Friday, March 15th

Nights of not sleeping well are taking their toll.
It's impossible for me to sleep long anyway with a torn labrum in my hip,
but the springs sticking directly into my body are not making it easier.

Eric and I both are a bit tense and overstimulated today.

When the boys aren't in school, they are ALL at our cottage,
and as you might imagine,
they are not used to a lot of discipline while away from the nuns.

Samuel (quiet, cuddly and another child with Sr. Simone) likes to try and be the boss.
Along with Michel, Jed (wow, the lungs on that boy!) and Dimitry,
they make a lot of noise.

The camera only catches the calmer moments!

Grant is looking a bit rough with circles under his eyes, but Mr. Do Not Get My Hands Dirty is playing with the dirt with everyone else and having a ball.

He's even picking up a bit of Creole :)


Eric is craving ice cream, and Grant has mentioned McDonald's more than once today,but mama is only missing one thing:

We are all organized and packed to leave tomorrow,
which means we are going to have to talk with Dimitry soon.

Eric thinks it is best to say our goodbyes here as the separation at the airport was difficult last time.

We had a bit of a break from each other today.

Dimitry may be tired of hearing "no,"
primarily about the Nintendo DSi and Gameboy only being for him and Grant in the cottage,
not when other boys are around.

He headed to the orphanage for a while with Davidson and Jeb, and was a bit standoff-ish when he returned an hour or so later.
That is, until Samuel wanted to be loved on and came over to sit in my lap.

Dimitry wasn't territorial, but the second Sam got up to get a toy,
he took his place,
where we rocked and I loved on him,
and whispered in his ear how much we love him and wish we could bring him home.

I am not looking forward to tomorrow's goodbye.

I will miss seeing little brown faces, with a single peach one in the middle, at mealtimes.
I will miss his laughter and his sweetness.
I may even miss the hilarious way they all line up,
Grant included,
to pee off the sidewalk together.

Grant and Dimmy took their first shower together this evening.

What a riot!!

Combine two naked ham bones and some very cold water and the comedy comes naturally.

I tried to prep Grant that some of their parts won't look alike . . .

What a fool I am.

He said (afterwards), "Mom, he's just a different color than me."

Um, okay.

That other issue will wait for later then.