Yet another birthday girl ;-))

I mentioned in an earlier post that the Lord had provided help for our family...
Last Wednesday it arrived.
It has been wonderful so far.
Anja (YES, we have two Anya's at our house now. We call them Anya and big Anja!) turned 19 today, and it seems like she has been here so much longer than a few days. The kids like her a lot, and she is a lot of fun to have around. It's amazing what an extra set of hands can accomplish. You should see our living room! It was sparkly clean after she was done with it!
She is just a very kind, young lady, and we had fun celebrating her US birthday with her. We took her to 2 very american places this afternoon - Wal Mart first, then McDonald's :-)))
She got such a kick out of the greeter at WalMart and the "hand me a cart" lady, the shelves and shelves of Laundry soaps, as well as the checker bagging our loot! Yep, those things don't happen in a Swiss department store!
The kids very extremely wound up this afternoon, but she took it in stride! Bless her heart!
Here are a couple of pictures of tonight. We had brownies and ice cream after our birthday dinner at McD's.

Nina was not grumpy at all, even though she looks like it in this picture!

And here is the birthday girl ;-)) Shhhhhh, don't tell her I put this picture on the blog!

Brothers, oh brothers....

Oh, those brothers.... they love to tease their little sister. And she doesn't mind. She adores big brother Nico, and loves to play with Elia. Those two are home during the day too, and they have all kinds of ideas for Nina. First they decided that she would look good in a ponytail-mohawk. And off they went to get the styling neccessaties (sp??). Then she had a photo appointment so everyone would remember the hair-art.


Then.... after Nina went down for her nap, they got busy in the garage. Aren't empty card board boxes the best????

Black, Red and Blonde....

Last night, Nina met cousin Emma (and her Mom ;-)) ) for the first time. The three little cousins did pretty well together. Overall, Nina - while bossy - tries to stay out of conflicts.
I could hardly wait to get a picture of those three little girls, because of their very different coloring, as you can see.
Nina was three in February, Emma (the little redhead) will be three in November, and Lena (the little blondie) will be three next March.

He mopped... and another school picture

Here is the proof that Elia really helped me mop. He was so funny. I think the thing that got him the most excited was that he was allowed to WALK on the wet floor. That is usually a big no-no :-))

Later that day Alex brought me his school pictures too. Of course he wanted me to put them on the blog, just like Anya's. So here you go. I like his pictures too, and the "cheese" is not as obvious as last year. NEVER ask a child with a lisp to say cheese for a picture. Try it, and you will know why... :-))

Today is big girl bragging day

Yes, it is a new morning.
New mercies.
New opportunities.
More grace.
And that's what I will cling to today.
And mop my kitchen floors with Elia...

Yesterday, Anya brought home her school pictures. I don't know how it is for you, but school pictures always seem to be hit and miss. They're always cute, but often times in their own way....
This one is different. I really, really like it.
Anya looks so grown up, though, and that shocks me just a bit.
She is only EIGHT.
She is a beautiful girl, inside and out. Lots of wonderful qualities and some quirks in a healthy mix.
I just had to share this picture...

NO!

Tonight I'm tired. Physically, emotionally.... the whole shebang.

Reason #1: I went to bed WAY too late, staying up reading adoption blogs and the Rumor Queen.
Reason #2: I'm a single Mom this week, and just dwelling on that fact makes me feel so sorry for myself, it's pathetic.
Reason #3: My new daughter is entering the terrible two's, I think. Yikes! While this is a good thing if you look at it from an emotional development standpoint, it's not as rosy from a mother's point of view. Pretty much everything these days is "NO". Not a temper tantrum kind of NO (those come separately :-) ), but just a very nonchalant NO. Nope, no way, not gonna do it.

"Nina, let's go brush your teeth"
NO.

"Nina, finish your dinner"
NO.

"Nina, time to take a nap"
NO.

You get the picture. It's not just one NO, but we seriously have our little "yes,no,yes,no,yes, no" arguments. Wow, I forgot how those feel! I have to do a serious "get down to her level and give her THE look" kind of reminder of who is in charge. I'm sure she wants to regain some control over her life and her surroundings, plus she is bossy and opinionated as is (which I love about her!), so we have some battles to fight.

