A New Beginning

I am going to make a conscious effort to begin blogging again. While I may never "get it published" like I had dreamed, it has served as a wonderful/useful reference for my memory and for photos when I need something permanent.

It seems that my life has been taken over by so much technology that I have got to begin cutting something, though. I have a Nook Color to "read" on but I can also browse the internet and check my email. It has a dozen or so apps that Ellie loves to play with, including, puzzles, read-to-me books and a paper doll app. I find pretty much all my reading materials and apps for FREE on Facebook from a page called Cheap e-books. Now, they aren't "first run" material, but I've never been one to base a book on popularity, but more often on content. So far, I have been pleasantly surprised with all the free books I've managed to accumulate. Kevin also has a Nook Color and I passed my regular Nook down to Josh in hopes he'll be able to use it for school reading. So far, however, he still prefers paper books to e-books. There is something to be sad for the "feel" of a real book, though -- something I may never fully get over in my transition to ebooks.

I also recently purchased an Iphone. WOW. It has ALL kinds of "gadgets" and "toys" on it that I never knew I needed!! I have an app, I think, to tell me when it's time to do laundry -- crazy. (Yes, that is a joke). I know when it's time to do laundry when we can't walk through the house.

The Iphone even has a Netflix app that allows Ellie to watch her "kiddie" shows when we are on the road.

And tomorrow is the three year anniversary of bringing Ellie home from Kyrgyzstan. Today we experience another sweet moment in her discovery of how she came to be a part of our family. She had a blanket that was Josh's when he was a baby. She asked, "Was this Josh's when he was in the orphanage." I was a little stumped. I told her that no, Josh didn't live in an orphanage. She asked where he lived. I told her he grew in my tummy and was born in a hospital. She didn't miss a beat when she said, "Oh, so this is his blanket from the hospital." We talked last week (on the day we picked her up) about her living in and leaving the orphanage. She took it with a grain of salt. I know it's early, but I want it to always be the story she remembers -- not something new and surprising for her one day.

I can't believe it's been three years. This December, our dossier will have been in China for five years. I am sending a letter soon to pull our dossier. We are done. Our family is very much complete. We have two children with very large personalities that require lots of energy. We only have so much energy - ha! So, we continue to support other families who are trying to adopt in whatever manner we can. We continue to pray for the Kyrgyz 65 -- 65 children who were matched and ready to come home when Ellie did, but due to bureaucratic "stuff" (yes, I have another word for it), they are still stuck in orphanages. It could have been my child. I wonder regularly why it wasn't mine. I have high hopes that they will be coming home very, very soon.

Ellie has developed into a girl who moves a lot, sleeps a little, talks NON-STOP (seriously, non-stop), can take apart a room in 10 seconds flat, loves scissors (which is why she cut her hair a few months back), art supplies/crafts, has to constantly be touching me. She wants to sit on me, sleep with me, hold my hand -- it's very, very sweet, but sometimes exhausting too.

She LOVES preschool. She asks everyday where she is going that day and when it's preschool days she gets so excited. I am glad one of my kids is in love with school.

Speaking of Josh, he will likely be changing school after Christmas. We have talked about changing him when he starts high school and had visited several schools. We have finally made a decision and decided to go ahead and let him move sooner so he will have time to adjust academically before he begins football in the spring/fall. We are hopeful that this will be a change that will benefit his life. We are entering the critical, important phase of his life where decisions will affect the rest of his life. I can't believe he will be 14 in less than a month. He has grown taller, his voice has deepened and he can, on occassion, have a "real" conversation. :-) He is a great "fix-it" guy and is my go-to guy for technology when I can't quite figure it out.

Kevin has a new job, working from a home office. While it's a blessing to not have the gas expense, sometimes we step on each other's toes trying to both work from home. We try really hard to schedule our days in the field on opposite days so we can each have a quiet work from home day.

I started a photography business back at the beginning of the year, Maria Latham Photography. I had planned to spend a year in growth, development and discovery. Shockingly, that year is almost over. It has been such a great year and I am excited about what is to come in the future. It is the thing I am passionate about. I love capturing moments in people's lives. It allows me to work the creative side of my brain.

So, that's pretty much all that is exciting around our house right now -- all in all it sounds pretty dull, but it's our life.

Hoping to do better with the blogging -- including some updated photos.