Jet-lagging...

It seems to be taking me a while to get to updating my blog. Two days after being home, I came down with a fever and a nasty chest cough. I even believe there is such a thing as Baby Blues after adoption. Not feeling well, mixed with jet-lag does not make me very motivated to do anything--but I have much to do. Here is how we have spent our time so far...

Friday--After 20+ hours of flying and no sleep (Olivia on Prednisone and Benadryl!) we are home! Olivia loves her brother and 2 sisters. She is delighted to see her new home. She is giddy! Bath and bed by 8:30.
Saturday--I slept on the floor in her room in a sleeping bag. She called for me about every 30 minutes to go potty. I think she was trying to see if I was available--testing her new surroundings. We didn't get much sleep. Then we went to Uncle Gregg's for my sides' quarterly birthday party and a day on the lake boating and tubing. Olivia loved meeting cousins and boat rides, but got a little overstimulated. (I thought that might happen.) We had trouble leaving (last dose of Prednisone tonight!). Bed by 9:30.
Sunday--No more hives! Olivia and I stayed home from church because we didn't get any sleep (we terror-tantrummed all night instead). It was another tantrum watching the family leave without us. To Olivia--two days into family life--family does everything together. I took her in the stroller for a walk around the neighborhood. She thought that we should be able to play on all the neighbors swing sets--another tantrum. I wish I knew more Chinese! We played on our swing set, chalked the driveway, rode her truck, then went inside to watch a Chinese DVD. She wouldn't take her shoes off because she thought that the family was going to pick her up any minute. She is very fun, but I am so tired and starting to get sick. The family came home from going to just one service. I went to bed for a much needed nap. They all had lunch and then it was time for Olivia's nap. I slept on the floor in her room to show her how it's done. The rest of the day I was a weepy mess. I'm so tired and now my stomach doesn't hold any food. The week ahead looks too big for me! (She'll be Prednisone free--I hope to sleep tonight!). Bath and bed by 8:30.
Monday--She slept until 8:30am! With only 4 potty breaks in the night. I even slept in my bedroom. (In China, the hotel mattresses are like a box spring with sheets and a down comforter--I missed my Sleep Number Bed!) Funny thing--when I put her down last night--she looked up at me and said "MaMa go to bed" in Chinese. Then she rolled over to show me she knew what to do!
This new day starts big. Drake starts college! He's in 11th grade, but in Minnesota they allow 11th and 12th graders to take college credits for free. They get their high school credits and college credits simultaneously--we drove him there. He is taking Spanish, College Algebra, and Intro to Business at the local community college. Then Psychology through distance ed. He has 2 homeschool classes that he is also starting--Physics and Omnibus IV (history/literature/ writing/theology). This is quite the full load for him.
We played, lunched, and napped (an orphanage scheduled event that I plan to continue for a while). I decided that for my peace of mind, her nap should be in a porta-crib. She has been in a crib until we got home, so she's use to that. I feel that she is safer and I have an hour of freedom to roam my house.
We picked up Drake and then Shauna had swim team in the afternoon--we drove her there. We bought Olivia a new bike at Target. Assembly required. She didn't like that. I built her bike while I sweat with fever. Two friends brought some meals for our family. MMM...THANKS! I am so blessed to have supportive friends around me. I am also blessed to have fantastic kids that play with Olivia so I can have a break. When Troy came home from work, Olivia greeted him with such enthusiasm. She is learning that in a family, everyone has stuff that they leave to do separately for part of the day. But now everyone is home again! This time BaBa (Daddy) bathes her so I can spend a little one-on-one with Angela. We usually read at night and haven't had a chance to resume this until BaBa got involved. Bed by 8:30
Tuesday--She slept until 6:30am! A little early for my taste, but 0 potty breaks! So this was a solid night. Unfortunately, I did not sleep soundly. I had a fever that kept me sweating all night and a cough that I'm sure didn't help Troy sleep either. Olivia tried dry Cheerios and like them. She can't imagine milk on them yet.
Day 2 of college for Drake. Shorter day for him--only Spanish today. Drake and Shauna had Omnibus IV--they did some summer reading and had a movie day with their class and an intro to the new school year. I found out that Olivia believes that she is always suppose to sit by Angela in the van, but this didn't work out today. I needed to have her in her usual car seat spot right behind MaMa so I can buckle her. She decided that she would sit in the third row. No. Sitting behind MaMa is where she needs to be. Tantrum. Buckle in. Ignore. Drive. Tantrum (20 minutes). Ahh! I think I need to look at tantrums as a way for Olivia to let off some steam of her frustration, so I decided to think of it as a gift. She was so cheerful the rest of the day. She learned how to say Oliva Qiufang today. She says "Libeee-ah Qiufang". She also learned to say "water" and "cracker". She expects rice at every meal. Her favorites would be rice, rice noodles, dumplings (pot stickers), yogurt and bananas. I steamed some carrots today and she liked them soft (she won't eat them raw). She tried applesauce, but didn't care for it. She has to have food that everyone else has. Even if she doesn't want to eat it. She will take it right off of your plate. She will cry and panic if you have something she doesn't. And she will wimper if she is not served first. This is typical orphanage behavior. We have a lot of work to do in this, but first she needs to relax and know she will always have plenty. Then I think we need to get some more language skills. Angela and I tired Olivia out today. We had her running and chasing and riding her truck--she's afraid of her new bike (with training wheels) because she fell off and skinned her knee. We took a stroller walk, played on the swing set and then did it all over again. She was so happy today. I'm still hot with fever, but I trek on. Daddy bathes and she's in bed by 8:30.
Wednesday--She work up at 6:15am. (Still not my favorite--but 0 potty breaks again!) She does not get out of her bed by herself. She calls out to me. I come and she points to the shaded window and says that she sees the sun peeking through the shade and that it must be time to get up (all in Chinese, of course--I am getting really good at understanding her dramatic body language). I put a DVD in for her and laid on the sofa to sneak in an hour of snoozing. The rest of the kids like to sleep as late as possible--I hope she learns to do this. She watches everything they do. They are so good with her. They encourage her to obey me and steer her to me when she needs help. The day is pretty much a repeat of yesterday except...

Today is Drake's Birthday! Drake is 16! My baby!!! He gets his drivers' license tomorrow.

Brown rice is not rice to Olivia! For lunch she tried a peanut butter and honey sandwich. I cut it into strips. She was very offended by it. She wimpered. I told her to just take one bite. She did and then she nodded that she liked it. She also had slices of apple. She liked this. Riceless for 2 meals today. I made some white rice now and will have it ready for supper.

I will stop here with the play-by-play. Just thought I'd show you how its going. I hope to put some more pictures on shortly.