My apologies. I've been busy.

I know, I know. I'm behind.

What can I say? Jumping to 3 kids has been an adjustment. (And those of you with 15 kids can laugh at me. Go ahead.)

Of course, adding one that makes as much laundry as the 4 of us previously did doesn't help things. My one kid poops as much as 15 kids combined. Does that count?

Here's a run down of the last few weeks....

Multiple doctor appointments. And various other appointments. I'll elaborate further with this later. Just know it's happening.

Kids Camp. Each year, we take our 3rd-6th graders from church to camp with all the church staff. It's always a highlight of the summer for the kids! And an exhausting 3 days. (Really just 49 hours. But who's counting, right??) Earlier in the summer, I was fairly certain I might be in China during Kids Camp. Instead EK just joined me and all the big kids in all our campy fun! She was a hit with all the girls as they ooooo'd and ahhhhh'd over her the whole time! EK enjoyed all the attention, Charlie had fun being a stinky boy and not taking showers and Sam got to spend a few days playing with different buddies.

We took our annual summer trip to Bama. You know, the one that is usually about 2 weeks long. But since we went to China, we just squeezed in 3 days of fun the last week of summer. (And our KY buddies Nicole, Grace and Emma joined us.) A brief synopsis: EK has no fear, which she showed us by crawling herself right out into a wave pool without a second look back. And she has now been introduced to all grandparents and several great grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. Sam cannot be trusted to sleep in a room with multiple kids without waking up at least half of them at 3am. And Charlie is now taller than his grandmother and only has about a quarter of an inch (and that's generous) to catch up to me. And traveling in a car with five kids under 12 is always an adventure. Always. And a tad bit smelly.

 

Don't worry. I don't let Charlie leave the house looking like this. For fear of his life. But this is his preferred "ninja" look these days.

Visits from various family members. Cousin camp, visits to meet EK and visits because we just happen to be a good stop between Birmingham and Indianapolis. Either way, it's been good to spend time with everyone and hang out around home.

Note: I did a much better job staying put for a while ("cocooning"...for those of you familiar) when the boys came home, but I have found that a harder task this time around with big kids. Although we continue to to provide for all her needs, etc we have done more than I anticipated. She's such an easy going, rollin' with the punches baby!

I'm updating more as we speak...type...whatever...

So stay tuned. I'm serious this time!!

News from both ends of the world.

Well, in case anyone is wondering....poop still abounds.

Thanks for asking.

I'm certain it's never ending. Although I'm getting really good at catching it before it escapes. Except for the incident this afternoon, but we won't talk about that...

Also went down a diaper size to help contain it. That puts her wearing a size 1 diaper in case you are wondering. Yes, she will be 2 in October.

Explains why she's been dubbed Tiny Chiny Hiney.

Just a little term of endearment.

In news on the other end of things, we have struggled with taking anything other than a bottle from the beginning. As in, it just wasn't happing. After 21 months of nothing but a bottle, she has no interest in real food, raking anything I put in, right back out just as fast as it went in. Although, sister obviously has no idea what she is missing.

We've played with spaghetti noodles, torn pancakes into a million tiny pieces, finger painted with baby food, played with our spoons, tried different sippy cups and bottles....and finally, at the cheering and excitement of two big brothers and a cousin, we got some bites of pear baby food in without a total meltdown. She even opened her mouth for me!

Then we tried these. But they weren't quite as good.






And washed it all down with this. I was thrilled she let me actually put the cup in her mouth, but just don't quite have the sucking thing down yet.



Now, don't take this to mean she's moved on to hamburgers and pizza just yet. We tried again this morning, with some success, but she definitely let me know when she was done.

We'll keep trying. And hopefully she'll keep liking.

Here's some more pictures. Well, just cause she's cute...












(As you can see, bath time is going a little better too. I think she just resigned herself to multiple baths a day...no sense in screaming about it when you can get fun toys to play with and fling water all over the bathroom for Mom to clean up...)

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The G word.

