering, being a friend, and being a wife, God has been teaching me all kinds of things and I am so grateful for the ones that He has placed around me during this time of adjustment.

I guess this is the time of year when one reflects on what they are thankful for and I have so many reasons to be thankful. I am even thankful for my blogging friends- many of whom I have never met in person- who encourage me and bless me in so many ways! Please forgive my lack of recent comments but know that I do check in periodically to see what ya'll are up to.

Shower In Honor of Selah

The front of the orphanage.

This is the room that Selah slept in- two to a crib.

This is a young girl who helped take care of Selah- we wanted to bring her home with us!!

Here is how the children were fed. The all gathered around the care giver and she fed them all from the same spoon and bowl.

Some dear friends of ours from the blogging world are throwing a "cyber shower" in honor of our new daughter. Because the girl has been so blessed with "stuff" already, my friends Laura and AggieJenn had this idea- to bless the orphanage that Selah came from by contributing towards a new playground.

Because I was there, I can attest to the fact that the orphanage doesn't have much in the way of material things. Toys are sparce, the children have one or two outfits each and none of the babies wear diapers because they simply can not be afforded. The caregivers, however, are truly amazing and somehow manage to provide wonderful care for these orphans in spite of their lack of "things."

A playground would be a dream come true for these kids. Most of them have probably never even seen a playground, so they don't know what they are missing. But, I can just imagine the smiles and giggles on the faces of Selah's precious friends.

You can find the details here: http://hostesses.wordpress.com/

Thank you so much to Laura and AggieJenn for this awesome idea and for designing the website.

Sonic and Selah

Thank you to all who commented regarding tipping at Sonic. Especially to my husband, Jeff- thanks for explaining why you think what you think!!! And to Sara M.- I was really hoping someone who had worked at Sonic would chime in!
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To those who read because they want to see updates about Selah, I'll give you one. The attachment process is going well. Selah certainly knows Jeff, her brothers, and me, and is glued to one of our hips at all times. In general, she doesn't like it when others try to hold her. I take her to Bible class and stay with her the whole time. I tried to leave last week, but Selah made it clear she wasn't ready for that.

I did try and leave her in the nursery while I went to Tuesday ladies class. She apparently wasn't ready for that, either.

What I have to constantly remind myself is that we missed out on so much time with Selah and I can not expect her to be a perfectly normally attached 19 month old. Of course, if this were Sam or Silas, I would just say, "Toughen up, buddy!!" But, it's not. And I can not leave her if she screams and cries for more than five minutes.

It bothers me when other people seem to think I'm being over-protective. It bothers me when people make little comments like, "You just need to leave so you can't hear her screaming- she'll be fine." Um.....no.

Most people, however, are extremely understanding and encourage us in wanting to protect her at this time. So, to those who encourage, I want you to know how much it means to me. When I'm having a bad "Selah" day, I cling to those words and replay them in my head over and over again!