We Made it!

I'm embarrassed at how long it's been since I last wrote, but we've experienced our first Easter together, Andres' had his 3rd birthday (the first one to be with us!), I got to experience my first Mother's Day with 3 kids rather than just 1, and we've celebrated our Family Day as May 19 marked a year ago that we got them.  Easter was great.  The kids really enjoyed all of the baskets and egg hunts.  We had one egg hunt at home when the kids woke up that morning and another one later in the day.  Dre pretty much understood what to do from the moment the first one began started.  Maria, on the other hand, understood when we were at home, but when we got to an outdoor egg hunt, she slowly walked around to look at all of the pretty eggs and before long, most of the eggs were gone  Then tears came.  Hopefully she'll have better luck next year.  ; )  A week before Easter, I got a call from pre-school that Andres was running and fell, hitting is head onto the cross bar of a wooden fence.  So I left work to go see how bad it was.  When I walked into the pre-school office, the poor guy was covered with blood on his shirt, had an extremely swollen eye with an ice pack on it,  but he was sitting in one of the director's laps eating lunch with a smile on his face.   How apropos!  I don't know why I would expect him to be any different.  His eyebrow had been laid open pretty good so my doctor recommended that I come in to his office to see if Dre needed plastic surgery.  If he did, my doctor would refer us to the surgeon and we would head to the hospital.  If he didn't need plastic surgery, the doctor said he could save me the inflated costs of the emergency room and he could stitch up Dre's eye in the office.  Fortunately, even though the gash was pretty open, the doctor stitched it in his office.  Dre was incredibly brave!  He cried very lightly the whole time and did not move a wink.  The nurse kept saying that she had never seen a 2 y/o be so cooperative and so still.  Which made me, once again, question how much he has been through in his past.  What a sweetheart!  I was so proud of him.  I somehow knew, though, that this would not be the last trip to the doctor for a mishap.  

More goofing around than egg dying

Hunt #1 at home--Eggs from the Easter bunny

Gifts from Nana Judy and Papa Denny

Too funny!

Dre and Mami

Luke, Maria and Andres--1 year ago in Cartegena

1 year later celebrating Easter together for the first time

Maria figuring out the Easter egg hunt after the eggs were gone

But Dre got it from the moment it began

Easter bunny impression with a good shot of his eye after stitch removal

Papa Bill showing the kids domino tricks on Easter

Kids with grandparents and Andres pouting since we took him away from his Easter basket

Kids with Grandparents on Easter

The Jensen 5--one year ago in Bogota

The Jensen Family on Easter 2009

Maria loved this Easter gift--a shirt made by Nana Sharon for Princess Maria

Andres' 3rd birthday was on April 25th and it was so much fun.  When I look at him now versus when we got him, he looks SO much older and is quite a bit heavier---I think 10 lbs. heavier!  Becoming three continues to bring a lot of orneriness and curiosity with it.  He found a large, white, plastic object and shoved it us his nose--and I mean really shoved it up his nose.  It was so high up in there I couldn't reach it with tweezers so in one last-ditch effort to save us from another doctor's visit, I made him blow his nose harder than ever before, and thank goodness it shot out!  Whew!  The good news is that his birthday went off without any injuries.  We had to squeeze it in between Big Brother Luke's baseball games, but he didn't care one bit.  He absolutely loved his Elmo cupcake cake and his Elmo hat.  All of his gifts lit up his face as most were Diego toys.  He LOVES Diego.  Matter of fact, a side note, one day at pre-school, he was playing with one of his friends and told his teacher he needed to go potty.  When Andres went inside, his friend became quite sad.  His friend waited and waited and waited for Dre to return.  Finally, Dre cam running back out on the playground and his little friend went running after him with arms wide open saying, "Diego!!!"  So, often times around the house, not only will you hear us call him Andres, Dre Dre, or Dre, but you will also hear Diego.  Especially when he is playing with Maria when he is Diego and she is Dora.  For some reason, I am always Boots or Tico.  Not sure what that says about me.  : )  Anyway, he had a great birthday and we got him a motorized car to ride on.  He's in heaven!  

The infamous foreign object that went up the nose--notice the tear on the chin!

Dre--1 year ago in Bogota

Our beautiful 3 year-old on his first birthday experience with us!

