Star Wars is a big thing in my house- my husband, my son and now my daughter love Star Wars!  Recently while talking with Anwen about something she refered to a person called Handsome Lo-Lo, I thought she was talking about a friend of ours who’s daughters name is Lola.  I thought she was saying that Lola was handsome, I was a little confused but I went with it.  Then Ewan walked into the room and translated what Anwen was saying for me which he often does.  He tells me that she is saying Han Solo.  I just about fell over laughing, Handsome Lo-Lo, it makes perfect sense and it is hilarious.  I must admit that she has hit the nail on the head Mr. Lo-Lo certainly is handsome:)

I will now forever think of this guy above as Handsome Lo-Lo and it will always make me smile:)

These are two drawings done by Ewan, they were drawn one day as an expression of his frustration with us.

This is me when I am angry according to Ewan. I love the downturned eyebrows and the fowning face.

This is Brian with his angry face on, according to Ewan:)

One afternoon I was irritated with Ewan about something he had done and as I was talking with him about my frustration he runs out of the room and comes back with the above picture of me.  He tells me- “Momma this is what you look like right now”, in all my flusteredness I made some dumb comment that sounded like I was in grade school.  Sometimes Ewan’s abilities to argue really catch me off guard, he is a smart little guy!   The comment he made actually broke up the tension and in the end we were laughting about it all.

I am really proud of Ewan for using art as an outlet for his frustration even if it does “paint” me in an unfavorable light:)  Maybe I sould get out the colored pencils when I am frustrated with Ewan.

Last week Brian won a new Nikon Coolpix camera at work- so awesome!!  The pictures this week are what you get when you take pictures of Christmas lights with your new camera while in a moving car (I was not driving:)).

Have you ever read this series of books- Your 1-year-old, two-year-old, three-year-old, etc.

I have several times, for several different ages.  Of all of the books that I have read these books are the most helpful when it comes to understanding where your child is developmentally at what ever age you are reading about.  I really love these books and when I start feeling like I have no idea what to do for my children I get one of these books out from the library and everything starts to become clearer.

I recent picked up Your six-year-old, Loving and Defiant, as Ewan is now six and has been having a difficult time.  There are a lot of things that have been happening lately that are not “normal” for Ewan but as it turns out are “normal” for six-year olds.  The section in these books called Characteristics of the age is my favorite section and where I find the most useful information.  The author does a really good job at explaining the ups and downs of the age, and why certain behaviors crop up.  She also gives some good advice on how to help your child through the rough developmental times in their life.

I find it so wonderful when I open up a book about children and read something that describes my child exactly I guess I like feeling like I am not the only one with a cranky, hard to please, ambivalent, pushy 6-year-old:)  My Ewan is totally loving and sweet and also a little defiant and it is nice to know that it is totally normal for his age.

It is easy to start thinking that a little misbehavior is a glimpse into your child future, I know that sometimes I feel like that, but that usually because I am in the beginning of a developmental change and haven’t quite caught on yet that my child is changing.  Sometimes I go weeks not understanding why I don’t feel like I know my child.  I know my oldest is 6 you would think that I would have caught on by now- but sometimes the changes happen slowly, they just sort of sneak up on you.

There are lots of sections in these books, some I find to be good while others I don’t find that useful.  There is a section in the back that talks about what kind of birthday party to have for a child of the age you are reading about.  While I have not really used that section I think that it is neat that she writes about that subject.

And now here is a picture of my 6-year-old whom I love all the way to the moon and back:)

This photo was taken by my friend Mary Karen- I love it!

Ok, so I was spending some time on Esty this morning and just had to share some of the sellers I came across.  These are some of my favorites- click on the pictures and you will be magically taken to the Esty shop selling these awesome finds;)

Too cute, and she has a bunch more. If her store is empty it is only because she is at a craft show, so make sure you try again in a few days.

A do-it-yourself nativity! I love that, get the kids involved in advent and create something that is sure to be treasured for a long time:)

Shhhhh! I totally got this for Ewan for Christmas. These guys are soooo cute:)

Shhhhh! I totally got these for Anwen for Christmas! Princeses, she is gonna love em:)

Love this nativity.

I love this. How cool to combine nature with technology. Well Done!

Check out these websites- maybe get some ideas for your holiday gift giving.

Tastebook

Chole In Style

Jenny Lee Fowler- Etsy

Uncommon Goods

TisBest

Have any websites that you love?  Share them with us- we would love to broaden our knowledge of nifty links.

This year as you know I hosted Thanksgiving at my place and we had a blast!  It was a small crowd of family and things were pretty low-key, just the way I like things to be:)  We laughed, and joked, cooked, ate, talked, relaxed and had a great time together.  Here are a few pictures from the day.

My turkey- this year it tasted as good as it looked:)

The recipe for this turkey can be found here in my recipe section.

My darling sister Meghan and I posing for a picture next to the turkey.

This picture was taken after a really hysterical moment in the kitchen- Meghan loves the biscuits that come out of the can so she brought them to make for dinner. The first can that she opened exploded all over the kitchen, and sort of sounded like a gunshot. I think that she will probably flinch now every time she opens a can of biscuits.

On to Advent which started last Sunday.  This year we are taking part in a movement called Advent Conspiracy so we are creating some new traditions for ourselves and our family.

For the first time we have created a homemade Advent wreath that we light before dinner each night.  We have also been singing the first verse of Oh come, oh come Emmanuel after we light the candle.  It is really beautiful to sing that song without instruments and is such a beautiful prayer.  It also reminds me of the way Jewish people sing prayers, singing this after lighting the candles feels like we are stepping back in time to when Jesus was born.  I feel like we are closer to celebrating Christmas the way it was originally celebrated when we take part in small traditions like this one.

