Hi! My Name Is...

Hi there! My name is Kristian. It's been so long since I actually posted anything I figured I should reintroduce myself. Y'all! Life has been a whirlwind at our house! So much has changed and I really don't even know where to start in catching you up.

Well, I guess I'll first say we still have 5 kids. All of them have survived since last August and the Lord hasn't blessed us with anymore! Thank you Merciful Jesus!

So, we started the past school year off homeschooling the older four while our little firecracker, Rabina, went to public Pre-K. I love homeschooling and it was going really, really well until October. In October, our world was flipped on it's head.

First, let me explain that Lance and I had been in the process of looking into different business opportunities. We weren't very open about it, but we heavily considered buying an existing business up in Blue Ridge, GA. Thankfully, things did not work out for that, but it did help get us going in the right direction. I had done some research on a new type of entertainment called "escape rooms" and we were very curious.

This may not seem related, but Lance and I FINALLY were able to get away for a real anniversary trip! Way over due! We decided to go to California, and well, with so much awesomeness to see we decided to start in San Francisco and drive down the coast to L.A. It was such a great trip! We had a blast.

The day before we flew out of L.A. we decided to try one of these escape rooms. Apparently we didn't even pick a good one, but OH MY WORD we had the BEST TIME! You know how when you go somewhere like a museum or an aquarium, you fork out a ton of green for tickets and then when you leave you assess your experience and kind of feel a little cheated? Well, we felt the exact opposite of that when we left the escape game. We loved it so much! It was the only redeeming value of our stay in L.A. in my opinion.

So anyways, on the flight back to Georgia, we talked about the idea of starting an escape room business in our hometown of Columbus. How would we go about it? Where would we put it? Would people even come? Lance was of course the more logical one with more reservations, and I was the one saying "LET'S DO IT!"

I won, so as soon as the plane's wheels touched the ground we hit the ground running. Honestly, it's all kind of a blur, but we opened Escape This Live on December 5th! And guess what? It's been a success! People love it, and we are having so much fun with it! We opened our new location in Uptown (aka downtown) Columbus in May and we have been steadily growing. I'm so glad we took the plunge despite our reservations.

Okay, so back to homeschooling... we quit. Yep! We quit homeschooling and put the kids back into public school in January. I just got so busy with the escape room that I couldn't keep a consistent schedule. It was such a hard decision to make, but I know it was the right one for all of us. All the kids did so well. They have made me incredibly proud! The girls have come so far. It's really unbelievable.

We also hired a wonderful nanny for the kids. Rylee has a heart for India and adoption, so it was such a great match. She does wonderfully with the kids and Rabina hasn't run her off yet. Ha!

And to add more chaos to our lives, we moved houses. I swear I'm a glutton for punishment. We moved into a MUCH larger house than our previous one. I feel like a flippin' queen, because I have my very own bathroom that I let Lance use sometimes. The children are forbidden from crossing the threshold of it. It's so great. It was a little bitter sweet moving in, because the house actually belonged to our good friends who moved away.  It took me a couple of weeks to stop feeling like I was living in someone else's house.

Well, that's pretty much the gist of everything without writing a novel. I'll leave you guys with some pictures to complete the summary. :) (Sorry, but they are so not in any kind of order!)

Until next time (year)!  - K

Lance and I with our first employee Libby

Kashila's first American haircut

Khushboo's first American haircut

My life with Rabina

Birthday dinner (maybe?)

The Georgia Aquarium

Waiting in line at the Georgia Aquarium

Georgia Aquarium

Me and Brayden at the Montgomery Zoo

Train ride at the Montgomery Zoo

Eeaster

Our entire Escape This Live crew escaping in Atlanta.

Me and Rylee ripping up carpet in our new location.

Then and Now!

I went blonde.

CoDe our escape pup hanging out with me at work

Asher lost his two front teeth.

Kashila's no longer has an under-bite thanks to Dr. Matt Keller

A group of awesome India Mamas at Created 4 Care

The four eldest

Khushboo and Kashila's birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese

Me and Lance visiting Alcatraz

Some beach on the California coast.

