Who they are ...

As a quick little update ... I thought I would share what we have learned thus far. The fun, the silly, the quirky, and the frustrating. Parenthood has been nice to Adam and I. We have had our own personal struggles arise and yet, parenthood has been full of grace. We often have to take our own "time outs" and our own "deep breaths" but nothing has been worse than what we could have expected. We try and approach so many things with a different view. Perhaps a view of "What if I was a child in Ghana. What if I had two people telling me how to do something, what to eat, what not to eat, what not to do, how I wear my clothes, how I take a bath, how to write my name, what noise to make and what noise not to make. What if I was trying so so hard and it just wasn't coming natural to me b/c I just wasn't from Ghana?" These are the shoes we try and walk in as we work with Anita and Maxwell. Because, if we're being honest, Anita and Maxwell simply ROCK! They are adjusting amazingly well and love life and love others. So much so that maybe Adam and I continue to place too much expectations b/c they are learning so quickly. We are learning too ... learning to step back and let them be "who they are!"
ANITA is a lively, strong, sensitive 6 yr. old. Her personality is very independent and yet she truly loves her friends, her cousins, and her family. Her smile brightens a room and her singing, well ... it's just "her personal singing."
What we've learned thus far:
- She sings LOUD in the car. Not to any specific tune ... just LOUD!
- If she wants to fall asleep ... she wants the music loud in the car.
- She loves pizza. She loves protein. Carbs simply come and go in her cravings.
- She can be very "drama." We joke that her name is Anita Drama Turner. "Little girl drama" has been aquired quickly.
- She likes to tell us about every single ailment, scratch, itch, bump, "pinning" she has. Parents are the magical doctors, right?
- She's very very smart and yet, doubts herself.
- She moves like a turtle. No really! She is slow! Slow at eating. Slow at dressing. Slow at brushing her teeth. There is no "speed" in her movements.
- She loves to sing "Stuck like glue." It is her favorite song.
- Mommy being even the least bit upset with her will cause a full on crying breakdown. She is very sensitive.
- She's already growing and it scares me. It's only been 11 weeks - can I stop the growth?
- She loves her Grandma, Poppie, Nana, and Grandpa ... she has a sincere love for her closest of family.
- I finally get mommy kisses and a big "I love you" smile at night!
- She's endured more than we may want to know and it reveals itself oh so often w/ the glimpse of her eyes.

MAXWELL is a full of life, solid (heavy), amusing, jokester, 4 yr. old. His personality is silly, joking, cuddly, bossy, and sincerely loving. He doesn't skip a beat and is rarely found not doing anything. He can scan a room faster than any child I've seen. He's our survivor and has done well at it!
What we've learned thus far:
- He can do amazing round offs. No seriously ... really good round offs!
- He WANTS to play football, we get asked every night.
- He can do perfect push ups ... likes to do those in the shower.
- He loves to jump, hop, donkey kick, roll, tumble, flip all across the floor ... just as long as he's MOVING!
- He loves to watch "Ants" (aka "Bug's Life"), Scoobey Doo, Mikey Mouse, Dora, and "Avatar."
- He has a sincere love for animals and it's fun to see. He really does love them.
- He soaks in every word from Daddy (so much more than Mommy.) Daddy is his hero.
- We still "off the light" and "on it" in lieu of "turning them off." LOL.
- He's afraid of the dark even though they had NO electricity in Ghana ... hmmmm...
- Falls asleep almost EVERY car ride he takes!
- Hearing "I love you Mommy" and feeling that little head on my shoulder, from my son is priceless!!!
We love our family. We love our gifts! We thank God for the children he has given us!!! The children they are!

"Minnie Mouse" for Christmas

The stores are quickly gearing up for Christmas! Halloween has come and gone ... who would know we have Thanksgiving in between with all the Christmas decor among us. Anita LOVES the decor ... I mean, REALLY REALLY LOVES the decor. She'll take in a deep breath and say "Oh mommy ... isn't it pretty? You buy me this ..." (as she points to a little little Christmas tree or Christmas bulb.) She really just wants to stand in the isles and stare ... it's all so magical, Mommy loves Christmas too!
Anita and Maxwell know Auntie Gina will be making the house "oh so pretty" for Christmas, I just don't think they really know, just how magical the Acosta-Turner house becomes! They are in for a very fun and magical Christmas as we celebrate Jesus' Birthday. Speaking of Jesus' Birthday ... Anita asks "Mommy, what day Christmas?" "December 25th." "Why?" "Because that is the day Jesus was born and it's His Birthday. Just like you have a Birthday except the whole world gets to celebrate Jesus' Birthday." "Oh ... Mommy Mommy, are we going to go up there (points to heaven) for his Birthday?" Smile with me, because that was priceless!!!
As we were shopping for clothes the other evening, Anita was in awe of the girl Christmas dresses. She really really wants one! She ran up to Adam and I and says "Mommy, I be Minnie Mouse for Christmas!" All I could do is laugh. "Ok mommy? I be Minnie Mouse." "Sweetie, we don't dress up for Christmas like we do Halloween." "But Mommy, come, come look at the pretty dress." As Adam continues to try and reason with her, she continues her heartfelt plea in order to have a dress and says "Ok mommy ... I be Cinderella for Christmas!" Are you laughing with me now? All I can do is smile, ear to ear! If she simply changed the character this would allow the dress purchase to be easier, right? She's not convinced we don't dress in character for Christmas but she is determined to obtain a pretty dress! They continue to fill my heart with joy!

My candy is plenty ... Halloween!

We are fully convinced Anita and Maxwell didn't understand what was going to happen or what the night of Halloween consisted of. We are pretty confident to think, they simply thought they got to wear costumes and we were going to a "partay!" Halloween has been advertised in American stores since the day Anita and Maxwell arrived. We have prepped them in what way we could, introducing them to the fun, the silly, and the scary ... thus, they wouldn't be completely shocked by it all. Costumes were going to be fun! After many explanations and pictures, Anita chose to be a "Fairy." Some days she was going to be "Tinkerbell" and others she was a "Fairy." No matter what, she could "FLY!" Too too cute. After much debate and shopping, I wanted my little man to be a chicken. (Wouldn't he have been the cutest?!?!) But, he was a soldier, and a handsome, cute one at that!! There is something very proud about being a soldier for a little boy, he waited long and hard to wear his outfit and continues to want to wear it everyday!
The days before Halloween were quite the count down. Every morning Anita would wake up and say, "What's today Mommy?" "Wednesday." "Sunday Halloween?" "Yes, Sunday, is Halloween." "Today Sunday?" As I laugh, I would smile and say "No, not yet." When Sunday arrived, they were ecstatic!! Couldn't wait ... As we drove to Grandma's house for Halloween, they just wanted to be in costume, nothing more but that. They got dressed, got their faces painted and we were ready for "Trick or Treating." We let them Trick or Treat at my parents first. They rang the doorbell and sweetly said "Trick or Treat" ... they were given candy and they said "thank you." Simple, right? And off we went to the next house. They repeated house after house. After about 10 houses, Maxwell says "Mommy, where we going?" "To the next house?" "Why, Mommy?" "To Trick or Treat." "But Mommy, my toffee is plenty, PLENTY Mommy." I just smiled ... another one of those sweet, "I love my children smiles." They loved the candy (or "toffee" as they would say) but didn't understand the overabundance of it all. Why were we insistent on making it overflow? Such is America right ... the land of plenty, the land of overabundance. Needless to say, Anita and Maxwell think Halloween will happen again next week and the week after that ... oh my!