Who was it again who wrote in her China reports that she was "shy and introverted"?????

Again, this leaves me with so many questions, because I can't just parent her like I did my biological children, and she does not understand all my reasoning and explaining yet.

Nurturing.... being a pushover?
Guiding her... or being too stern?

Ahhh, wisdom.

I certainly don't feel like I have it tonight.
Please pray for us, that we receive what we need. And that Nina receives what she needs.


Tomorrow will be a new day.
A day that brings changes again. God in his grace has provided a "helper" for us for the next three months. My cousin's daughter is coming to stay with us, to learn english and experience the USA.
And to help us.
It's amazing how the Lord is always providing.


I think I just answered my own question while I'm typing this.

HE ALWAYS PROVIDES.

Allright, now I'm getting all teary. I think it's time to clean up the kitchen, one more time today, and then go to bed.

Oh, and while I'm talking about cleaning the kitchen, I have to share a cute story. Elia has been such a great helper lately, doing things without being asked. This morning he had the broom, dustpan, mop and a bucket full of water out, and he said he was going to clean the kitchen. What a sweet little boy. We ended up not getting to that (surprise!), but it's definitely on the schedule for tomorrow!


Thank you for all your support and your comments.
You guys, my blogging friends, are the best!

Signing off with a cute picture that I took about 5 weeks ago. Brother and sister at last..

Welcome home party

Nina was honored with two "Welcome Home!" parties in the last few weeks. After the second one we decided that this was more fun than a baby shower, because Nina could participate and open her own presents *LOL*.
In an attempt to catch up on some blogging now that soccer season is over FOR GOOD (at least until spring!), I would like to share some of those pictures, videos and stories.
The most recent party was a little over a week ago, and it was hosted by my sisters-in-law and my mother-in-law. Kami found all kinds of ladybug decorations that were to-die-for cute and soooo fitting for miss ladybug girl. Nina LOVES ladybugs! She was happy as a clam during the party, and we had a fun time with relatives and friends.
Isn't this ladybug penny bank adorable??
Nina was so impressed with her cake decorations!
One short little conversation we had was so wonderfully honest and real, and it touched me. Very, very much.
One of Mike's aunts shared how her husband had asked her "What if I won't love Nina as much as I love their other children?", and how his worries all disappeared into thin air when he met her for the first time.... (do I need to say that Nina ADORES both of them?). She had tears in her eyes as she shared this with us. Wow! I really appreciate her sharing this, as I feel that it is important to bring those thoughts and fears to light. I'm thankful that Nina is touching so many people already, which confirms to me that God will use her unique story to bring glory to HIM!
*****
I have also been able to raise about $450 for Love without Boundaries through Nina's showers, which fills my heart with thankfulness. We really didn't need anything for Nina, and so we encouraged guests to donate to LWB's foster program in Loudi (Nina's birthcity). Can't wait to see it put to good use! Wohooo!
*****
Thank you, Brandee, for hosting Nina's shower! Brandee with Lena(right) and Caleb (aka "Chubby Bubby")
Nina hanging out with Great-Grandma
She has lots of siblings eager to show her how to open cards and presents :-)))
Do you notice anything odd in Elia's hair??? LOL - yep he's my do-it-yourself hair stylist!!
After Nina opened the Playdoh set from Aunt Tanya, the kids were busy playing with it. So fun!
"Here is my very own Ladybug creation!!"

Hmm, what could be in this cute little box from Aunt Jo?
THIS little necklace with the cross! It is so pretty and dainty. Nina loves it, and so do I!

A bitter(sweet) Goodbye

The day came too fast.
Today, Hanna and Kaya went back home. We had such a good time! When you're continents apart, it's sometimes hard to maintain the closeness sisters "should" have. Our lifes are so similar and yet so different, and we can't really share any everyday events with each other. That's why it was that much more special for her to be here, especially since she only had one of her kiddos to tend to. Gosh, I have done way too much shopping though over the past few days ;-)))
And this is how you know your sister loves you....

This was at Nico's final soccer game last weekend! Brrrrrr!

And this picture is from Nico's Birthday bash...

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Danke, Bruno und Moritz und Rico und Joel, dass ihr eure Frauen habt ziehen lassen!

