Happy Halloween and More...

The Three Little Princesses for Halloween

Maria, Ariana, Chio, cousin Elyn

Hat Day

Our new Bunkbeds (changing table that the kids LOVE playing on)

We had a fun visit from our friends Luis (in the pic) and German Rojas de Panama

Story time with Daddy

Life is good. The girls have all settled in well and seem much more secure and confident. They seem to be fighting less, although I think that has alot to do with Rocio being in school now. Maria and Ariana play better together when it is just the two of them. Maria feels the need to protect Rocio from Ariana when they are all together, even though Rocio is learning to defend herself pretty well on her own. Rocio is at the deaf pre-school 4 times a week and even though school is only four hours long, she has an hour and 15 minute ride each way, so she´s gone 6 and a half hours. It´s weird having her gone so long, but it is also nice to have a calmer home environment.

Rocio

Hmmm...I don´t think sponge rollers are the way to go for Chio

Rocio is learning sign language well. She is such a happier child now that she can express herself. Most of her behavioral problems she had before have resolved themselves with communication. It was so frustrating before, for me, but even more so for her when we couldn´t communicate well. She loves school and the therapies they do with her there. She is scheduled to have the cochlear implant surgery in Feburary. I wish it could be earlier, but the insurance requires that she use the hearing aids for six months, even though she recieves no benefit from them. But in the meantime, we are continuing speach therapy and signing.

Maria

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIA 3 Yrs Old on Sept 30th

Maria is a sweetheart. She is still very motherly to everyone around including to me. She is totally fluent in Spanish and English now, and as fluent as I am in Sign Language. She´s learning her alphabet and numbers in all three languages too. She´s a smarty! Everytime I dress her to go out, she always says, I so cute mom! I so pretty! She´s definately not lacking confidence. She also helps me dress when I am trying on outfits, ¨That cute mom... that not cute... ew, no mom, you not pretty in that¨. She seems to have a good sense of style.

Ariana´s true colors ;)

Princess Ari, not just on Halloween

Ariana. Whew, Ariana is a handful. An adorable one though. She is so curious, loves to tease and is becoming very independent. Her favorite phrase is the two year old classic, ¨I do it¨. She is talking a TON, already forming sentences. She repeats everything that Maria says, and most of what I say. Sometimes I don´t understand what she is saying, but she uses sign language for almost everything also, so it helps me know exactly what she is asking for. Her advances in communication is also helping with her tantrums, but she is still quite dramatic, and uses the other two year old classic of throwing herself on the floor kicking and screaming if I tell her no. Or she stick her finger out at me and say no back. How do you unspoil a spoiled terrible twoer? It´s a good thing she is so irresistable and adorable.

Overall, we are all happy and healthy!

Life Goes On

How can a person feel busy all of the time yet never get much done? Is that typical motherhood?

Our summer was full of doctor's appointments for Rocio trying to get her ready for the cochlear implant surgery. She's had audiologist visits, speech therapy, genetecists, MRI - which showed and underdeveloped pituitary and missing posterior pituitary, leading us to a battery of tests with an endocrinologist. They still don't know why she's deaf, but we know now why she drinks and pees constantly. Because she is missing the post. pit. she is not producing a hormone that helps her retain water in her body (diabetes insipidus), hence peeing a LOT, becoming dehydrated and wanting to drink A LOT. They have started her on hormone therapy to help. She will eventually probably need growth hormone and several other hormones throughout her life. We were hoping to have her surgery in October or November, but our insurance isn't on board yet, so it will probably be closer to November.

Maria will turn three this month. Although she seems like she's turning 6. She is such a little mother. Whenever Ariana does something that Maria views as wrong, she will tell Ari, "Never, never, never" or "Malo, malo, malo" which both have become Ariana's favorite phrases (although she pronounces it "neber, neber"). I've used those phrases ONCE with Maria when she plugged in the clothes iron and started ironing the carpet. I didn't notice until I started smelling smoke. But apparently the phrases stuck with her. I'm glad I didn't say anything stronger.

