September

September is already almost over and I've barely blogged at all this month. The big thing that happened is on September 18 we got a new foster placement. A two year old girl I will call M. Things are always crazy and hard that first week. Things are settling down now and it's going well. M is a little cutie and has been pretty easy so far. We are still working through adjustments for all three of the girls but they are adapting to the new situation and Israel is just a little angel baby, same as ever.

M has visits once a week so that means I've been taking the kids to parks while we wait to pick her up. The weather has been perfect for that. I'm not sure what we'll do during visits when it cools down.

We did a "hike" for Leland's work challenge with the kids. We also had a swim party at one of Leland's co-workers pool. The girls loved swimming while I held Israel and watched.

I cut 8 inches off my hair this month. The postpartum hair loss was awful with my long hair. I did learn how to dutch braid so I had to document my last day with long hair here ha.

I have continued to do school everyday with Esther. She is doing really well and starting to sound out words. We do Nature School with Esther and Adele once a week. So far the topics have been seeds, bugs, the autumnal equinox and the harvest moon. They loved the harvest moon week best because we let them stay up to see the moonrise and drank apple cider on a blanket while we waited. The two little ones were in bed and I didn't get any pictures but it was a sweet memory for the four of us to make. 

Esther had her primary program on Sunday. It was adorable. Here is what I posted on Instagram about it. 

Today was our ward's Primary program. Esther did so well. She has had her part memorized for weeks and she did the loudest yell-singing to I am a child of God. 😂 I'm not sure how Leland and I got such an outgoing child but we sure do love her to pieces. ❤

And a real talk post I shared on IG about foster care.  Our little girl "M" has been with us a week now. We are all slowly adjusting to the change. She is a sweet and easy going little girl. She loves toys and our cats. She is probably the easiest out of all of our kids, but man, four little kids is so.hard. I feel like I am needed every second, usually by 3 of them at once, and Esther and Adele have been extra needy because of the change. Leland has been a great help and they all have been sleeping through the night (except Israel) so that's a plus. She will probably be with us until the end of her case, if it ends in reunification or adoption, usually around 12 months. You never know what will happen though in the foster care world. Still we are glad to have her. I know it will get easier with time and I'm hoping I'll be blessed with heaps of patience overnight because I could really use it. 😌🙏 #thisisfostercare

And to note, the next day was so much better! And every day after that has gotten slightly easier. 

Adele loved this baby she got from a thrift store. She named it "Trove" and it has replaced her favorite doll, Mimi. She wakes up at like 6am and starts playing with Trove right away.

They found an apple tree at the park and ate until their little bellies were full of apples. Esther looked like a little Johnny Apple Seed with her overalls, no shoes, and climbing trees to pick apples.

Esther has started to love drawing and it makes me happy. I think working on her handwriting has improved her drawing. I love finding her adorable little pictures around the house. 

And a picture of Esther with Birdie she requested that I take. All of the kids love this cat but especially M. Birdie is her therapy pet and will always cheer her up when she's sad. 

September was a good month and I'm exited for October and all the holidays. I bought all of the kids their Halloween costumes. I'm also super excited for General Conference next weekend. Last conference was kind of a bust because we had a respite placement and the kids were wild and we could barely watch. This time I'm trying to plan lots of acitivties and treats  to keep the kids entertained. Who else is pumped?

Also Adele has been begging to potty train for months now and we are finally letting her try this weekend so wish us luck with that!