Note: This post is about poop. If you are offended, please close your browser now. I make no apologies. This is a blog about my family. We fart and poop and sometimes we talk about it. That's just how we roll.

While I am not an advocate for curse words, nor do we use them in our house, this past week I have discovered one I wasn't aware existed.

Giardia.

Being immersed 3 kids deep in the adoption world, I had heard of this nasty little parasite called giardia, but fortunately have never had personal experience with it. Until now.

Let me explain giardia in very scientific terms...

Ellie Kate takes bottle. Several hours later Ellie Kate poops. Poop runs down legs if standing or up torso if I am lucky enough that she is standing on her head during said incidence.


Charlie and Sam make dramatic gagging noises and act as if they may throw up, which is where I threaten to make them clean it up themselves if they even think about it. Ellie Kate requires full wardrobe change. Ellie Kate fights full wardrobe change. Poop gets on the wall, on the floor, on the bed, on our toys, in our hair, in our ears, between our fingers, under our arms...pretty much anything within a 3 mile radius. For more examples...the highchair, car seat, crib, stroller, bathtub, etc. Requires full bath because... well... once you have that much poop on that many things, it's just easier to go full immersion. Ellie Kate screams as soon as foot is set in bathroom because she now hates baths because she gets 3-4 a day. Bath is given. (Bath is a loosely defined term. She screams and squirms and flings her little legs over the side of the bathtub in an attempt to get out. And I carefully hold on to a wet, slippery, poopy baby all while trying to get said poop off and not break her tiny arm because she is doing her best to get away.) Bath is finished. Screaming stops. Fresh, poop-free diaper and clothes returned to better smelling, happier baby. Mommy cleans poop from all above listed surfaces. Mommy sanitizes all previous poop covered surfaces. Mommy does laundry for all washable items that came in contact with said poop. Ellie Kate watches Mommy with sly smirk on face. Repeat process every 4-5 hours as needed.

That, my friends, is giardia.

A curse word in this house.

In all seriousness (I can do serious too), we are almost 3 days into a 7-day-round of metronidazole, that had to be prepared at a special compounding pharmacy that doesn't file insurance. I'm seeing tiny slivers of improvement. Such as, yesterday only required one wardrobe change. And we escaped multiple baths as well due to well-timing and the watchful eye of a Mommy who is weary of cleaning poop-stained carpets. But this morning was spent in tears refusing a bottle because our belly was clearly hurting. The upside to that was lots of snuggles.


Remember those poop samples from our first week home...yeah, this is what that's for. I had a pretty good idea that we may be dealing with it even before the doctor called to give me the good news. I mean, there is only so much poop that can come out of a tiny little body...there had to be something going on!

So, here's your fair warning to all those Mommy's heading home with your bundles of joys. Demand that your doctor do stool samples. And cross your fingers and hope that you don't slap your forehead with an open hand as you mutter under your breath....

"Giardia!"

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A sign of signs.

We have been using the sign for milk for Ellie Kate's bottle from the beginning. It's an easy sign and honestly, that's what is in there now, so that is the correct sign! She hasn't really imitated it or really let us know that she understood what that meant...

Until Tuesday.

She was upset because I wasn't moving fast enough and we were past the angry cry. She was giving me that real pitiful cry while laying her head on my shoulder. And I was in the middle of preparing breakfast for one of the other mouths that lives here, so it's not like I was completely ignoring her!

After fixing a bottle (yes, I said fixin'!), I reached around to her line of vision and signed "milk" and was shocked when she immediately popped up and signed milk back to me, frantically searching for her bottle at the same time!

I was so excited that she finally made the connection between the two that I did a little happy dance for the two of us, all while she looked at me like I'd lost my mind!

She had her bottle, so she didn't really care.

Tonight we practiced please and thank you. She seemed to be picking up the please, but would wait for me to take her hand and do it, instead of doing it herself. I would get a real big grin when the please resulted in what she wanted. Ha...if we could all just get what we wanted by saying please...

