Welcome to Our Newest Family Member!!

He is the one on the right:-) Lucky is his name and we love him already!!! (well everyone does but Daisy..on the left)

 His sisters adore him!!

Silly Sisters!

Lemon!

Oh where do I start!!! Lemon is the terrible 2's on steroids....a.k.a 3's. She is stubborn, sassy, has multiple personalities and is very lucky she is so darn cute!! She knows how to work the system too, yup...she is also very smart! Here are samples of some of our conversations!!

Lemon: Are you disappointed in me Mama (after a bad morning)

Me: Yes, I am sad you are acting this way.

Lemon:(looks at me sweetly) I like you Mama (hug, kiss).

Me: I like you too.

Lemon: I so so so sorry Mama.

Lemon: Can I have candy? 

Me: No, you just had cake.

Lemon: I no like you, you are a mean Mama. Mama's are not supposed to be mean. They give candy.

  

Lemon: You not the Mama anymore, Grammy is the Mama.

Lemon: I not your daughter anymore.

Me: Ok, then who are you.

Lemon: I just lemon.

Me: You are a piece of work kiddo

Lemon: Mommy, is that a Mitzvah

Me: Hold your flipping horses.

Lemon: No, you hold your flipping horses

Me: Stop doing that, I am going to count to 3. 1...2...

Lemon: STOP COUNTING

D: Lemon, what kind of birthday party are you going to have?

Lemon: A pool party

Me: Ummm....haven't you been saying for almost 3 months that you want a party outside at our house like your friend Emily?

Lemon: MOOOM...I am done with that now.

I could go on forever, in fact, I should write a novel. Yep, that's my girl....Oh do I love her!!! Even though she is so tough right now, she is still the sweetest girl. She loves to cuddle and to give kisses. She still has a happiness and an excitement within her that is contagious (other than when she is yelling at me). She LOVES her family so much and is so excited when we are all together. If the 3 of us and the dog are sitting on the same couch, she says "look we are a family" and smiles. She also still just adores her big sister but does do pretty much whatever she wants to annoy her.

Oh and her eating habits...oy. She changes her mind daily about what she likes. So for instance, when we are having something with cheese in it, I have to make sure she likes cheese that day. Monday it could be yes but Tuesday it could be no. She will always tell you she likes something just so she can try it. Generally it gets spit out into my hand. Mind you she is picky but she is still growing. My sweet little tiny girlie is a giant. She is 41.5 inches and 44 lbs. She is over the 90% for both height and weight. She is now bigger than Orange was when she came home last year. Crazy!!

Some funny things she still says and does-

Plause it please or you have to recorb that Mom- for the DVR

She won't let me in the bathroom when she poops. I have to be in the hall and she has to close the door and tell me when it is time to help her wipe if she needs help.

If our dog gets a hair cup (hair cut) she asks every day for a week or so afterwards if she still has her hair cup on.

We still need dandaids for any injury. Generally if she hurts her knee, the dandaid is much more beneficial if it is put on the finger (well duh). She has now added that she needs a cast and can't walk if she hurts anything. Can you say Jewish neuroticism ...nature vs. nurture...nurture won.

I am just waiting for the morning she turns 4 because I know that all will be better in this world...right??? If you have something mean to say, don't say it:-)

                                 
                                         Being the model in her sister's photo shoot.
                                               Yes, Orange did her makeup.

                                           Can you say....I know I am cute!!!

Orange...

Update on Orange:

We have completed about 5 sessions of grief counseling in the past few months. I am SO glad we went. I am SO glad we found a good place and a good counselor. I think this has helped us in so many ways. It isn't that Orange didn't talk about Ethiopia or missing her family etc. She just needed to talk to someone else who could give her the tools to deal with her grief. Someone besides her Mom. At the last visit, her counselor said that she was doing great and that we could come back as needed. So far, we haven't had to.

 

It was interesting hearing her tell her story to someone else. I wasn't in the sessions but her counselor would fill me in on the basics after each visit. Some of what she told her was very much fantasy but from what I hear this is pretty common. I think she was trying to make memories of things that she doesn't have any of. She needs to do this so we just go with it. I see her as she grows trying to figure out her story...in her own way. Not sure if that makes sense, it is hard to explain.

 

In the last month, I've seen another transformation in this resilient child of mine. I really honestly feel she knows now that she is here to stay. I know it has been over a year since we arrived home together but until recently, there was always a fear that I could see in her with anything new. Don't get me wrong. She still gets somewhat shy with new things and she still has a rough time with transitions but she comes out of it so much faster and she talks about things in the future. I was worried when camp first started because she was very pissy (this is her reaction to transition now). I worried because her camp this summer changes weekly..different counselor and different kids (same location). I was very concerned that we were going to be dealing with an entire summer of pissiness. My worries were needless, she is doing great! She definitely still wants to know, or needs to know what is coming next. I think she always will and I can't say that I blame her.

