Disappointed...

I never imagined that finding a suitable school for my children would end up being one of the most stressful and difficult things about parenting.

We started out at a large diocesan school and my daughter did terribly. Class size was too big, the community was lacking, and we felt completely out of place. My child had little to no confidence that she could handle any of the work, even at the end of two years.

Then we found out about Kolbe School. A small, strongly Catholic, classical curriculum school. I jumped at the chance and moved her there.

By the time the first parent teacher conferences rolled around, I was in awe. I got tears in my eyes explaining to her teacher how far she had come. It was like having a whole other child. She loved her school, her teacher, her friends, and her schoolwork. She was learning so fast. It was a complete turn around.

Here is what I wrote on the last day of our first year there.

"What an amazing year at an amazing school. Such a difference in my girl in so many ways. Kolbe school helped her blossom into the child she was meant to be!"

This community welcomed us with open arms, supported us through an adoption and a birth, and I finally felt like I had found a comfortable place for our family to thrive. Our second daughter entered Kindergarten and she blossomed there as well. Her teacher nurtured her and taught her and she enjoyed every minute of Kindergarten, like any 5 year old should. It was a beautiful place. Was it perfect? Of course not. But it was perfect for us.

I guess Satan hated that and we were too comfortable. Because now it's gone. And, for the first time, I'm disappointed in our Church. A Catholic priest ruined our school. The diocese didn't care. I'm trying to be charitable in my thoughts and words, but it is hard.

Maybe I'm over-emotional, but I am a wreck. This is a huge loss for our family, and I'm in mourning. I now have to tour other schools and try to put on a happy face when I don't want to be there. I have to decide between schools that I don't want to be at. I have to figure out how to get our scholarship money transferred to whichever school we choose. I have to buy uniforms and pay registration fees. It's all crap. And that's all there is to it.

Please pray for all of us affected. I cannot imagine how people feel who were there for many years, or the wonderful people that started the school. I truly just can't believe this happened.

Sorry to dampen up the blog. But, I'm keeping it real, and I am not happy right now. Pray for all of us as we struggle to find our feet.

And, thank you, Kolbe school, for being the best school I've ever seen. For helping us through hard times. For helping my children bloom in their faith and every other way imaginable. We love you.

6 Months Home!

Well, this is a little late because we were home 6 months on the 7th, but as you can see from my last post, we were quite busy last week!!!

Maks is doing amazingly well. I don't think I could cohesively put together everything he's learned from months 5-6, but I want to compare our little boy from the day we met him to now. How a child can change so much is remarkable to me.

He has learned to:

• walk
• dance
• sign for more, eat, drink, milk, please, waves hi and bye (I'm convinced he'd know more if I were better about teaching him new ones more often)
• give kisses
• say "baby, mama, dada, hi, bye, uh oh, ow, wow, peepee"
• stop throwing toys
• make the sign of the cross during prayers 

He is super sweet. He likes to hold baby dolls and rock them and pretend to sing, like I sing to him every night. But his favorite toys are now cars. He basically spends all day with a car in his hand, driving around. 

He and Charlotte had about 2 months of a honeymoon period and now they're proper siblings. She's taught him some behaviors that are very irritating, like biting and scratching. Sigh. But, he's getting better about that now too, and so is she. They're slowly starting to play with each other, and Maks is starting to play with other kids when they're around, too, instead of completely ignoring them. He is in LOVE with his big sisters and his baby brother, and he's bonded wonderfully with me and daddy is a work in progress (due to daddy being away more often because of work), but he loves his daddy too. It's very sweet to see.

He does get jealous sometimes, when he wants snuggles and I have to nurse the baby. And he lets me know it, too. He also gets cranky when I need to lock the gate so I can cook dinner or something. But we are just amazed by him every day. He has no orphanage behaviors at all.

During the adoption process, I kept having visions of Maks with his arms around my neck in a sweet hug. I've had that vision come true countless times, that is the way he hugs, and it often brings tears to my eyes. 

I am so tired today, so I'm probably missing a lot, but I just wanted to put this up. I probably won't update every month from here on out. 

Here are some pics :)

THIS was the little boy we met in November:

And this was his Reece's Rainbow picture:

He's such a blessing. If you are feeling called to help an orphan, or adopt one, please visit Reece's Rainbow, or send me message! I'd love to chat about the process with you. <3 

Charlotte's Birthday and Maks' Surgery!

Last weekend, our littlest girl turned 3 years old. We kept it low key, and mommy and Sam took her to Build-a-Bear and she got a Twilight Sparkle. It was so fun, and she had a blast. Then we had a small party with cake and ice cream.

Here's what I wrote about her on her birthday:

Oh Charlotte, after 3 super calm and quiet babies, you rocked our world with your crazy screaming. Not much has changed since then, but you're momma's girl. Spunky, sweet, hilarious, witty, sassy, and loving. We love you so much, and I really am shocked that these years fly by so quickly. Happy 3rd birthday, Charlotte, hope you have an awesome day!

The next day, I took Samuel to urgent care and he had a double ear infection. 

Monday was Maks' surgery to take out his tonsils and adenoids. He handled it beautifully, and is, so far, recovering easily. I was so nervous, and I made the mistake of taking Samuel with no help, and that was not pretty because he wasn't feeling well due to his ear infections. Sigh. But we made it through.

Cutest Ukrainian EVER. 

This week has been a rough week on mommy. Waking up every 4 hours for meds for Maks and then Samuel waking up in between that has made it pretty hard for me to be cheery during the day. Coffee isn't even touching this degree of tiredness. 

We have been looking at passenger vans and can't seem to find a good one, which is a bummer. I actually love our Suburban, but it is not working for us. The kids fight like cats and dogs, and I need them to be separated. 

Thank you for all the prayers for Maks. I truly believe that the prayers are what get us through these times.