Mami and Papi thrilled to be spending Andres' first birthday celebration with him

Birthday boy with his Elmo cupcake cake

Maria "reading" the birthday card that she made for Andres

Help from Big Brother on the new motorized car

While Mother's Day was nice--church, breakfast with family and a soccer game--I really reflected a lot on Maria and Andres' mom.  It's so sad that she can't see what beautiful children they are, how happy they are.  She's truly missing out on so much and she just has to know it inside.  Hopefully, someday, if the kids want to, we can find their birth mother and she can see firsthand what tremendous kids they are!   They are both doing so well.  Andres is finally talking in short sentences that are sometimes even comprehendable!  YEAH!!!  He will be going to pre-school next year in our local school district for four 1/2 days each week and receiving services to help him get caught up with other three year olds.  I have no doubt he will be fine by kindergarten.  He goes non-stop and wears me out most days.  Maria is still working hard on her speech.  She still gets a lot of her sounds transposed and mixed up but overall, she has come miles.  Her speech teachers have decided it's time to place less emphasis on her pronunciation and start focusing a little more on her grammar.  As a former English teacher, you can imagine how happy that made me.  I try hard with her, but she's learning so much in such a short time, I think it's brain overload.  She will be going to full-day kindergarten next year which I think will be a perfect spot for her.  This will give her more time and more repetition to learn the basics.  She continues to excel in soccer and is now trying t-ball and loves it all. And she is really into fashion!  She got some money for her birthday and she took it with her one day when we went to Wal-Mart.  I expected her to buy a Dora toy or something like that, but instead, she bought a shiny pair of yellow sandals.  I had to laugh.  If I didn't know better, I would think she is a direct descendant of her Nana Sharon!  I just couldn't be more proud of these two, and of course, Luke as well.  He's about to wrap up 3rd grade.  We've had a lot of fun reminiscing about life a year ago and how much it has changed for him.  He is an excellent big brother ( as I think I say in EVERY posting) and he is tremendous student!  Between Maria's soccer and softball and Luke's soccer and baseball, weekends are definitely busy but fun.  I swear there are times when Luke runs out onto the baseball field and I just can't believe that I'm seeing what I'm seeing.  He has grown quite a bit this year (although still a bean pole with little muscles) and his feet have already caught up with mine.  Such a funny stage to see a boy with skis for shoes!  He's also been working really hard with Cub Scouts and is now a Webelo.  He and his dad have a good time doing the campouts together.  They'll have another one this summer the weekend of the CHI Colombian reunion in St. Louis.  So, while I hate that Luke won't be able to go and meet all the other Colombian children we have followed, I am planning on taking Maria and Andres to St. Louis.  Should be a fun weekend to finally meet people that I feel like I already know but have never met face-to-face. 

Finally, on May 19, we had our first Family Day together.  Since Matt was not going to be able to be with us on the actual day, we decided to take the kids to the Royals baseball game the Saturday before it.  It was a great family outing as we explored our new baseball field with an incredible amount of kids activities within the ballpark.  We only watched about an inning before taking the kids to explore.  As always, a little excitement must be thrown into the evening, and I'll given you one guess who always creates it. . .yes, Andres.  He was climbing on some metal bleachers and fell, smacking his OTHER eye and cutting the eyebrow open.  Now keep in mind, he just got his stitches out of his other eye approximately 4 weeks  prior to this.  Fortunately, he did not need stitches, but he got to visit the First Aid office of the stadium and getting a Royals pin for being so brave.  After that, we were actually able to go enjoy the last few innings of the game as Andres sat on Papi's lap.  

The Jensen 5 at the K

Pretty sure they just don't get any cuter!

Andres saw the A and excitedly screamed, "A for Andres!"

So you can see that someone else had to follow suit!

Always happy

Maria's big hit

Maria and Andres 1 year ago in Bogota

Maria and Andres 1 year later at their first Kansas City Royals game ( and minutes before eye injury #2)

All smiles in First Aid

What is this sticky stuff!!??  At least it got his mind off of his eye.

