Long time no see...

Can you tell I'm not too into this whole blog thing! Hey, I told you it was for the TRIP - the trip is over!:) We have been home 6 weeks now and things are a roller coaster of good moments and cry my eyes out moments. The first week was the hardest as we all came home very sick and exhausted. The babies were awesome on the plane, but we missed our flight due to customs and hung out in D.C. an extra 8 hours (31 hours total travel)! We still had a fabulous welcome home party waiting for us in Dallas.

The first week was brutal though. Dave went back to work right away, Piper and I had double ear infections, we thought Calvin had scabies so we treated everyone and everything - TWICE, Tegan started throwing up about 2 days after we came home and she also regressed in potty training and all kinds of temper-tantrum throwing, Calvin screamed his head off everytime I walked out of the room, he also had never been told no in his life, and Piper was up all day and night - sleeping in 15 minute increments. Thankfully, Noah and Charli were fantastic (and at school!).

Many a moment Calvin, Piper, Tegan and I were all crying together...if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? (Those moments still happen, just not quite as often! By the grace of my Jesus alone!)

To survive and not destroy our family entirely, after that first week (and me karate chopping Dave in the middle of the night to go take a turn with Miss Piper) we put them on a schedule and things have gone SO well since then. Everyone is in bed at 7, all sleep through the night, all take naps at one, and an extra one for Piper in the morning. And all are happy and love their mama! YAY!! Things seem so much more doable with sleep!

That's most of the bad stuff and now for the little wonders...both the babies are so cuddly and affectionate, they kiss and hug and love to be held, rocked, danced with and are so open with their hearts. My girls love them and more often than not it seems like Calvin and Piper have been with us since their beginnings. They just blend right in. Tegan slowly but surely warmed up to them and now she is happy to see them and play with Calvin and even kiss him! The first week she wanted absolutely nothing to do with them and would turn away when Calvin would reach out to her. She asked me twice when I was taking them back to "Upiopia - they're not so special" she said, she also wanted ME to go back to Upiopia so she could live with Grandma. She still has little moments she has to work through, but the babies are growing on her every day and I'm pretty sure she is becoming more and more fond of being a big sister.

Noah and Charli are just wonderful with them. There are no words to describe how proud I am of these 2 girls. They are so selfless (with Calvin and Piper, that is, NOT with each other! LOL!) and loving. They play and just laugh their little heads off, as Calvin, especially, is such a ham and a dancer to boot! He is quite a chatter box and already understands pretty much everything we say to him. He does talk ALL DAY, NON-STOP though! I'm thinking I would be a nicer person if I had ear plugs in all day. But he is a very sweet baby man and very eager to please. (It's nice to have 1 child out of 5 that is like that! Obviously "eager to please" doesn't run in our bloodline!)Piper is mama's girl, for sure, if she can see or hear me I better be holding her. She started clapping (so cute!) and can sit up unassited now. We are having an Occupational therapist and Early Childhood Intervention come out today to evaluate both of them.

I have given up on the dream of a clean house and perfectly groomed children (and a well groomed self, for that matter). I have forever said good-bye to the lie I was sold about a Pottery Barn spotless house, looking like Eva Longoria, and gourmet meals every night. I've given up on bathed children who know all Bible verses and stories and always wear clothes or even shoes that match (with a bow in their hair of course!)and are involved in every social event and extra curricular activity available to them. We are definitely minimizing and trying to keep life simple and enjoyable for us. We're just going to be 7 people who ask the Lord to invade our home and pour His grace and love all over us so we can survive and in the end know Him and love eachother more fully. At this point that is as much as we can do.

So there you have it. That's our little life in a nutshell these days. Thank you (most of you) for being patient with me, it's not like I have much to do or anything. Just veg out, watch Brazilian novelas all day, paint my nails and get a daily massage or two... :)

Oh, and before I forget, you wanted to know how I got everyone to sit still for that picture...Well, what you can't see is ANY of our faces (I can't recall if anyone was happy or crying), but I did also bring a huge bag of jumbo marshmallows, that I perhaps gave them after each happy snap! Candy...the secret to perfect children...

Calvin is standing at the door with his purse and keys, ready to go, he also has silver fingernails, (don't tell Dave). What's a little guy to do in a house with 4 sisters...?

Stay tuned as Dave will soon be posting a vido of our trip and all our yummy kiddos...