Our First Week Home

Pam ~ We've been home for one week now with Maya Kisanet and we've had plenty of hard times, but we've also had plenty of good times.

I believe that children need a good daily routine and we have been working VERY hard to create a routine for Maya K. Would you like to see what our "normal" routine is?!?!

6:30 a.m. ~ Wake up / Turn on her bedroom light / Play in bedroom until at least 7 a.m.
7:00 a.m. ~ Breakfast
7:30 a.m. ~ Play while Daddy & Mommy take turns showering and getting dressed
9:00 a.m. ~ Get dressed (or take a bath and then get dressed)
9:30 a.m. ~ Play
10:00 a.m. ~ Snack Time
10:15 a.m. ~ Play OR run errands OR go to the park OR play outside on the driveway
11:30 a.m. ~ Clean up for lunch
12:00 ~ Lunchtime
12:30 p.m. ~ Play
12:45 p.m. ~ Cleanup for nap time
1:00 p.m. ~ Lay down
1:30 p.m. ~ Nap time
2:30/3:00 p.m. ~ Wake up
3:00 p.m. ~ T.V. and snack
3:30 p.m. ~ Play at table (coloring, beads, painting, etc.)
4:30 p.m. ~ Play
5:30 p.m. ~ Dinner
6:00 p.m. ~ Play
6:45 p.m. ~ Bedtime Snack
7:00 p.m. ~ Get ready for bed ("grease" skin, pajamas, brush teeth, go potty, read a book)
7:30 p.m. ~ Bedtime
8:00/8:15 p.m. ~ Hopefully asleep :-)
9:15 p.m. ~ Up for bathroom

During the night is not going great so far. She is waking up several times for the bathroom and won't go back to sleep unless we crawl back in  bed with her. Then she will go to sleep, but often wakes up when we get out of her bed. The first few nights, she would also wake up asking to eat (which is why we started a bedtime snack) but she hasn't done that the last few nights. We are trying to be as consistent as we possibly can so that she knows what to expect from us.

Our morning routine will have to change a little when Nathan goes back to work on Monday, but we are already talking about it and we are going to try to keep it as similar as possible. The biggest difference will have to be that I will have to get up earlier to shower before he leaves for work and I will be in Maya K's bedroom every night through the week and then Nathan will take weekend "duty". We have committed to not leaving her alone in her bedroom at night for a while while she is bonding and attaching to us and while everything is still so new to her. Then we will start working towards having her sleep in her room by herself.

Here are some pictures to "highlight" our first week home.

First Week Home FB Posts

September 29, 2012 ~ We are HOME!!!! We are TIRED!!!!! But we are HOME!!!! Kisanet slept from 9-midnight, got up for the bathroom, slept from midnight-1:30 a.m. and is done sleeping. I made her wait until a little after 2 a.m. and gave up. She is playing in the living room with a Hermie movie playing (alternating playing and watching) and I'm getting some computer time. We're trying to let daddy sleep so that at least HE is well rested and can take over for mommy later today while she takes a nap at some point!!! Please keep us in your prayers!!!! I'm feeling very overwhelmed right now, which I know is due largely in part to my extreme fatigue, and really need prayers for strength and patience as we try to begin to set a routine at home. Bedtime didn't go very well last night.

Kisanet is writing on my shopping list!!! How I've dreamed of this day!!!!!

Today has been filled with special moments!!!! Kisanet is doing so well that we took her to a park this morning and she LOVED it!!!! We put her down for an hour nap and then woke her up (her body thought she was going to bed for the night; silly jet lag!!!) and she's been in good spirits ever since!!!! We are hoping to keep her up until a decent time tonight and then hope that she is tired enough to sleep 8 or 9 hours and get up closer to the 5 or 6 o'clock time frame!!!!

Please join us in praying that Maya Kisanet will sleep well and long tonight!!!! She woke up at 1:30 this morning, slept from 1-2 p.m. and just went to bed and fell asleep at 8 p.m. It seems like the best-case scenario for sleeping well!!!! Nathan is in her room tonight (we're going to be taking turns) so I get to finally sleep in my OWN bed!!!!!

September 30, 2012 ~ I got a good night's sleep!!!! My muscles are still very SORE from carrying Maya Kisanet through all the airports on Thursday and Friday, but I'm hoping they'll hurt less by the end of today. Kisanet slept from 8 p.m. until about 4 a.m. this morning with only a couple bathroom "get-ups"!!!! We feel like we're making progress with the jet lag!!!!

Please pray. Today has been hard. She is grieving. We are tired. She is tired. My eyes are almost swollen shut from crying all day. She is still gasping breaths from her hour and a half fit that led up to her hour nap. We haven't seen her smile in hours. Pray hard.

Please pray that Kisanet will eat dinner for us tonight. She really isn't eating anything other than some fruit (sometimes) and crackers. Mealtime is getting very frustrating and she has got to be getting hungry.

She ate an orange, a banana, half a roll of bread, TONS of baby carrots, and some homemade noodles (she wouldn't eat the chicken that went with it)!!!! She's happy and smiling and laughing right now and this mommy can breathe for a few minutes!!! Please keep praying. Our hardest things right now are sleeping and eating.