After enough excitement for one night, going home

For our actual Family Day, the kids and I sorted and packaged all of the donated items for our Family Service project for the CVI orphanage in Bogota.  We were able to collect over $200 and 4000 individual items to send.  Maria was so proud that she was trying to tell people what all of our boxes were for when were waiting in  line at the post office. . . "These boxes are for all the kids who don't have Mami's and Papi's."  Just a priceless time and I can't tell you how much joy I got out of watching the kids get excited about each and every item we package.  I never could have imagined how much gratification they would actually experience from donating items rather than receiving items for themselves, especially Luke.  He really enjoyed collecting items from his class and I was so proud of how he went into his classroom and led them in a service project. What a selfless gesture my kids have learned.  We ended our Family Day with dinner out at the place of their choice which is always Mexican food.  This time we actually splurged and ordered sopapillas.  Not something we normally do as we are always too full to eat our complete meals. But this time, who cared?  It was our Family Day and we deserved to celebrate!  

Sorting all of the donated items

Dre excited to find a Diego toothbrush

Mailing donations at the post office

Family Day dinner

Preparing for a Memorable Family Day

As our first "Family Day" approaches, we have thought a lot about what we want to do to celebrate.  But when it gets right down to it, not only is the day about us being together for a year, but it's also about honoring a country who trusted us to take care of their children.  On May 19, we will be celebrating our first year together as a family of five.  We are eternally grateful to Colombia, South America, for Maria and Andres. The sad realization is that we have learned that on the streets of Bogotá, Colombia, there are approximately 13,000 children without a home and most have no one to care for them. In Maria and Andres’ honor, we have decided to help the Colombian children still waiting for their “forever” families.  In order to do this, we have teamed up with Children's Vision International, an American-based organization, that has heard the cries of those homeless children.  CVI helps to provide safe, loving homes to these orphans.  (For more information, you can go to www.childrensvision.org)  Currently, CVI has built three homes for these children and are currently in the process of building a school all in Colombia, South America.

From now until May 18, 2009, our family will be collecting monetary donations or items for children between the ages of 0-18 years to take care of Colombian children just like Maria and Andres.  The items include toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, combs, hair brushes, ponytail holders, bandaids, cotton balls, Q-Tips, lotion, shampoo, soap, clothing, socks, underwear, shoes, blankets, clocks, calculators, pens, pencils, books in Spanish.  

On our May 19^th Family Day, we will package these items and send them to CVI. We are so excited to teach our children the value of serving others and helping those in need.  To see how our Family Service Project is progressing, we will update the side of our blog showing what all has been collected. Thanks to all of our family and friends for continuing to support us through this incredible journey.  And a special thank you to the students and staff at my high school as well as  Luke's teacher and 3rd grade class for their selfless donations and excitement to support this project. It is so wonderful to see our future leaders jump aboard and get into the spirit of giving to others!

Finally, "It's my Happy Birthday!" and much more

Well, a lot has happened as you will see below. But mostly, for the past 6 weeks, we have been fighting colds, ear infections, bronchitis and then crazy weather changes that induce allergies. I had to take a week off of work when the kids were sick, and then two weeks after that, I went in for "minor" surgery that ended up making me miss two more weeks of work. Thankfully, I am finally starting to feel like I am recovering! That will be the last time I translate "minor" surgery as meaning short recovery period! So, I have not had a lot of time to update. Anyway, as I mentioned, Maria and Andres were pretty sick at the beginning of February. Here is Dre, as always, with a smile on his face. He was a real trooper enduring three weeks of these breathing treatments, three times a day!

Before all of the sickness began, Luke participated in the annual Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. For all who have never done this, there is a LOT of fretting and stewing (mostly by Matt) as to what the car should look like, how it should be shaped, where the weights should go, etc. More than I'm sure I can understand. Also, Matt has organized this event for the Pack the past two years. So kudos to him as well for pulling off the event. Andres especially loved it due to all of the cars racing in front of his eyes.

This kids are really enjoying spending time with their grandparents. It is so fun to see these relationships deepen and all of the great times they are sharing together. Maria is constantly asking us if she can go stay the night with the grandparents, and most of the time they oblige which makes her sooooo happy! Here are a few picks with the "Papa's" and the kids.

Dre loves Papa Ronnie!

And Papa Bill is extra special, too!

We've also had the pleasure of continuing to introduce our kids to various people. Most recently, we were able to get together with another family from Kansas City who just brought two kids home from Colombia--the boy is Luke's age, the girl is Maria's age. We had a great time with the Bond family and hope to continue building that friendship.

