I can't believe Christmas was only 18 days ago.  Somehow it feels so much longer.  We've had an interesting time.  It's been great having Big E home 7 days a week, 24 hours a day (although he is starting to chafe against the monotony of home routine) but the bank account is truly feeling the loss!  Thank goodness for disability insurance, what would we have have done back in the days where there was nothing??...we'd be packing our wagon and heading back to where we'd come from I'm sure!  This past Tuesday we welcomed two little newcomers to our abode.  The oldest we are going to call Alvin, and the youngest Theodore.  :)  Alvin is about 2 and a half years old, so a bit older than Sprout.  Theodore is a bit younger so they've book ended him.  It's been a bit of a whirlwind the last couple of days, but today they really seem to have settled in.  Theodore didn't seem to take long to become attached, but today even Alvin was sliding into the groove.  Alvin suffers from eczema...and when I say suffer, I mean it.  Poor little guy is battling it something fierce.  However, arriving at a home that has already been dealing with one sufferer and having had his under control for quite a while, we immediately put Alvin on the same diet.  That combined with a diligent bathing and medicated cream schedule really seems to be clearing it up very quickly.

Theodore is SO cute!  And the only one in the house with blue eyes.  He is eager to cuddle and smile.  He's a regular 18 month old, busy getting into my Tupperware cupboard and checking what's behind every door.  He has a bit of a tilted waddle as one leg is a bit shorter than the other.  But he's doing very well and pretty stead most of the time.  Standing up while coming down the stairs is going to be an ongoing challenge for him!  Right now he wisely sticks to a crawl! 

They are our first bonus children and so far so good.  Their worker is brand new, and we are brand new foster parents so we'll be learning together!  Our worker is experienced and very helpful.  I am extra glad that Big E is home right now as the shock of suddenly going from 3 children to 5 was a bit crazy.  That first afternoon was interesting as we ran from place to place trying to help them understand what to get into and what to stay out off.  The next day was more of the same and I felt pretty run off my feet by the end of it and a bit daunted about one day doing this on my own with Big E at work!  However, by Thursday things calmed down some and then today felt pretty darn normal.  We just might be headed back into the groove.  We'll see...they talk about a honeymoon period that children go through.  We won't know that we're truly out of honeymoon period and into regular life for weeks yet.  Here are the first pictures of Alvin and Theodore.  I'll get more posted next time, but I snapped a couple on our way out to stretch our legs.  Here is Alvin.

 And this is Theodore...without his characteristic grin.  He wasn't too sure what to do with the camera and Alvin didn't want to get out of the way to let anyone else have their picture taken...lol.