 

Let's see, what else...oh, she is entering the trying to lie phase and sucks at it (wooohooo). She hides her face or giggles when the truth is not being told. I am hoping that she stays this way:-) I was happy to read that this is pretty age appropriate. Speaking of age...how old is Orange really??? Oy...I am in another phase of it is driving me crazy that I have no idea. I told K the other day that I think she is older than I aged her. She just seems it around her peers. K told me that Violet just talked to her about this...that she thinks Orange is older than 6.5. I do believe that if she is, it isn't a whole year, maybe she is closer to turning 8 than 7. I will never know and it could very well be that her life experiences make her appear older than her peers. I mean really, when you look at her with kids in her class...she has lived a lifetime already compared to them.

 

Some things that have happened to Orange in the last month or so that I want to document.

1. She attended her first wedding and was smitten with the whole experience.

2. She finished Kindergarten with raving reviews from her teacher (yay).

3. She started camp and so far both counselors she has had have told me how amazing she is!

4. She is getting so good at swimming, not entirely sure of herself in the deep end but getting there.

5. She has hit a stage where she thinks her little sister is the biggest pain in the freaking ass ever, but still loves her! (and really, she is right:-)

6. At the same time, she is becoming motherly to Lemon. This is new and is very sweet.

7. Her button pressing is getting better (not gone yet but better)...and I don't mean my buttons..I still mean computers, phones, remotes. Oy the impulse control has been horrible. I am hoping that one day I will not have to say, "don't touch".

8. She is still very much in love with her first crush E. who is 12 years old. Convinced she is going to marry him and has not wavered on this.

9. Her favorite color is still Orange and I think always will be. She has never, ever changed her mind since she understood colors in English. 

 

I am sure there is more but this is all I can remember!! 

 

I guess to sum it up, Orange is doing great, she is a special girl...she is smart, funny, opinionated, sarcastic, sweet and full of life!! I am so lucky to be her Mom!!! 

 

Oh and FYI- I measured her tonight and she is just shy of 48". Yes, that would be 8" in 15 months. HOLY COW!

 

I leave you with Orange and Violet...Besties!!

 

Wordless Wednesday

Yep, we are here!

I am back...hopefully for the long haul. Let's see, what has happened in the last month you ask??? Oh nothing! Just kidding. Right before my last post, we had my niece's Bat Mitzvah. The girls had SO much fun. Orange never stopped dancing..and I mean never. She danced for about 4 hours straight and enjoyed the attention from her cousin's friends. Lemon danced a lot too but did lose steam at some point. We had such a good weekend, lots of family and friends came in and it was really, really good to see all of them. Here are some pics from that day and night

.
 

What else....we finished school and are very, very happy that Lemon is going to have a new teacher next year (WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO). The end couldn't have come soon enough. Orange had a rough week or so with the whole ending of school and start of camp. Transitions continue to be hard for her...no matter what they are. The good news is that she comes out of it faster and I (with a little help from a friend) recognize it much quicker these days. In the past, she would shut down, now she just gets argumentative and pissy! Even though she attended the same camp last summer and it is in the same building as her school, it is still something new, with new kids and new counselors. When you've been through what she has in her short little life, it is completely understandable.

Hmm...there is more, oh yeah!! We are for sure going to Ethiopia in March of 2012. We plan to go with our besties and will be there about 2 weeks. We sat down with the girls and told them finally. Orange was a little excited (ok a LOT). She can't wait. She asks me weekly how many more months until we go. Her BFF is beyond excited as well. We figure we can split the cost in country with one another and plus the girls will have the support of each other when they see their families again. That to me is HUGE. We are going to travel to my girls home villages and to our besties. The rest of the time we will stay in Addis. Now that we have the plan, I am ready to go. I am excited, nervous, worried, more worried and can't wait all wrapped up in one. I have had a lot of people ask me if I think it is too soon for Orange. My answer is that I don't know. I don't know that the right time is ever. I just know that she asks all of the time to go "visit". She makes sure I know that she wants to come home. She misses her family...I can't keep that from her...we will deal with whatever comes of the trip good or bad.

Lemon doesn't really get the whole thing yet but is excited to see her "thopia Mom"...who apparently was really fun during their 6 weeks together before she was relinquished. Lately, Lemon has been sharing what she did in "thopia". She went parachuting with her mom, went swimming, ate carrots, listened to Camp Rock and ate Mataka. You ask what Mataka is...well duh...it is Pop Tart in Ethiopia!!! Orange  looks at her like she is completely crazy and rolls her eyes!

I have more to say about the girls but I need to ease back into this blogging thing. Hope all my 2 readers are still out there!