Our first Valentine's Day together was wonderful! Maria and Andres really enjoyed it. Maria mostly due to the fact that she adored her heart dress, earrings and necklace that she got to wear. Andres loved the Valentine's bags that their gifts were in. I don't even know if he knew there were gifts in them, but hey, his enjoyment helped me to get my money's worth out of the bag. ; ) After going to Luke's basketball game, which is always fun, we were fortunate enough to be able to take the kids to Border's to pick out a special book for each and then to the Cheesecake Factory that evening. It was a very special day and so much love was shared by all!

All three kids are doing so well. Luke really enjoys teaching the kids new things and reading stories to them. I constantly hear him working with them on how to say words correctly. He is such a great age to be a big brother and Maria and Andres adore him. We would have missed out on so much of Luke's compassion if he had remained an only child. Maria continues to grow like a weed. The other day, I was looking at pictures from when we got her in Colombia. She looked so little then, but there are still days where I see glimpses of that fragile little girl who longs to be loved. She follows me every where I go just because she likes to be close and give me hugs. Not a day goes by where she doesn't tell me that she loves me at least ten times, and she constantly seeks approval. We are so proud of how well she has done with learning English. While she doesn't speak it 100% clearly due to her speech issues, she has an amazing command of it in such a short time. Andres is really beginning to take off with his speaking, finally. He is much more difficult to understand as he has many speech issues, but he's really beginning to get the cadence of syllables and emphasizes the right parts of words. He has even said some 3-4 word sentences which is HUGE! We are so proud of him! As Luke continues to have interests in his sports, Maria loves her dance and soccer. And Andres, well, he loves everything and will participate in whatever anyone wants to do. Most recently, though, he has become infatuated with dressing up in hats, gloves and snow boots. This can cause problems at times as we are potty training! After Andres was really sick, the doctor requested that we take him off of dairy, and what a huge difference it's made. He's been going "popo" (the Colombian word, not ours) in the potty for about two weeks now. So while we've been on Spring Break, I have had him in underwear running around the house. I think I pressed my luck yesterday when we went out to run errands. As we stood in the check out line for our final errand, he had an accident. But each day brings a clean slate, and so far today, there have been no accidents. So this story will be continued. . .nevertheless, we are proud of him!

Dre in potty training mode

One of the most exciting things to happen over the past month was Maria's 5th birthday on March 14th, and what a day it was! For the month leading up to her birthday, she was constantly going around telling everyone--us, her friends, teachers, grandparents and strangers--that, "It's my HAPPY BIRTHDAY on March 14th!" I tried to teach her that we leave out the "HAPPY" when telling people, but she kept doing it, and honestly, it's just too darn cute to change it. She is really into princesses right now so we went with a princess theme even though she is a real tomboy at times!

Soccer princess

So we went with it! I thought she'd have fun dressing up in a pretty dress and I surprised her with some princess accessories before her party which included--sparkly shoes, a tiara and a princess sash. She LOVED it! She also loved her cake that I made. We watched the video on how to make the cake over and over again on BettyCrocker.com and she could barely contain her excitement each time. It was a very special day that brought so much joy. However, at the same time, I was a little heavy-hearted because there was no doubt in my mind that her foster family had to have been missing her that day. After they spent her 2nd and 3rd birthdays with her, they know how special Maria makes the day with her smiles, squeals and laughs. I can only imagine the hole that they felt in their hearts that day was equivalent to the fullness that mine felt by being a part of her special day for the first time.

She made a beautiful princess and insisted that she be called Princess Ariel since that's her favorite one

What a hit this "princess" birthday card was from Nana Judy and Papa Denny. Maria took it to bed with her the first three nights so she could listen to the music as it played over and over again. And even more precious, she still dances to it over and over again with such heart-felt movements. Truly priceless!

What a beautiful little girl--how lucky are we!!??

Ok, I have to admit the princess thing was taken way overboard, but oh did she eat it up!

