Comfort

After traveling to Houston for Thanksgiving and to Missouri for Christmas, we had noticed that Alexandra was having trouble sleeping through the night again. Most nights she would wake up scared and want to sleep with us. After two weeks of this after Christmas we were beginning to wonder if we were ever going to get our full night's sleep back.

One night as she woke up after only being asleep a couple of hours, she was screaming "Mommy" repeatedly in a terrified tone. I wondered if this was a night terror, but I remembered them with my oldest and knew Alex was too responsive for it to be a terror. Yet, she was crying inconsolably. As I held her I began to ask her what was wrong. She just stared at me with a look that told me she didn't know. I asked her if she missed her care giver in Peru and her friends. With the mention of their names, sobs began to flow out of her and I just held her tightly and cried with her. After about 20 minutes of rocking, crying and holding, we wiped our tears and held each other a bit longer. Alexandra then looked up at me with a peace in her face and said "Yo no scared mommy!" She had been feeling anxious and related that to being scared. I realized what a long process grief can be especially if you can't vocalize or even recognize all those feelings. That night she slept through the night for the first time in weeks and has been more settled ever since.

I share this because I realized Alexandra had feelings she didn't recognize and just needed a good cry with comforting and reassurance from her mother. How often would the anxiety and confusing feelings I feel at times melt away in the arms of my Father. As I seek Him and cry out to Him, allowing His loving arms to hold me and comfort me and letting His Words reassure me, His peace washes all over me. That peace that surpasses all understanding. It was a good reminder for me that night to call upon Him daily despite the business of life, before the results of trying to deal with things on my own turn into unidentified anxiety that affects those around me. I know that God put Alexandra in our family for her to have her forever family, but more and more I realize how much God put her in our family to teach us how He feels about those adopted into His family! Oh the love and acceptance He has for us!

Ceviche

My Peruvian friends will be so proud. For our family Christmas Dinner, we decided to have an international dinner. It ended up being German Roast and Peruvian Seafood Rice and of course ceviche for our appetizer. It was so good and we were so proud. I just had to post a picture. We all remembered just how much we loved ceviche when we went to an authentic Peruvian restaruant, The Lemon Tree, in Houston when we were there for Christmas. Of course it tasted so much better with Inca Cola and Chicha, two things we didn't have here in Alabama. We did find Inca Cola in Houston grocery stores, but of course it is harder to come by here in Alabama. Can't wait until we learn how to make even more yummy Peruvian food!

Snow Play

Oh friends, let me start by apologizing for not updating this more often. There are so many Christmas stories to share, I don't know where to start. We so enjoyed our first Christmas as a family of 6. We headed to Missouri to spend time with Layne's folks and had a great time. The Lord blessed us with waking up to a white Christmas which blessed these Alabama children. It was a toss up as to whether to play in the snow or open presents. (The snow we get in Alabama is gone in an hour or so, so they were worried it would be gone.) Since it was about 18 outside, we talked them in to presents first in hopes that it would warm up.

After presents were done though, we bundled up and headed out (it had warmed up to a balmy 21. Drake, Luke and Grandpa had scouted out a good sledding hill the day before, so we headed there. The first thing Alex wanted to do was make a snow angel, though there really wasn't enough snow for that. After we showed her the sled, she got excited and didn't hold back. She hiked up the hill just like a trooper and slid down on the sled with her brother, screaming "rapido" the whole way down. She was hooked. She loved it and the cold didn't seem to affect her until her glove fell off. Just a minute in that cold and she was done. I am sure her little body had never felt cold like that. We headed back in and enjoyed some HOT chocolate.

All 4 kids had a blast and it was a Christmas Day they won't forget.

Merry Christmas from Alex

This year started out like most- we enjoyed a great Christmas, thanks to all the wonderful people who support New Life Children’s Home in Lima, Peru. Little did I know what awesome changes God had in store for me this year. About a month after my birthday in April, I found out that a family from the United States wanted me to become part of their family. I spent the next few weeks looking at the pictures they sent and wondering what they would be like. Finally, in May, I met my family. Our first meeting was kind of strange. The older two cried a lot, the older girl immediately wanted to fix my hair and the boys just wanted to play ball and wrestle. For the first few days, we spent the days together but I stayed at the orphanage and they went back to their apartment. After four days of visits, I got to go with my family to stay. They had rented a small apartment in Miraflores, the more tourist part of Lima. We spent a lot of time walking around the city seeing the sites and eating churros. The government social worker did visit us a few times to make sure my new family was a good match for me. I made sure to throw a fit and put on my worst behavior during those visits just so she could see how my new mommy handles stress. It seemed like we were in that apartment for a long time, but it was only 3 weeks. My dad and brothers went back to the US first and I went home with my mom and sister a week later. At that point, they didn’t know Spanish and I didn’t speak English. My Papi did try to speak Spanish but didn’t do so well. When Papi and my brothers left Lima to come home, he told me he was going home to eat the family dog, Petey. I was very upset until the translator explained that Papi was going home to feed the dog. I’m still learning English, but I think they gave up on speaking Spanish. After a long plane trip we landed in Miami and I was officially a US citizen (whatever that means).
Since we’ve been home, it has been a wild time. I had instant friends and people who wanted to meet me. I LOVE meeting people and if I can dance for them, even better. My grandparents (all 3 of them) came to visit me. It is so much fun having grandparents. I also got to meet Aunt Jen and Uncle Randy from California and 3 of my cousins; Jessica, Ryan and Jacob. Jessica is my age and we had a blast even though she couldn’t understand me. ( I guess she doesn’t know Spanish either.)
I had never been to the lake before and we took the “bote” out many times during the summer. I loved the water, but Mom kept making me wear my “chompa” so I would be safe. I even tried the innertube with Becca but got very scared when Papi made Becca fly out of the “circleo”. I also loved screaming “Rapido, Becca!” as I watched her at swim meets. I can’t wait until I can swim like that. I absolutely LOVE the water.




