Catching Up

(Jen put up multiple posts today to catch up on what's been going on. I'm putting all of them into one post here on this blog)

(Sunday)

Night time madness

It is 10:30 at night and this kid FINALLY fell asleep. I am exhausted and DONE. Austin and I are nitpicking each other because we are both tired. This is life right now. Dishes aren’t done, no shower was had, and I am exhausted. To add to my poor choices of adoption parenting I let him go with out a pull-up hoping that would help him sleep and not flail around and wake himself up (and me!). Well, he had an accident and I found myself pulling wet sheets off the bed at 1:30am and sleeping on the floor. Not my day!

The next morning I felt God refill me with love and grace to start another day. The sun was shining and my super team at Lifeline sent me these encouraging words and you all are praying for me.

Rachel, the Lifeline Eurasia program director we work closely with reminded me yesterday:

We frequently see that nighttime has been scary for children prior to being adopted. There are a variety of reasons for this. It may take some time for him to feel safe and comfortable at nighttime. Going to bed with him is not something you would have to do long term, but maybe until he feels more secure and attached. We’ve seen other children respond well to this for a period of time until they learned that mom (and dad) will still be there the next morning.

And Lynn from Lifeline Post Adoption support reminded me:

You are in survival mode for the next few weeks until you can get him home so do what works best while still maintaining some structure and routine. You are working on that relationship and building trust right now with him the trust is more important than the task at this point. So think, how can I accomplish the goal of getting clean without the struggle/trauma. Same with the bedtime routine.

I will trust in the Lord, and he will guide my path.

(Monday)

THANKFUL THE DAYS ARE GREAT

After that rough night we all woke up a little apprehensive about how the day would go. LG was a little on edge after the bed wetting and the change of sleeping arrangements. So we just took the morning slow. Lots of tablet time, dishes, sheet washing, and breakfast. Soon we felt we were ready to face the world and headed out. Since stores are closed on Sunday for the most part we didn't get to buy water so off we went to the supermarket, Inter Spar. This is a large store in a mall and we are able to buy pretty much anything we want or want to try. The challenge is- you by it you carry it (at least in our case). So we are cautious not to over purchase.

We first decided to walk around the mall, I got a macchiato and got the boys drinks of their choosing. 

Then we saw a book store, we thought it would be a cool souvenir to have a Hungarian Lego book. Austin used the Google Translate app to read some of it.
Now off to by groceries. We had a list and made our selections. As we checked out I thought the peppers were priced individually since they didn’t have a vegetable number (you have to get a price label in the production section and stick it to your bag the sign tells you why number your produce is ex- bananas are #1 so you weigh them our put on quantity and a label spits out). So the lady looks at me and me at her since I can’t clearly speak to her about it. I finish checking out and Austin is putting the food in the cart and accidentally drops grapes all over the floor. Now I am trying to pick up grapes, pay and finish putting our grocery in the cart. One lady handed me a bag to put the dropped fruit on which was nice. Now I’m flustered. Since Austin will only eat peppers for vegetables (don’t get me started) I knew I had to still get peppers. So I left Austin with LG at the cart (bad mistake). LG chose to call for me and Austin starts telling him ‘no’. Now something you need to know- kids are seen and not heard here and EVERYONE is quiet. I mean really quiet. So you can imagine these Americans being loud just put me at ease right!?! Finally peppers bought, bags filled and I wind up with all the grocery bags.

Glad to be out of the store and heading home! 

Lunch and LG took a nap then playtime! We built a fort and we played with a beach ball. LG has a good hard throw! We chased each other and had a lot of fun.

Off for ice cream and the park to finish off our day. Now to make dinner. Praying for no excessive whining from LG. I have to constantly remind him we will eat and sometimes he wants to sit in the kitchen while I cook. My big concern is the kitchen is very small and the small gas stove is too easy to access. Today it didn’t take long and Austin was able to keep him occupied with the tablet and soon dinner was on the table!

Then trains and cars and coloring!

(Monday Night)

ANSWER TO PRAYERS- THANK YOU!!!

LG has not liked showers at the apartment and Lynn suggested I try a wash cloth bath tonight and that worked great! LG loves to blow dry his hair even though he does not like it being wet, so I let him do that part. He even let me put on lotion!

He is now sitting quietly on the bed watching a movie while Austin takes a shower. Hoping I can get one in too! Otherwise I might start taking them during his nap. I will start putting him to bed with me at 10
—–
Sooooo during typing this LG wanted to watch Austin take a shower Austin agreed even though he is quite modest. LG really wanted to get in the bathtub. He was quite nervous but after a while he was brave enough to do so!!! The rest was history, LG was washing himself with soap he was spraying himself with the shower! This shower is a little more challenging since there is no shower curtain and the hot and cold are separate gears. I have to remove him from the bath so I could take one before bed!

Praising God for answered prayer tonight!

Now he’s sitting and playing trains while I get ready to take a shower and then we will all go to bed at the same time.

I was afraid LG would put up a fuss over his pull-up but he only fussed a bit and a little more when I put him on the bed. Austin, LG and I said prayers. We all then went to bed about 10:15.

LG laid his head down and quietly fell asleep! He then proceeded to sleep calmly the whole night through!!! I of course was so afraid he was going to wake up (and this bed isn't that comfortable) I didn’t sleep as soundly BUT I could finally rest!

Thank you all for your help and your support and your prayers! Keep them coming!