My head has cleared…I am catching up on sleep, the dizziness has gone away and I have settled back into my family, life and routine. I have been really wanting to get on here and blog the last few days, but I tried really hard to stay off the computer during the weekend so I could spend time with the kids, and I am still falling asleep the minute I get all the kids to bed each night.

Anyway, I knew it was time to get back to blogging when Josh complained to me yesterday that I hadn’t written anything new.

Me- “But honey, you KNOW how things are going… you live here.”

Josh- “Yeah, but I still really like to read about it.”

So, here is an update, for Josh, and for the rest of you. :)

Things are great. I am amazed at how great things are. I really somewhat expected that Belane was going to be really difficult…all of our other kids’ adjustments have gone so well that I just figured we were “due” to have someone be really tough.

Our two older girls (adopted at 9 and 6) were challenging at times, but overall they did so well and were so much easier than we expected that we even put them into the “smooth” category.

But Belane has settled right in. Over the past few days she has really started to bond with her siblings beyond Mercy and Marcus (who were her favorites right off the bat). The other day she would call “MOM!” and when I would look, she would give Shane a big old hug. We would all saw “Awwwwwww…..so nice” and then she would do it all over again.

She lets all of the kids hug and kiss her at bedtime and if she gets a boo-boo, she loves when they all get home from school and she is not having any trouble eating at the table with everyone anymore unless she is really, really, tired.

She is over the jetlag…sleeping from about 8:30 p.m. until 7 a.m. every morning and taking about a two hour nap every afternoon. She has yet to really find a food besides eggs and mashed potatoes that she isn’t crazy about, but she has added lots to her “like” list. (Peanut butter and jelly and strawberries were yesterday’s additions.)

It has been great to watch her become more and more settled and comfortable at home. The first day she woke up from her nap and I wasn’t there in her room, she wandered through the house wailing until she found me (guilt, guilt, guilt!!!!). But just two days later, she came up the stairs, rubbing her eyes and just came to me for hugs and loves with no tears.

She is still wanting me to be very close by at all times, but I can tell she is starting to trust that I am not going to disappear. She’ll now play happily with the other kids while I shower and get ready, instead of being in the bathroom, leaning against the shower door. Progress!

Continued...