Recovering Noah

I thought this was a great article on CNN.com this morning: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/20/roland.martin/index.html But reading through the comments left me with my mouth hanging open. What a bunch of angry, hateful, spiteful people! Wow. Isn't Jesus the Reason for the Season?? As for me... I hope you all have a very Merry CHRISTmas. P.S. Speaking of Merry "X-Mas"... this is a hilarious video that I stole from my friend Christine's blog. Leslie

I stole this from my friend Amy's blog -who stole it from someone else's blog. That tells ya it's pretty good, doesn't it! lol. AFFORDING THE GOOD STUFF The other day while painting my daughter’s room, with the little kids safely cordoned off elsewhere, I actually had time to daydream. Mind wandering, I found myself wondering how it would feel to have enough money for a week in Hawaii. A kitchen remodel. A couple weeks in Europe. Or even the freedom to zip off to California for the weekend just for the fun of it. All the stuff that’s hard to fit in the budget while raising eight kids on a single income. For just a moment I wondered about the life we don’t have, the path we didn’t choose. What would be it be like if we had stopped having children after our first two daughters. If we’d chosen that other path, what might we have instead? We’d have a matched bedroom set, but no little kids bouncing on our bed in the mornings. We’d have the latest in video equipment, but no...

Don't you love the creativity of my blog titles? But at least you know exactly what I'm going to be blogging about. :-) Here are a few pictures that we took over the weekend.

So, Sim came home tonight raving about some online geography game he heard about on NPR today. And I have to tell you... I am addicted! It is amazing how fast an addiction can grow. I think it took about 3.5 seconds for me to fall in love with this game. It's so simple. Nothing flashy. Just has a world map and flashes up a city or a famous place and you have to see how fast you can pinpoint it on the map. And then it tallies up your score in the end. It's my new obsession . http://www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq/game1?284a=79d8 Leslie

Thought I'd take a quick minute to update the blog. The kids have just finished their late lunch, and now Nandini and Eli are running through the house playing, "Naked T-Rex Goes to the Beach". It's a bit like "Barney's Beach Party" - but without clothes. And, it's just as annoying. Honestly, I don't know why it bothers me so much. I think it's my conservative Southern upbringing. But man, it gets on my nerves. A closet full of color-coordinated outfits with matching hairbows and tights.... all going to waste. Sim says I just need to get over it and kids will be kids. But he's European, and they just do things differently over there. :-) But short of duct-taping their clothes to them, there's not much I can do. Plus, I give it about 2 more months (when it's gets really cold) and I bet they'll change their minds. Eli's already at the stage where he wants to use the bathroom in private (wish he'd give me that same privil...

I just wanted to take a minute and give a big blogging group hug to all you fabulous Mama's out there who responded to my "How Do You All Do It?" post. I know there are a few of you Dad's out there who read this (Hi, Mike!), but none of ya'll replied... so, sorry.. can't include you in this big Thank You post. Honestly, I cannot tell you how blessed I am to know such a fantastic group of crazy, wacked -out women. Seriously...some of you can sure bring on the crazy, can't you? And I LOVE it. I was cracking up reading some of those comments. I had no idea any of you led insane lives that mirrored mine. Isn't it funny how you imagine that everyone else has it all together... and then you get the utter pleasure of realizing that they're all just hanging by a thread - ready to go loco at any minute. Isn't that awesome? Are you detecting a bit too much glee in my voice? Anyway, today, when I thought I was seriously going to lose my mind... I just im...

Yesterday, we drove to Houston to take Nandini to her required doctor's check-up with the International Adoption Clinic at Texas Children's Hospital. Well... we weren't required to go there... it was just highly recommended. Plus, our local medical clinic is really small and they don't do blood draws or stool samples for little kids..... and there was no way I was going to drive Nandini all over East Texas and parts of North Texas to get all of the necessary testing done. I wanted a one-stop shop experience....so off to Houston we drove. Now... before you ask... yes, there is a doctor who "runs" an International Adoption Clinic in Flower Mound. Don't even get me started. He was our pediatrician for years. I would not advise him. He refused to believe that Noah had autism - even though he stopped talking, started stimming, stopped making eye contact, blah blah blah. His answer... oh, it's just the CP. Or... oh, it's just from being in an orphanage (...

I need some some major advice from all you wise Mama's out there (and Dad's, too!). How do you do it???? How do you keep from going insane? And, more importantly, how do you keep your house clean???? Somehow, a few months ago, little fairies snuck into my room in the middle of the night and stole the part of my brain that loved messiness and replaced it with something far worse... The obsessive need to keep a clean house. Or maybe it was CIA agents or FBI agents or whoever it is that Tom Cruise usually plays in a movie.... maybe they're the ones who did it. Maybe they were on a top-secret mission to implant microchips into housewives across America and see what happens when messy women turn OCD overnight. Because there's no other way to explain it. I have become a neat freak. I absolutely cannot stand a messy house. Well... okay, let me explain. I actually don't mind keeping a messy bedroom... and the bathrooms are in such a state that I'm sure the CDC is going ...