And this may have been her most prized possession of the birthday party. You would have thought that I gave her the moon. She continues to tell people that her birthday was fun, that she's five now and, "My mommy made me a princess cake!" SHe even seems to think in her mind that BECAUSE I made her a birthday cake, she turned five. ; )

The only other member of the family I tend to leave off in the updates is our 15 1/2 year old dog, Max. He has been so good with the kids and they went from being scared of him to loving him. Unfortunately, he is really starting to show his age. (Wouldn't we all at 108 1/2 people years?) In the past year, his vision has begun to fail as has his hearing. It wasn't until about a month ago when he started randomly losing full function of his back legs. It doesn't happen all of the time but he is clearly getting to that stage that I have dreaded. After all, before Matt and all three kids were here, Max was in my life. So say a few prayers for him (and me) as it will be a difficult day when he has finally had enough. The only comfort I find is knowing that my grandparents will be there to scoop him up when he arrives in heaven.

Max

Finally, to end on a positive note, I once again, have to point out what an incredible journey adoption is. It has profoundly changed my life in ways that I can not understand or express. However, I occasionally take a picture where I sit back and say to myself, "This is how adoption enriches." Without God leading us down the path to Colombia, I never would have had the honor of feeling the joy that events like this bring to me. Thank you for continuing to follow us through this AMAZING blessing!

Brothers forever

The Calling of a Mother

I'm going on night #4 without solid sleep.  Fatigued?  Exhausted? Yes, so why am I sitting up at 3:30am and blogging, right?  I guess it's a case of being so tired that I can't sleep or maybe it's because when I only work a few days a week and I have to miss more than one of those days, I get a little stressed.  But I think it's mostly because I hurt when my kids hurt.  No one can ever prepare a mom for that pain.  Nevertheless, there's no place I would rather be than right here with my sick kids. Andres started me off with the first 3 nights of no solid sleep.  Poor guy started in with a really bad cough and some congestion.  By the time Monday rolled around, he was pretty miserable, even though he can still break out smiles even when feeling his worst.  : )  We found out he has severe bronchitis and is doing three breathing treatments a day.  The hardest part is seeing him put his arms across his chest when he coughs and saying "Owie!" There's nothing I can do but hold him tight and tell him it will get better.  It will, right?  He's still not doing all that great. His low-grade fever came back yesterday and his breathing is still somewhat labored. Let's hope today, Wednesday, brings better things his way!  I prayed when I went to bed Tuesday evening (just a few hours ago) that I would get a night of solid sleep.  BUt guess what?  If there's anything that having kids has taught me, I am not in control!  I woke up at 1:30am, a few hours ago, to soft whimpers.  I thought it was Andres again.  Strike one--I was surprised to see that they were coming from Maria's room.  I stood outside her door for a minute because I thought maybe she was working through a dream.  Strike two--instead her whimpers increased and I went in to discover that she was having a horrible earache.  So what's a mom to do?  I'd already used up two strikes and didn't want to get my third.  My first reaction?  Call Mom!  I remember her giving me some home remedy when I was a little girl to help with my earaches that occurred in the middle of the night.  But reality hit--oh wait, it's almost 2am.  I can't call my mom and scare the daylights out of her!  So thank goodness for the internet and Google searches.  Now, here I sit, and wait patiently, to make sure that some Tylenol, flushing of hydrogen peroxide sitting in the ear for 10 minutes, and a few drops of warm olive oil are going to work.  So far, we've gone 10 minutes and I hear nothing from Maria's room.  Let's hope that she can get her through the night so I can take her to the doctor's office first thing.   Until then, I sit here and hurt, wishing I could administer a cure, when all I can do is fulfill the calling of being a mom and comfort her if the pain returns.  And unfortunately, I think I hear her calling. . . 

A New Year with Our New Family

Now that the holidays are behind us and a new year has begun, it's fun to reflect back on the highlights of yet another "first" for our family--our first holiday season together--and boy was it busy! After having our first cookie bake (annually done by my mom and me), going to a "special" schools out lunch with me, attending four Christmas celebrations (2 in Kansas City, 2 in Iowa), celebrating Matt's 40th birthday, going to our first New Year's Even party as a family of five, and Luke and I attending a KU basketball game, we were all quite tired and needed a few extra days to get back to normal--normal days, normal sleeping, normal eating. And then it seemed like we blinked and school was back in session. Rather than tell you how wonderful the holidays were, I'll let the pictures highlight the two weeks I had with the kids and the blessed celebration it was for our family. May you have a wonderfully happy and healthy 2009!

My mom and I thought we would initiate the kids into our annual cookie bake. Unfortuantely, Luke was in school.

