All She Wants for Christmas is Her TWO FRONT TEETH!

Sweet little Lucy had a big surgery last Wednesday. Thank you to all of you who were praying for her. She recovered like a superstar and is doing great.

Surgery? What? I hadn't posted about it before, but our little girl needed some serious dental work. It was done in the hospital and after a multitude of things, root canals, crowns, extractions, etc... she's got a whole new smile with no front teeth.

She is a brave little girl, full of excitement about going to the hospital. I think she understood that she would feel a lot better after the doctor helped. The morning before her surgery she woke up and asked, "Mommy, Lucy go Doctor? Lucy no more mouth ouchies? Better Better, (pointing) this tooth, this tooth all gone today?" What I find to be remarkable is that she could have had no prior understanding that she'd be under anesthesia and not feel a thing. I am certain that she thought we were going to just go to the doctor and have them yanked out... and she was still excited to get the help she needed.

This Christmas I am so thankful that our babies are home and for access to good healthcare here in America.

Here she is after being admitted, waiting for the O.R.

She started getting really silly after they gave her some meds... she took this picture.

The nurses had me lay in bed with her as they transferred her from O.R. recovery to pediatrics.

She woke up from the anesthesia very hungry... She ate four cups of applesauce.

I had worried that she would miss having front teeth. I guess that the title of this post is false then, because so far she hasn't seemed to mind having no front teeth. In fact, she might be the only child I've ever met to learn how to whistle after having no front teeth. She is very proud of her new trick. We probably won't hear her singing that old and obnoxious but familiar Christmas tune... but she sure is cute with her new grin.

Today I told her we were going to take pictures of her new smile and this is what I got.

One month!

It has been just over a month since we took our children into our arms in Ethiopia and left the gates of the place they'd called home for several months, just under a month since we stepped into the door of our home as a family of four, and about a month since I've updated this blog!

I hope I still have readers. To say we've been busy is an understatement. I've wondered if I'm a super wimp sometimes, but going from no kids to two very busy kids has been an adjustment. They are amazing, full of energy and so so curious. Each day is a new and exciting day of discovery. I can't believe how much they are learning, and so fast! Lucy speaks so much English now, and Jude understands everything we say... and is starting to talk.

The time is precious and I think if I blink I'm going to miss it. There are so many special times and sweet things that they say or do. Now that things are "settling down" I hope to stay on top of blogging a bit better. It makes me sad that all of you don't get to see the day to day cuteness at my house.. so here's my attempt to fill you in.

We celebrated the most thankful Thanksgiving, ever. All four of us, under one warm roof with clean water to drink, plenty of food to eat... the perfect first holiday together.

Here's a few of the cute quotes from Lucy. I'm going to be sad when her adorable accent is gone. I love hearing her learn new words and structure her sentences as she communicates with us.

"Mommy, buna (coffee) is medicine."

Upon our dog Riley's arrival back home... "Lucy eat dog??" (points to mouth, rubs belly) She points at nearly every animal and asks if she can eat it. Prior to their arrival I was a vegetarian... and had planned to keep our house meat-free, well, she won, that is SO over. If I tell her that the food on her plate is moo moo, her eyes light up and she snarfs it down!

Almost every morning, "Mommy, Lucy, Jude.... machina (car) vroom vroom? Banana Market? (for several weeks she called Whole Foods the banana market)

Looking at the nativity she shouts, "Jesus baby, NO MORE SLEEPING!"

I'm in constant verbal dialogue with God. Lucy hears me and will often will chime in when I say thank you God for ______. When we were praying at bedtime the other day she said "Thank you God for (stretches left arm out, strums belly with right arm, and looks at me for the word)" I said, "guitars?" ... "Yes, thank you God for guitars"

Until today she called all birds "quack quack bom bom". This was a result of one episode of Sesame Street we watched in Ethiopia. Today she decided that she was okay with using the word bird.

Lucy continues to be a fashionista, she enjoys picking out her clothes for each day and matching accessories. Sunglasses are a BIG deal.. oh, and hand bags. She will put on her sunglasses, shoes, and bag over her should and say "bye bye mommy, Lucy go work in America"

The first several times we left the house she would ask if our destination was America? Yes, Lucy, we are still in America, Daddy works in America, the market is still America, the park is also in America.

Two days after we were home she noticed the world map on our wall. She pointed right at the USA and said AMERICA!!!, then pointed to Ethiopia and said Addis Ababa. She is brilliant.

It seems as though Lucy is attempting to make a photo documentary of her life in America. She takes a photo of every new thing she sees.... too bad her finger is usually over the lens.

A little about Jude...

Jude loves to eat, its an exhausting job.

He screams with excitement when Daddy comes home from work.

The first few days after Dave went back to work the kids were sleeping when he left. Jude would wake up and say Baba? (what he calls daddy), walk around the entire house looking for him, including in the cabinets and under the beds before he concluded that daddy was really at work. Now he is used to Dave being gone in the mornings and wakes up with a smile and says mama.

He doesn't say very many things, but the one of the things he will say to me is "mama, kaka! (poop)" Yes, I just blogged about poop... maybe I'm immature but poop humor is still funny to me. He tells me this when he needs a diaper change or when he doesn't like what I have put on his plate! I've decided not to take it personally. ha!

Jude loves to push or ride anything and everything. We caught him trying to ride the dog several times. He also tries to ride on Lucy's back, and LOVES riding on daddy.

He will push the laundry baskets all over the house making little motor sounds.

Both kids love watching music videos, its hysterical! They act out different parts of the songs and sing along. Coldplay is their favorite... and the Beatles too. I think Lucy is ready to audition for the lead in school musicals. Jude is interested in the piano, surprisingly he plays it one key at a time instead of banging on it... impressive for an almost 2 year old.

He is one funny kid! Jude is always looks for laughs. He will make hilarious faces and then look at us to see if we will laugh. He loves to give and blow kisses (melt my heart!)

Before the weather turned extremely cold we went to the park a LOT. Every time we pass a playground Lucy says, "PARK!!!!" I knew that we need to remedy the cabin fever so we've been going to play at Chik Fil-A. Lucy calls it "Chicken-Park" She also calls the swing set in our backyard Lucy Park.

These glasses are also a big deal in our house.

They are a tremendous joy to have in our home and I can't thank God enough for the incredible blessing of choosing ME to be their mommy. I'm also so grateful that God gave me an amazing husband to be in this journey with me. Life.is.good... I didn't say easy... but OH SO GOOD!



This post was long and now I feel like crashing on the floor like these two.