Sim and I are just sitting here - not quite believing what we just did. It all started with my trip to the Dollar Tree. You see, I took Eli to the church Christmas musical rehearsal (you know, the musical that he refuses to perform in, so we end sitting there watching all the other kids sing and be obedient and nice and all) - and since Noah and Nandini stayed home with Sim - and since I rarely go out anywhere with one kid, I decided that we should stop off at Dollar Tree. You know, because everything's just a dollar and I really do think that it was created with me in mind. So, we get to the Dollar Tree - not really expecting to buy anything - and I spot Santa hats, and I couldn't pass them up because, of course, they were just a dollar. Plus, my friend Amy posted a picture on her blog that featured her two youngest kids making peanut butter balls and wearing Santa hats. And because I strive to be like Amy, I decided that I would buy my kids Santa hats, too. Well, I actuall...

Okay, so I'm sitting here and the kids are taking a nap (except for Noah who is watching a video - and who actually spelled out v-i-d-e-o for me on the stencils, which made me feel really good because I'm been severely lacking on the homeschool front). Anyway, Trouble 1 and Trouble 2 are down for a nap and I've been debating on whether to update my blog or clean the house. It's actually a difficult decision because when you don't blog for a week, you have soooooooo much to tell and it could take a while. On the other hand, if I don't do dishes, then I'm going to have to tell Sim to run by Walmart on his way home and buy a thing of paper plates and a pack of plastic utensils. So, because we recycle and use earth-friendly cleaning products, I decided that the paper plates won't be that bad, and really, if I don't catch up on my blogging, I'll get even more behind and then just throw my hands up in the air and not do it. So I decided to blog. Wher...

Here are some pictures that we took over Thanksgiving and with some of our "India" buddies. Our friends Craig and Stephanie have adopted 3 amazingly beautiful girls from India (the middle daughter, Emma, is from the same orphanage in Calcutta as Noah). They came over last Friday and the girls had a blast dressing up in their fancy dresses. Noah and Eli wouldn't wear their outfits, but as you can see in one pic, Eli did manage to don his Halloween dragon costume. As far as the other pictures go, the cute couple holding Nandini is my cousin Tyler and his fiancee, Mary. My beautiful cousin, Tiffany, is holding Eli - and if your eyes were blinded by the absolute beauty of the next photo, then you must've come across Simeon holding Noah. Talk about two handsome fellas! :-) There ya have it. A look through our family photo album. Leslie

Yea!!! Yes, we're still alive. I know it's been more than a week since I last blogged - but, believe me, there was good reason. First of all, I ended up in the ER with severe dehydration from my non-thinking decision to have a Sprite (with ice!) at a McDonald's in Delhi. I was finally able to hold food down come Thanksgiving and overindulged just a bit. Well, the bacteria or amboeba's or whatever it was had a field day and I really paid for it. Let's just say that I got seriously acquainted with our toilet - at eye level - and I will never, ever, ever go that long without cleaning it again. Eeeewwwww. The second reason that I haven't blogged is because I've been 100% sleep deprived. Sim, too. Nandini decided that she could manage just fine sleeping only 4 hours a night. And, actually, that's about how much Noah slept for the first 9 months he was home, but he was our first so we were able to adjust to his schedule. But, now, we've got 2 others at ho...

Okay, I know. I know. I am going way overboard on the pictures. But they're so cute!! :-) Also, I wanted everyone to witness firsthand Nandini's terrible sense of fashion. I am removing myself from all responsibility for how she appears in public. I am warning everyone that she may very well show up to church on Sunday in tights, biker boots, and a purple sparkly Indian top. She is soooooooo determined and knows what she wants. She will quickly tell us if she doesn't want to wear what we picked out. In fact, she wants to pick out all her clothes and refuses to let us dress her. If we do, she's got them all off the second we turn around. She will definitely be one of those kids you see in Walmart who's wearing a tutu, cowboy boots, fairy wings, and a wooly hat. She loves her robe that Auntie Liza brought back from Uzbekistan (thanks Farida!) and insisted on wearing it with the biker boots that Amy brought over today. (BTW, those kids in the pic belong to Amy. She ha...

Hey, just wanted to post some new pics of Nandini that we took this afternoon. My luggage finally arrived - with my camera. Yea! So, we've been snapping away. Will try to update with a proper post later on tonight. I am still reeling from jet lag and that darn stomach virus I caught. My mom has it, too, and we think it might be the fountain drinks we had at the McDonald's in Karol Baugh a few hours before we boarded the plane. We were so good about not drinking the water... it didn't occur to us at the time that the fountain drinks are made with the local water. But let me tell you, the Paneer Salsa Wrap they had was the best thing I've ever eaten. I might start a petition to get the U.S. McDonald's to start putting it on their menu. :-) Nandini's taking a nap. Her sleeping patterns are so messed up. She went to bed at 1:00am last night and woke up at 5:00. For a child that spent three years learning how to put herself to sleep on her own, she sure has gotten us...