Maria--playing the part of chef

Well, Andres didn't last long. He was more interested in playing with a Scooby Doo car and Freddie.

We decided to celebrate that school was out by going to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch. As you can see on Luke and Maria's faces, we had a great time being together.

Andres always has been and continues to be my little love-bug. He gives me more kisses than I can count each and every day. This one just so happens to be a "Thank you" kiss for the free chips and salsa that was delivered to our table. : )

I had to include this as a way of showing how the generosity of others continues to rain upon us. People ask us all the time how the kids are doing, and I know lately I have been saying that they are growing like weeds. Maria can't seem to stay in her clothes for more than three weeks. She's gone from a 4 and 4T to a 5T and now a 5/6 in less than 6 weeks. Unfortunately, the majority of our hand-me down clothes are from people who have boys. So, I have had to try to fill in with a few things here and there for Maria when we have the extra money. When a lady at my work learned of this, she went and bought Maria THREE brand new, complete outfits. She was soooo excited (as was I!) and she did a little fashion show of her new clothes. She loved them all but really lit up when she tried this hot pink sweat suit on. Thank you so much, Kathy, for your incredible kindness and generosity. You can see that you made this little girl's day!

Hands down, without a doubt, my FAVORITE picture of the holidays! This is a beautiful, red-velvet dress and hat that I had made in Colombia while we were there adopting Maria and Andres. I knew I wanted something special and timeless that reflected her heritage. When I bought it, I hoped that not only could she wear it for her first Chritmas with us but that it would maybe be something she could hold onto and have her little girl wear some day. I knew she would be beautiful in it but when I saw how beautiful she was after dressing her for Christmas Eve, she took my breath away.

Wherever there is food, you will ALWAYS find these two!

Here was one of Dre's favorite gifts of the evening--three, singing snowmen. It was tough when I had to pack them in a box so that they could "sleep" until the next holiday season.

God has blessed us with three, beautiful children. We are so grateful!

The Jensen 5 on Christmas Eve at my dad and step mom's house

At one point, before we began our huge opening of gifts with extended family, Maria sat down and quietly stared into the fire. It's times like these where you really wonder what she's thinking.

The heart-warmer of the night. . . when Andres got down on the floor and became intrigued with the Nativity scene.

After finding and shouting "Baby Jesus!" he wanted to know all of the people in the scene

I'm pretty sure this is the first jewelry box Maria has ever had. She couldn't keep her eyes off of it as Mimi showed her that it had her name on top and a twirling ballerina inside that played music. Thanks B and Daddy Bruce!

Christmas morning--the kids indulging mom with some pictures before the opening frenzy began

It was so cute--when Maria and Andres saw that they had matching puzzles, they squealed with excitement.

Luke with his big gift from Santa.

Dre loves all of the Fisher Price Little People toys and Santa delivered! He couldn't wait to open the box. Thank goodness this was his last gift. Every time he would open a present, we had to practically bribe him to put it down and open another present. He would have been just as happy with one gift. Maybe that should be a lesson for all of us.

Maria calling Santa to thank him for her "cool" kitchen

My dad recently had a hip replacement and is having to walk around with a cane. Maria and Andres wanted to show him that they, too, think that walking with a cane is cool.

Not sure at what time of the day this is but it looks like Maria is about worn out. Luke, on the other hand, looks like he could go for another round of opening gifts.

Christmas Day attire--I was able to find a matching set of dresses for Maria and her American Doll Bitty Baby. She thought this was so special.

Maria is the defintion of "HELPER." She loves to help with everything around the house, but one of her very favorite things is to wash dishes. After Christmas dinner, she insisted on helping to clean all of the dishes. I love the way she's on her tiptoes, determined to be tall enough to get in there and do her job. She's such a doll and a wonderfully sweet little girl!

Hard at work

When we went to Iowa for a Christmas celebration, we stayed in a hotel with a pool. Andres was not excited about getting into a cold pool.

Luke and Maria having a much better time swimming

Maria, Luke and Andres with their cousin, Audrey in Iowa

New Year's Eve 2008

Andres wasn't sure what to think when we all began celebrating at the stroke of midnight

Maria hopped right in and saw what to do

I'm tired of paying $16 for a two-year old's hair cut so I attempted my first haircut ever. I didn't even look at him until I was finished for fear that I really screwed up! I think Andres was wondering what in the heck I did, too.

