I really thought I had posted at least once since bringing Emilio home from Texas. We flew down to San Antonio on Friday, then drove 3 hours to Corpus Christie to meet him. His caseworker was there (who had only met him the day before) and his foster family. I had taken some gifts that we could play with him, Candyland, toy cars, that sort of thing. We spent about 2 hours there at the foster home that night, then went to our hotel.
The first meeting went better than I had expected, I think in part because it took longer to get there than we planned and he was waiting for us. Plus we brought gifts. Always a good thing with a 6 year old. He is very sweet and affectionate and energetic. VERY ENERGETIC! We had not even seen a recent picture, so I was pretty nervous on the way to that first meeting.
On Saturday morning, we picked him up at 7:30 and followed his foster dad and foster brothers to the beach for a beach clean-up. He was excited to be with us, but still nervously looking for them. As the day went on, he became more comfortable with us and excited about the things we were doing. We took him to the aquarium, then to the dollar store to pick out 2 surprises (a task that took about an hour), then back to the hotel to play with the things we'd each chosen at the dollar store and go swimming. (Stephen and I chose things like play-dough and toy soldiers). At first he were scared to go swimming, but I'd packed the life jacket, and once he saw he could float, he was thrilled and wanted to stay in the water forever. Unfortunately it was too cold for me for long, so I watched Emilio and Stephen swim.
He stayed the night with us at the hotel and the next day we went to the beach for several hours. Stephen and I loved the beach and could have spent the whole day there, but Emilio wanted to go back to the hotel and go swimming again with the special life jacket. We had him with us all day Sunday and took him back to his foster family around 7 that night to say goodbye to them. We went back to the hotel without him. They give you this "break" time without the child, so you can talk and really decide if you want to proceed.
We did, so the next morning we went to his foster home one last time at around 10 and drove to his school with his foster parents. (Emilio was already at school, just like normal). We took treats for his school class and he said goodbye's to his teachers and friends, then to his foster parents, climbed in the car, and headed off to the airport with us. Kind of crazy when you think about it, but he was eager to go and excited about his new family. It was hard watching the foster parents say good-bye, knowing he had lived with them for 18 months and that they had done a good job teaching him many things. We drove to the airport and flew home, getting home very late Monday night. Emilio had fallen asleep in Denver, slept that whole last flight and as he was carried to the car and then the house. When he woke up the next morning, he was able to meet his siblings. They woke up gradually which was perfect because he was able to spend 10-15 minutes with one before the next kid woke up.
As I type this up and remember those feelings, it is amazing how well things have went over the past few weeks and how much he is starting to fit in. The first few days were hard in that he followed me around all day, like a new toy at Christmas, saying "mom? mom? mom? mom?"Kind of like the seagulls on Nemo. There is still a lot of adjusting going on. It's got the challenges of a new baby with fitting another person into the schedule, plus the fact that he already has an active personality and opinions on how to do things. There was A LOT that was new or different. Some good, some not from his perspective. Home cooked food instead of McDonalds. Chores. Scripture study. Younger siblings. New toys. Space to run (his foster home had no grass, just a small concrete pad to play on). He loves the dress-up box, and still spends most of his time wearing either the superman or spiderman costumes.
It's been a long, busy 3 weeks, not just with Emilio. My uncle Dave who was 58 passed away on the 7th and the following week we went to his funeral and then I went to Rupert for the graveside service (I left Stephen with all the kids.) We've been working and painting and cleaning a lot at our old house to get it ready to rent, and we are still working on unpacking here. Add in regular school (plus trying to figure out what Emilio even knows and where he is-- I'm homeschooling him too), chores, cooking, laundry, and just regular daily activities for 9 people and it's been a bit crazy! Plus Stephen and I had to talk in church last Sunday and help the kids prepare a musical number. (They did great and even Emilio learned the song and sang with the other kids.) So that's why I'm so behind on posting anything! But we are starting to get into a routine. It's busy and crazy and wonderful all at the same time. And probably going to get busier with the holidays coming up!
The other kids are adjusting pretty well too. Tyler loves having him home everyday (he hated days when Jeanisha and Ryan were both in school) and loves having someone who is "as hyper as I am". Jeanisha loves having someone who will play Candyland over and over and over. Adam had a hard time at first because Emilio would mix up him and Lincoln and call him "baby" and that is about the most offensive thing you can call a 3 year old. Emilio is getting used to Lincoln and no longer feels like he has to report to me every little thing Lincoln is doing like he did at first. Ryan is liking school more. We told him he could decide to stay in school or come back home and he wants to stay in school at least until the end of the semester and the choir concert (He goes early 2 days a week for a special choir class). Lincoln's hit the terrible 2's with a vengeance and is constantly into something or causing chaos somehow. Trish is thriving with homeschool and blossoming in her testimony. She has enjoyed putting together FHE lessons and learning to simplify things for the kids, even more so now with everything being completely new for Emilio.
Overall, we've come a long way in the past 2 months and seen some major changes. A new house, signing adoption papers for Trish, getting Emilio, and starting public school with some of the kids for the first time ever. It's amazing how much stuff can be crammed into 2 short months!
