Quick house update

Today Reuben's occupational therapist from his therapy center (who's only been working with him for a few weeks, but has been following our story through his PT who talks about us and shared our blog with her) came over for the morning to play with Reuben so I could work with Matt until she had to leave for work in the afternoon! It's great having someone like Kelsey hanging out with Reuben because she *knows* Reuben already. I had to laugh - at one point he wanted to come back outside, and as we were passing by the door I overheard her tell Reuben, "Well, then you've got to put your shoes on, first!" She's been working with him on this during his therapy time with her, and although I'm having him take his own shoes off (he can finally do that!!) I still tend to put his on for him because by the time we're doing shoes it's time to get going. She, however, has all the time in the world to give him to work through it!

This is the only photo I had of her, because unlike days when people come to help Matt and I'm just hanging around on the ground with kids, when I'm on a ladder it's harder to get good shots!

While she was here, I was really hoping that Matt and I would get the back side of the east part of the addition as high as he and Brian got the front a week ago, and then get the piece over the peak of the link roof. Check out where we ended up before going in for lunch!

just over the peak.

Matt and I tried to get a little more done after lunch while Reu and Rin napped, but that Reu only slept for 30 minutes. And that was after being awake from 12:15am until he finally had a seizure at 4:48am that knocked him out enough that he slept until 7:30. So Matt and I, who are never well rested because of that little man's sleep habits, are really tired today.

I'm certain that feeds into my feeling today of being completely in over my head. My house is a disaster. Inside. Outside. In the addition. Everything. I have seven valances for a client that I was hoping to have finished up before I left, and all I've managed to do this week is purchase the boards to mount them on. At this point, I'm giving up on those. Somehow they'll have to get finished after Krassi comes home. I'm not sure how that's going to work out. Months ago Matt and I agreed that it was time for me to put my sewing business on an indefinite hold, but I've got enough long-term projects that were still on the docket that with building the addition, and then being so out of it for nearly six weeks with this pregnancy, they're just simply not done. And that's just how it goes.

I was given a very helpful document put together in bullet point format written by a mom who has lots of experience with adopted and foster children on bonding, and am very grateful to the person who shared it with me. There's nothing in there that is foreign to what I was envisioning, but it's laid out in such a simple format that my exhausted brain can easily get a handle on it. Recognizing that it is not law, nor a formula, there are many very concrete practical suggestions. One of these is having one primary person (me!) be essentially everything for Krassi for a period of time so he begins to learn the difference between being cared for by whoever's around at the moment, and having a MOM. The time period? Six months. When is baby due? Six months from yesterday. ;) I've got my work cut out for me. When I was growing up and wanting to be "a mom" when I grew up, I was never envisioning something as intense as the motherhood that God had in store for me! But, hey - I wanted to be a mom, and I'm getting to be a mom.

And very painfully aware of how the power behind this mom is not coming from herself, but from God. It's got to. I simply don't have it in me on my own!