Thumbs up on the buzz cut

Matt's 40th

Woah! Look at the smoke a 40-year old can produce when blowing out candles!

Thank you, Tim and Lisa, for the tickets to the KU v. Tennessee game. What a great time Luke and I had, especially seeing the new, 2008 NCAA National Champions banner!

Luke and I before the KU v. Tenn game

Luke at Allen Field House

Luke standing with "The Phog!"

A Whole New Meaning to Thankful

Our first real road trip is now behind us. For about the past 10 years, for Thanksgiving we fly to Chicago and spend it with Matt's parents, brother, sister-in-law and nieces. But with two more bodies to pay for, flying was not an economical choice. So we took to the highway for a 9-hour trek. Truly, the kids did great, or at least as good as we could expect. Andres was the only one who got a little antsy about an hour outside of Chicago. And when he gets antsy or tires, he jabbers non-stop and says "Mami" or "Papi" a lot. When you turn around and ask, "What?" he simply replies with a big grin or shrugs his shoulders and turns his hands over, palm-side up as if to say, "I don't know." Cute the first few times. But once you hit about 15-20 "Mami's" or "Papi's" well, I'll just leave it as it's cute at first. ;)

The kids loved the city and I think Luke was very excited to show them around. He did such a great job explaining what everything was and really kept Maria and Andres interested. Besides seeing Matt's family, the highlight of the trip had to be taking the kids downtown and seeing the Macy's window displays that move. It was topped off with a long, but worth it, wait (1 1/2 hours) to see Santa. But it was unlike any Santa visit I certainly ever had! We were in a room all by ourselves with Santa and could take as long as we needed (hence, the 1 1/2 hour wait). I was worried that we would wait all that time and the two little ones would be afraid of Santa. But here's another case where I think having a big brother's lead to follow helped tremendously. They both jumped right up on his lap and told Santa what they wanted. (Ok, we helped a little--well, a lot!). Then, Santa gave the three kids a lecture about how they needed to be good, etc. We LOVED that Santa! To top it all off, they got a GREAT picture with him--a rarity.

Luke and I were afforded the opportunity to fly back to KC to go to the Kansas vs. Missouri game with my dad. (Thanks, Dad!) And I am proud to say that my Jayhawks definitely made our red-eye flight home worth it! (We had to leave for the airport at 6:15am) There is no greater defeat than the one over a Missouri Tiger. Well, the NCAA title game against Memphis was pretty darn close.

Since Thanksgiving, we continue to be entertained by our children. Maria's dance class had their first watch night, and of course, she was adorable. I was shocked at how well she did. Just by watching her, you would never know that Spanish is her native language. She understands everything so well and follows directions beautifully. Now, if she speaks, well, there's no doubt that she's learning English, but she is trying SOOO hard! Luke has started his first year of basketball and he is outstanding. Although he is the smallest on the team, he plays like one of the bigger kids. His defense is fantastic and I believe he was one of the high rebounders in his first game. As I have said before, don't be surprised if you hear about a pesky little 5'9 guard from Olathe, Kansas, making the Jayhawks basketball team. (A mom can dream, right!!??) Andres isn't actually "involved" in anything but trouble. :0 He is extremely curious about everything. He's already broken two ornaments on the Christmas tree just trying to look at them and take it all in. Unfortunately, his #1 vocabulary word right now is "no." But I think I have also thoroughly confused him as I keep asking him, "Are you supposed to say no to Mami?" Well, the poor thing wants to say "no" but I just told him not to. He looks at me with this face like, "What is wrong with this lady?" His second favorite, and newest word acquisition is "mine." Oh yeah, we are clearly in the terrific two stage (with threes just a few months away). Still no interest at all in potty training. He did tell me he dirtied his diaper the other day. I thought that was a breakthrough, but he's not done it again.

We continue to thank God each and every day with our three, beautiful children. Maybe throwing in the holiday craziness has helped but we are finally starting to feel the demand of having three kids--tired a lot, everyone is getting used to each other and more sibling antics are going on. However, I would have it no other way. This is such a blessed time right now and we are looking so forward to celebrating the birth of Christ with all three kids. It will definitely be a Christmas to remember. We hope yours will be, too!