I'm learning very fast that she is all toddler. And toddlers have opinions and things to say! She just hasn't been given any way to communicate other than screaming or crying. I've said before she has an attitude, but that attitude is really just her talking to us. We are still pouring on the Mommy and Daddy love, but hopefully....slowly...giving her tools to communicate with us.


A quick lunch with brothers at McDonald's, which was a first for her. (No judging. Life must go on. And big brothers still need to feel like they are the center of attention occasionally.) Ain't no way she's eating those fries. But see...it doesn't always have to be spoons...anything she can hold in each hand will work!

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One week home.

About this time one week ago we were boarding a plane from Chicago to Louisville (I think) and getting ready to finally be home with our sweet Ellie Kate.

(Okay, so I wrote this yesterday. But I've lost several brain cells due to all the different time zones I've been in lately. And I forgot to post it.)

What a week it's been...




We have been to the pediatrician. She has gained a pound and a half, putting us up to a whopping 14.5. We still need to do the dreaded blood work, but Dr. Church thinks we have a perfectly healthy baby. Just tiny. And the poop samples. Got that checked off our list. (Hey, just keeping it real for those of you to come behind me. You will spend time scooping poop from a diaper into tiny vials. I'm just glad she's still in diapers...)




She is still pounding the bottles down. Switched to whole milk with no problems. We've had no luck with bread, pasta, bananas, puffs, cereal, baby food.......basically anything to come from a spoon. Or a sippy cup. Or not out of her bottle. I just keep putting it in front of her. And she just keeps looking at me like, "Really lady?? I thought the gagging from the baby food was enough to deter you from trying again?"

Nope. I don't give up that easy.




Our one problem is she will only take the bottle we bought in China. And I only bought two. And those won't last forever. Soooo....she's gonna have to give it up and take a different brand of bottle. Or just realize that what we are eating is way better than that cereal and green peas milkshake she's downing...

She has been to Target. A side trip with Mommy after the doctor office. I'm sure she loved it. Who doesn't love a little Target action?




We have learned to love bath time, once we discovered that toys could be involved.







Still no walking, but pulling up and cruising. It will only be a matter of time. I'm still shocked that 18 days ago, I was given a child who barely moved. Very newborn like. And now she's crawling and scooting all over the place!

The self-soothing behaviors? They aren't totally gone, but have drastically decreased. Again. Totally shocked at the changes in our sweet little girl in such a short time.

Oh, and the temper...oh my, she has a temper if she doesn't get her way! 99% of the time she is a happy baby. But don't delay in getting that bottle...




What do the boys think of their new baby sister??

Well, I had my concerns about each of them, but honestly they have both done very well. They willing sit and play with her, fight over who gets to sit by her in the car and constantly are giving me a play by play of what she is doing if I'm in the other room. (I know once the new wears off, so will all this. But I'll take it while I can. I know they might not always like each other.)

Sam likes to pick her up and she doesn't care for that. The two of them are also learning to "share". Meaning Sam is learning that a toddler doesn't know how to share. And if you take her toy, she will scream until you give it back. He is also a little stressed by her eating habits. It is beyond him why you would throw perfectly good food in the floor (from her highchair) when you could eat it! He just doesn't get it!




Charlie lets her crawl all over him and is very patient with her. He shares his monkey with her and for Charlie, that's like a declaration of his undying love. He doesn't just let anyone gnaw on his monkey's face. (He looks so big next to her! I don't like it.)




This week hasn't been without its tears, moments of frustration, toddler attitude, big kid Grandparent detox (Yes, thats a real thing) and Mommy impatience. And exhaustion. BUT...I wouldn't change a second of it.

Well, maybe the second while I was playing in poop.

But we'll consider that understood.

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Coming home.

So here's my excuse...

Well, technically, my excuse is a 14-pound cutie, but the last 3 nights I've put my big kids to bed before the sun has fully set because I literally could not keep my eyes open any longer.

