The Richardsons

Last night I was going to the bathroom when all three kids started banging on the door, yelling Mo- mmm -- ee . They were yelling crying, throwing fits when Scott came over and said, "what's going on?" Abegail replied, Mommy in there. Scott said, yea, so. She in there! She in there! Scott calmly replied, she's going to the bathroom. They looked at him like yea, so? He continued, do you think she wants to be bothered now? None of them understood. Of all the things African children who are adopted need, the greatest is love and constant attention and if you're a four year old boy to be held all the time except for when you are taking off your clothes to poop. Sorry to be so blunt, but I have never cleaned up so much poop since my new children arrived and still I cannot get a stool sample for the doctor. What is wrong with this picture? Annie got sent home from daycare because of bathroom issues today. What is a mother to do? I have learned more abou...

If you come to our house you are likely to see Annie with a princess dress on, her Cinderella slippers and a variety of accessories with her saying, I want to be a princess. E-man will be climbing on something, saying he has to go pee pee or trying to drive the car and Abegail will be playing a practical joke on someone or imitating how they whine. The kids are so different and yet they all enjoy each other so much. Abegail : The other day we were talking about adoption and how you may not look like your family and I asked her, "do you think people know you are adopted when you are with Daddy and me?" And she said Yes. I said how? She said we are black. I said, "what color am I?" She said pink. Abegail is so athletic, she can already swim a few strokes by herself. This from the girl who had never worn a swimsuit before. She always wants to run with me and not just around the block, she wants to go the whole time. I told her she is going to go to the Oly...

Sue returned to work today at WCCO and the kids just loved watching her on the noon show today. Sue typically works 4:30am to 12:30. But getting up at 5am to watch her just isn't in our list of things to do yet!! On her first day back, Sue did a "hot weather" story. It was a nice surprise for us when Sue got to work this morning to find out that her co-workers had all gotten together and bought us a gift card for over $500. What a nice gesture!

We are home! We are never leaving the house again (at least not until all the kids can carry their own suitcases) ! It's great to be back home. Now to get into a routine a become a real family. I'm back to work Wednesday already...3:30 a.m. will come quick. Abegail is proving to be our practical joker. She also fulfills her role as big sister well, trying to push the buttons of the little people. It can be pretty funny (to us not the siblings). This post is ending now because bathroom crisis number 45 is brewing. 1. At the Zoo on a dolphin (not real) 2. The first people who came to America came on this boat - The Mayflower 3. Happy 40th Anniversary Mom and Dad 4. Best Buds and cousins at the beach 5. Baseball shirts for Team Turner 40 6. Craft time put on by Auntie Carrie 7. More zoo photos in front of the big turtles 8. That's a cow???

The initiation is over, now we can move on with life!

We are so happy to have photos of our FULL family. We took these last night at sunset in Cape Cod. E-man had a better day today, knock on wood. Still naughty but NO temper tantrums. Hopefully we are making progress, just in time to fly home!

Going from one to three kids has been quite the adjustment for Scott and me. We are so outnumbered! Our days are full of refereeing, wiping up spills, and ruling whose turn it is to be carried. Everyone told us having two or three children is way different than having just one, but there is no way to know that until you are in a constant string of fulfilling needs. I don't think it would be exaggerating to say Scott and I feel overwhelmed most of the time. Emmanuel has moments where he is so sweet and loves to give tons of kisses and says "I love you" more than any other kid. Perhaps to earn "points" with us? But we are always on guard. Since we have gotten home (a week ago Tues.) he has averaged two fits a day. These fits can last anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours. There's no telling what is going to set him off. Seatbelts are a major cause for meltdowns. He's used to riding in the front seat of a car in someone's lap. Airplane rides result...

If you can believe it, we are traveling again. It is my parents 40th wedding anniversary and a year ago they planned a family trip to Cape Cod. No time like the present to get to know the East Coast. Both Abegail and Emmanuel loved the ocean and the beach. Then Abegail participated in her first baseball game with the family. The traveling has been a bit harder on Emmanuel. We are having a tough time with long out of control temper tantrums that no one can calm him down from. Hoping for a better day today. Abegail has proved to be quite the athlete and really goes with the flow!

You mean it washes the dishes for you???

Here is a portion of the DVD that we will be sending out to anyone who may be interested. Note to Martu and Makie's parents....I misspelled "Makie" a couple times in this video. It will be correct in the final version.

