Update

Livi
- She is dramatic. SO. DRAMATIC.
- We are night training her until we go camping, when I will put her in pull ups again because I don't want to have an accident there. We will re-evaluate when we return but I'm really hoping to have this figured out before baby comes. She has one smallish accident every other night or so. She has yet to get up by herself to go pee. We started with waking her twice a night and now are down to only toileting her once before we go to sleep. The accident's happen if we don't get her up early enough. Not usually in the middle of the night so I'm counting that as progress!
- Livi got her hair cut "long in the front and short in the back." An inverted bob. She wanted her hair cut short like Daddy so this was a compromise.
- The TV show 'Little Bear' was talking about a prince from Bulgaria. Livi pipes up "Princes can't come from Bulgaria! Only babies come from Bulgaria!"
- Livi is very excited to start gymnastics again in the fall. 

Sofie
- You just read her 11 month update post so not much has happened in the last week.
- Sofie's beloved Music Together teacher has decided to back to teaching. So sad for us but happy for you Kendra! We found a family oriented Kindermusik class for her. It has big shoes to fill in our eyes but I had to have her some kind of music class.
- I'm also getting Sofie in gymnastics. I think she'll like it and it will be good for her balance and strength. Her class is right before Livi's so it works out perfectly! We are doing the parent and tot class with her.
- She ate two almonds tonight! Crazy! First, I'm amazed that she had the jaw strength to chew through it. Second, I'm amazed that she ate it despite the new texture! Proud of my girl!

Jon
- He is pretending to not be stressed out with work right now but his not sleeping properly the last few nights is telling me otherwise. There are some potentially great things happening and some really frustrating things. Hopefully everything works out for the best! Pray please!
- He wants to make bookcases instead of buying them for his 1500 books. History shows me that his intentions are great and has fabulous skill but he can take over 5 years to finish a book case.... and it still isn't finish sanded and had the final stain. I'm hoping this one takes less than a month. What are the chances?
- He is such a good Daddy and husband. He handles a house full of emotional girls with patience and grace.

Katie 
- All our house reno's are nearly done! We just have to finish the fence. Everything looks great. Super happy with the guy we hired. Ask me for his name if you are looking!
- The second trimester of this pregnancy is so much better than the first! My energy has returned! That is a big one for me. I'm starting to get some slight hip and back pain during the night. Nothing major but I'll have to watch this and stay active.
- I had a long conversation with one of the midwives about the whole gestational diabetes thing. She put some of my concerns to rest. For the other concerns I basically have to wait and see. She agreed with me about not needing to go back to the diabetes clinic where I was getting conflicting information. Basically, we decided that I would see my own doctor to take care of the diabetes thing and stay with the midwives for the pregnancy. Issues may only arise if I have to go on insulin. The midwife seemed to think my numbers were pretty good, although she can't make any official calls related to that. They can still support me through everything and even if I have to transfer to an OB because of insulin, they can take me back post birth to do the home visits which I was really looking forward too. I still have an appointment with the Maternity Group to discuss things next week, but I am feeling much better about everything.
- Ultrasound is booked for August 12! Hopefully we'll find out the gender :)
- I'm anxious about getting the house finished but trying to balance that with catching up on our finances post move. Not sure I'm doing such a great job.
- Baby finances have me a little nervous right now. We need a mini van to fit the kids in safely, so Sofie doesn't hit the baby or Livi. We also need it to be our second car. With the kids going to school 3 days a week, I'm not sure I'll be able to walk them with a newborn in the snow. That might just be hell. Plus Sofie has various doctor and therapist appointments numerous times a month. Jon needs a car for work most days so I don't know how we would manage on one car anymore. I also don't know how we can afford a second car. I need some prayer for this please.

11 months!

Has it seriously been 11 months home for Sofie? Is my next post on her going to be the one year mark?! I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that. It has gone by so fast, yet she seems like she has always been here. She just fits. I can't imagine what our life would have been if we had waited to adopt. I'm thankful there was a plan bigger than us.

This has been another big month for Sofie. She is still flourishing. This month Sofie has been popping out more words and even some two syllable words. You can hear her yelling "Karkar No!" ("Parker no!" our cat) along with the rest of us :) She doesn't like speaking on command or when you ask her a question. She will use her signs then, but we frequently overhear her practicing her words.


The biggest thrill for us this month was when we saw Sofie lining up her toys while playing appropriately. I was in tears of joy. I'm getting teary just writing this. When she first came home, Sofie didn't know how to play. She threw EVERYTHING. Banging, crashing and throwing was all she knew how to do. She slowly started exploring household items and eventually started playing with some toys appropriately. She even has her favorites now. This month, while seeming to do some imagination play with some little farm and zoo animals, she laid them and stood them in a line. This is HUGELY significant for a child who has been traumatized.