And the little one wants to keep all kind of crazy hours. Like rising at 2am for the day. Or sleeping from 1pm to 5am the next day.

Which means the hours needed for blogging, have been spent sleeping.

Our bodies are totally having a civil war within as we will them to stay awake for just a little longer, while the troops inside are kicking the bucket one by one.

Jet-lag, my friend, is no joke. Especially when you are a toddler. Who cares if it's 11pm and dark outside? I'm not tired.

Well, Mommy is.

In all seriousness, as of Wednesday afternoon, I think we may have finally got our days and nights switched back around. Still working on a daily schedule of napping, etc, but the sleeping at night when all the rest of the family is sleeping will help tremendously!

When I last left y'all, we were in Hong Kong, getting ready to make the long trek home. It honestly went waaaay better than either of us could have imagined.




She took a nap while we sat on the runway in Hong Kong and then was awake, but happy, for the next 10 hours. Yes. Ten. But by then it was her bedtime and she conked out peacefully. Oh, there was the whole poop incident about 2 hours into the flight where me and her both ended up with poop all over us, but so is the life of a 20-month-old in Chinese diapers. I'm not impressed, by the way, and have never been so excited to get a hold of a pack of Luvs!

She arrived as the newest American citizen around 9am on July 4th and was super excited about it...




She slept through customs and most of the flight from San Francisco to Chicago. One tiny meltdown. But by that point, I was ready to meltdown too.

I think by the time we made it to Louisville, Kenny and I had slept a total of 3 hours combined since we left China. I told him at one point I didn't know if I could even walk all the way to baggage claim carrying her; I was just that exhausted. Which was really bad because I knew what was waiting there for us.

The thought of just laying down on one of those seats in the terminal and taking a nap seriously crossed my mind. How ticked off would y'all have been if I had stopped to take a nap at that point??

I haven't gotten any of the airport pics yet, but as with the boys, you guys didn't disappoint and we were greeted by many smiling faces even though it was after 10pm on the 4th of July! And the best...the smiling faces of my two boys who I think grew a foot each while we were gone!!!!




American flags, Alabama football, our monkeys and my whole family together again......I couldn't have asked for any more...

Except for a few hours of sleep!!

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We are coming home. Via Hong Kong.

I've kinda skipped over the last two days of sightseeing and our Consulate appointment, so I'll try to get those in while we are traveling. If our tiniest traveler permits it.

But I wanted to update you on our current location and status...

It is Wednesday evening. We traveled last night by van to Hong Kong. And honestly, I'm amazed I'm still here to talk about it.

The driving in most international countries is crazy, yes, but it usually doesn't get to me. But holy cow, last night I was certain that our van was going to crash into other moving vehicles multiple times! We were traveling with another family and I was in the very back. I found it better if I just leaned back and didn't look out the windows. In America, 3 feet is considered a little close. A good 3 inches is really all you need in China. That's even enough room for another car to squeeze by!

But we made. All in one piece. Even through the customs check point to enter Hong Kong where all the windows were rolled down and a government employee aimed a gun at all of us and started shooting... It took me a minute to figure out that he was just taking our temperature.

Seriously, folks...you should really warn a fella before you start shooting them with a thermometer!

We spent today exploring Hong Kong and took a shuttle, a ferry, a taxi and then a tram to Victoria's Peak, which is the highest mountain on the island. There are tons of shops and restaurants up there and the most amazing views of Hong Kong!

Hong Kong is unlike any place I have ever been. It's so big and busy and so many tall buildings...there are over 7 million people here, so you can imagine how crowded it is! Our hotel room at the Harbour Plaza Metropolis is even tiny (but nice!)...and coming from our suite at The Garden Hotel, it was quite a shock, but we can manage anything for 2 nights, right? And it is so clean. They take great pride in keeping the cities clean here, but I guess with this many people you have too!

Here are a few pictures of our morning adventures...

Our view from the ferry across to the main island.




Our view from the top...ridiculous.
