Look who's TEN!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Nico!
Nico is our miracle baby, as Mike and I had given up on the idea of ever having biological children. We had gone through 2 years of infertility treatments - to no avail. We were broke and emotionally drained, and very sad.
Then, one day, things didn't seem right.
But it seemed too good to be true.
It WAS true!
And now it's 10 years later, and we are so very, very proud of our firstborn.
He is a very kind, thoughtful and responsible boy, he has a great imagination and sets a good example for his brothers and sisters (well, most of the time... ).
He loves skateboarding, playing soccer, he likes Math and Science and remote controlled cars.
He is trying to grow his hair out (he does NOT like the ponies, though!), and he loves to imitate people. He is really good at it too!

During my early pregnancy I had a very defining moment as a Mom-to-be. I was almost paralyzed with fear that I might miscarry him, and it was horrible. Then, one night God spoke to me. It was one of those "I can almost hear you audibly" kind of moments. What the Lord spoke to me was this:
"He is not your child. He is mine, and he always will be!"
Whoa, I felt like I was standing on holy ground. In all those years since then I have been so thankful for this lesson. My kids are truly not mine, and knowing this has helped lighten the load on so many days.
****************
Here are some pictures of the birthday boy!


He got a new bike from us. It's bright green and he loves it. It's his first bike with gears!
And, believe it or not, he also got a pellet gun from Grandma and Grandpa. Yes, we live in Wyoming, but you can't forget that I grew up in a neutral country with very pacifist views. Having my ten year old play with a GUN is quite outside my comfort zone *sigh*.
Alex told him "don't shoot me, Nico", and Nico answered: "I would never ever in my long legged life shoot you!". So funny!
He is a happy camper after this birthday.
Me too, because I had a plumber come and fix the leak in our house that I discovered this morning. You know what it was? When our upstairs bathroom got trimmed out EIGHT years ago, they shot a nail through a water pipe!! EIGHT years ago, and just now the nail was so rusted that it started leaking. Well, and leaking it did, all the way to the basement. Thank God I was home AND heard the dripping early on!
Needless to say, the birthday dinner did not happen at our house as planned, but we managed to at least bake a cake :-))

Who am I ?

It has GOT to be hard work for a little three year old's mind to sort through what happened to her in the past three months.
Nina has done amazingly well with the transition into our family.
Really, I'm blown away by her ability to adjust and by her happy little heart.
Her love for life.
Her love for us.
She is so strong. So resilient. So brave.
And we love her.
Every so often we get a glimpse of her past, and how she is dealing with it, and a glimpse of her future and what she will possibly be struggling with. And that's what keeps us grounded and praying in this ongoing process called adoption. It is so easy to say "We're done, she is doing well, she is ours, period." But I realize more and more and in practical ways that this is not how it works. In Math, Nico and I were talking about definitions of lines, line segments and rays. A ray has a beginning point, and from there on it goes on and on. No end that can be defined.
This is what adoption feels to me today.
A few days ago I was showing my sister our mementos and souvenirs from China, as well as Nina's documents. We also came across all of her referral pictures. Nina sat there with us and looked at everything intently.
She pointed the serious looking girl in the picture and said "Lou Fu Bo", which is her chinese name (and she obviously remembers it). I poked her little chest and asked "Lou Fu Bo?". She shook her head... She pointed to her referral picture again and repeated "Lou Fu Bo", then she pointed to herself and said "Nina Bobo".
Wow.
She did it not just once, but several times. Hanna and I looked at each other in amazment.
Somehow she seemed at peace with this. She found a way to put an identity on the two little girls that live in her heart. And that blows me away. She is only three!
Then tonight we talked about when they were born, and at what time of the day on their birthdays. After I tried to remember all those details (which I barley do), Nina looked at me questioningly and said "Nina?". As in "I want to know these details about me too!". And I can't answer those questions for her. That makes me a little sad. I can guess, but there are things that we will never know. And we will have to find a way to deal with those unkonwns. The thing is, I KNOW that, but when you're faced with the actual questions, it's a different story.
To see how NINA deals with it (so far), is encouraging though. We need to pray for the healing in her heart to continue. After all...
"Though she (the birthmother) may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palm of my hands"
(Isaiah 49: 15+16)
Isn't that wonderful?