My limited understanding is that children who have experienced trauma frequently re-enact those events in their play. Throwing and crashing everything can be signs that the child is feeling chaos, tension and out of control. In Sofie's case she banged and threw everything she could. We did see her clapping the hands of some dolls sweetly but she would also hit those dolls and bang them on things. We even witnessed some other disturbing signs of other types of abuse. When we looked at how Livi would play, she was mostly gentle with everything. She played with toys appropriately and we are always finding her toys left around the house in single file lines. These are play signs that Livi feels order and security in her world. Sofie is showing this too us through her play now too.Amazing.

We were also given a second hand doll house for the girls this month. Instead of Sofie being rough with the furniture and figurines, I watched her gently feed the dolls at the table, tuck them all in to bed and kiss them good night. She has come so far. I am just in awe of her.

She still throws and hits far more than I am at all comfortable with but she is getting there. She is learning. She is growing. She is losing her own independent survival skills and realizing we are here to take care of her with love. Did I mention she told me she loved me this month?! She copied me saying it, so it wasn't unprompted, but it still felt pretty good to hear.

Reading a trashy magazine at the salon :)

We've kicked up Sofie's diet this month. She was already on a high fat diet... now she is on a super high fat diet. She is still not growing but I think we've finally got her up a pound this month. 27 pounds! We basically look at her plate before we give it too her and ask ourselves what we can do to add calories and fat too it. We add butter to her macaroni and cheese. She has pudding made with half whole goats milk and half whip cream each day. She even drinks half goats milk and half whip cream. I do try to give her lighter foods occasionally but we need to fatten her up to hopefully get her growing! She is still sitting at 34 inches.

Livi has developed a nickname for Sofie and calls her "Sofa" quite frequently. I didn't think anything of it at first but now I think it is sticking. It's been around for a few weeks. I tried explaining to Livi that a sofa is a couch, but she assured me that it "is just Sofie!"

 
It has almost been an entire year that Sofie has been home. We are so thankful for her. She amazes us everyday.

 A happy, peanut butter covered face after breakfast today!

Life

I'm officially in my second trimester right now. I'm supposed to start feeling better now, right? I do feel some of my energy returning but it is not consistent at all. I'll have one good day and one terrible day. I've been feeling like such a terrible mom lately because of it. A few days ago was the first day I finally did something fun with my kids... in about a month!  I was so happy I had energy to take the girls to the park... we won't mention the fact that I let Livi pee in the bushes and told her to wipe off her leg in the grass. 


My house is still in shambles from the move but slowly getting more put together. Pictures are up which goes such a long way in helping me feel settled. Pictures are so important to me. I bought curtains and Jon got them put up. I The reno's we did inside the house are done so hopefully this we can get some more things put in their places and have our much needed storage in the garage back. The fence in the back yard is finally getting started so the kids can go outside more and I won't have to be right there every second with Sofie. Fencing is expensive by the way! 


I am starting to feel better. Although I'm so emotional... like, I'm currently crying from the beginning of Madagascar 2 when Alex finds his parents. Today I got a lot done. I love days like that. I hope it carries on. I think the weather is helping. Thank God for some sun finally!!! I baked some cookies, (first time baking in the new house), made Krispie squares with the kids, had a play date, had a nap, took a full load of garbage to the dump, organized my mom's patio, gave the kids a bath after they spent the afternoon in the sandbox, made dinner and now I'm blogging while Livi and Rebecca (a little girl I do respite for) watch a movie before bed :) I actually feel like a pretty good mom today. I honestly haven't felt like this way to long. I hope I can keep up this energy level tomorrow too!

I'm getting excited about my summer plans. They are packed full...especially August. In just a few weeks we are going camping as a family with Jon's sister and bro-in-law. We go to the property we have access to in Summerland. Very rustic but private and beautiful. I'm so excited that Lisa and Tony are coming with us. Four adults too two kids is a much safer ratio for my liking :) Then the following week my best friend from Winnipeg is coming for a visit! I haven't seen her in almost 3 years and I haven't met her son yet either! I'm pretty excited. The following week is Jon and mine's 8th anniversary and my 30th birthday! I am old. Sofie's one year home will be celebrated, as well as Livi's birthday! Then we have planned an open house for our friends to come see the house and celebrate with us! Some where in there I want to take the kids to ocean, the PNE and maybe the zoo and water slides? We'll see about the last two things though.

I have some updates on the kids too but I think I'll save those for another post. Movie is over. Bed time!