Settling in and Lucy's first snow!

I have been meaning to update everyone on our time at home, but time has slipped away from me. I have been busy settling in, nesting, enjoying Lucy, enjoying taking Amelia to and from school and ballet - basically enjoying being an at-home mom. I do have a question for you at-home moms. How do you get it all done? Laundry, housekeeping, entertaining your kids, shopping. It seems like I should be able to accomplish more in a day, but before you know it, the day is gone. I sometimes wonder the same thing at work...you come in with a plan of what you hope to accomplish, and then it's all out the window with the first phone call or e-mail of the day. I guess that's just how it works.

I returned to work today, and even though I was sad that my time at home had come to an end, it is such a relief to know that Lucy is getting to stay in her own home being cared for by her own Grandmama while I work. That is SUCH a blessing, and it made a huge difference in how I felt going back to work. There were no tears from Lucy or me - such a difference from leaving Amelia in daycare. I missed being at home, but I also enjoyed being back at work today. I enjoy the work I do and the people with whom I work, so going back is no hardship. I just really like my time away.

In this past week, Amelia and Lucy seem to be on much better footing with one another. They seem to be growing to love one another. That makes me HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY. I love to see them being sweet and kind to each other. They still have their moments, but they are becoming fewer, which is a good thing.

Lucy continues to prove herself to be a happy, easy baby. She is content most of the time. She goes to bed better than any toddler I have ever seen. She loves baths, but the temper tantrums that she had in Taiwan over getting out of the bath have not occurred here. Ditto for the temper tantrums over diaper changes. For some reason, the moment Lucy stepped foot in the house, she has not had any of the extreme behaviors we saw in Taiwan. She has definitely been calmer, which is a good thing.

We lovingly refer to Lucy as The Popo Princess. When we were in Taiwan, if she didn't want to walk or ride in the stroller, she would put her little arms up and say, "popo," which clearly meant "pick me up!" Now that we are home, she is all about the popo. Especially when the mama is around, Lucy seems to forget that her little feet work. Amelia has even adopted the word, saying, "Hey Mom. Lucy wants to popo." In case anyone is keeping track, that means our family vernacular includes Papa, poo-poo, and popo.

Lucy has recently decided she likes Elmo. She saw Elmo slippers from the store, so we bought them. However, she became frustrated when she could not put them on by herself at home, and now she has a thing against the shoes. She won't even consider wearing them. If you ask her about them, she is insistent: no Elmo shoes. It's like she is mad at the shoes. It's funny, but I am hoping she decides soon that she'd rather wear the slippers. I much prefer the slippers to the tennis shoes on the floors. Oh well.

Lucy's receptive language is developing quickly. You can tell her to get her coat, put on her shoes, come to the table, trade me this for this, and a number of other commands, and she seems to understand. She repeats a lot of what we say, but she still isn't quite as chatty as she was in Taiwan. She is still trying to figure it all out.

Lucy enjoyed her first snow today. She was pretty impressed and seemed to understand that snow was meant for PLAY. Amelia, of course, was also happy to see the snow. She is hoping for a snow day tomorrow, but for now, she just has a delayed start time.

I am hoping to get "real" photos made of the girls soon. I looked around the house and realized I needed to get on the ball to get some photos of Lucy displayed.

All in all, life is good. I look around and see more blessings than I could have ever dreamed. As we wait for one more, we pray that she is healthy and safe in China and that the Lord is preparing her heart for our family and our family's heart to welcome her. Change is hard, but when it comes to opening our doors to children in need, what answer is there except, "Yes, Lord, send me."