I'm moving!!!

Well, I said I might be switching over to a new blog site as I had used up my storage for pictures on this blog.  The solution I came up with is to just start a new blog on this same site! It has a new look and a new name.  I thought it was appropriate to start a new blog anyway as we are in process for  a new adoption(s).

The new name is "The Road goes ever on and on..." (you Tolkien fans should appreciate that).  You can find it at .http://froislandfamily2.blogspot.com/

Hope to see you there, the first post is already up!

Looking back, cutting hair and Coach Mom

I took this picture to remind me of how things used to be. The big difference is that the person who made the mess is not the girl in the picture. Do you notice a pair of small feet in the top of the frame? Those feet belong to...

 

this guy, our current mess maker.  While the others were brazen mess makers, this guy works in stealth mode.  We allow the kids to watch one video a day.  Before they can watch the video, they have to pick up all their toys.  We will have finally corralled all the toys (we rival Toys 'r Us for the number of items we keep on our shelves,  I am not proud of that), the triplets can then watch their video.  We, naively, think that they are all enjoying their media time when we notice that the ninja triplet has snuck out and quietly undone our previous work.  To his credit, he is very good at putting things away when you give him a task.

 

This picture is reminiscent of the old days as well.  That box they have open contains lots of little hair clips, barrettes, little bands, and other assorted hair accoutrements.  The twins have always enjoyed that box.  Their favorite thing to do with it was to empty it of its contents and spread the items all over the floor.  Do you notice that the box is still full?  Miracles happen, people!!!!!  Monkey boy said that he was making Kimi "a princess."

 

Monkey boy will still refer to himself and Kimi as "the twins."  Once he asked me, "Do you have any cookies for the little twins?"  The two of them really are the older siblings to LB.  They help him and they teach him naughty things as you would expect. 

 Monkey boy is brushing LB's teeth.  What you can't see is that Monkey boy's tongue is sticking out as well.

 

Kimi is helping LB to pass the time while he, uh, waits to see if everything comes out okay.

 

As promised, here are the pictures of the WTs giving their dad a buzz.

 

      

Kimi needed a little assistance in getting the top of Dad's head.  This is the way Dad looked after his trim.  Don't worry, we did not allow him to go out in public that way.  Mom evened things out.

 

I have just discovered that I have exceeded my capacity to post any new pictures, so I can't show the pics of LB hard at work at his at-home physical therapy.  He is climbing onto (very unhappily may I add) a small stool and is howling about it.  It's not real physical therapy, rather a series of skills I want him to develop.  We pretty much have him dressing himself (the clothes are always backward, but one skill at a time), though he still complains about it. 

 

We have come to realize that he relies heavily on his upper body strength, to the detriment of his lower body (his left leg in particular is very weak).  For example, I have been working hard on getting him to stand up from a sitting position without using his hands to push him up (you know, the "rear end in the air" style indicative of toddlers first learning to walk).  It requires a four step process, no kidding.  Just getting him to sit up on his knees without using his hands took lots and lots of time amid much ballyhooing by him.  His favorite saying is, "I can't do it Momma!'  To which Coach Mom repeats again and again and again, "Yes you can.  You can do it.  You will do it." 

 

Having him get up on the 6" high stool has been a tedious and rather arduous process (if you're wondering why it's such a big deal to get on the stool, it's because he can't get onto the toilet without it.  Being diaper-free is dependent on his stool climbing abilities...uh footstool that is).    He has finally succeeded in getting up without holding onto anything.  He does quite well, until I make him use his left leg first.  Then it's like I have asked him to summit Mt. Everest.  "I can't do it Momma! I gonna fall!"  Coach Mom goes into action, instructing him, pushing him to keep trying.  You see, I may be a tough coach, but I am also his biggest cheerleader.  I know what he is capable of and I see the look on his face when he succeeds.  It's priceless...but if someone wanted to pay me for doing this, you couldn't afford me.

 

Stay tuned, I might be switching blog sites so I can post more photos for free.  I know no one will read my blog anymore if it is not accompanied by triplet photos.  Admit it, it's true.  I wouldn't either.

 

 

 

A guest photographer

The following photos were taken by a guest photographer. I'm sure it'll be really tough to guess who it is.

I rarely like pictures of me, but this one was somewhat decent.  Much better than, oh say...

 

...this one.  I am probably telling someone "no" to something



 

I am partial to this one.



Dad 

Not sure whose head got caught in the lower left corner...this is Bob in his "ge ge"(big brother in Chinese) shirt

 

Ah, here is where the true identity of the guest photographer becomes more apparent.  This is the female WT in the corner, having gotten in trouble.  (Also notice the finger to the left).

Here is female WT not looking at all happy about being photographed in the midst of her dire troubles.

This unfortunate photo was taken when poor LB was just waking up.  Really, you are not fair game for pictures at that time.  Perhaps the photographer was honing his craft by documenting the nitty gritty parts of life.  So have you guessed who the photographer is?   Did you guess it was.....

 

THIS guy????? I don't know why he has such a sad face in the princess get-up.  He wanted it on.  Perhaps he was thinking ahead when pictures like this would be shown at his wedding...

 

 

So, we frequently get asked how LB is adjusting to life in our crazy household.  We are still in "dressing training" and having success...most of the time.  Lots and lots of complaining accompanies this barbaric ritual of "dressing one's self"

 

Victory is sweet!

