We played outside as much as we could. Irina is a VERY determined little girl. She wants to go, go, go on that bike. She needs some help getting started and is a little wobbly at times but she's almost there. After a couple big crashes yesterday, it took a bit to build up her confidence again but she is not giving up. I am very grateful that she allowed me to comfort her after she fell.
There are so many layers to my sweet daughter and I wish I had her figured out. I've missed out on 10 years of her life and I want to understand her thoughts and feelings. She is very complicated. We are communicating remarkably well considering the language barrier, but I'm eager for more. She is not able to spell Russian well enough to type into google translate to talk to me and gets too shy when I try to use the microphone. I ask a lot of yes and no questions in my attempts to connect with her. I know it will take time. Lots of time.
I saved a few crafts that my friend Carla gave us for our trip so that we'd have some entertainment when we got home. I'm so glad I did, although I'm still determining what type of craft will keep Irina occupied and happy. She is always in a hurry to move on to the next thing. Keeps me on my toes.
She was so eager to help Darin rake the leaves he cleared out of the gutters.
Today I tried to establish our typical routine of a daily quiet time. The boys are used to the routine and need that time daily to have their own ideas apart from their brothers. Irina made it 17 minutes playing happily, but then she got lonely. I went and sat in her room and worked quietly in the corner, but she was craving my attention. I'm not giving up yet, because I need that time of quiet every day too.
And in case you're wondering, I decided to wait to start up school again on Monday. I have some work to do to get ready and haven't figured out how to get anything done during the day yet. Which is why I've been staying up so late, but I need to start listening to my body and get some rest.
Darin has had to jump back into work and has tried to be available for me by working from home. There is a sweet little girl though who is always looking for Daddy. As you can imagine, this is a bit distracting. As a result, he's working lots of hours after the kids go to sleep too. We're both burning the candle at both ends. Please pray for opportunities to rest.
What do you do with four kids who are falling asleep in their dinner at 6pm? (A delicious dinner provided by a sweet friend!) Especially if you want to avoid another 4am wake up call? You take them on a walk in the neighborhood to look at lights.
Good night!
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