Hangin in there

We have survived the first week of being home! The boys are doing exceptionally well, although they are draining the life out of their new parents... We have decided that the 10 day waiting period would be better served after coming home instead of before. That way, both the parents and the children could recover from the travel separately and then have a better time together as a new family.



These pictures were taken at a great park that is two blocks from our home. It is right next to the big Lawrence outdoor pool, which sadly closes after this weekend, so we are resisting the temptation to take the boys there. Especially Conner, who loves water so much that he'll walk into the bathroom at random times of the day, strip naked and ask for a bath!

The CNM boys survived their first trip to the doctor. They were given four immunizations and had a significant amount of blood taken for tests. Yuck! It was heartbreaking to hold them down for all those needles. But they made it through, and were given high marks from the doctor for everything except for Conner's size. He is a little bugger, but we were reminded that it doesn't mean he'll stay that way. He is so food-focused, that we can't see him staying small for long!

As evidenced below, the boys are getting along well together. They are bonding so well to us and each other that we have great confidence they'll not suffer some of the attachment issues we've heard are common for orphans. Today, they were goofing around and gave each other four or five spontaneous hugs. It was awesome.

Now, Mom and Dad have had a rough week, for sure. There are days that we ask ourselves what we were thinking. We know that all parents ask themselves this question on occasion, but we would argue that few parents get such a whacked out learning curve. We feel like we skipped Parenthood 101, went straight to the graduate level courses, and didn't fulfill any of the prerequisite courses in between.

We've gotten lots of support from friends and family, and we have needed every bit of it. We can't hear enough that as soon as we've discovered the right daily schedule, and as soon as the boys understand the rules, things will get better and better. For now, it is just about all we can do to make it through each day and keep the memories of the daily adorable moments like the spontaneous hugs, Conner helping clean up the whole house, Carson realizing that getting his diaper changed isn't a horrible thing (for him), and many others.