Merry Christmas!

It is time to say goodbye to the blog, not that I am so regular(no poop jokes, please). I have never been a journaler(is that a word?). It is hard for me right now, anyways. These kiddos are wiping me out. It seems that 3 is our final number. I never say never, but I give it a firm "probably not"! Ok, I will probably come to post every month or two, because I can't completely let this go and I definitely will keep reading everyone elses! I had to add these last 2 sentences after writing this thing b/c I can't do it!

This has been such a fantastic journey. God never lets me down. Every time He says to do something, and I actually listen, I have the time of my life! Mission trips, children's ministries, working at the pregnancy help center, adoption. Every adventure turned out more rewarding than the next and I can't imagine what the next one is. I am always attempting to help someone else out or do what I think I should be doing, and it seems that I am the one who most benefits. Is it possible to want to help others unselfishly knowing full well that YOU are the one who scores?! Am I selfishly unselfish or the other way around? I seem to have over thought this...what a conundrum.

In true Elliott fashion, our camera broke a couple of weeks before Christmas, so everything is on video, but no pictures. We hoped it was a battery issue, but no such luck.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Piper thought opening presents was a blast and I think next year, she will truly "get" it all. The boys "got" it this year and are finally coming down off their Christmas high.

The other day we saw a panhandler on the side of the road with several funny signs he was trying. He had a full beard and long hair, and Brodan said, "Look Mom, it's Jesus" By the time I got a dollar together, he had passed us and the light changed. Now my kids think Mom didn't give Jesus any money. Not only that, but I didn't recognize him, and they did. Food for thought.

Funny email

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2007 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.


2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.


3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.


4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.


6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.


7 Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.


10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.


11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile.
: )


12 You're reading this and nodding and laughing.


13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.


14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.


15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list

AND NOW YOU ARE LAUGHING at yourself.

Deep thoughts, by Rachel Elliott

I have been thinking a lot about Bushe, Piper's very young mother. I have read with envy several birthmother meetings where the families have felt a connection with the birthmom. Or even had meaningful conversations. Ours was very quiet, with only a couple of questions answered. Maybe it is because of her young age, or what I am sure is a lack of self esteem or even the fact that she may have never been allowed to form her own opinion that she was unable to answer some questions. Questions like her dreams for the future, if she could choose it. Or the question about what she would like Piper to know about her. Communication was rough, to say the least, since we had to translate what I said to Amharic, and then that had to be translated into Oromo. I guess the possibility of the meaning of what was said could be really lost that way. I am just sad for Piper because I know that she will have many questions some day. Of course, we hope to travel back and visit when she older, maybe 10 or so, and see her mom again, if we can still find her.

Just thinking about it all, and this is just one of those things. I should be grateful that we were able to meet her at all. Piper has pictures and the video so that is good.

I have decided to write today a little bit of the challenges of adopting a toddler. It is hard to plop someone down in your house, personality formed and intact and just gel. Especially when it is a personality that you haven't had before. The dynamics really change and everyone needs to adjust. That is pretty hard to do.

When you are being screamed at with the word "no" about 5000 times a day with a hateful look in the eye and a swatting arm, or a one shoulder shrug that seems to tell me to go you-know-where, it is hard not to take it personally. It took a good 3 months for me not to take it personally and to realize that maybe it is just something part cultural(the look and shrug), but mostly just the only way she knows how to communicate. She still does it, but at least catches herself and corrects herself when she yells "NO!" at me, so I guess that is a good sign. A lot of it is her frustration at me not knowing what she wants. Another good bit is the fact that she doesn't understand the "why" of the word "No" to her. She goes off in a tizzy when she is told no. She absolutely thinks that everything that everyone else has, she should have. And not in your typical 2-year-old-doesn't-know-how-to-share kind of way, either. If one of the boys wants to sit in a chair, then she sits in a chair. Food, toys, and even a shower are sources of this issue. It's wild. And she ain't silent about it. Can anyone with boys and girls tell me that little girl voices are way more shrill?? Jeez. Now, I say all of this running the risk that someone will slam me and say the whole "How dare you", bit, but it is the reality of adopting an older child. I didn't really consider her an older child, but I do now. I read the books, but until you're in it, you can't quite grasp the scope of it all.

I still have MANY times where I get angry about her "attitude", but it's so hard to tell what is "attitude" and what is normal girl drama. I imagine that if I had had a daughter already or no boys yet, nothing to compare her behavior to, this would be less of a struggle. The fact that I do have something to compare her to, which is a natural thing to do when you have other kids, probably makes it more difficult, because it is hard not to do so. She is all drama, man. I am not used to that. Boys are really just go-go-go, get hurt, tears, go-go-go-go, and repeat. It's funny, because people who have their daughters first, and then a boy, talk about how their boys are their tough ones. Maybe it just depends on what your experience is. Maybe it is just Mars versus Venus.

Anyway, it would be crummy of me to post about challenges without posting about the beauty of Peeps. She is sooooo content to love and be held and sit in your lap(unless the boys have something she wants, of course). And, man, is that girl smart. She is talking up a storm and is quick to figure things out. She is obedient when corrected (except for her initial responses with the no and swatting thing). And she's getting more and more independent every day. She wants to walk like her big brothers in stores and do whatever big kid thing they do. And do I need to say that the girl is adorable?

I am kind of bummed that there really are no more babies in the house. But not too bummed. I need a break. They are 4, 3, and 2 and wearing me out. Cam will go to kindergarten next year, which he will love. That will give the younger ones some more one on one, which I look forward to. They both have early September birthdays, so Bro will still be home for another 3 years and Piper another 4. Both will turn 6 the first and second week of Kinder. That seems like a long time away.

This whole journey has been fantastic, difficult, easy, quick, long, and every other set of opposites you can think of. I'd do it all over again and again and again.


AREN'T FAMILY PICTURES ALWAYS EASY?

If you wanted to remind yourself of why you should be thankful, visit the blog No, I'm Not a Nurse regularly.

Happy Thanksgiving

Here are a couple of our court date pictures.
Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Everybody Rise!

TA-DA!!

Piper Chaltu Elliott is officially Piper Chaltu Elliott! What a breeze the court date was. We had all of us there and my mom, too and it went really well. We were in and out within an hour. Only about 15-20 minutes were in actual court. We got some pictures with the judge and even more fun was getting to meet big boy Deacon Faulkner, who can now be found at the Faulkner's new blog. He was good lookin' boy. Poor Piper, he(at 13mos) may have even been taller than she (at 2) was. It was great to meet him and his family.

I just printed out this entire blog. It was 70 pages long without pictures. Unfortunately, if you copy and paste each month, the dates go backwards, most recent first, like on the blog. And there are no page numbers, so we don't want to drop the stack and play 70 Page Pick Up! It is not a pretty scrapbooky-stampy thing, but the sentiment is there in black and white.

Our camera is no good, so I have to wait for my mom's pictures to post them of our court date.