12 weeks home together!

Wow- we have been together for 12 weeks. Where does the time go?

We have been having a lot of fun and the weather is getting super nice. We just love being outside- can you blame us? Two VERY active little boys stuck in a house does not last very long. The pictures above are from the Austin Rodeo. They enjoyed seeing all of the animals, riding a pony, and riding on the scoops and tractors. Mark and I pondered about the last few times we had gone to the rodeo... we enjoyed it with friends of ours, but child free. It has a whole new meaning now and we enjoyed every bit of it!

12 weeks home... we've come a long way:
I started back to work this past Tuesday. Still working for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which is great. I'll only be there on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8-5PM. It works out well.. the boys enjoy going to "school" on those days. It's a Childrens Courtyard right by our house. Brand new and seems to work out well thus far. It gives us a little change and some peer interaction for all of us. Outside of that, we've been spending time at the gym where the boys play, as does Mom, outside in the back yard, hitting up the local parks and slides, various doctor appointments here and there, play dates with some neighbors and friends, and more potty training! The boys really enjoy sandboxes, so we are anxious for ours to be delivered in the next week or two. Next week- surgery for adnoids and ear tubes- yuck. After their surgery, we are looking to start swim lessons. Fin is still working with the speech therapist, and has received so many compliments on how well he is doing. I am beginning to think we won't need her much longer, but we'll see how he does after his surgery. We're thinking there may be even more improvement in hearing and talking.

It is crazy how quickly the time flies. Other parents out there know it and they tell you how quickly the kids will grow up. It truly is amazing how fast the time goes. 12 weeks and counting... we couldn't be happier!

10 1/2 weeks home

The boys have been with us for 10 1/2 weeks... crazy~ Time flies! Things have been going really well. We do know that they are feeling more comfortable since they are pushing their limits with us quite often now. They are also going through a phase of boycotting all their main staples during meals... yogurt, apple sauce, Pb and J, grilled cheese, fruit, graham crackers, go gerts... yup- we can't rely on them like we used to.

Griffin...
Fin is working with a speech therapist to improve his articulation. It's been going really well and he does talk quite a bit, it's just hard to understand him. In fact, "sit down" sounds like "shut up." Not good for when he goes to "school." ha! He says a lot of words unprompted and repeats most everything we say now, just in his own little way. Maks still takes the cake for chatter box though. Fin is also working with a therapist to imprive his eating. He doesn't use the back of his mouth to chew and tends to store a lot in his cheeks...an easy task, considering how big they are. ;-). We went and had his ears and hearing checked... he needs a tube in one ear and has a hole in the other, so working on improving all of that. His adnoids are quite enlarged and could be causing some of the issues as well. They are also causing him to breath quite heavily and could be disrupting his sleep. The adnoids are being taken out, alnog with the tube being put in his ear at the end of the month. That can't come soon enough, with the hopes of seeing improvement! Along with all of this... Fin is working on his potty training. whew- spending quite a bit of time in the small closed-in bathroom is not fun. We've been busy, if you can call it "busy"! Personality wise- Fin is a total bruiser! Just loves rough play!

Maksim...
Maks is doing really well with his English. He has a very large vocabulary list now and really does try to say everything we are saying. Some of the funny ones: shoot, I fell over, woops, be right back, etc. We just get a kick out of his tone with it too! Maks likes a lot of attention, of course. When the speech therapist comes to work with Fin, it's funny to watch Maks try to get some of the attention. Maks has had some trouble with his ears and breathing as well. He'll have his adnoids taken out the same day that Fin does, with the hopes of improving his breathing, better sleep, fewer colds and illnesses, and all around feeling better. We are still working on the rash/ dry skin on his face, that tends to come and go. Maks is the more gentle one of the two... he tends to cry more often and doesn't like it when the playing gets rough. On the other hand, he is Mr. Smiley.

Each month we are required to submit "post-placement" reports to our agency. It's a form you need to fill out, answering questions on how the boys are coming along and how they are adjusting. We also are required to submit candid pictures of them. For some reason, Fin always has some kind of ding on his face, so that must look wonderful from their end. ha. At the 6 month, 1 year, 2 year and 3 year marks, we are required to have our social worker come back to the house to visit and assess their adjustment. Crazy to think that our 6 month mark with the boys being home is approaching soon and we've already scheduled the day she'll be coming here.

All in all, we are doing great!

Meeting the cousins, aunts and uncles!

Last weekend we took a trip to Baltimore to meet the family! This was the first trip since we've had the boys home.. another plane ride! whew! Fortunately, they did well and kept themselves occupied for the 3 1/2 hour flight... but let's be honest- they don't sit still for a minute. Up down, up down... we made it through and had Uncle John and Aunt Kissy waiting for us at the airport!! What a great welcome!

Both the Kilchensteins and Keeney siblings and grandparents all got together on Friday for the first introductions... The boys meet their cousins, aunts and uncles. It was REALLY cool. The boys just fit right in, of course. We had quite the weekend planned for them... Keeneys and Kilchensteins gathered to hang out and enjoy time well spent together. The boys did exceptionally well, keeping up with all of the people and busy schedules. It was such a fun weekend!

We came back to Austin exhausted, but looking forward to our next trip "home."