I'm a WYOMING girl!

Last friday we took my sister and niece to Devil's tower. Us Wyominites are pretty proud of having the first national monument in our state *brag*
It was a gorgeous fall day. The leaves were yellow, the sky a deep blue, and the temperature "I wish I was wearing shorts" - warm. The area around the tower is wooded and hilly, unlike many other parts of Wyoming.
It's simply beautiful.
Our kids love it too. We try to make the trip a couple of times a year, and we always have a great time climbing rocks, exploring the woods and having a picnic.
Allright, since this is not a commercial for Wyoming (although I have to throw in there that we are related to the Director of Tourism for Wyoming!!), I'll go on ;-))
Nina was fun to watch. She is such a city girl, and not ususally fond of nature things. Pine cones gross her out, so does walking through dry grass and weeds. By the end of the hike around the tower though, she was collecting pine needles and wanted to climb on all the rocks. She'll get there...

I love this first picture of the little Miss Drama Queen :-))

I wanted to take a picture of Hanna and Nico, but Nina decided she needed to be in the picture, too. Yep, her big brother likes to tease her :-)

Cousin Kaya climbing on the rocks too.

And Elia was gathering fire wood. He was so funny. I didn't really hear much from him, and he had his arms full of sticks, when he told me that he was bored. Poor guy would not abandon his wood for some fun! We put it in the backpack, and things started to look up for him!
He is going to tell you what the wood is for, and I apologize for having the video sideways at first. I started taping and then realized that I could not rotate the video (learned that one the hard way!)

It's snowman time.... for real!

Yep, that's Wyoming weather.
Snow in October.
Yeah!
This is what it looked like at our house this morning! It happens just about every year, and the kids love it. Understandibly. Now a snowstorm in May is not nearly as fun anymore, but when the white stuff flies this time of the year, the excitement is huge!
After Church, Kaya and Elia built a snowman. By that time, a lot of the snow had already melted, but they managed anyway. Isn't he cute?
Needless to say, Anya's soccer tournament that was scheduled for today, got cancelled...

Evangelist or Politician?

Do you ever ponder what your children will be when they grow up? It's not just us parents though, the kids have their very own ideas too.
I our family, the current "wish list" of our kids goes like this:
NICO wants to be a pilot or design and build airplanes.
ANYA wants to be a baby doctor or a cowgirl.
ALEX wants to be a "worker guy" who runs backhoes and bobcats.
ELIA wants to be a Scooby Doo.
NINA... well, she has not really voiced any specific preference, but after what happened yesterday we think she is cut out to be some sort of public speaker.
We were walking around Devil's Tower (more about that in my next post) when all of a sudden she climbed on a rock, put her hands on her hips and started preaching. She went on and on and on, and ended with a "Thank you". Surprisingly she didn't bow ;-)) . It was so funny. Lucky for us, she did it again, but this time I had the camera ready. I admit, and you can hear for yourself, that I prompted her to say thank you that second time. I only did it because it was so funny when she did it on her own the first time. I did not understand one word she said (which would make me lean more towards the politician theory), and it was neither chinese nor english, I think (hmm, a missionary?).
This girl has a confidence and a zest for life that is contagious! And yes, the ponies in her hair are pretty much a permanent fixture now....

Yeah, we have company!!

We have very special company this week.
My sister Hanna and her 6 year old daughter Kaya are visiting from Switzerland. This was a birthday present from Family and friends to her for her big 4 - 0 Birthday earlier this year.
I think that was the coolest present ever!!!!
This is the first time she has been here since we moved to Wyoming 7 years ago, and the first overseas trip for Kaya. The last two times we visited my family in Switzerland we stayed with them, which translated to 4 adults and 8 kids in one house, so it's finally my turn to extend hospitality to them. My brother-in-law and the three boys stayed home.
Hanna and I are the youngest in our family and the only girls, and while our relationship growing up wasn't the most harmonious one, we're definitely close now.
Nina took to them right away, although she gets their names mixed up all the time and gets cranky when they don't respond ;-)).
We're having a great time, and I'm so happy to have them here!

