I know, I'm a terrible blogger

Well, it has been over 2 months since I've shown my face here in blogger land, and I have serious doubts as to whether there are any terribly bored souls who even bother to check back here.  I really don't have any excuse, except that I'm lazy and unorganized and I'd rather curl up on a couch with a good book than try to put coherent sentences together about the crazy happenings at our house.  We're still here, and things are going surprisingly well, considering just over 2 years ago I had two children, and today I count 5.  Sigh.  I cannot keep up with laundry, dishes, feeding so many people, and the astonishing amount of crumbs that keep appearing under my kitchen table, even though I just vacuumed 15 minutes ago!!! 

Today (it being Mother's Day and all) I've thought lots about this incredibly frustrating, exhausting, wearying, tiring, draining (yes, I know they all mean basically the same thing, but I'm going for emphasis here) job of being a mom, and all I can say is:  I love it.  I'm so glad to be a mom, and I wouldn't change jobs with anyone, anywhere, ever.  That isn't to say I'm singing a cheerful tune all day long (would it kill these kids to pick up their socks!?!) but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  Thank you Josh, Caleb, Eva, Esther, and my loaner child Jason, for making me a MOM.  

I suppose you may be wondering how Eva is fitting in.  I am amazed to think that 2 months ago we were just meeting her.  There was definitely a big Eva-sized hole in this family, and she has fit it perfectly.  She is an amazing soul, and I'm so proud and thankful that she is as resilient a creature as she is.  She was prepared for a new family, prepared to love, to try again, to forgive, to find her niche.  She has, from the beginning, LOVED having a mom and dad, and sometimes I feel a little smothered.  She lately learned, "Look at me!" and will say it about a thousand times a day.  I am ashamed to admit that it happens so often that I have trouble mustering up enthusiasm when she shows me how she can slurp up a noodle, and really, I've seen her do the same thing with the last 30 noodles.  She seems almost desperate for approval, and I feel guilty when I roll my eyes when she calls for my attention, again, after a brief 10 second break.  Still, I have to remind myself the enormous upheaval she has endured, and how much worse she could behave, and still be considered normal.  She has been very forgiving of Esther, who can't quite decide if having a sister is the best or worst thing to happen to her.  They have had some, shall we say, territorial issues, and they watch each other like hawks to make sure neither has the advantage.  That wears me out more than I can say!  I have to keep a careful tally of who had the pink bib last, and who used the ABC spoon, and who got to sit on my right side in the hammock last (yes, they even fuss over which side of me they think is better), and on and on and on.  Still, they get along better than Josh and Caleb did at this age (or any age) and the confrontations seem to be vocal rather than physical.  I forget that Esther is only 3, and has suddenly had to share what used to be exclusively hers (like me during the day).  A good friend reminded me that it would be like Mike bringing home another wife, and telling me to share all my stuff, be nice, treat her like I love her, etc.  Thanks for putting it into perspective, Anne!  Eva has started to whine when she's tired and wants something, but I don't put up with that!  And she's quick to figure it out.

Eva's language is coming along nicely.  She used to rattle off in Chinese if she wanted to express something, but now is making a real effort to put it into English.  I suspect she is using more English words than we recognize, but we learned that she is tongue-tied (the membrane connecting the bottom of her tongue to the inside of her mouth is connected farther along the tongue than normal, and she can't make some sounds) so we've got surgery scheduled in a few weeks to take care of that and her one tooth that has serious decay.  It is actually two baby teeth fused together, but where the teeth meet there is no enamel, so there is decay all along that line, front and back.  I've seen her trying to brush the dark stuff off that tooth, so I think she's not only aware, but a little self conscious about it.  Her foot surgery isn't until the end of June, and that can't come fast enough for me.  I don't look forward to spending a few days in the hospital, and all the pain and discomfort that Eva will endure, but I can't wait until she can walk, run, and skip with two feet squarely on the ground.  She is developing some serious callouses on the side of her foot, and I try to keep them and her scars moisturized (ever tried Bag Balm?  It is used by dairy farmers to treat cracked cow teats, and it smells rather unpleasant, but boy that stuff works).

Ah, I wanted to add pictures, but I'm starting to misspell a lot of words and doze a little.  Time for bed!  I'll try to post again before two months have gone by, but no promises, folks!