This was supposed to be posted YESTERDAY, December 26th . . .

The fact that this was supposed to be posted yesterday, Monday, December 26th is testament to the craziness we are feeling in our home.  Neal said as we were scarfing down chili that our dear friends Travis and Jaclyn brought to us that it feels like we are just surviving!  Now that is not meant to be a in a bad way . . . its more like 'quick eat so we can move on to what is up next!!'  God is providing in some serious ways though as we remain cheerful and upbeat as we anticipate the next step!!  We went to bed at 7:30 lastnight and so waking up at 2:30 because the girls want a bottle is NOT a big deal at all, and now I kinda feel like staying up!!  Sure, at like 8:00 a.m. I will totally want a nap, but for now - I am seriously awake!!  So what should I do??? 

MEANT FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 26th....

We are home from Ethiopia.  We just had our first full night at home and it was awesome!  The twins went to bed at 7:00 and just woke up now at 5:00.  Shena woke up at 2:00 and just needed a bottle, but Kebe just now woke up.  Shena was not interested in falling back asleep when we went in to get Kebe though so they are both playing cheerfully on the floor here in our living room!  They are jabbering all over the place!  Me and Neal felt so thankful when we realized it was 5:00 so we decided to just get up!  We went to bed at 8:00 last night so we got great sleep!  Thank the Lord.  Getting adequate sleep is the most important part we are learning!  Things always seem like less of a big deal when you are not tired....right? :)

We had Christmas as a family yesterday afternoon!  It was so fun!  Kebe and Shena slept through part of it, and we ended up having to wake up Kebe because we realized it was middle of the night in Ethiopia and we didn't want her not sleeping at US night time! :)  Kebe is a great sleeper and usually sleeps a lot longer then Shena!  They are both doing pretty good, under the circumstances.  Shena was pretty demanding on the plane but we are thinking it was because she was just tired because she started doing it again last night around 6:45 and that was when we realized she was tired:)  She didn't do it all day yesterday though so it was great!!  

The girls just got bathed and are ready for the day!  (I know right?  These are NOT Kellenberger hours!!!)  haha.....  Cailer just came up saying he heard voices up here - oh joy:)  He is playing with the twins!!  Its amazing how much they are learning right now!  Our kids drive a car, then they drive a car.  They have never watched older children play and learn from them  They are majorly into exploring and crawl all over our living room, kitchen and hallway back to the girls rooms!  I LOVE IT:)  They love their baths (now....anyways) - the first time we put them in yesterday they looked so scared but after we showed them to splash the water then they were happy little campers splashing all over the bathroom!  (haha)  

Jaci is being such a great big sister.  She loves them and keeps kissing them!  The boys are super big helpers.  I am sure this is hard on all of them down deep just having so much change BUT so far it seems they are really doing well and grasping it and being so willing to help!  They spent the afternoon/evening with their new Christmas presents though so they got a break from entertaining the twins.  Neal even went down and played some of their new wii games with them!  I stayed up here and tried to clean our 'upside down house' - for real - it was TRASHED!!  We made Chicken Cordon Blue (sp?) for dinner and oh my word - we got that made and realized that was all that we had made.  We quick made some mac and cheese and that was our meal.  We laughed a lot about this.  You know - the trick of getting the meal all prepared at the same time, which apparently is quite a feat for Neal to get (he says) so I fell into his rank of dinner multi tasking ... or lack of dinner of multi tasking!!  So yes - our Christmas dinner was chicken cordon blue and Mac and Cheese!  Fancy, I know....!  Kebe and Shena at the Mac and Cheese like it was going out of style - we loved seeing that though!!  Praise God.  THey are pretty good eaters!  I fed them scrambled eggs this morning and they loved them!

Oh fyi - this update started at 5:00 in the morning and its now 6:17 . . . I have been interrupted like 23 times!!  Breakfast, bottle, bath, poopy diaper (yay it didn't go allll the way up her back either....), etc.....!  Its been a fun morning:):)  

We love all of you and pray your Christmas was special and we are excited about hearing about your day!!  Mom/Dad, Dan/Tami and Duane left our house yesterday early afternoon and I think they all went to Hannibal to spend the night and Matt/Kait might have joined them in the evening.  Part of me was torn and wished I could go, BUT to tell you the truth yesterday afternoon/evening when the girls were up from their naps and we were all in the living room (that was a DISASTER from opening presents) all I could think about was 'this finally feels real!' - just being home alone and being a family for the first time it was reality finally and we loved it.  Don't get me wrong - there are so many things that confuse us.  Like how long do we let them cry or whine. We dont want to teach them that they can whine and we run to them BUT at the same time there is so much bonding that needs to happen and we want them to learn to trust US.  They tend to reach for the ones that are the most fun as that is what has happened their whole life...!  There has never been one person who has been fun and provided for them 100%.  Lots of sadness in regards to that BUT God is faithful and doing a big work in all of our lives to give us love for each one of us.  

We sure do appreciate your prayers :)  TWINS ARE HARD, but - Its super fun to watch them laugh at each other and even take each others toys (i know, it wont be fun eventually!!)  but its just a blast to watch them explore and learn and be stimulated!!  

We are blessed...

Merry Christmas...

Neal, Kim, Cailer, Brock, Jaci, Shena and Kebe