I went to Ethiopia last month for two weeks and it ended up being really hard on Maria. I guess she felt like she had to take on my role to play referee between Ariana and Chio. She started yelling, hitting, whining, peeing the bed. We are still trying to work through the fall out it created. I was going to try to go back soon (I am helping reorganize a clinic there), but I've decided the price is too high to pay right now. I think my kids are still a little too insecure and too young to understand.

Ariana's vocabulary has exploded recently. She'll pretty much repeat anything Maria says and she calles Chio - Glio, Maria - Mari, Hot - Cali, Nose - Nari, Dora - Dori. Almost everythings seems to end in an "i". She asks for the potty all the time but just plays once she gets there, but I guess it is a start.

They are all a joy. My house is always a disaster. That's life now I guess.

P.S. Morrell Family Updates: Cherish and Kelly will be leaving in two weeks for Ethiopia to pick up their SEVEN new children, along with my Dad and Jana to get their THREE adopted pre-teens. Amy and Travis got remarried on Saturday. Heidi and Mark will be moving to Ethiopia soon. Lots of big changes!!

Cherish meeting her kids for the first time in Ethiopia last month.

My Dad with 5 of the 10 new Morrell additions

What Do Other People Do With Their Kids?

Last month Isaac and I were invited to speak in sacrament meeting. Isaac's brothers were here visiting from Panama and the night before our talks was their last night in Utah. We hosted a little family party here until about one a.m. and put all of the girls on temporary beds in our room since we had a lot of visitors spending the night here. None of them slept well, which ment Isaac and I didn't either. I decided at 2am to write all of my talk down incase I was brain dead for lack of sleep in the morning. At 5 am Isaac got up to take his brother's to the airport and when he got back, all of the girls woke up, so we started getting ready for church extra early.

I knew it would be hard to maintain all three girls reverent while the other was speaking, so I packed the diaper bag with everything I could think of to keep them occupied. Tons of books, toys, sippy cups and treats. I even packed individual cookie and chip bags for each one since they usually fight over who gets to hold it.

As the sacrament was ending, I got out all of the treats and books and passed them out, then tried to sneak up to the podium. Ariana freaked out right of the bat. She started screaming and tried to run after me, so Isaac carried her out into the hall. Of course that made Maria and Rocio cry because now they were alone in the bench. I hadn't even said good morning yet.

There was a wonderful sister behind our pew that moved up to sit with the girls, but because they didn't know her, it didn't really calm them down. I had started my talk, praying they would be okay with the situation, but their cries were just escalating. I probably could have ignored it and kept going, but everyone in the congregation was looking at the girls, so if there was anything inspired in my talk, it was falling on deaf ears. So I stopped the talk and asked the sister to let them come up to the front with me, they usually play very quietly and I figured they would be calmer once they felt a little more secure. I couldn't remember the sister's name though, and she was totally absorbed with the girls, so I was trying to get her attention from the microphone, until I finally asked someone else to tap her and ask her to let the girls come up to me.

Rocio came running up with a big smile and relief all over her face. Maria started up the stairs then turned around to go get her cookies. I continued with my talk. Then Maria and Rocio started fighting behind me over the cookie bag. I decided I would just ignore it and keep going. I saw the bishop trying to referee. The sister that had been sitting with them in the pew came up on the stand and tried to help them share. And then Maria just started yelling, which is so uncharacteristic for her, and I couldn't ignore it anymore. I turned and took the cookie bag, which if I would have been thinking clearly I would have just asked Maria to go down to the diaper bag and get another bag of cookies, which I'm sure she would have done and the problem would be solved. Of course when I took the cookies and told them they needed to sit quietly, they both had meltdowns, so I asked the sister to take them out of the room. She tried to take them both but they were kicking and screaming, so she waived her daughter up to get one, while she took the other one. I've been on the stand about 5 minutes by this point. I was so mortified, but I guess it was a good introduction to the whole family.

I was able to finish my talk in peace, SOOO thankful that I had written it all down, I was pretty scatterbrained after the war over the cookies. I felt like I ended well, and even saw a few weepy people. The funny thing is that my talk was on Faith and Perseverence and the bishop said it would be appropriate to share our personal experiences about our trials, the biggest of which of course was the infertility and adoption experiences. So it was kind of funny at the end saying what a blessing my children were as I was still flushed from embarrassment.

