A Little Update

 

Sorry I've been a bit quiet just lately. The holidays have been very full on and quite tough and it's taken most of my time and energy just to keep things ticking over. Lots to blog about properly when I get the time. Things are settling a bit on the bedtime front. TCM and I are doing as much ignoring as is humanly possible and Katie is definitely getting to sleep a little earlier than she was (I think it must have been by 8.30pm tonight which is a holiday record thus far).

We set our butterflies free this week and I can't wait to share all the pictures of our butterfly growing experiment. We all enjoyed it immensely and letting them go was a beautiful moment. We've spent some time with the children's brother, Kip, and hope to see him and his family again this coming week. We've made way too many loom bands. We've met a new addition to the family and spent time with cousins so we've not been idle. It's just been delicate and, at times, plans have needed to be scaled down so as not to over-stimulate Katie too much. 

We're finding it hard living in our rented house. The lack of space is getting to us all. The constant distraction of the house-build is both interesting, emotional and frustrating because we've not had as much family time as I'd wanted. Still it will be worth it when the house is finished.  I can't wait to get home but it will be at least 6 months yet. 

We had a wonderful two day trip this week to meet up with some of our dear adopter friends from our online adoption group. It's always nice for us all to spend time together. Seeing the children just fall back into their friendships always brings a lump to all our throats and the adults just pick up from whatever conversation we were having online the previous day.  Pip had his first train ride and trip to the beach (seeing his delight really made me feel guilty that we've not taken him before). Katie was delighted to spend time with her friends again. So delighted in fact that I barely saw her. It was particularly wonderful to meet a dear friend who came all the way from Scotland to be with us. We've spoken online and on the phone and text but never met before. It was a joy to finally meet and for our children to hang out together. 

How are the holidays treating you all? Better than you hoped or worse? Can you believe there's only two weeks to go until school resumes? This makes me happy and sad in equal measure. Happy because I want some normal routine back for me, as well as the children, but sad because I'd hoped to do more these holidays but Katie's behaviour has made that difficult at times and our ongoing house build has kept TCM away from the family.  Katie is making progress though and we've seen a lot of improvement over the month so far.  We've already got school uniform and shoes sorted so, hopefully, we can enjoy the final bit of freedom.