Very tired, but thought I would try to post something...

On the days that I run at 5:30 before the girls get up, I am pretty much wiped out by the time the girls get to bed. So I don't have a lot of energy now, but I wanted to send out a quick update.

Things are going well. The girls are responding more and more to our instruction and guidance. Like any 3 and 4 year old, they are pushing boundaries and seeing what they can and cannot get away with. They are very affectionate with us now and are working well with the bedtime and naptime routine. Tonight we took them to Chipotle and ate with David, Courtney, and Isaiah. They were pretty good, but toward the end of our dinner, we could tell that it was time to go. O especially needs to move around a lot, so it is hard for her to sit politely at a table for so long.

Yesterday I was rewarded with a day off from work, so I took the girls to Del Mar to play on the beach. They loved the waves and the sand. They loved the sand a little too much, I think (they had it pretty much everywhere, and even after showering at the beach and when we got back home, there was still sand on their pillows after nap time :) The trip allowed me to give Jenetta a little break. Everything went really well, although it was difficult keeping an eye on two of them regarding the water. O wanted to play in the ocean, but L gets cold very quickly, so she was more interested in digging in the sand. It's tough to deal with that at low tide with only one parent! We had lots of compromise between them, and I ended up just holding L up out of the water while O experienced the waves coming in to her feet. Everything was great until I got back to the truck and realized that I had forgotten to pay the parking meter!!!! Argh!!!

We are excited for the girls to meet some of my family on Friday! My parents are driving down from Redding and they are bringing my sister Jessica and her daughter Priya along as well, so the girls will meet a cousin for the first time. We are really looking forward to the weekend together.

We are noticing many differences between the two girls. They have totally different interests and personalities. Because L is quieter and more thoughtful, it is easy to see how she was labelled the "good one" when O was identified as the "bad girl." We are doing our best to try to help O with the challenges she faces and to make her feel loved just the way she is. But she will need a lot from us and others to overcome some of the things she has been exposed to. And we will need a lot of patience in working with her - she is more than a handful at times!

Thanks for your prayers!