This fall I have been learning a lot from my mom. She teaches Luke and me school at home. Luke seems to have gotten more used to me and we have a fun time together, especially if we can be outside. We spent a lot of afternoons at volleyball games and football games where of course I cheered for my sister and brother. My dad even coached Drake’s football team , but Dad has decided not to pursue a coaching career.
Dad is also in school this year and is able to be at home a lot more. He talks about reading a lot of books, but I haven’t seen him do it very much. I have seen him writing a lot of papers at the computer but he always seems to be in pain when doing so.
Just recently I learned about a new holiday and we traveled to Houston to celebrate, by eating a very large chicken and taking long naps. I heard them talking about how thankful they are to God for all the blessings they have, including me and my brothers and sister. We got to stay at Abuelo’s (Grandpa’s) Casa and meet Aunt Susan and Uncle Scott and my cousins, Max and Erik. Erik is 4 also and we had so much fun. He seemed to get tired of me wearing his Superman costume though. We went to the zoo, a science museum and a boardwalk to ride rides and watch the boats. The train ride was my favorite! I wasn’t so fond of the 11 hour car ride to get there, but Mom said I did great.
It seems like now, everywhere I look I see Navidad decorations and I am getting very excited. Mom says we even get to put up a tree in our house. I hear them talking about another car trip to Missouri to see Grandma and Grandpa to celebrate Christmas. They seem very excited to have me with them now and I see Mom get teary eyed a lot as she shares the story of how God brought me to them. I love my new family mucho and look forward to what is ahead!
It sounds like this summer we will move to a new house and live somewhere new. Where that is, no one knows, but Mom and Dad seem excited about the endless possibilities.
I am very excited about my first Christmas with my family. We all want to wish you a Merry Christmas!
Love,
Alexandra Trosper (for Layne, Debbi. Becca, Drake and Luke)

3 Months Home!

It is so hard to believe we have been home for 3 months now. Exhilirating yet Exhausting would be the title I would have to give this period in our lives. Alexandra brings so much energy and joy into our lives, yet there are still a fair share of challenges we face each day. Having the perspective of looking back though, we can see soooo many areas of improvement. Just some milestones that I have just noticed the last 2 weeks:
* we can strap Alex in her carseat and walk around the car without her screaming thinking we left her alone in the car
* I went to Drake's football game and actually held uninterupted conversations while Alexandra was still next to me entertaining herself
* Alex can fall asleep alone and sleep all night long without waking up (it doesn't happen every night, but is getting more and more regular!)
* she is riding her bike with training wheels all by herself
* I caught her correcting herself when she used Spanish instead of English (she isn't speaking only English, but is learning new vocabulary every day!)
* She can understand about 90% of what we tell her
* She is climbing in strangers arms/laps less and less often (good sign)

There is still work to be done and we stil have our fair share of embarrassing moments. Last week when a young man came to our door to offer to give us an estimate on guttering, I politely declined and said thank you. As he was walking away, Alexandra shouted "Thank You....I love you!" The look on his face as he turned around was priceless. Once again (I have this thought at least once a day) I thought, "Should I explain to him? Nah! Too hard, we'll just give him a good story to tell!"

She is getting to attend her fair share of sporting events with Becca's volleyball games and Drake's football games. She has become very popular with the kids at school and they love to try to figure out what she is saying. She has figured out how to yell "Go Panthers!" and loves to watch Drake "go boom" on the football field. (I don't like that quite as much!) We are having a good time working on English and school readiness stuff at home while Luke is here schooling 2nd grade. She and Luke have been able to form more of a bond being home together and my heart skipped a beat the day Luke walked over to her and asked her if he could help her learn her colors. He is slowly relinquishing the "baby" role in the family.

