Ecuador Day 5

Here we are. Day five! Today was rather low-key. Flor was supposed to arrive at our house at 8:30 am, but in true Ecuador fashion, she and Pamela arrived at 11 am instead. Pamela was supposed to bring some documents for us to sign, but the social worker (who had the documents) didn't come to work today, so no documents. We will sign them on Monday. Pamela is going to check in with us by phone tomorrow and Sunday and then come visit on Monday.

Flor arrived with the clothes she was wearing, plus the teddy bear we brought her. We plan on washing her clothes and sending them back to the orphanage for other children to use since they all share. Good thing my sister was kind enough to buy Flor an entire wardrobe! She will be set.

After Pamela left, we fed the kids lunch. We fed Flor some pasta without sauce (not on the list either way...so not entirely sure if she can have that...but it's hard to say, really. She can have white rice but not white bread. It makes no sense.) She also had some bread and some cheddar cheese. She certainly thought the cheese was different! She'll have to get accustomed to that. She didn't seem to care for the pasta as much, but that did not stop her from shoveling it in.

Next was nap-time. Flor went into our bed since we didn't think it was a good idea to put her and Hallie in the same room for naps. She and Hallie both slept for about 2 hours! WAHOO. Bonus, since Hallie never naps!

Devin and I have decided that we are going to either get really fat here or really skinny. One or the other...we had a lot of down time with nothing to do while the kids slept. We cleaned the entire apartment in about 10 minutes. So, in order to fill the time, we snacked a lot. :) We brought a lot of snacks with us from the US, which we have been eating. We also brought about 10 boxes worth of oatmeal packets for the kids to eat for breakfast. Our snacks probably won't last us long at this rate! On the other hand, we are four floors up, and let me tell you, hauling three children (two of whom do not do stairs on their own), a double stroller (which we are basically taking everywhere we go), two bags, and whatever we happened to have bought (if we have been to one of the maxi's, which tends to be a daily thing at this point since we keep finding new things we need) may just make us lose some lbs. Hopefully not in Devin's case! He can't spare any.

After naps, we walked to the mega maxi and purchased an air mattress for Flor (the bed Hallie is in is too small for them to share), some bedding for her, and some more groceries. I could tell the whole trip was a bit overwhelming to Flor; I am not sure she has ever had an experience like that. She was looking around wide eyed at everyone and everything. Probably over stimulated her. We walked home (uphill), with Jace in the stroller and the rest weighed down with our purchases. We have to buy all of our water here too, since the tap water is unhealthy (I learned that the hard way my first time here-- never been so sick in my life!), so hauling the huge things of water, plus our groceries, other purchases, etc. in the stroller is great fun. That meant that Hallie and Flor had to walk. Flor is really good with her walking, but she is still somewhat unstable. She has only been walking for six months, so it is quite impressive that she made it all that way.

After 4 trips up and down the stairs to get everyone and everything in, we decided to let Flor watch a movie while Jace napped and Hallie and Devin went to a local bakery for some bread. I enjoyed this time with Flor alone as she has been much closer to Devin. She still prefers him and responds much better to him than she does to me. For example, while walking, she would want to quit (she thinks its a game, she will kneel down on the ground and laugh), and Devin can get her up and going again really easily. Me, not so much. She still would just sit there. When we started the movie, she wanted Devin to sit next to her and then laid her head on his lap. She is really taken with him! This does not make me feel bad at all; in fact, it's the exact opposite. I am so elated that they have a good relationship. He is so great with her and honestly, it makes my love for him deepen. He is such a great man, that husband of mine. I am so blessed.

Dinner was rice, chicken, and vegetables with a roll and yogurt to drink (yes, the yogurt is rather liquidy...but it is one thing here that is SOO good. We love it!) Right up Flor's alley. We might be eating like that all weekend, because I lost the list of the things that Flor can and can't have. Shoot. But I do remember a few things she can have: rice, meat, eggs, cheese, whole wheat bread, and vegetables. So we will stick with those until we see Pamela again Monday. A few things she can't have that I remember: sweets, tomatoes, jam, white bread, hot dogs, oranges, bananas. (oh but limes are on the list that she can have. Huh?)