This was the tram up the side of the mountain. It kinda reminded me of being in Gatlinburg. There was even a Bubba Gump Shrimp at the top! Except you can't understand anyone and it feels like someone forgot to turn the heater off. Other than that...Gatlinburg via Hong Kong! On the way back down, I had to stand up because EK was taking a nap in the carrier and it was just easier that way....let's just say there are parts of that ride that are hard to stay up right on if you are standing!




This was the ferry we took. Well, not that exact one since we were actually passing it in the water, but you get the point.




We leave Hong Kong in the morning around 11:30am. Skip over to San Francisco (that's a 13 hour skip, in case you were wondering), hop to Chicago and then down to Louisville.

Hopefully all that happens by 9:56pm on Thursday, July 4th.

How can you pray for us?

1. EK has proven to be a pretty laid back traveler, but anyone will reach their limit, especially on a 13 hour flight. And y'all know how she is when she is hungry...she goes from fine to maniac baby in less that 3 seconds! Just pray that she will sleep most of the flight. And while she's not sleeping, that she will be laid back and travel well.

2. Patience for me and Kenny. It's tiring to do this just the two of us, but add in a tiny person and it just ups the anty! Patience with each other. Patience with EK. Patience with airlines...

3. No delays. While this almost never happens, no delays in getting my one baby home to see my other two babies would be fantastic!!

4. Oh, yeah...EK has been snotty the last few days. We are treating it, but the last thing you want is a baby with fluid on her ears on a plane. No fun.

OK, folks...if I don't get any more updates in before home, see you at the airport!!!!!!

Let the countdown begin...

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I have arrived. My Chinese experience is complete.

Yesterday was the day I can honestly say that my China experience came to a peak.

I got to use a squatty potty.

Wait...wait...it gets better...

I got to use a squatty potty with a baby attached to me. A screaming one, if you want to know the honest truth. (She dropped her spoons. On the bathroom floor. And if you know what a squatty potty is, you understand why I wouldn't give them back to her.)

Although not completely on purpose, I have managed to spend over a week in China without have to hover myself over what the Chinese call a potty and relieve myself.

And if it hadn't been for dire circumstances involving too much water and a 30 minute drive to the hotel, I might would have passed. Let's just say I could have gone the whole trip without that experience. Just as you could have gone without reading about it.

But we all know I tend to share too many details...

Ooops.

Yesterday we went to the Chen Clan Academy, also known as the Cantonese Folk Art Museum. If I understood our guide right, the people here actually worship their ancestors, so these huge buildings were built in honor of families and used as a place of worship. This particular temple was also used as a place of study, hence the "academy".



The amount of detail that goes into a place like this is almost unfathomable. Carvings and sculptures and paintings and decorative brickwork all work together to construct this temple. Hours upon hours of work. Like years and years of hours.










This dude has been dubbed as the Bob Ross of China. See those paintings? He does those completely with his hands...palms, fingertips and fingernails. No bush. In a word: amazing.




And while this looks like a painting, it's actually silk embroidery. Also ridiculous.




Carvings from bone and ivory. I'm not certain which this is since both of those things kinda look the same. But the detail is ridiculous. There are actually people and individual columns for all the different levels. I'm guessing these folks don't battle much with ADD because no way someone in America would have the patience for that.




I hope they have some good insurance on that place.

It really is beautiful.

And yes. It was still hot. Hanging out in front of a fan here. HOT.




After that we went to a huge multi-level mall type building. The entire building was jewelry! Unreal. Pearls and jade are a big deal around here, so that was the draw for some in our group.

And a picture of Ellie Kate. Just because she's super cute. Ignore the lady holding her.




And yes, the spoons have become a daily thing. I guess Christmas will be cheap this year as long as I can find take 'n toss plastic spoons. Honestly, it's just calming to her to have something in her hands. Without those, her antennas come up. And funny enough, her Daddy is the same way. Always fiddling with something in his hands.

Although if he starts playing with spoons too, I'm gonna need someone to come help me be the adult in our family.

