For Entertainment Purposes Only

I just had to upload a few pix of our little Cairn Terrier Cooper. He is such a sweet little dog- much loved by his new little sister. These are going out to my dear friend- you know who you are- to give you a smile for the day. After these were taken, Cooper destroyed one of the little leg cuffs that go with the triceratops. I guess it was his right.
Eliana will be a pumpkin this Halloween, you can guess which costume Coop will be wearing. Have a great day everyone!

Cooper

Happy First Birthday!

Eliana's Birthday

We celebrated Eliana's first birthday on Sunday... Happy Birthday to little Maryn Feehs from our travel group as well. It was so great to be able to share Eliana's first birthday with all of the Norgauer traditions. We had pancakes with candles for breakfast, presents, cake and good friends. She is a little joy and we truly feel blessed to have this precious girl in our family.

I am including pictures from her birthday here as well as a few snaps from the last few days. You will notice many hats in the pix. She lets me put all of them on her without a fuss and she leaves them on!! She is so cute in them, I think that you will see many of them in future photos as well.

Happy Birthday big girl!!

The Life and Times of Us...

First month home

I have finally uploaded a few new pictures of the kids, sorry that I have been a bit lax on getting to the blog. I can't imagine why I wouldn't be sitting in front of a computer checking email and loading pictures... where does my time go?

Today took us to the doctor for our little Elijah. It has been rough for the poor little guy. The cold that has been plaguing him just wasn't getting any better. Well, that is because he has a sinus infection and two ear infections. How that boy doesn't complain more about pain, I will never know. Hopefully, he will be on the mend quickly as he is now taking three different meds daily. He is a trooper. I am really praying he returns to his normal happy self soon. It has been a hard few weeks for him in many ways.

Both of the boys continue to bond well with Eliana. She just loves them both to death and I tell you it melts our hearts to hear the things they say about and to her. She is one lucky little girl and we continue to be amazed that she is actually ours. Milan and I were talking yet again tonight about how we just can't believe she is here after such a long wait. He is rapidly being wrapped around her little finger as she coos and "da da das" at him. I don't tell him that she da da das at a lot of things... I am sure she is just thinking about him when she does that.

We went to the fire safety presentation at the library this past week with the kid and they enjoyed trying on the equipment. Eliana just looked on with her "serious" face. We haven't exactly covered "fire truck" yet in our reading and vocabulary. We did get some cute pictures of her brothers though. Speaking of Eliana's serious face, she has truly become the lady of many faces. She makes the funniest expressions and almost poses for the camera with them. I don't know if it is her new varied diet taking its toll on her digestive system or if she is truly clowning around, but we are thoroughly enjoying it. You will see a few of them in the pictures I posted today.

Homeschooling in earnest began again this week, and much to my surprise, it went really well. I was nervous about how I was going to do it all, but we managed to get it done. The boys enrichment program is really great. It gives me a little break on Tuesdays and Thursdays to spend time with Eliana (or if she is napping... time for myself... Gasps and Horror). It also breaks the week up nicely for a change of pace for the boys. I am really thankful for it. While I am really thankful for it, Elijah has had a bit of a rough time. He was out for a week sick and this week just wasn't feeling himself either. (Duh, genious- see paragraph 2 above) I am hoping next week goes better for him and that he isn't missing me quite so much.

Well, it has been fabulous sitting here rambling on about my very exciting and cutting edge life, but there is laundry to fold, a checkbook to balance and an entire list of things that I was supposed to finish yesterday that is yet untouched. Until next time...

A Question for Scientists to Ponder...

So, what is it that causes a baby's face to look clean one minute and then to have dried oatmeal seeping out of her pores ten minutes later... Maybe the discovery channel can tackle that one. Anyway, here is a my little co-blogger playing with one of her favorite high-tech toys. "Glad"ware is an appropriate name. For the record, she is a "Mac" lover already.

We are fighting an ear infection (actually two) which our doc said is common when babies move to our high altitude. Who would have thunk it? She was fine in China and we get her sick by bringing her home. She has been only slightly more fussy. She is one tough little cookie. Our little Elijah is still fighting his cold. His fever seems to be gone, but the cough and yuck is still hanging around. Hopefully tomorrow will be cleared up. There is always hope right?

