too cute

I just went upstairs to see what was taking John so long putting Olivier down for a nap (it was his first time rocking him and putting him down) and they are both sound asleep in the rocking chair. I would take a picture but would wake them up. It really is so cute.

One month!

It's been one month since we got Saraphina and Olivier - what a month it's been. I was hoping to have time to write a great blog entry but I have limited computer access still and spent most of the evening folding numerous loads of clothes. I will try to post a bit more in the coming days and download the pictures we have been taking so I can share some with you. Thanks to everyone who has been keeping us in your prayers - we are so grateful!

a weekend of firsts

we had a pretty fun weekend with a few first time activities for us as a family of 5:
we went to McD's playland and ate lunch with friends on Friday - all in all it went well although I now know that a just turned 3 year old should not drink the chocolate milk there with an open top and straw, my more experienced mom of 3 friend Kim got a cup and cover and assured me it happened to her too
we went out to Jason's Deli to celebrate Saraphina's birthday with some friends and the kids all did pretty well - I did feel a little bad that we left pretty quickly after we finished, I think I was just happy it went as well as it did and wanted to leave while we were ahead
we took the kids to the MN Zoo on Saturday morning - we only stayed for about an hour and a half but everyone seemed to like it, except for the MN trail which was just a little too cold that morning
we went to church again on Sunday (our 2nd time) - this time we told Jacob he needed to go to Sunday School, he was upset and we had a hard time getting him into his room since we wanted to stay with everyone else and go to "big" church (we tried that last week and it didn't work too well) although Saraphina ran right into his room and started playing, she was not too amused about sitting through "big" church - I am not sure who is more excited about her being able to go to Sunday School, her or me - only a couple more months until they can be in Sunday School
All in all not too bad of a weekend :-)

a month ago today & Happy Birthday

It's hard to believe that a month ago today was the earthquake in Haiti which certainly changed our lives forever and brought us our kids 18 months sooner than expected.

Also, just over a month ago I was sitting here thinking about how we were going to celebrate Saraphina's birthday without even having met her yet. Today we get to celebrate her 3 year birthday with her - what an unexpected blessing!

Happy Birthday Saraphina!

two weeks (and a couple of days)

Well I had grand plans of a blog entry summarizing our first week together, then one when we hit two weeks, somehow we are on day 17 today. We have basically been in survival mode the last couple of weeks trying to figure out how to do the very basics of life and adjust to each other all in the midst of sickness and serious sleep deprivation. There has been a lot of steps forward with a few steps backwards(which is to be expected). Health wise we seem to be getting on track - Saraphina and Olivier had gotten over their congestion although Olivier's cough seems to have come back a little and his nose is still pretty yucky although he is teething all of his 1-year molars - Jacob got strep throat last Monday and then his illness induced asthma kicked in but we seem to be over all of that now. I (Jen) have finally gotten 3 nights of decent sleep and feel much better, it's amazing how much some sleep can help. All that being said we still have a lot of adjustment and bonding ahead but feel a bit more ready to tackle it.

I will try to write more as I get a chance but want to thank everyone for their prayers. We have really been carried through on those prayers the last couple of weeks and are more thankful for them than we can put into words!