How We're Passing the Time

Photo Courtesy of Happyworker.com

We leave in three weeks and six days!

Oh my gosh. One on hand it seems to be sneaking up on us. I still have so much to do. And on the other hand, really, is it ever going to get here?

Naveen received his travel clearance 10 days ago.

That hurts.

In hindsight, had I known it would've all moved so quickly, I probably would have moved hell or high water to stay in India with him. Of course, there are no guarantees, and had I chosen to stay, there would have been massive delays. Passport Office running out of passports. Or the guy who stamps "date received" would've been on vacation and it would take several weeks for him to get back and no one else in the whole place would be bothered to lift the stamp, press it into the ink, and then stamp the dang paper.

Ah, that was one of the many delays with Noah's paperwork.

Anyway,. what's done is done and the days are slowly passing by. But they are passing, so that's something to be positive about.

I don't have much time to blog this morning, so I'm just going to do some quick bullet points. Sorry for the massively boring blog/rambling/scatterbrained blog post.  But here's what we've been up to and what we've got left to do and just a general update on everything...

1. Our tickets and hotel are booked. Yay! And can I just plug Trip Advisor? I love Trip Advisor. We found our accommodations on there and I'm so excited. I get weird about posting where we're gonna stay ahead of time, but, let me just say that I'm so excited about our place in Delhi. I'll be sure to blog it towards the end of the trip.  Oh, and Howard at Azumano Travel is THE BEST. Love him!! He was super patient with all of our requests and he got us great tickets.

2. Naveen's been cleared for travel. Now we just have to make a gazillion copies of our dossier and all the important paperwork, etc.

3. I have to get Naveen's room ready. He'll be sleeping with us for awhile and then move into the walk-in closet that Nandi slept in for 2 years. That sounds horrible, I know, but it's a 10x10 and it's in our room, and it made Nandi feel really safe. After that... who knows. I don't know where we'll put him when he gets older. He may have to share a room with Eli a few years down the road.  Right now, though, the closet is our junk room and I just keep walking past it with my head down.  Someone come over and help me clean it. Please.

It's awful.

4. A friend gave us a ton of hand-me downs. It's a HUGE blessing. Now I just need to get simple stuff for Naveen... toddler bedding (although I think we'll just use a small, lightweight blanket. It's already summertime in TX and that's what he has at the orphanage.)  Diapers. Toothbrush. Socks.  And lots of little things to pack... lotion for dry skin, a thermos for the airport, coloring books and crayons and playdoh for the hotel. Last night I woke up in a panic. Nail clippers? Do I need to bring nail clippers? I seriously lost an hour of sleep over that one.

In the meantime.....

5. We've been working a lot with Nandi on her reading. Homework is taking at least 2 hours a night with her. She's working so hard, but she still failed reading this past term. It breaks my heart because she started the school reading on a 3 year old level and she's progressed to where she's only 2 points away from reading on-grade level (1st grade), but things just take longer for her to process. She can do it, but on her own time.

Honestly, I want to yell, "She's missing part of her brain, you #%#$#! idiots!!! She's doing GREAT!" but they might ban me from coming into the school if I do that, so I'll just type it instead.

I will say, though, that her teacher is fantastic. She's working so hard with Nandi and I'm going to attach myself to her with a bungee cord and duct tape until she promises to move up to second grade next year and be Nandi's teacher again.

6. We've been working a lot on Eli's behavior. I know I don't post much about the kids on here anymore because they're school age and I need to protect their privacy, but geez... I need some help. Eli is a TERRIFIC kid... to everyone but me. He finally admitted yesterday that he takes it all out on me because he has so much anger and he gets frustrated and he needs to take it out on someone,  and I'm his emotional punching bag.

Ah, how sweet. Should I be flattered?

Any suggestions on how to direct his frustration and anger somewhere else? He has no interest in taking any sort of classes. Sports, karate, music lessons have all been vetoed. His only interests are Angry Birds and imaginative play. He truly is a kid who plays with every single toy and stuffed animal in his closet. He's a smart cookie, so all that, "let's have your baby dragon talk to the mommy dragon and tell her what's bothering him" pseudo therapy play quickly turns into a "Hmmm.... what does Mom want to hear?" manipulative emotional toying session.

7. We're working  hard on getting Noah to learn some life skills. He's come so far, but he's still very infantile in so many ways. Right now, we're working on getting him to climb into the van on his own and get into his car seat. Then I help him buckle himself up hand-over-hand. We're also not letting him ride in the cart or his stroller in the store anymore. Its been one month and 3 days! Granted, I've only been to our local Walmart and Dollar Tree. Tomorrow, we head to Dallas and I'm hyperventilating over letting him walk by my side in Whole Foods.

Visions of shelves being emptied onto the floor are dancing in my head...

Yesterday, we had our shopping list and he helped me put the vegetables into the bags and then he put them in the cart. It was a lot of hand-over-hand, but, with practice, he'll get the hang of it. It means a quick 10 minute run to the store turns into a 30 minute run to the store, but he'll get there. We do generate A LOT of stares, especially as Noah walks through the store with his awkward gait and sucks on his fingers.  I nearly showed a particular finger to one vigilant gazer who kept giving me the evil eye, but I thought better of it.

I really should write a post on developing a thick skin. I've done so much better over the last few years, but the stares were out in full force yesterday and I did find myself tearing up at one point. It kinda hurts my momma heart that people are judging Noah just based on his appearance and behavior, and they have no idea what an amazing blessing he is to all of us.

8. We are doing the Paleo diet. Oh my gosh, this former card-carrying PETA member is about to die with all the meat I've been buying lately, but the Paleo diet is one step closer to the diet Noah needs to be on (noharmfoundation.org), so we're slowly easing into it.

If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you know that I have started and stopped Noah's diets over and over again. I usually last one month and then I get burned out. So this time around, we realized that we need to get the whole family involved.

a) You should've heard the scream of protests coming out of my younger two. And my husband. But the rule is that, although we won't bring any gluten or contraband items (I'm talking to you, Angry Bird gummies!) into the house, the kids and Sim can eat what they want at school or work or Nonna's house.

b) There will be no fast food. And, did you know, it's been one month and 3 days since I've driven through McDonald's? This is huge for me. Massive. I *think* I have officially kicked my Caramel Mocha habit!

c) We have to stick with it because, not only does it help Noah, but Naveen needs to be on a kidney-friendly diet (we have to ease off the meat) and fast food is loaded with sodium.  Plus, I can't tolerate gluten (my headaches are GONE!) and Sim's arthritis has eased up since he's gone off nightshades. Score!

d) It's expensive. Oh.My.Stars.  It would be so much cheaper to just buy two one dollar boxes of Hamburger Helper with some cheap ground beef and be done with it.  As it is, we can easily go through two cauliflowers and a dozen or more eggs a day. So, this last month has basically been about learning how to cook this way, learning what foods the kids will eat and what foods they won't, and trying to figure out a way to eat healthy on a budget. Our food budget is $100 a week and I dread to think what's going to happen when we have four teenagers in the house.

Anyway, so with the diet and the homework and the behavior and Noah's lifeskills (and his exercises and schooling (by the way, he spelled to me that " (emperor Nero was) A  I-D-I-O-T" lol), and getting everything ready for Naveen, things have been super busy.

But, for some reason, it also seems to be moving at a snail's pace.

I just have to tell myself that in 6 weeks from now, I'll be home and we'll be adjusting to our new normal.

And I absolutely, positively, 100% can't wait!