Maria has so much fun with her cousin Kate and talks about her all the time

Luke adores his cousins

Isn't she a beautiful, little girl?

As good of a family photo as we can get. Dre rarely cooperates.

Watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade in the hotel room

Maria's first subway excursion in Chicago

Andres enthralled with one of the windows at Macy's

Another in front of one of the windows at Macy's with Cousin Kate

Nana Judy and her girls

Santa

My two elves helping to put out the Christmas decorations.

Dance watch night

The one person who makes Maria's face light up like no other--Tio Todd

First basketball game was a success: 34-20

Dre helping Papa Bill celebrate his birthday

Falling into a new life

As we approached election day I found myself constantly thinking, "This is their first. . . " fill in the blank. It could be Andres and Maria's first time to go to the pumpkin patch, the first time all three kids played in the leaves together, the first time they went Trick or Treating. It was something different every week. (And I have more pictures than one can ever develop to prove it!)  Since I last wrote, not only have they experienced all of these "firsts" but more--the first time they met their great grandma from Iowa, the first time they experienced what they believe is COLD weather (boy are they in for a rude awakening!), the first time they experienced a presidential election. I'm overwhelmed by it and I'm sure they must be as well. But they are such troopers and have dealt with everything seamlessly with no issues. They exemplify a whole new, deeper meaning to resilience, and we love watching their personalities develop and mesh with Luke's. It's just a blast to be together.

I continue to realize how much life has changed for Luke and how well he is doing. Please forgive me, as I know I say it almost every blog, but I am so proud of him! I think it really hit me the other day when our morning surpassed hectic, and I hastily sent him off to school without a jacket on a 45 degree day! I was upset about it all day. When I was a mother of one, I NEVER would have done that! A mother of three, well, if I can remember where each kid needs to go on any given day, it is a miracle.  I'm not complaining. I love the chaos. But I can only imagine how much Luke misses when things were a little calmer and more organized. A time, when he was it and all energy was focused on him. There is no doubt in my mind that he does miss that one-on-one time. At the same time, he doesn't demand it. He has been so accepting and supportive throughout all of the changes. At times, he clearly dealt with it better than I did while we were in Colombia. I have also begun to experience a deepening relationship with him. I find that he is constantly watching out for me and checking to make sure that I am ok. He is developing into a wonderful young man of which I am so proud to call my son!

While I am incredibly excited for another "first"--the holiday season as a family of five--I am also amidst sadness.  I find that I am missing my grandparents more than I ever have.  Selfishly, I wish they were here, physically, to be a part of what's going to be a joyous season.  Outside of our adoption, I can't think of a single, pivotal event, good or bad, that Grandpa Gilbert and Grandma Helen weren't here for.  They were a central piece in every celebration and sadness that I have ever gone through in life.  And here I am, almost 3 years after Grandma has passed away and 5 years since Grandpa left the world, and I am grieving for them all over again.  I know they are with us every single day, and I know that they live inside of all of my children and me. Recently, with Maria's elation and approval, we changed Maria's middle name to Helen, as a way to honor the great grandmother that she never had the honor to meet.  I hope that by the time I leave this world, I can give Maria a glimpse of what a phenomenal woman it is that's her namesake.   She has a big name to live up to, but one that I am confident that she will fulfill because Maria is a brave warrior who has gone through so much in life, has overcome so many obstacles and continues to greet each day with a smile and goodness, just as Grandma Helen did.  I pray for strength every day when I feel the sadness, and God listens to my prayers.  That's how I know and have always known that I will make it through the days ahead and enjoy them, just as I have enjoyed all that we've experienced so far.  I am so blessed that God chose this family for me!  After you see the smiles, personalities and sweetness of each of the photos below, you'll see why!  Also, think of us in five days when we will be celebrating 6 MONTHS  TOGETHER!!!  

First time in the leaves together

First time to the pumpkin patch

First time to carve a pumpkin . . .

make seeds. . .

but not the first time to be a goof ball while everyone else is doing all of the work!

First time to meet Great Grandma Hazel

First Halloween together with 

Nana Sharon, Papa Ronnie, Mimi, Papa Bill and Tio Todd

Our Colombian, Santa Fe soccer player

Our sweet bat

And the most beautiful gypsy you'll ever see

And I couldn't resist this one--THIS is the happiness and 

love that adoption can bring to an only child