Quickest Recap Ever

March - Bam and Hiwot came home.  They acclimated incredibly awesome! Esen had the hardest time with the transition, but now is the greatest big brother on the planet.  He has grown so much over the summer!  Bam and Hiwot are super healthy after being treated for giardia, campy and a having a TB scare.  That's a really looooong story.  Marissa took to her new siblings right away - loving the attention and the added chaos.  We also celebrated Bamlak's FIFTH birthday!

April - We focused on settling in and getting used to being a family.  Esen celebrated his SIXTH birthday.  Yes, seriously, I don't know what happened - he's so.dang.old.!  Bam & Hiwot started attending daycare and absolutely loved it.  Their English really blossomed as did their personalities.

May - I enjoyed my first Mother's Day as Mom to FOUR KIDS!  It was surreal.  The kids continued to learn how to get along with each other and developed great relationships.  We learned a lot about parenting these new, little people and personalities really started to come out!

June - The start of summer brought lots of fun outside activities and.........a trip to Kyrgyzstan for Kevin, myself and Esen!  We spent 2 weeks in Bishkek visiting Kamila on our required bonding trip (i.e., trip 1).  She is incredible and feisty and beautiful and so ready to come home. We celebrated her 4th birthday while we were in country. The trip for Esen could not have come at a better time.  He really needed something that was just for him that didn't involve Bam and Hiwot.  He was so proud to be back in "his country" and handled the travel like a champ!

July - Marissa celebrated her THIRD birthday!  Unbelievable to me that she is already three.  I look back at the past three years and how much she has changed and accomplished and I am truly blown away.  Not to mention the lifetime of lessons she has taught me in the past three years.  July also brought the start of a very difficult time medically for Marissa.  She was admitted to the hospital on 7/17 and with the exception of a couple of very short trips home, remains hospitalized.  More on that in detail in later posts.

August - School preparations for all four kids combined with Marissa being in the hospital monopolized most of August.

September - School started - Early Childhood, 4K, Kindergarten and First Grade - geez!! Unfortunately, Marissa didn't start with her EC class and who knows when she will, but the others did start school on schedule and are loving it so far. 

 

That brings us up to date, in a nutshell.  I'll try to elaborate on each kiddo more and get caught up, but at least you know a little of what we've been up to.