So, I'm back!  I hadn't really gone anywhere, but since I had so much trouble with my blog, I decided to scrap it, and try again with a new one.  The old one is still there, if you want to read about our adoption adventure to a certain Eastern European country.

There's an old saying, "the more things change, the more they stay the same."  I'm not sure what the author meant by that, but in my case, it's like deja vu, going back to the old days of having toddlers, and all that it means.  I'm sometimes more patient, just as lazy as before, and in some ways more motivated, and in some ways, less.

Our little trio is so much fun (and work!)

Our new kids are a blessing, a handful, and are going to either keep us young, or wear us out early.  I guess I can't say early, since we're facing the big 5-0.  (I always used to think I was destined to die young... guess I dodged that bullet!)  Anyway, they're amazing, and amusing, and intriguing, and mysterious.  What are they thinking?  They don't talk much, but they certainly have facial expressions, that sometimes say it all.

They try harder than anyone I've ever known, and then sometimes won't try at all.  They have that particular trait that I've noticed in most Eastern Europeans of being very opinionated on any particular subject, and it's difficult to convince them otherwise, even using science or logic.  But, like most Eastern Europeans I've met, they're big hearted and warm, once you get to know them.

Anyway, we had made some headway on the potty training front, but Daddy feels that we really only have energy to focus on one child at a time, and the children are in complete agreement with him.  However, they've each decided not to be the one child who gets to be focused on, to potty train first.  Everyone has regressed considerably lately, since on Mommy's watch everyone is expected to be potty training, and on Daddy's watch, no one is.  Lest you think my expectations are too high, let me reassure you that each child has shown considerable self-control, leading me to believe them all capable of full potty-trainedness. (Is that a word?)  One thing we've discovered about children with Down syndrome is that when they decide they want to do something, they are suddenly capable.  Hmm...  Don't get me wrong.  I don't say it's easy for them, necessarily, but when they make up their minds, strangely, nothing seems to stand in their way, and they will work until they accomplish it.