My cousin Shawna asked what we have been eating. A lot of rice, eggs, cheese, bread, and yogurt. Those are pretty consistent so far. We have had the pasta one time and it wasn't so great...so we might not do that again. We still need to find a big fruit and vegetable market to get those since the ones in the store are expensive. I remember going when I was here with OSSO and the stuff is very cheap, but i can't remember where it is, so we need to figure that out.

Dinner was chaotic!! Let's just say that we are going to need to clean the floor and the table thoroughly after every meal. Flor is not the most well-mannered eater I have ever seen. We will have to try to work on that with her. Between her and Jace, we had food from here to China.

Bed time was rough. I know there are many more rough times ahead, but this was the first of many. Hallie freaked out when Flor came into her room. We put Flor on the air mattress, but I don't think she knew what it was, so she climbed up onto the bed with Hallie. Hallie then threw a colossal fit because she didn't want Flor in her bed. All three kids were screaming at once, and oh, it was great fun. I laid down with Hallie for a while to calm her down. I know she is going through a lot and this is a hard adjustment for her, so we are trying to pay particular attention to her and her needs. However, she also has to learn that Flor is here to stay and that she needs to be treated with respect and love. She made Flor feel bad, so she started crying. I also think that Flor was probably confused as this is the first time she has ever spent a night away from the only home she has known- the orphanage. Her crying was so sad. It broke my heart. Devin got Jace into bed and then
calmed Flor down. He laid with her while I laid with Hallie, but as soon as we left the room, Flor climbed back up into the bed with Hallie, and that's how they are. Hallie on one end, Flor on the other. Different arrangements will be made tomorrow from here on out. We think we will put the air mattress in our room and have Hallie sleep on it and then have Flor in the bed in the girls' room. Jace has been in our room, but he will go in with Flor as it is a big room and we don't think they will bug each other as much as Hallie and Flor. I know we just got here and we have a lot ahead, but I think by the time we get home, things will hopefully be better. We will know Flor better, what she likes, what she doesn't like, how to keep her occupied, etc. and we will have our own space, more room, and each girl will have their own (identical) bed.

Anyway, enough of the spiel. I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve. What the heck? It doesn't seem like Christmas at all. I am also trying not to think about it too much because when I do, I get sad thinking about missing Christmas at home. I know we are here at the right time and doing the right thing, but it is still hard to think about the festivities there. We have Christmas dinner planned with three other adopting families here in Quito and we are looking forward to that.

On the walk home from the MegaMaxi. Flor's pants are about 3 sizes too big--don't worry about that. The orphanage dresses the kids really cute, though, as you can see!

The front view of the loaded down stroller once we got home. And, poor me, I had to push that thing clear up a steep hill. It was rough. Oh, and the people think we are nuts dressing Jace in such little clothing. We all have sunburns if that tells you how hot it has been...

I thought some people might want to see where we are staying. This is the building and we are at the top on the back side. We are one block from the Olympic Soccer stadium one one side and one block from a main road in Quito, Eloy Alfaro, on the other side.

The view outside our kitchen window. We have large glass windows and I could stand there for hours just looking at the view. I love it. You can see the stadium on the left.

A zoomed in shot, over the top of the soccer stadium. You can see the MegaMaxi on the left. This is the same MegaMaxi that I frequented as a volunteer with OSSO. I can finally orient myself as to where exactly we are in this giant city! The house I stayed with with OSSO is just south on the same road that the MegaMaxi is on, maybe a few miles? It is near there where we will go to Church as well.

It's also fun to watch the planes fly in all day. We can see them really well right out the window. They all come in this direction. Quito is kind of funny in that the airport is like right in the middle of the city. Seems a little dangerous to me, with all the high rise buildings and such, but hey, I've never heard of a plane crash here, so...?

Alright, that's it for now. Merry Christmas Eve to everyone. We will be thinking of you and missing everyone during these next few days.