1. Bath Time- We LOVE bath time, but skin gets very dry, doctor recommended Eucerin 2. Nothing like cuddling up to a big truck! Kids nap for several hours in the afternoon, they are exhausted with time change, all new stimulus 3. Emmanuel talked to Gift yesterday he told her he loved his room and asked when she was coming to see him. Unfortunately she lives in PA, but we'll make a reunion happen! 4. We tried to wake Abegail up but she was sleeping, they Abegail and Gift have an appointment to talk tonight. 5. Abegail and Emmanuel met the Peterson clan yesterday, similar ages, instant friends!

For those of you who are traveling, we thought it might be helpful to have a list of the staff members at the house. Sometimes its hard to understand their names, but if you see it written its easier to pronounce 1. Linda-Foster Mom 2. Marie (pronounced Mary) Cook 2. Churuchuma-Foster Mom 3. Jessie-Big Boss! Handles paperwork, used to be Foster Mom and teacher. Loves the kids, the kids love her! 4. Samuel-Driver 5. Evely-Caseworker 6. Patience-Foster Mom 7. Elizabeth-Foster Mom 8. Ophiah-Foster Mom 9. Patricia-Foster Mom 10. Juit-Foster Mom? 11. Princess-Assistant 12. Mark-Housekeeper 13. August-Laundry 14. Saye-Security Guard 15. Atau-Security Guard 16. Abaroth-Field Worker 17. Nadime-Jessie's Right Hand woman, also works with kids

We are home and so happy to be here. We have had a string of visitors and phone calls. The kids have done awesome meeting everyone. They have really made themselves at home. Loving all the toys they have! We are still working on getting them the correct size clothes. Today we went to the doctor and got them checked over. They both are in good shape. We are so fortunate. They got a plethora of shots and blood drawn which didn't go over well with either of them, but they are now resting, so they will be fine I'm sure. We went to the supermarket yesterday. They seem to be taking all the changes in stride. Of course their favorite part was riding in the cart! Emmanuel seems to have calmed down a little. It probably helps we are not on our 50th hour of travel. He only took the bathroom sink apart once and flooded the bathroom and basement once. We are however working on the correct way to water the flowers. (not with your pee pee E-man)! Overall the kids are very r...

Yes, it happened again. Mechanical difficulties kept us overnight in Philly. The good news, this time instead of asking us for money the airline paid for our hotel in New Jersey. The kids were exhausted but hanging in there. I don't know how you are 7, travel 40 hours to several different airports in total culture shock with people you barely know and never complain once, but Abegail managed that yesterday, amazing. As for Eman , while after a lesson about taking things from gift shops and breaking things in stores, we've decided to keep him! Good news, both kids have new philly T-shirts. We are scheduled for a direct flight to MPLS this a.m. We are hopeful!

I already miss all those kids. Parents, you will all be pleased at your children. It's funny just with a glimpse of the albums and then getting to know the kids, God really does pick our kids. Jessie told me every child in the AFAA house right now has a family, except little Emmanuel Tamo, the boy who is disabled. That is great news. Hopefully the next few months will be filled with families picking up their children or welcoming them home. A&E leaving the AFAA house was hard on the children. They had been there over a year. Jessie tried to explain to them their turns would be coming but it is harder to be left than to leave. As excited as you all are for your children, I was surprised that the children are just as excited if not more about their new families. They have such anticipation. They all want to know what state they are going to. I spent a lot of time at the globe showing them where all the states from Kentucky to NY to NJ to MT to UT were. So fun. The other thing tha...

We decided to get to the airport in Monrovia about 4 hours early yesterday. It worked. We made it through immigration, the 3-4 "security" checkpoints, and a couple "E-Man" melt-downs. Yes, "E-Man"...Emmanuel's nickname at the AFAA House and it's quite appropriate. He made a few trips into the ladies' room and mopped the floors with his backside for awhile...BUT WE MADE IT ON THE PLANE!! We're in Brussels now and into the 3rd hour of our 7 hour layover. We'll fly into Philly this afternoon and onto Minneapolis/St. Paul tonight! We're so excited. We're just starting to experience some of the new things Abegail and E-Man will now encounter on a daily basis. The escalator was new! And the "moving walkway" though the airport terminal tripped us up a couple times. Those "Big Planes" out the windows are a huge hit! But hardly enough to hold E-Man's attention for more than a minute or two......and then i...