Lately

A few things going on around here lately... I have all of these random pictures so I'm going to put them throughout the post - even though they are entirely unrelated. Most of them the kids took while we wait four our car AC to be fixed. Orin also took a bunch of pictures in the songthaew. :-)

(I can't believe how old she looks!)

A couple of weeks ago Damien finished his 6 months of Thai and was given the OK to start working. He was very happy about that! The first two weeks of work were unusual. The first week he started on a Tuesday (Monday, July 4th was a holiday) but we left to go to Bangkok on Wednesday afternoon; a trip which we had already planned before knowing when he would start work. The second week, we came back from Bangkok on Monday so we went into work on Tuesday. But Friday was a Thai holiday so he didn't go in then either. So finally last week was his first full week back!

In April 2008 Damien quit his job so we could raise the rest of our support full time. In September '08 he start working but we lived on the grounds where he worked and he would walk home pretty much every day for lunch. About a year ago he stopped working full time when we had to do some training and prepare to move to Thailand. So this is the first time in over 3 years that we won't see home at all for 8 or 9 hours each day.

(I think those cows were going to join those kids in their soccer practice any minute)

Micaiah was 1 1/2 when Damien stopped working full time. Since then half of the time Damien has been home full time and the other half he would come home at least for lunch. The second or third day Damien was back at work I told Micaiah we needed to leave to go pick him up. Micaiah said, "But he didn't come home and eat lunch." I don't think he has any concept of the fact that Damien will actually stay at work ALL day long.

Orin decided that when he grows up he wants to be a "Regular dad." Not a police man, or astronaut, or doctor. Just a stay-at-home-dad. He says he wants to stay at home an play with his kids all day. :-)

(This is what they like to do in restaurants - you'd think they could find lighter books to bring though!)

Last week, Damien's first full week back was rough. I was so confused why Orin and Micaiah were fighting more than usually and way more emotional too. It wasn't until Saturday that I realized that Damien had worked 5 days in a row and it was the first time he had done that in over a year.

(For about 4 days we couldn't find Orin's Crocs. So he claimed my flip flops as his own and wore them around town. It wont be long until he fits into them!)

I realized that Micaiah has lived in 8 houses since he was born! And another probably 4 months of his life living in hotels or training centers or with family/friends - one week here, two weeks there... That seems like a whole lot of moving for a 4 year old.

(Micaiah took these pictures. Can you tell?)

It's sad for me too to have Damien back at work. But I was so surprised at how normal it felt. Even though it's been so long since he worked full time on the first day he was back at work it felt like old hat. I think it was the first time things felt truly normal since we moved here.

We only have one car so I've been taking/picking up Damien from work every day. Wow, not my idea of fun...or good time management! We're still trying to buy a (cheap) scooter so that I can use it to get to Thai classes. That way I only have to bring him on days that I need the car to go somewhere with the kids.

I'm still doing Thai lessons three days a week. I really enjoy it. I am in no rush and that's how I not only learn better, but also enjoy learning. I'm at the point that it's actually fun in class because I know enough to have pretty decent conversations with my tutor. Some days I leave feeling exhilarated and other days I feel so discouraged. But mostly I think I'm moving forward...slowly but surely!

(She actually is laughing here...I think)

When we started with our new tutor in April we finally had to get a babysitter for the kids. The first tutor was coming to our house each day which was hard with the kids just sort of running around interrupting us. Our new tutor and her husband pastor a Thai church so she knows plenty of people who need a job. The new babysitter, C, was so sweet and Micaiah and Sora really liked her. She has the cutest little one year old girl. Unfortunately the baby got sick quite a bit. She ended up in the hospital and they decided C should just stay home and take care of her and only work part time. So our tutor got us another babysitter, N. She has an incredible life story's amazing to see how God brought her to where she is today. The kids love her and she is an amazingly hard worker. She comes three mornings per week while I'm at Thai and takes care of the kids and also helps around the house. C & N both are from hill tribe villages so Thai is actually their second language too! Of course, they both speak better than I do, but it's always fun trying to communicate as best we can. It's also helped me to better understand people speaking Thai with accents!

(I think it's funny that Orin took pictures of the TV. But I also think what was on the TV was funny too!)

Sora still struggles with separation anxiety (and stranger anxiety) as well as some other adoption-related issues. But I think having the babysitter come has been a HUGE help for Sora.

Before, if we would leave her with anyone, which we seldom did, she was cry the entire time. She would be in a terrible mood the rest of the day. But I think having N come has helped her to realize that it's ok for other people to take care of her some. That it doesn't mean we're "rejecting" her. And that we always come back. It used to take her a month to warm up to someone (it took a month before she would stay with C without crying and the same with N). But now we can have a new person watch her and she does amazing well.

(Another TV shot)

I took Sora to see the ENT specialist today. It was as suspected. Not incredibly helpful. The clinic is at a hospital about 10 minutes away. But the hospital has NO parking so we always just take a Songthaew when we go. The Songthaew always takes about 20 minutes because they like to drive the "slow" route to try to pick up other passengers. I had called to ask about the clinic and was told it was from 8am to 4pm. Well, when I got there I found out the clinic I wanted was actually an evening clinic. Not sure whose fault that misinformation was, but we were speaking Thai on the phone and that doesn't always end in success. After going to a few different floors and people I finally get an appointment for 4:30pm. It was about 2:15pm and Sora needed a nap. I decided just to go home. The boys swam, Sora napped and I got dinner ready. We left to go back at 4. It was only a 45 minute wait for the Doctor which was pretty good. We saw him for less than 5 minutes. He was VERY nice but again, not incredibly helpful. Apparently, in Thailand if you're deaf in one ear you're completely on your own. No hearing aid, even for school age children. He got me an appointment for the audiology clinic on Thursday. We got home at 6 and about 5 minutes later Damien called for me to pick him up. Crazy day and not much to show for it. If this audiology clinic isn't helpful I think I'm giving up...at least in this country.

(Random pictures Orin took as we drove around the city)

I decided to take a "test run" with potty training Sora. She eats a ton and poops a million times a day so I just figured I'd try. She's doing really well. We have two problems: Since she can't really talk she just goes and sits on the potty when she needs to. Unfortunately, she still hasn't gotten the concept that you should wait until you really need to go. She just ends up going 15 - 20 times a day. It's fine at home (she's getting really good at putting her underwear on) but I don't know what to do when we leave the house. There is no way I'm taking her to the bathroom 3 or 4 times during a 1 hour shopping trip. The second problem is that she can't talk. I try to get her to say "pee pee" but it's not going that well. But we've got a little signing thing going that seems to be working good. So here's hoping we figured things out!

The government gives a really neat tax credit when you adopt. It's a HUGE help. Supposedly this year they decided to be extra thorough and just audit us. We sent in all of the paperwork, receipts, credit card statements from the entire adoption. So we're still waiting for our refund. It's been interesting to have to "deal" with the IRS for the first time. And although we've found that every time they send us a letter it has a different phone number and contact person and that no one really knows exactly what is going on, everyone has at least been really nice and has tried to be helpful.

These are the words Sora uses consistently: "Yes", "Naw" (No) "Mama", "Aw-iii" (Orin), "I-yah" (Micaiah), "Nana" (dadda, which we've corrected her a MILLION times on but she still insists on saying Nana), "Ize" (which can mean either eyes or ice), "Zzzzz" (please), and her most recent word whih is also a new favorite of hers, "Mice" which means "mine".