This is our homemade advent wreath. It is really basic but since we are trying to make wiser decisions about what we spend out money on this Advent season I thought it best to use what we had around the house.

Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

A view from the top- I look forward to when we are lighting all of the candles!

We did not put up a traditional Christmas tree this year and that is mostly because we are afraid that Esuyawkal will pull it down or something like that.  The nice thing about not having a Christmas tree up is that the other Christmas things in the room get the attention, like our nativities.  I like the way not having a tree sort of shakes up our idea of Christmas- I like focusing on the holy family and Jesus’ birth and the story of that first Christmas.

One of our nativities, the small brown clay piece in the back between Mary and Joseph is a small crèche from Ethiopia.

This is a the small tree that we have up, we got it from Brian's Gram so we thought we would put it up. The nativity next to it is for the kids to play with and set up as they like. I bought that last year so they could have a more hands on experience with the nativity.

The other tradition that we are starting this year is this- We are each giving up one present and the money from that gift will be donated to Heifer International.  The kids will be able to pick out an animal to donate to a family in another part of the world, which we hope will help them to feel connected to the gift they are giving.  Perhaps next year we will each give up two gifts:)

If you have special Advent traditions I would love to hear them, I am always looking for new ways to help my family experience Advent:)

As I have mentioned in at least one past post Esuyawkal has some anxiety associated with food, particularly that he will not be fed enough.  We think that the anxiety starts when he begins to feel hungry and then escalates once he sees food.  We think that this started while he was in care at the orphanage.  Because the babies were fed 3 meals a day we think that Esu spent a lot of time feeling hungry in between meals.  Then what would happen is that food would be brought into the room and the babies would have to wait until it was their turn to eat.  So you have hungry babies seeing food that they have to wait for.  This is what we think caused the food anxiety that Esuyawkal is experiencing.

How does this anxiety show itself you might be wondering:

• If Esu sees food he starts freaking out and yelling.
• Even if Esu has the same food we have, if he sees us with the food he starts freaking out.
• If you have a drink, say coffee and he sees you with it he will get upset.
• Lots of yelling, screaming and melt downs when it comes to food.  Even in the store if we pass a person with a sample.

Brian and I have been trying to 2 months now to figure out how to help Esu when he starts to feel anxious and aside from shoving food into his mouth at meal time so that he is content we have been at a loss.  But now we are armed with Cheerios and the plan is to always have Cheerios available to Esuyawkal so that when he feels hungry he has the power to do something about that feeling, he has some control.

So far we are seeing some success with this method and though we are early in I am very hopeful.  I know that the most powerful tool we have is going to be time but this is working for now to help Esu deal with his anxiety until time can heal the wound.  I will keep you updated as to how this is going.

It has been two months since we stepped off the plane at Ohare International airport with our youngest child Esuyawkal.  A lot in our lives has changed since we first held him in our arms and kissed him for the first time. Two grandparents have passed on, we are preparing to sell our condo, are we are now a family of 5 and all that comes with that- the amazing and the challenging.

Most days I feel like I am managing my new role as mother to three pretty well, but not everyday do I feel like that. Some days I feel like I am a prisoner in my own house, and it is not all because of the weather.  It is because 6 year olds want everything they see, and 3-year-olds don’t want to be in a cart, and 1-year-olds are well 1 year olds.  And when the weather is not conducive for a park trip errands are sometimes the only way you get out of the house.  Even just getting outside for a walk can be a challenge- arguing about getting shoes on, frustrations over who is going to ride a bike and who is not, hearing things like-it’s too cold or I’m too hot.  So you can see why I rarely get out of the house these days- at least not for very long.  There is a lot of crying that happens in the house and again mostly I think it is an age thing, a sensitive 3 year old daughter and a 1 year old who’s only language is either cute as can be or loud and irate.

Household management is harder- three kids = a bigger more constant mess in my small home.  Though the cleaning schedule that I have started seems to be helping me keep on top of the general cleaning that needs to happen.

Taking a shower happens a lot less than I want it to, and when it does happen there is usually someone banging on the door.  And far be it from me to try and close the bathroom door while I am trying to pee.  My kids take personal offense to me locking the bathroom door.  I still do it though- a girl has got to have at least time alone to pee:)

Cooking is more difficult because I am tired and shopping hardly happens because leaving the house is difficult. Can you see the domino effect happening here?

Homeschooling has been challenging because I am juggling three very different needs.  We are still plugging away though and I am hoping to be caught up by next week, we are a little behind.

I realize that what will really help me with the frustrations attached to my new role is time.  Time to learn how to run errands again, time to learn how the new rhythm of our life will work.  Time to get to know my baby, and time for him to get to know us.

Despite my tiredness and my frustrations with the learning curve attached to parenting three children I do really love having three kids, and see myself with more- just not right now;) after we are in a house!  The challenges feel overwhelming at times but that only lasts a short time and the trade-off is well worth it!  There is more joy in my life with each child that is added to our family there is more laughter on my lips and love in my heart.  I appreciate my children and the individuals they are and the way they each add something different to our family!

How is Esuyawkal doing after these two months?

He is doing great!  Esu is growing and developing by leaps and bounds!  He is crawling now, pulling himself up to a standing position, everyday he is getting stronger and more verbal.  Esu does struggle with some anxiety associated with food but we are working through that.

So through the amazing and the challengeing we are still here, living, loving and adjusting to our wonderful life. Through tantrums, and showerless days I prevail- though I may smell just a little:)