The Future of the Blog

As you can see, we haven't updated out blog in weeks. We'd like to update it regularly, but with five kids, we simply don't have the time. Instead, we've decided to post blogs and pictures about once a month in case anyone is still interested in our adoption journey.

Right now, we are frantically cleaning the house for our first "post placement" visit by our social worker. We will have three or four of these visits in the next six months. After each visit, our social worker will write a report to ICAB advising them of Camille's progress. If the reports are positive, ICAB will then give us their official consent to adopt Camille. We'll take that consent form and present it to the family court here in the States so that we can officially adopt Camille. Until then, we are her legal guardians, and her name is still the name that appears on her birth certificate. Sooooo ... if all goes well, she officially and legally and finally be adoption by the end of the year.

As for her adjustment, it's been great. In fact, the person with the biggest adjustment issue is 3-year old Kyle. Camille has replaced Kyle as the baby in the family, and Kyle has definitely noticed. For the first few weeks, he threw tantrums, crawled into our bed at night, and was always asking for his mommy. He's a little better now, but he's definitely still adjusting to NOT being the baby of the family.

Other things: At first, Camille was very, very particular about what she ate (and didn't eat). In fact, for the first few weeks, she'd only eat white rice. Yes, it was easy to feed her, but we were concerned about her lack of well round diet. Over time, her pickiness has gone away, and she's almost to the point where she'll eat anything in front of her. But, unlike our other kids, Camille definitely eats a lot. She eats often, a lot, and takes huge bites. Hopefully, she's just eating so she can "catch up" in size, since she was definitely on the smaller end of the height/weight charts at the doctor's office.

Camille used to afraid of swings, but now she loves them. When we first took her to the park, she freaked out when we put her on the swing. This happened two or three times. So we replaced our regular swing in the backyward with an infant-style swing shaped like a dolphin. She rode that for a while, and now we can't get her out of it. When she went to the park yesterday, she happily sat in the swing for almost the entire time!

Anyway, we have other observations that don't come to mind right now, but we'll be sure to include them in our next update. We'll also post some pictures really soon.