By now you may have completely given up on checking for an update from us, but better late than never. We have been drowning in the business of bonding and had to put the blog on hold for awhile. To make up for lost time, here are a BUNCH of recent pictures! If you live close and haven't had a chance to meet Samuel in person, stop on by...well, on second thought, call first! Jet lag is now behind us and we are anxious to see friends and get out and join the rest of the world again. In fact, several times a day Samuel will go to the garage door and point while making motor sounds. He's ready to put on his shoes and go! He loves his new home but I think he's interested to see more. His wishes will be more than satisfied when we take him to Disneyland with the rest of my family in just a few weeks! Grandma and Grandpa gave the trip to us as a gift last Christmas, not knowing then that another grandson would be joining us! What fun it will be to see his reactions to the Magic Kingdom. Hopefully it won't be too much for him to handle. We took him to church for the first time on Sunday and it was precious to see all the children gather around to check him out. It blessed my heart as I realized it was all the children of my very good friends who had been praying with them for Samuel's safe arrival home. God does work we do not always get to see, but the preparing of these little hearts was obvious to me.As a whole we are doing very well. Chasing 2 three year-olds can be exhausting. I've been tempted many times to lose my cool, especially this afternoon when I found that the two rascals in the backseat had torn their In-n-Out burgers into bit-sized pieces and decorated the car. The three older, more mature children in the second seat remarked with bursts of laughter, "I guess they were having their own food fight". Very funny. Yesterday during "nap time" I walked in to find Noah feeding Samuel toothpaste. The evidence (blue bubblegum flavor) was all over his face. Yum. Well, the good new is, he has fresh breath. There is now a beautiful drawing done with purple crayon on my wall near the stairs. When I asked the guilty one if he'd done it he answered, "nope, not me mom". He has no idea how smart mom is...I'd know his work anywhere. In a nutshell there is lots of sneakiness and some down right naughtiness happening over here. It's not a surprise though. Two boys, both fighting for their rightful place in the family. It is our prayer that they settle in after some time. Sooner than later please, Lord. Taylor, Lauren, and Makenna have been so helpful and kind to mommy and their younger brothers.
Many of you have been asking how Samuel's English is coming along. His understanding seems to be growing by leaps and bounds everyday. And his verbal is improving too. He can say "all done", "more", "popcorn", "bath", "drink", "please", "poop", that's a helpful one, "up", "down", some animal names, and all his siblings names. He does lots of pointing and will climb up in his high chair when he is hungry. It is very apparent he is used to a rigid routine. Some of it is good, and in other ways we are slowly trying to get him to loosen up. For instance, in the beginning he wanted me to wipe his face after every bite. The cutest is when we say, "good job, Samuel" and he gives us a thumbs up. It's so sweet, I taught him this a few days ago and he caught on real quick. He is very smart! His left hand will not cooperate, he cannot get that thumb to lift up no matter how hard he tries. Sometimes he tries anyway and then frowns at that hand until giving up and switching to his right, and then comes a big grin.
He doesn't give up easily though, and I witnessed this about him again last night. After his bath he put on his pajamas all by himself. This is not an easy task when you take into account his stiff legs and back, but he has figured out his own technique and sure enough he did it! I was SO proud of him and by the smile on his face it was obvious he was too. He loved the meatloaf I made for dinner last night, and boy can he shovel in the mashed potatoes. He also loves bananas and apples and will eat them like there's no tomorrow. He likes to play football in the hallway with his big bro and loves tickle wars! He leans in for kisses and has the sweetest expressions. Yep, he's a Howard. Sometimes I just can't believe he's really here with us. 