 

He still tends to favor the "mermaid" look with his pants.  He puts both legs in one hole.  You can see on the left (his right) that there should be a leg in that space that flaps around like a tail.

 

 

We decided that he needed a haircut after this photo.  Doesn't he look like "Mr. Heat Miser" from the old Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer movie?

 

Well, the shearing began, and I gasped when I came out and saw what looked like a little old man, very thin on top and thicker on the sides.  Of course his dad wasn't done with him yet, but I didn't realize his hair would be so short.  Neither did his dad.  Oops.

 

Here is the finished product complete with cheesy grin.  And if you're wondering why little hands seem to be holding the clippers in the background, it's because the WTs were giving their dad a haircut.  I'm afraid those pictures will have to wait until I can upload them on a faster computer.  It has taken me sooooo much time to put these up, and time is a hot commodity around here.  I think mine keeps getting stolen, or I keep losing it.  All I know is, I don't have much of it.

 

Not bad for a parting shot, eh?

 

 

 

Back in the proverbial saddle

School is back in session, so I thought I'd show pictures of my students.

The "P" stands for "preschool," not "problematic pipsqueaks"

 

 I asked him to "hold it higher," and this is his interpretation

 

 Now for the big kiddos... first, the littlest big kid...

 

Not sure what inspired this thuggish expression on Bob

 

I am slightly frightened looking at this "8." This means high school begins next year!!!

 

 

Okay, so how many people does it take to swing a toddler?  Apparently three to help him on the swing, one to document the process.

 

As you can see, it starts off well, LB is all smiles, until....

 

We realize he does not know how to keep himself seated on the swing.  Look at Kimi's reaction, it's priceless.

 

 He clearly could not keep his seat on the seat.  We were able to get him back on, but after a few swings, he fell off when he flipped forward. 

 

  After that traumatic event, he needed comforting from his favorite person.

 

 Others fared better on the swings...

 

"Swing" by and visit us again for more pictures!

 

I got pics, lots of pics.  But that's all people want anyway...

Before I start, I thought I'd address my use of the kids' initials instead of their names.  I was told that it is best to not give the kids' real names.  So I'm going to act like one of those cool mom bloggers who has hundreds of followers and give my kids nicknames.  I'll list them by age, oldest to youngest: Big D., Bob, Sissy, Kimi, Monkey Boy, and LB.

 Here's Kimi teaching LB how to abscond with their older sister's footwear.

 

I was surprised at this one...Kimi wanted LB on her lap while we were reading books.

 

 I think she is starting to enjoy being a big sister.  Technically she's been a big sister since she got here, but now she has a little brother who acts like one.

So do things like this happen in your house?  I heard someone rather urgently calling my name.  After a brief search, this is what I found.  Any guesses who might be in the box?

Were you right? Kind of predictable, huh?

I had to call for reinforcements on this one.  The same child managed to get his head stuck in the banister.  The only way to get him out was to slide him through.

That was, of course, after I snapped some pictures.

This next series of pictures if of my youngest learning how to put on a shirt.  Yes, usually kids his age have been putting on and taking off their clothes for years, okay, months...usually when you don't want them to (oh, like say, dropping their drawers in front of a group and insisting it was okay saying,  "But the girls laughed").  Self-reliance is not one of our son's goals in life.  The other day there was a cord laying across a doorway (it was on the ground, not stretched taut across the doorway).  When LB wanted to go through the doorway, he looked at the cord, pointed to it and loudly and with urgency called, "MAMA!"  The response he received was, "Step over it."  He did.

He starts off enjoying the process...

He realizes that his shirt was not on quite right and tries to correct it.
 

 Now, about those pesky arms...what am I supposed to do with them?

 

 There are no arm holes, this is a trick!!!!!

 

 Not so much fun now, Mom...

 Success, kind of... should we tell him that it's on backward???

 

The next series of pictures we'll call "head shots."

 

Here's one muppity moppity monkey boy

 

 He decided to hide those tresses "under" a special head covering (get it?)

 

We found this great wig when we were at Grandma and Grandpa's.  Not sure if they were trying to look like Grandma... I know I'm totally biased here, but does this kid have a great grin or what?

Bob decided to enhance his look with the addition of a lovely chapeau and handpuppet sidekick.

 

I've got a lot more pictures, but I thought I'd give an update on our present adoption process.  Those of you "in the know" might remember that we were hoping to adopt a little girl at the same time we were in process with LB.  We started a new set of paperwork (dossier) for her, but she was matched with another family.  We still wanted to proceed with another adoption and expected to have our dossier into China this past spring, but were told it would be more like this month.

 

Flashback to a few weeks ago.  It's a long story, but our agency told us they could no longer provide the services we needed in submitting a new dossier.  We would be getting back all the dossier documents we provided, but would have to start over on a brand new homestudy with a new agency.  (A homestudy is basically a report a social worker writes up based on interviews, questionnaires, visits, medical reports, letters of reference, etc.  There's a lot of time and paperwork that goes into a homestudy).  We are now working with two new agencies, each needing its own set of paperwork from us.  Just to give you a sample of what the paperwork looks like, I took a picture of our first sets for both agencies...notice I said first set...

 

Oh well, it'll keep me busy since my life is so dull and uneventful.....