Because I'm not really a full-fledge adult either.

Shhhh, don't tell our adoption agency...

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All about EK.

Thank you guys so much for each comment on the blog, picture like, Facebook comment....we are reading each one and loving that you guys are loving on our little girl from a far, but could never respond to each one! Each prayer is being felt and we appreciate all of your support as we go through this journey!

Here are a few more details about the newest member of the Cook Family. The more time we have with her, the more we learn and the more her little personality emerges! We are absolutely loving spending time with her and can't wait to get home to our boys and the new "normal". Whatever that is...

:: Baby has a rat tail. A mini-mullet of sorts. I guess that's better than the buzz cut she had a few months ago, but I've almost cut it off a few times. Maybe it will even itself out.




:: And speaking of hair, hers is very coarse. I don't know why I expected it to be soft. It looks like it would be so soft to touch, but it's really not. And it has little strands of silver in it! As if she's actually 70 years old. Unless you are looking closely, it almost looks like she has glitter in her hair. I know it will be beautiful as it grows out!

:: We have made the jump to baby food in our bottle successfully! She still doesn't want anything in her mouth but the bottle, so we are just putting what we want her to eat in the bottle! She is taking six 8 to 10 oz bottles a day. With formula, cereal and baby food. Eats almost every 3 hours on the dot, but I'm letting her because she needs all the food she can get. And don't think you might go longer than that. She won't allow it!




:: And don't show sister that bottle unless you have full intentions of giving it to her! Have you ever seen a baby with a temper?? I can show you one if you wave a bottle in front of her without sharing!

:: She is sleeping through the night from about 9pm to 6am. And on a good day napping from 12-2pm. But since most of our days have been spent out and about, she wants to take a nap around 10am. And then again around 6pm. Which means she wants to stay up all night! Trying to get on a schedule here is almost impossible, so we are just in survival mode. I can't wait to get home and get on a schedule!




:: Her spoons still remain her favorite toy. She carries those suckers everywhere! As we speak, she has two spoons in one hand and her comb in the other, banging them up against that full length mirror in our room.




:: She is very vocal! Way more vocal that I assumed she would be. Laughing and cooing at herself and us. All. The. Time. She is really a happy baby, mainly crying when she is wet, tired or hungry. I still am in awe of the changes in her each day. God has truly changed her little heart and she is soaking up Mommy and Daddy loving!! I'm no fool to think we may not hit a rough patch, but I'm enjoying this while I can!

:: She helps me with diaper changes and when we are getting dressed. Holds her little legs up for the diaper. Will stick her legs into pants, arms into her shirt sleeves. It is really funny to watch because she is so tiny, but she knows exactly what is going on!




:: She reaches for us now. If she is upset or just wants to be held, she'll throw those little arms up as if demanding to be picked up! I took a nap this afternoon and when I emerged from the other room after being gone for about an hour, she squealed and came right to me to be held, wrapping her arms around my neck and laying her head on my shoulder. She missed her Mommy!! Honestly, I can't get enough of that. Ever.

:: Sister has a poop stance. Too much information?? You know that cute little thing she does with her head on the floor and hiney in the air? If she holds that position for any length of time, she's pooping. Good to know.




:: Many of you have asked if we are teaching her signs...and we had full intentions of doing that from the start. We have done a few, but none have really stuck yet. A lot of the self-soothing things she does involve her hands. They are constantly moving. So much so that I can't get her to imitate any signs. Right now we are just focusing on bonding and letting her know that she can trust us and we will be there to meet all her needs. We have seen a huge decrease in the self-soothing behaviors since she is letting us hold her and comfort her, instead of doing things like rocking herself to sleep by closing her eyes and shaking her head back and forth. The signs and communication will come. Right now loving her is more important!

Alright folks...I'm going to bed! Y'all are all getting ready to go to church. We will miss our church family this morning, but just knowing that the next time we join you guys will be with a new family member is exciting enough to wait!

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