Just a Test

To add a photo to my profile

Another "Nina LIVE" moment

You asked, I delivered :-))
Here is another little video of Miss Nina. Enjoy!

Hey, it's me again, Nina. This is MY take on soccer...

Well, Mama has told you a lot about soccer already.
Anya let me have her old soccerball, so now I have my very own and very pink soccerball! Yeah! Daddy said that next spring I can play too if I want to.
Soccer is kind of a hard word, so I call it "socks" or "soccerball", somehow that flows better than plain old "soccer".
Anyway, I have some really fun pictures I took during Anya's tournaments. Wanna see them?



The first one shows my view of things while Mama watches Anya. I just have this thing with shoes....
The second one shows the shoes again, just from a slightly different angle....
Nope, this is NOT the same picture again. Can't you see I changed the zoom? I worked hard on this collection, but these three are the best ones out of the fifty I took. If you don't believe it, I'll show you more!
And look how blue the sky is around here. That is so amazing to me, since the skies I'm used to are gray and hazy!
Yes, and this is me. I love to take pictures of myself. See how silky soft my skin is?? Shoes again. I DO wear them every so often. As long as Mama doesn't make me wear socks, I'm okay.
Mama bought me a Hello Kitty balloon. She thought it would entertain me, but actually it was kind of boring. I do like the ladybuggy on it though!
I also made a new friend. Her name is Allison. Her sister is on Anya's team. We played for a while and it was fun. Of course I had to take a picture of her, too!
That's it for today! I'm sending all of you lots of XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXXO. Nina

Living and breathing SOCCER

Soccer season has us in its grip.
A tight grip, I might add.
We love it, we're exhausted, and we're ready for a slower pace again.
Every spring and every fall we're out there it seems, and we have been doing it for.... uuhhmm, about 5 years at least, maybe 6. I lost count.

Now I'm the most un-ambitious person when it comes to sports. Mike always had this dream of his wife being blonde, tall and athletic.
Nope, God has very different plans. I'm short, dark haired and so un-athletic it's pathetic. Thank goodness our kids have inherited their Dad's genes in that area, as sports are a huge thing around here.
Soccer is our "Family sport", so to speak. Everybody does it, and they all love it.
Elia and Alex are on the same team, which helps a lot. Alex' physical abilities match those of Elia's age group so much better, so they usually let us do it. It helps that I'm married to the coach... :-)))
Nico has not played for a couple of years, but this year he started again and loves it. He loves to learn all the tricks, and he is an excellent kicker. I'm married to his coach, too *LOL*

Here is part of Alex and Elia's team. Elia is in the middle, Alex on the far right with the glasses. Elia is extremely competitive and very athletic, and he pretty much dominates every game. He keeps a running score of all his goals, but I have lost track. He has so much Adrenaline pumping through his little veines, it's amazing. He hates sitting on the sideline, that's for sure. Do I pray that we are able to direct his energy into the right direction!
Often times we have games back to back. On this day we had a break in between, which was nice. The kids were busy ripping out grass and burying Nico's leg.
Going, going, gone....
This has been a pretty warm soccer season, but when it's cold, Nico takes good care of his shivering little sister
But what she likes the best, is hanging out with the Coach...
Anya is on a travelling team this fall. Now that's a totally different ball game. Oh my! On one hand we are so proud of her achievment, but it's hard to be on the road every weekend, and to juggle all the different games. She is such a good little soccer player, though, and that makes the decision so hard whether we can do this again in the Spring or not (right now it's a definite "no way!!!").
The following pictures are from three different events, but soccer nontheless :-)) . In this first picture you can see Anya on the left.


Nina of course loves to hang out with her big sister after the games, and the girls on Anya's team dote on her!
Nina is a very cooperative soccer sister - she loves to just sit in my lap and play, which is suprising since she is a very active little girl!


What entertains her for a loooong time is playing with the digital camera. Nina has actually prepared her own post about that, but she is not quite ready to publish it. One picture that I'm sharing though is a cute self-portrait that we did just last sunday.
We have just this week left for the boys, and Anya has one more tournament after that. I'm so thankful that our kids like to be active. It's good for all of us, and even though I'm tired right now and I would like to throw a little pity party for myself, I know we will be chasing after that ball again in the spring....