We're Adjusting

All I can say is I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to write another post. Last week was a blur as we recovered from jet lag, helped Katie with her sleeping, got the boys off to school every day, and slept whenever we could (which is why I haven't written for so long).

Things are slowly getting into a nice routine, and we are feeling much better. Katie didn't eat much the first few days we were home, but starting last Wednesday, she's been eating much better. Some meals, I'm shocked that she can eat so much. Isn't your stomach about the size of your fist? You may remember that her sleeping was a bit off, and it got worse before it got better. Wednesday and Thursday nights were really tough with at least 30 minutes of screaming each night at bedtime with more crying and/or screaming during the night. We felt bad for the boys, but they said they never heard her (thank God for small favors). She would be this sweet little angel all day, and then the minute we would walk into her room to put on her pajamas, the screaming would start. Then Friday night, Steve got her to bed relatively calmly, and at 9:45 she started screaming, fussing, crying, etc. and writhing in the bed as though she were in pain. Nothing we said had any affect on her, and then we noticed something. Her eyes were shut the entire time. She was having night terrors! We were certain of it, and that explained so much. Because of the night terrors she was afraid to go to sleep, and that's why she would scream at bedtime; she knew what was going to happen. It reminded me of that movie, "Nightmare on Elm Street."

While it was nice knowing why she was having trouble, it didn't provide any solutions. The only solution I know for night terrors is time, and it was breaking my heart to see her so miserable. Part of me felt just horrible because she never had night terrors while we were in Russia; they didn't happen until we got to America. I wondered if we caused this. Is this change just too much for her? Alex had night terrors just 2 times - once each of his first 2 nights in America, and they weren't bad at all. Katie, though, was struggling. However, the rest of Friday night, she slept pretty well. She made a few noises during the night, and she got up once, but it was much better than the previous 2 nights. Steve was developing a nice bedtime routine with her so we have continued with that, and Saturday night and last night she went to bed calmly and stayed asleep all night. She's not at all happy about going to bed, but she's doing better.

Soooo, Katie is sleeping better, we're sleeping better, and I'm finally over the jet lag. Steve went back to work today, and the boys are in school, so Katie and I have begun running the errands and working on the To-Do list that has built up over the last 3 weeks. I was hoping to be caught up with life by the end of last week, but my new goal is in 2 weeks since we're going out of town Labor Day weekend.

As summer winds down to a close, I hope all of you had a good one. My summer was wonderful in that we have our daughter, but on the other hand, I don't feel as though I really had a summer. I'm looking forward to a delightful fall!