This was the first time Isaac had spoken in sacrament in an English ward, so I wanted to hear it, but I ended up staying with the kids in the nursery room while he spoke. At one point I snuck across the hall and stood in the back of the Gym to listen to him, and suddenly Ariana runs in the chapel door screaming down the aisle towards him. I had to dash through the gym, with my heels clicking the whole way, to grab her before she went up the stairs. I took her back to the nursery and stayed there the rest of the time.

Several people approached me aftewards and said that Isaac did great and our girls are adorable and not to worry about the "scene". Most people said it was either endearing or brought back memories of their own sacrament talk horror stories. I guess it could have been worse, at least none of them started banging on the piano.

Family Picture

After about 150 shots, this is our finalist. We didn't have one, out of all of those, where all three girls were looking forward and/or smiling. Next time we'll pay for someone who has photoshop.

Lake Powell yay!

All of the girls would actually ride on the tube behind the boat with us. They all loved it at first, Maria decided she didn't like it after she saw mom and dad each get dumped (she was in the boat). Rocio actually fell once too. She cried for a while but then got right back on the next time we went out on it. She loved it. She's a good sport. She also spent as much time on the waverunners as possible, with anyone who was willing to take her.

We spent a week in Lake Powell with the Morrell Fam. On our fullest night, we had 26 people on the boat, not including some extended family that were there for dinner and games but didn't stay the night. Half of the number were kids, so it wasn't as relaxing as it used to be. As my sister put it, "vacation for a mom is just a lot more work in a different environment". And that it was. Especially with that much water and that many water loving kids. But we had a great time and are looking forward for the next one. Thanks Grampa and Grama Morrell!

"La Chio"

Rocio, my eldest, after undergoing several tests at Primary Children's Hospital has been pronounced "profoundly deaf in both ears". This news didn't really come as a surprise, just a confirmation of what we already suspected. Although we thought some sounds were getting through, it seems that is not really the case, she is just very smart and adaptive. We are working on Signing Time videos, which all of the kids enjoy and it helps our communcation with Chio so much better. She loves being able to communicate her needs. It also helps a ton with Ariana, instead of her screaming at me for everything she wants, I have her make the sign instead, it is working out great. Maria is quickly becoming tri-lingual. She asks for just about everything in English, Spanish and sign all at once. Candy mom, pastilla (and a finger in her dimple, which is the sign for candy). That is the favorite sign for all three of them, of course.

We are hoping for Cochlear implants for Rocio. So far, she seems to be a good candidate. She had an MRI done at PC on Thursday to make sure she has all of the appropriate ear anatomy, we are still waiting to talk to an audiologist about those results. Hopefully within the next 6 months she can have the surgery, I have heard great things about the implants and there is a good chance she will be able to "hear" and speak normally. If not, well, we are okay with being a tri-lingual family.

New Haircut

Is the fact that my hair gets shorter everytime I cut it indicative that I am getting older? Oh well, I like it (the haircut, not getting older).

WE'RE HOME!! - KINDA

They all LOVE the piano

Temple Square Eva, Maria, Rocio, Ariana

La manzana de Templo

Ari insists on feeding herself these days

Easter dresses, Ari was still in Panama

Bath time at our house in Panama

Bath time at Grandpa and Grandma's house

As many of you already know, we're back! We were finally able to get the necesary paperwork for Ariana to be able to leave Panama. The timing was perfect because the visa that Maria and Rocio had from Ecuador only gave them 30 days to enter the states. I came ahead with them and Isaac and Ariana followed us 2 weeks later. It is such a relief, although bitter-sweet, to close that chapter of our lives. We miss our friends and family from Panama, but thankfully through skype, IM and video-conferencing, we can keep in touch.

We are not in our own home yet, we still have renters there, but we should be able to move back in by mid-June. In the meantime, we have been living at Grandma's house, Cherish's house and my Dad's house in Logan. We stay somewhere for a week or so, then rotate. It's so nice of them to let us invade their spaces, but it will be great when we can have a little more stability for the girls.