Well, I hope all is well with our fellow group 1214 ers and congrats and speedy returns to all of you who have just received referrals or are ready to travel. The time travels quickly between match and travel- start preparing now. As for the time in China, my assessment is that it creeps by if you have children back at home or if you get sick. Otherwise, it goes by pretty quickly as well. That's all for now!

The Inn is Empty

Today was Eliana's first "real" doctor appointment and for the most part all went well. She does have ear infections in both ears- ugh. She has been pulling and rubbing at her ears, but really she hasn't fussed about them much. We go back in a few weeks for some more tests, shots, etc. Fun.

Milan's mom left today after a nice visit, and so it is just us again. I am sort of going around the house tonight taking inventory of where things are, what needs to be cleaned, what is ahead this week, etc. I am feeling greatly in need of settling into a routine. I am such a creature of habit. It is the only method to my madness. Must have plan.... must stick to schedule... must buy new whip- I mean, must get kids on board with new routine... You get the idea. One thing that is soooo great, is that our church is still providing meals for us this coming week. It is so nice not to have to plan for that every day. Thanks you guys!!! You are awesome.

I do have a few new pictures to put here of Eliana taken this week. We just love that toothy smile... getting toothier all the time.

Good Night for Now...

Okay, missing a cable somewhere for now... so no new pictures today. I will have to get on that tomorrow when Milan is awake and I can interrogate him... just kidding. I will try to get pictures up soon though. Eliana seems to be changing every day. We are finally sleeping for the most part. She seems to get up once for a diaper change, but goes down again pretty easily. Knock on wood. Poor little Elijah has a high fever and cold though so he is taking over night duty. While I would love an uninterrupted night of sleep, I wouldn't change it. I can't imagine having it any other way. These are my babies and they need me. The day will come all too soon when they won't want or need their mommy to kiss away the bad dreams, hug away the sniffles or snuggle up next to them so that they can fall asleep. It is a good reminder to me just to write it here. These are the years I know that I will look back on someday with fondness. There is no gift like children and there is no job like being a mommy. I am so thankful for all three of my little ones. By the way, who invented the caffienated beverage? I need to send him/her a thank you note.

Time Keeps Ticking Away...

Tick Tick Tick Tick... is that the clock or my brain making that sound in the middle of the night? It has been a great but exhausting week. Eliana finally slept through the night last night. Unfortunately, since I have been up with her for 3-5 hours every other night this week, my body clock is screwy and I still woke up at 2:30 even though she slept until 5:30. I tell you though, staying in bed even though you are up makes for much easier sunrise. I am hopeful that she has turned a corner and will be back to her sleep champion status (in China) soon.

It has been really great having my parents here this week. While it was a different sort of visit (since I felt partially comatose much of the time), it is always a comfort and joy to have them around. I only wish it could be more often. They are truly amazing people and my kids are lucky to have them for grandparents. We will get to enjoy a few more days with Milan's mom and I am thankful for the extra help and time spent with the kids. We truly are blessed to have so much support from family.

Home Sweet Home

We arrived home after about 28 hours of travel... only about 2 of which did Eliana close her eyes. It was rough, but we were so glad to be home and to see our boys. All is right in the world again as our family is all together. The boys have been loving on their little sister and my parents as well as Milan's mom have been enjoying time with their newest grandbaby. She really has been amazing. After all of those wakeful hours, our serious little one was full of smiles for everyone. She didn't utter a peep of a cry during the reunion and then went down well once we were finally home and willing to put her down.

Last night was our roughest so far as Eliana was up much of the night with an upset tummy... I think. So after a few hours of trying to settle her, she fell back to sleep and I was wired with 15,000 things on my mind. So, up and to the computer to check the umpteen emails I haven't seen in the past week. I am really trying not to spend time one the computer while the kiddos are awake right now, so I will have to see how much energy I have for emails and blogging in the next few days. Don't take it personally if you don't get quick responses for a while. Hopefully, the jet lag will fade quickly for all of us and we will get onto a "normal" schedule- whatever that is with three little ones.
We are just so thankful for our family... for our parents, our friends, our church. It has been a long road waiting for this little bundle of joy and I really don't want to miss a minute of it with stressing out over this or that. Your continued prayers for our transition and for my ability not to be the queen of stress that I can be are coveted. Thank you for the many prayers while we were gone. We felt them all.