Jamie and Kathleen

Kathleen had a chance to hold Jamie for awhile yesterday. She has been having fun helping take care of Jamie. On Sunday, she stood beside the rocking chair and gave me very detailed directions. I reminded her that I had Ian, Isabelle, and Caleb as babies. I said, "Do you think I know how to take care of a baby?" Her answer was an emphatic "No."
She has noticed that Jamie has dark hair and eyes like her, and is very excited about that. She loves picking out Jamie's clothes and she has been very helpful in bringing me things that I need for Jamie.

More Jamie Pictures

Here are some more pictures of Jamie from today. She is really cute. She did pretty well last night, but she doesn't seem to like her crib. Hopefully, she will adjust to it quickly.
She does love to be held, though! Stephen and I took turns on and off last night staying up with her.
This morning we took her to church. We were only about 30 minutes late! I just stayed in the nursery and held her the whole time.
The weather is really nice today. I tried taking her outside, and she seemed to enjoy that. (I was just holding her.) I also tried to take her for a walk in the stroller, and she did not like that. I think that the sun was too bright, and she was too warm. I will have to try it again. I think she will enjoy the motion.

Jamie

These pictures are of Jamie last night after she came to our house. She did not enjoy traveling on the airplane or riding in the car. All of the kids were excited to see her, and I think she was just happy to be done with her traveling.

Update

I haven't posted recently partly because we have been busy, and partly because I didn't take any pictures. Here is what we have been doing:

1. Ian joined the ranks of the sick last Thursday. Fortunately, Stephen had Thursday and Friday off, so he was here to deal with the major issues.

2. We went to Kalispell on Saturday to visit the Orts. Jeff had a surprise party for Emmy while we were there. I got to take Emmy out shopping so that Jeff, Stephen and the eight children could get things ready for the surprise party. It was a 33 1/3 birthday party with a 70's theme. She was really surprised, especially since her birthday is in January.

3. Stephen spoke at the church in Columbia Falls, which went well.

4. A new pediatrician started at the hospital. YEA!!!! This position has been open for a long time, and it is a relief to have someone good there before we leave.

5. No new news on the adoption. We are still trying to find the mother.

6. Tuesday it started raining, then hailing, then snowing. Yes, snowing! It snowed quite a bit. Stephen had to be at a court case in Great Falls, and almost didn't make it home that evening. The snow continued into Wednesday. (I would have taken pictures, but it was too depressing.) The weather also made for some cranky children, who did not want to be cooped up. I was glad when things cleared up yesterday afternoon, and they could go back outside.

7. After traveling the last 3 weekends, we were looking forward to a quiet weekend at home before heading out for more. But this is not to be. We are registered foster parents, and there is a 3 month old who needs a therapeutic foster home. The social workers were having trouble finding a place for her, and Stephen reminded them that we are approved foster parents. She is in a hospital in Denver, and Stephen will be flying down to pick her up today. (Flying to Denver today, and then back home tomorrow.) For now, it will just be for 2 weeks-- more as an Emergency Placement until they can find a more permanent placement for her. If we were going to be in Browning, we would consider doing a longer one. But since we still hope to move sometime this summer, that is not an option.
We still have our crib, a few receiving blankets, and some baby toys. I kept meaning to collect a few baby things just in case we had a baby placed here, but I never did. Now we will just have to wing it.

Anyway, that is what we have been doing. I am going to go drag (I mean take) the kids on a loooooooonnnnnggggg walk before lunch.

Sick Kids

On Tuesday, Caleb started getting sick. He seems to have caught a stomach virus in our traveling. He was very clingy and whiny. This picture is from Wednesday morning. I put him in the rocking chair, and Kathleen brought him lots of toys to keep him happy. They were very cute together.
Last night Kathleen and Isabelle both got sick too. Isabelle is back to normal today, and Kathleen is getting there. So far, Ian has not caught anything. We are supposed to leave for Kalispell tomorrow, and hopefully everyone will be well enough.

Playground

These pictures are from last Friday, when I took the kids to the playground. At the end of the summer last year, maintenance put in a small playground on the opposite side of the hospital. It just takes us a couple of minutes to walk over. When we were ready to leave some of the neighborhood kids decided to go with us. I loaded Caleb and two other small ones into the stroller. (One was a 2 yr-old who was going to follow us anyway. I wasn't sure about taking him without any adults knowing, but we went. It didn't seem to be a problem.) I had my four kids plus four other ones. We were quite a crowd!

My superheroCaleb's "owie"-- He fell while we were in Cut Bank on Friday morning getting hair cuts. It didn't bother him very much, but it looks bad.

This is one of the girls that went with us.

I am constantly telling the kids not to climb on the outside of the equipment, but they find it irresistible. At least we are close to the ER if anyone gets hurt!

Caleb is brave about climbing. He has to keep up with the big kids!

One of our neighbors that we see a lot of in warmer weather.

This is the two year old that went with us. He had shoes when we started, but they were the 7-yr olds. They wouldn't stay on his feet, but he didn't seem to mind being barefooted. This boy makes me nervous, because he is often running around in the street in front of our house. I am afraid he is going to get hit by a car, or something else will happen. It's hard to see that and not be able to do anything about it.

Our time at the playground was cut short when Isabelle decided she had to go to the bathroom. This led Kathleen to declare that she also had to go. What can you do? I gathered up all eight kids and we headed back-- until next time.

Goat Lick

We went to Kalispell this weekend. On the way we stopped at the Goat Lick overlook. We didn'ti see any goats there, but it was a good excuse for the kids to get out and stretch their legs.

Isabelle and Kathleen were a little chilly without their jackets!

I'm not sure what Isabelle is doing in this picture. I promise I didn't pinch her. I think she and Kathleen were fighting over seating arrangements.