Alexandra is still incredibly active and strong and one of her favorite activities is playing "horsey" with her brothers, which usually turns into a wrestling match. She has gotten to spend time with her grandparents when they were here in August and thinks "Abuelo and Abuela" are quite fun. As her other "Abuelo" giggled at everything she did, she realized she had him wrapped around her little finger already.

After 3 months, she is very much a part of our family. We can't imagine what it would be like without her and know our lives will never go back to being the same. There are still so many experiences we look forward to with her and love watching God's hand working day after day!

Back to School!

Wow is all I can say!

School has started here in Alabama and we are at it full force. Becca is playing volleyball for the school and Drake is playing pee wee football for the school (Layne is coaching), and I am homeschooling Luke and Alexandra. Our days are full. It has been quite a transisiton from lazy days where no one but Alex needed much of me, to days where I need to spend time with Luke and shuffle kids to activities. I would love to say it has all gone smoothly, but this week we have noticed a bit of regression in Alexandra. Everything she is doing points to needing more attention though, so I am trying to carve out time for more one on one with her as well as teaching her she CAN do things on her own. She did a funny thing yesterday that just screamed "I want to know you see that I need you!" While I was cooking dinner, she went on the patio and shut the door. She started banging on the door like she was locked out, then when it pushed open she pulled it shut again and continued yelling. After a few minutes of this (I was in the middle of cutting raw chicken and could see she was fine and could come in at any time) Luke couldn't take anymore and went to open the door, thinking she really was locked out. She yelled at him and pushed him away and shut the door again and began yelling for me again. It was at this point, I knew the game and knew she needed to know I wanted to help her. It is funny now, but was exhausting yesterday!

The English continues to get better and better and there isn't much she doesn't understand us saying. She still uses a mixture, but wants to say the English words and made the 'f' sound today for the first time. Her newest phrase is "I lub you mucho!" It makes our hearts melt every time! We will do an audiology test to make sure her hearing is ok, but she has some fluid on the ear that we need to dry up before the test so we will have accurate results. (I think we have spent too much time in the pool and in the lake this summer!)

Alex is loving 'school at the house' as she calls it in spanish and loves to do worksheets and cut and glue. Luke is great with wanting to encourage her and help her and I can already see her picking up some of those school readiness skills. Luke is easy to teach as well as he just soaks it all up. The only problem with him will be keeping up with him as he wants to dig deeper and do projects for every subject. (One of the main reasons I am homeschooling him) She is having trouble understanding why we have to wait in line to pick up Drake after school and why we can't 'vamos'! The same goes for when we are driving. When we stop at a red light, she wants us to keep going. We try to explain about the lights, but she grows very impatient! I am guessing she spent enough time driving around in Peru to think no one follows the signs or stops for anything. (ha ha...sorry my Peruvian friends, but you know you all drive CRAZY!)

Becca and Drake continue to wow their friends with their spanish skills and leave everyone wondering what they really said. I wish I could be afly on the wall at school some days...then, on the other hand, maybe not!

Becca is officially in high school now and is loving it, yet is bummed that her summer birthday will make her the last of her class mates to get her driving permit. Layne and I are just fine with that though.

Drake is in 6th grade and is enjoying being the oldest class on the hall this year. They are growing up way too fast!

I know it will be a good school year and the time will fly. It will take being very intentional to stay focused on what is really important and to keep priorities in order. Hope everyone else has a great start to their school year as well!

Where does the time go?

It is hard to believe it is already August. School starts in 2 days and the last couple of weeks have flown by. Doctor appointments, swim team, back to school shopping, constant water hose play in the yard. Summer is coming to a close. Alexandra is settling in and is now falling asleep by herself. Staying asleep all night is a different story, but we are taking it one day at a time. We did have her follow up at the International Adoption Clinic this week. Medically she is still great. (Except for the ear infection that we suspected, but weren't sure about because she had no fever and never complained about it...even when I tugged on it. Ouch!) We will continue to work on her speech and school readiness skills. It is interesting, as people have been speaking to her in spanish this week, she looks at me to interpret for her. I think she is losing the spanish as she is understanding more and more of what we are saying. As badly as we wanted her to keep the spanish, we want her to have English more. Language doesn't seem to come quickly for her, so we are praying down the road the Spanish will be easy to pick up again.

Her spirit continues to amaze us as she haa fun with everything. She loves to dance and listen to music. We can get her to do just about anything if we put it to song! More trips on the boat, dressing up to play, play dates with new friends...there is nothing she doesn't like. Ok, so except for going to the doctor, but who does like that? I have posted pics with this entry of her just being Alex. The green dress she is wearing in 2 of them is a Peruvian dress we bought for her in Peru. The pic with Layne is while we are waiting at the International Adoption Clinic in Birmingham.

She has added so much joy to our already crazy, yet joyous lives. Thank you for allowing us to share our joy with you!