All of the girls are thriving. They love having so much interaction with their cousins and other family members. Maria is very quickly becoming bilingual. Alot of her sentences are now a spanglish mix, "donde estan mis shoes, hot afuera, eso es mine", etc. The funny thing is, she has so much interaction with her 2 year old cousin Eva that Eva responds to spanish now too. All of Cherish kids are learning lots of spanish with my girls.

Rocio is eating great! She is like a totally different kid than we picked up back in January. She actually really LIKES to eat now, as long as it is fruit, pasta or drenched in ranch. She actually ate a TON of spinach the other day totally bathed in Ranch dressing. Whatever works and gets the calories in (she had alot of nutritional issues when we first got her). She is also a lot more social than before. She used to have issues with anyone her age, other than Maria, getting near her, touching her or playing in the same area. Now she takes it all in stride. The only person she really has issues with now is Ariana. We are still working on that one.

Ariana is doing great. She is very social, loves playing with her cousins and sisters and is starting to talk a bit. She loves to bug Rocio, I don't think she understands that Rocio hates it, I think she just knows she gets a big reaction out of her, so she does it all the time. She doesnt bug anyone else that persistently. She is a delight, as always, though.

Overall, we are happy, healthy and home!!

BIG NEWS!!

We would like to announce the arrival of two new additions to our family! Rocío Estefania and Maria Esther

A little over a year and a half ago Isaac and I applied for adoption out of the orphanage in Ecuador that we had been spending time at. We knew the process would take about that much time, but we figured it would be perfect timing to finish our nursing programs (which we haven´t done due to our adventures in Panama). In December we recived the long awaited news that the adoption was final. And it came with the surprise that we had been assigned two girls rather than one!

Rocio and Maria grew up together (all two and a half years of their lives) and behave in the orphanage like real sisters. The comittee were convinced that they would do better together than apart. We have known them both for almost two years and are excited to welcome them into our home.

Rocío 3 years old
Rocio just turned three. She is very quiet, unless she is thirsty. She likes to always have a glass of something in her hands and is not okay if she doesn´t. I think it may actually be related to a medical condition. She is very sweet and affectionate with mom or dad and some adults but doesnt really like other kids to touch her. She puts up with Maria´s hugs and kisses but doesn´t really like them or reciprocte them. She likes her space. She plays well with Maria, she has an adorable smile and laugh.

We are happy that our family is growing and that we have been blessed with three beautiful daughters. We are exhausted, and we hope they will start to play nice, but really, what a blessing!

We are still in Panama waiting on paperwork so that Ariana can leave the country. Hopefully we can go home soon.

Maria 2 1/2

Maria is two and a half and is soooo sweet (unless someone has something she wants of course). She has a sweet smile and gives the best hugs and kisses. In fact she is always kissing. My hands, knees, feet, every mirror we pass (reminds my of my sister DeAnna actually). Her favorite words are "mio" - mine, and "no" of course I imagine those are the famouse words of every two year old. She is very affectionate and protective of "Chio" - the nickname she gave to Rocio, and shakes her finger and says "no papá!" to Isaac everytime he is playing rough with Rocio. She stands between Rocio and Ariana everytime Ariana gets close, because Ariana is prone to pinch, claw, bite and pull hair. We are working on that....

Ariana 15 months

Ariana is trying to figure out what happened. We had to leave her in Panama with Isaac´s mom and family for the six week culmination of everything in Ecuador. Then we came home and dropped two dominating sisters on her. She seems very insecure right now and, like I mentioned above, is very physical with the other girls. She wants to be held all the time, I think to mark her territory, and they all get jealous and possessive over my lap. Our first day back from Ecuador, Isaac knelt down and held out is arms to see Ariana walk, yes she started walking while we were gone - sad, and he said "Ariana, walk to Papá" and Maria ran over and yelled "NO! MIO PAPÁ". It all began there...We are hoping they will start to love each other soon. Maria has begun to give Ariana hugs and kisses when she can avoid Ariana´s hands, so most of them come from behind. Ariana has started grabbing Rocio in bear hugs from behind, but for Rocio that is as disturbing as biting her. Any suggestions?

Bathtime - they all love bath time and want to be IN the water but we don´t have a bathtub, so they rotate buckets. Thankfully we have the pool, they spend hours out there but it is always chaos when we make them get out. At least they all agree on that.

The new and improved Yanguez family