Dear Friends and Family,
Some of you have told me you have checked periodically to see if we are adding any news about our adjustment process here at the Douberly household. I thought by now you would have been sick to death of looking at our photos and reading about our going-ons. However, for those of you still hanging on, I can hang with you! It's my honor. Now let's get to the good stuff.
Oh, the Douberly boys! Where do I begin? Alex and Andrew are troopers. We won the orphan-jack pot! (Is that politically incorrect to say? Sorry if it was!) We cannot begin to tell you just how quickly they have adjusted and learned. We went from Alex screaming and pitching fits when he did something wrong to now him walking himself to time-out. It's quite impressive. Andrew is still really hard on himself and wants to please everyone. He does not like to disappoint and hides when he has done something he thinks is wrong. This is very new to me. I'm used to the elder two coming up and talking in circles trying to get out of trouble. They have never hid from it. Alex and Andrew's relationship with each other has changed drastically in the last 2 1/2 weeks. When we were in Ukraine they constantly held hands and cried when the other one would get in trouble (sympathy pains!). However, now, they are both very quick to throw each other under the bus. They even go so far as to wave and say "bye bye" while I'm marching the other one to time-out. It's all we can do from busting out laughing. Don't get me wrong. They are still super close. In fact, it still brings tear to my eyes when I check in on them in the middle of the night and it never fails that Andrew has left his bed and crawled into bed with Alex. He always is sleeping with a protective arm around his brother (who is spread out 'owning' the bed!) and holding his hand. It's too precious. I guess even though Andrew no longer feels like he has to be by Alex's side every minute, he subcosciously still it the protector. I look forward to him letting go a little more of that role so he can sit back and enjoy being a child for a while.
Alex and Andrew have truly enjoyed their new worlds. Every day is a new adventure. In fact, after we drop Joshua and Jacob off at the bus stop in our front yard, they race to get in the car. They LOVE the car! They particularly LOVE daddy's Jeep. Actually, Andrew would be quick to correct me that it's "Andrew's truck!" It's no longer "Daddy's Jeep". We have sat out in the Jeep in the driveway and just hung out on many occasions. I think of how they must feel though when they do get in the car to go somewhere. They have NO idea where we are going to end up. It could be King's Dominion, Five Guys, a park, or something as simple as a grocery store that has REALLY cool shopping carts shaped like cars! Oh, the excitement! They can't get enough. The other day we were having a lazy day. Lamar was making breakfast and the boys came out of the mud room with our shoes, pushing us to put them on. Then they pointed toward the car and started saying, "Bbye-bye car!" They wanted to go! They didn't care where....they were just ready. It's really too funny.
Joshua and Jacob have been tremendous helpers. At first they tried taking on the role of Parent #3 and Parent #4- telling the boys "Nyet(no)" to everything they tried to touch or do. However, after some coaching they are better filling the role of big brothers- guiding and leading them the right way. They have learned every word of Ukrainian and Russian that Lamar and I learned while we were away. They have flashcards for the boys that they use at the table while I'm making dinner. Don't get me wrong. We struggle with Jacob realizing his own super strength as he tosses-the-sibiling across the room. I think it's a power-trip! However, Alex holds his own and makes up what he doesn't have in muscular strength with that of lung and vocal power. Let's just say, it's rarely a dull moment here.
Well, I know there is a ton more I could share with you. I'm trying to work on getting video clips attached to the blog so you can see for yourself some of this craziness.
Again I want to thank all of you for your generosity, phone calls, cards, emails, etc. It's so sweet to know so many people are praying for us during this transition.
Love to all,
Kristina and boys X 5
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
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