Nag, Nag, Nag

I'm sorry for the lack of posting, but geez, I'm tired. I think it all caught up with me today and I was just plain worn out. We were on the road at 6:30 Tuesday morning and traveled all day. We pulled into Colleen's house at 7:30 pm and then I had a 4 hour drive home from there. Thankfully my girl Kristina called to check on me during my drive (love you girl!).

I know I have no other trips to compare this one too, but this team has decided that we are "exclusive" and should always travel together. We will, however, need a new leader since Colleen says she never wants to put up with us again (he he). I cannot remember the last time I have laughed so much. Kristina, Todd & I even had Jean Nathan cracking up at our DHS appointment (during the building evacuation & all)! We could find humor in just about anything and I can say I enjoyed every moment with this group.

Other than being with Anchise and the rest of the team, my favorite times were spent in the nursery. I spent quite a bit of time playing with the kids there. One of my favorite memories is playing with the shape sorter with Kervens. It started out just with him and then Sara, Layla & Jean Baptiste joined in. I would hand each of them a shape and make them take turns putting it in the right hole. When they had all the shapes in we would clap and say "yeah" and start all over again. They thought I was crazy & funny with the clapping & praising, but pretty soon they were all doing it too. We had lots of smiles. I also had a fun time playing catch with a beach ball with Jean Baptiste. I love these kids!!!

Meeting Anchise was overwhelming. I didn't want to force myself on her or scare her, but the nannies encouraged me to just dive in and take over as mama. She was pretty timid at first, but she let me hold her without too much resistance. The "wailing wall" kicked in when I took her out of the nursery for the first time (& the second time, & the third time - you get the idea). The team could always tell when I was coming with Anchise. Every day just got better and better. Hearing her call me mama was like sweet music to my ears. I loved every moment with her - wailing & barfing & all. It felt completely natural to be with her and love her as my daughter.

I'm sorry for lack of pictures - I am having problems downloading them, but hope to have help from my hubby with this tomorrow. I took close to 600 photos so I have lots of everyone's kids.

There were so many facets to this trip and I can't wait to share more, but right now I need sleep. Oh, sweet sweat-free sleep.