Sorry for the photo quality. I have no idea what happened. We tried every single setting, but they all came out blurry. When we got home, Sim said, "So... did you try cleaning the lense?" Hmmm, maybe that was it! Now, we have a bunch of blurry photos because we weren't smart enough to wipe off the lense. But I'll post them anyway. Leslie

We're home!! Well, we're at my mom's house - but we're headed to our place in a few hours. We managed to get through the maze of both the New Delhi International Airport and the atrocious Charles De Gualle airport. I am never, ever, ever, ever, ever, going to fly through CDG again. It's a nightmare - especially if you're flying American Airlines. Speaking of which.... I am never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever flying AA again. I'm not being anti-patriotic by saying that. I just can't stand the airlines. They make international flying so difficult. I understand and appreciate that they are being as thorough as possible with security checks... but we waited in line for over 2 1/2 hours to get through their security. And we were the 4th in line! Can you imagine my mom standing there for 2 1/2 hours with a fussy, impatient baby. And no, I'm not talking about Nandini. She was good as gold. I'm talking about me. I about lost it... nearly becoming an emb...

This is our last day in India. In fact, we leave for the airport in a few hours. Can you believe I'm going to miss it here? I know, I know, I must have a multitude of problems, right? Just a day ago, I was crying and boo-hooing over how I couldn't wait to get home, but now that the day has actually arrived, I'm a little sad. I know part of it has to do with the fact that I dread getting back to my routine - dealing with autism and diets and Eli (oops, did I say that? lol) and temper fits and Walmart. :-) But I'm also going to miss India. I have just gotten used to it and now we have to leave. I wonder if mom and dad will watch the kids for 10 days next year and Sim and I can go on holiday here. That would be really cool - although I have a feeling my parents will say, "no". :-O Or more like, "HECK NO!". We went out today with my friends Sudhir and Kavitha. They're a riot - a lot of fun. Nandini refuses to come to me and Mom had to carry her for ...

Wow, this has been a FANTASTIC day! I'm so sorry for all the doom and gloom of my previous posts. I know it makes for pretty depressing blog reading. But I think it must have gotten a lot of you to pray for us - because today was a complete turnaround! Nandini spent the morning crying, but she perked up as soon as we left the hotel. We finally had another "A-ha!" lightbulb moment when we realized why she hates the hotel so much. She loves the hustle and bustle of India. That's what she's used to - not the quiet room of of just three people. Remember, she shared her room with 22 other kids. She's used to the noise and the sound of the traffic outside. We were gone all day today. We started off at the doctor's office. We went yesterday at 4:00 because it says he's open from 4-6 pm. But he wasn't in and we were told to come back today. So we got there at 9:00 and waited for an hour and 40 minutes. At 10:40 his Mercedes pulled up and he came in. The wh...

I miss the boys so much that I can't stand it! I can only imagine how much their lives are going to be turned upside down when we get back home. All of our lives. It's worth it, of course, but we are SO tired and Nandini is SO fussy and grieving. It's just been really hard. I woke up with a rash all over my chest this morning. Nandini's been itching her hair. We checked for lice, but didn't see anything. I'm praying it's not lice. Can you imagine us doing a lice treatment on the whole family? How on earth would we be able to do that to Noah? The chemicals alone would set him back months. Nandini is still having a very hard time. In my head, I know this is normal and will last months and months, but in my heart, I just want it to stop. I want to comfort her and she won't let me. I feel completely helpless here. She just cries and cries. We do get a few smiles every now and then, but then she realizes she's letting her guard down and she puts it right ...

Well, we made it to Delhi. It took us over 2 1/2 hours to get to our hotel. I spoke to a friend of mine in New Delhi and he said the area we're staying in is the most congested area of all New Delhi. Good for cheap shopping, but even he said he only comes to the Karol Baugh area once a year. The traffic is unreal. 4 lane roads condensed to one lane because people park their cars in the middle of the road. And that one lane is crowded with cars coming both ways... not just cars, but motorcycles, bicycles, cows pulling carts, people pulling carts, people pedaling on bike rickshaws, people walking, cars honking, and stray dogs running across the road. I have never seen anything like it. It is so unreal. Our driver couldn't find our hotel, so he just stopped the car in the middle of the road and left us. Didn't say a word. We had no idea where he was, we were just left in the middle of the road with all these faces staring at us. Finally he came back. I guess the directions he ...

Okay, it's 8:40am on Wednesday morning. We leave for the airport in a little over an hour. I should be up in my room packing, but wanted to nip down to the computer station and send a quick update. Nandini is really sick right now. She's been running over 100 temperature and has a bad cough and cold. We think she has a double ear infection, too, as she's been pulling at her ears and whining. We are REALLY dreading the flight to New Delhi. Fortunately, it's only 2 hours. Now, if the ear infection is not cleared up by our 28 hour journey home on Saturday then I'm thinking that Mom and I might just have to take advantage of the free alcohol they serve on the plane. Just kidding. Well, maybe. Nandini didn't sleep well last nigt. We kept taking turns laying her on our chest and elevating her head. She's so small for a 3 year old. She's tall, but just seems so small. She's got the tiniest little face I've ever seen. She finally went #2 in the potty. Po...