I'm trying to upload a video of Maya Kisanet singing. It's beautiful, so stay tuned!!!!

October 1, 2012 ~ I want to thank everyone so much for all your prayers and encouraging words!!!! We knew that bringing a 5-year-old into our home from another country would be hard work and we prepared ourselves as best we could. We know that God is working in all three of our lives and we are praying that we will continue to follow as He directs us. Yesterday was hard. But we still had blessings. We love to hear Kisanet sing!!! She cleaned the table for me. I love seeing her play with her dolls and dress them up in my old doll clothes. She loves to have me blow on her tummy!!! She is getting in a fairly decent routine at bedtime. She is going to sleep well at bedtime without a fit. She calls me "mommy"!!!! I'm praying that today is a better day. But even if it isn't, I will still praise the Lord for the blessing of being mommy to this special little girl!!!!

We're having a FABULOUS day at the Maxwell house!!!! Daddy and Mommy were the winners in a couple battles this morning, Maya Kisanet ate TWO bowls full of oatmeal for breakfast, we played at the park, ate a decent lunch (btw - how many is too many carrots for a 5-year-old to eat????), went calmly down for a nap, slept for an hour, and woke up happy. We are feeling so blessed that God has allowed us to have a GREAT day so far!!!!!

I know that someday we will have a good nap time AND a good bedtime in the same day. Right??? We really did have a GREAT day!!! Kisanet likes to clean the table and even swept the kitchen floor for us. And she probably did a more thorough job than her mommy would have!!! Bedtime was a struggle tonight and I'm glad that Nathan is on night "duty" tonight. I need a good, solid night's sleep!!!!!!

You know you are tired when................you're curled up on your daughter's bed while she is on the floor playing!!!! Btw - We DID actually get on the floor and play with her for a long while!!!!!

October 2, 2012 ~ We took Kisanet to the bank, a bookstore, and then a park this morning. She did very well up until we got home and we have had a few "disagreements" since then. We'll spend the rest of the day at home. She's taking her one hour nap (we wake her up after an hour) and since daddy is in her room for nap time today, I get a little quiet time!!!!

There can't be much sweeter than sitting at the table coloring with markers with your little girl!!!!

Maya Kisanet just learned what an ice cube is!!! I got a video of the fun so stay tuned!!!!

October 3, 2012 ~ Four scrambled eggs, several pieces of mango, and an apple. No, that was not Nathan's breakfast. It was Maya Kisanet's breakfast!!!!!

She takes after her daddy.

Kisanet has been entertained for a LONG time with pony beads and pipe cleaners!!!! The best part - she took them all off the pipe cleaners and back in the container to use another time!!! Now we've moved on to magnets on a cookie sheet!!!!

Funny moment of the day (there have been several) - She started smelling my apple pumpkin candle burning (it's the first time I've burned a candle since we got home) and she was very insistent that she needed to EAT it!!!!! We had a hard time convincing her that it was just to look at and smell!!!!

I LOVE good bedtimes!!! She's out like a rock and I get some quiet time!!!!

October 4, 2012 ~ Thanks to Megan G., I'm enjoying some Mt. Dew this morning!!! Maya Kisanet wanted some, but that is NOT happening!!! I offered her apple juice instead!!!

I'm sitting at the kitchen table while my daughter is entertained with a cup of water, a bowl, a spoon, and an ice cube!!!!

Both Nathan and I are struggling a little today with our energy and patience and would appreciate some prayer for strength to get through the rest of today. We have had a couple "moments" with Kisanet this afternoon that have been exhausting and we would LOVE it if she would eat a good dinner and go to bed well tonight. She is currently happily sorting pony beads and stringing them onto pipe cleaners again and we are taking advantage of the quiet to "re-energize" ourselves!!!

While I'm sad that Maya Kisanet has to lose her first (and second) language(s), I'm REALLY looking forward to her learning English. The language barrier is really HARD right now!!!! She wanted cold water from the fridge, but we had just refilled the water pitcher. She loves to PLAY with ice cubes and it was time to get ready for bed so I couldn't put one in her water to make it cold. She was sooooooo sad and upset and I couldn't get her to understand why the water wasn't cold. I actually ended up in tears over that lack of communication!!!

October 5, 2012  ~ Maya Kisanet let me clean out her ears after her bath this morning. Yuck!!! She's got to be able to hear better now!!!!!

How many of you have heard of a "sleep cycle"? We've been letting Kisanet sleep for one hour at nap time (because we want her to sleep at night) but it takes her almost an HOUR to wake up from her nap. So, today we're experimenting by letting her sleep for an hour and a half. We'll see how it goes!!!!

We let her sleep for an hour and a half and let the timer go off in her room. She stirred and then sat up by herself when we opened the curtains and started talking to her. She's been happy and content. If she goes to sleep well tonight then we will stick with the extra half hour of sleep for now!!!

Fellow adoptive mamas - PLEASE tell me that bedtime will get better!!!!