So. . . How are they doing?

It's time for an update on our three newest additions!

Madeline-

She is as adorable in person as she is in her pictures!

Bonding has been easy- she left China and never looked back.

She comfortably hugs us, kisses us, sits on our laps.

She happily shows the latest picture she has colored, her new card trick, the high heals she is sporting and loves to get our approval.

She is loving the food we have been serving and gobbles up every meal... well... except, cold cereal is not her favorite. Although she has found some peace in Captain Crunch...

For how little she is, she will surprise us at night and ask for seconds!

She was alternating sleeping in our room until Mom and Dad decided they were not getting enough sleep. Now she is in her own bedroom bonding with her sisters. She seems to be the number one talker at bedtime and we have to ask her to be quite more than once each night.

She usually is the last to rise in the morning time!

She did a great job while having one tooth pulled and a crown put on. She still has two more dental appointments to go. We are very thankful they did not need to use general anesthesia.

Madeline is still a Princess! She is very agreeable most of the time but will let out a grumble here and there if it's not to her liking.

She is slow to say sorry in an altercation with a sibling and will not backdown until time has passed and she sees that I'm not backing down.

She had lunch a bit late one day... after an hour gave in and apologized to Luke.

She is writing her name along with the names of her sibs and counting to 11. She has a bit of a speech challenge and will be starting speech therapy in April.

She says a few words in English and seems to understand the point of what we are saying.
Madeline is happy and moving forward with her new life forward!

Melissa is delightful!

She is as smart as can be and catches on to things quickly!

She readily comes to us for hugs and loves to get kisses goodnight. She often crawls on our laps and hangs out with us. 

Melissa needs a boatload of dental work done too. One of her many appointments will be coming up soon. She has a front tooth with a cavity in it that is loose- we are looking forward to that falling out!

When we first came home she had a few times of tears. It was hard to tell why the tears were coming. Although with all the changes going on in her life a reason wasn't even necessary.

I found that if a removed her from the middle of the children and privately comforted her she quickly calmed down and was ready to go play.

I think it may have been a little attention getting.

Melissa, will out of nowhere will say a string of english words. This happens once or twice everyday. I feel like she is storing them up in her brain and at some point they will all come spilling out and she will miraculously speak English!

We still have a lot of Chinese going on but it is less than it was and that is encouraging!

Melissa is the one that will remind us to say grace at every meal!

And she sings the songs- Jesus Loves Me and The Star Spangled Banner!

She loves to play the card games that Katie and Mark taught her and ... she loves to win!
In fact if she looses... she might cry...
I think she was used to winning in China.
Melissa will often play cards with Emma.
It;s a win win for both of them!
Melissa likes to win and Emma just likes to play games! 

Everything I have given her during our school time she has finished with flying colors. 
I am planning to integrate Melissa and Mia into our first grade class.

Mia has made incredible progress!

I am always trying to be one step ahead of her because she is quick with everything. She gets her schoolwork done in lightening speed and is the first to help in the kitchen.

They have already moved her up in her gymnastics class. 

She want to be first at everything!

First in the car, first out of the car, first to eat, first to be done and first to ask for seconds.

We make a point of serving her food closer to the end so she does't get done before everyone else starts to eat.
She'll clean up the school room and then I can't find anything!

She is smart and she gets it. 

She is beginning to understand why we do things the way we do and will smile in response to our brief explanation.
She seems to love her new family and her new home.
In fact I haven't found one thing that she doesn't like.
If you followed us in China you will be shocked at that last sentence- 
I am!! 
I was a bit nervous about how the adjustment was going to work out after our time in China.
We are truly praising GOD at how it has gone!

Mia can be very loud and bossy at times.
I will turn the lights off, she turns them on, or vice versa.
I turn the music down and she turns it up.
BUT when I go back in and correct it- she smiles and accepts the correction- like I said she gets it but she is going to test the waters whenever she can!

It has taken me awhile to trust her but I can see that she really is a good kid and means well.
She is not mean spirited, even when she yells and is bossy.
It's all she knows and she thinks she is being helpful to me.
I would truly hurt her feelings if I was angry with her.
So I just gently remind her - Momma's got it under control and I thank her when she is helpful.

At times Mia seems so capable and then at times she seems young.
We still haven't decided on her age.
She will be going to the endocrinologist in a May (that's the soonest we could get in...ugh), so we will see what they say...

The three girls came home and noticed there was a shortage of robes in our home.
They were bummed...
So I got on line and T*rget had them, along with free shipping!!
Notice Abby instead of Madeline- Abby's was a bit small and Madeline wanted one right away- so Abby scored a new robe for her kindness towards her new sister!!

IT has been interesting watching the dynamics between Sarah and Mia.
Sarah is used to being top dog and has always been the competitive one BUT that has changed a bit with the addition of Mia.
It has actually been good for Sarah and I think it is good for Mia to have Sarah around!
They get along great and really have fun together but both girls can be bold and want to win everything! I am finding that Sarah sometimes takes a back seat, at least more than I thought she would. I thought she would really let Mia know the ropes but Mia is too much of an equal /peer to her so she sometimes chooses not to speak up.
And that's okay.

With all these kiddos that like to win we got a whole lotta cheatin going on when it comes to games!
Once we have had more time together we will start enforcing the rules and the virtue of honesty!
; - )

So for now- all is well and extremely entertaining!!

I love that we can see progress with each and every day!