Pismo Beach (maybe?)

I deleted the crotch grabbing pics

One hot chunk of wax

Just riding the train to Long Beach, CA and trying not to get robbed

Halloween

Halloween

Todd and Ginger's wedding in Charleston, SC

Cuties

Our little Indian

Brayden got to get glued up

Christmas morning

Christmas morning

Christmas morning

Our traditional Chinese dinner for Christmas Day

Halloween

"Getting to know you.... Getting to know all about you!"

We learn more and more about our girls everyday. It has been an adventure! Here are some facts we have learned so far...

Khushboo
-She is quiet and reserved. 
-She loves to take care of her sisters. 
-Her favorite color is pink.
-She is a really picky eater and prefers potatoes and rice. 
-She is an excellent artist and loves to draw and color.
-Her hair is thick and course with some waves.
-She knows a lot of her times tables. 
-Her handwriting is neat.
-She loves to wear clips in her hair. 
-She is obedient and eager to please. 
-She enjoys snuggling under the covers.
-She likes to watch TV. 
-She loves to take photos. 
-She loves to dress her dolls.
-She is very well mannered.

-She wears size 6. 

Kashila
-She is lively and joyful. Full of smiles and laughter (unless pouting).
-She is LOUD!
-Her favorite colors are red and purple.
-She doesn’t like to be hungry and will bring out the drama when she is. 
-She is a great eater! She cleans her plate and will eat just about anything. Her first request was a burger! 
-She loves the iPad... maybe a little too much.
-She loves to sing and dance.
-She doesn’t like taking naps.
-She is a neat freak. She prefers to straighten up and wants to put her stuff away. Even at meals she wants to put her plate away.
-She is impatient.
-She is very hygienic and likes to wash hands often.
-She has thick and silky hair.
-She likes to kid around.
-She is very intelligent. 

-She wears a size 5/6.

Rabina
-She is LOUDER than Kashila! 
-She has THE sweetest smile and laugh.
-She loves purses and bags.
-She wants to brush her teeth 5+ times a day. 
-She likes her mommy.
-She love talking on the phone.
-She waves goodbye to everyone and everyone loves it!
-She is ALMOST completely potty trained! No accidents today except upon wake up!
-She likes the Wiggles!
-She is smart too! 
-She is a great sleeper!
-She sucks her fingers when she's sleepy.
-She hits and spits. 
-She loves to dip foods.
-She really likes whipped cream.
-She will wear a bow for about 1 hour and then she snatches it out.
-She likes to ride in the front of the car.
-She gives the sweetest kisses with those sweet little lips! 

-She wears a size 2T. 

I think we have PLENTY left to learn! Until next time! -K 

Gotcha Day!

It’s 5:00am local time and everyone is still asleep. Wish you could hear their soft little snores. :) We went to bed at like 7:00pm if that tells you how tired everyone was. I figured I better try to blog some about yesterday, “Gotcha Day,” before the craziness ensues. I still need to blog about our visit to the village but that will come later. 

Ok, so yesterday morning we woke up early and got ourselves ready. We went down to breakfast in the hotel restaurant. It was good. I thought the feeling I had in my stomach was hunger but nope it turned out to be nerves. It was kind of hard for me to get enough breath. 

After breakfast we loaded the “van” and met our guide Abhi! She was an instant friend. Everyone has told us how amazing she is and now I completely understand! I was so thankful to have her with us! We got packed into the van and got on our way. 

We arrived at the orphanage really early. Our appointment was at 10:00am but we got there around 9:10am. However, they let us in. We signed into the entry log and walked up the front steps and through the front doors. There was a small, empty reception desk to the right next to the stairs and to the left was a hallway with several offices and the meeting room at the end. 

Within about 10 minutes, Kashila came around the corner. Wow she was so small, but looked just like her pictures! She was followed by Khushboo and then Rabina. Honestly I have no idea what went through my head other than “Oh my here they come! Here they are in flesh and blood!” It was awkward in a way because these were the children we have “known” and longed for for so long yet we really are strangers. We held their hands and got a few light hugs. I picked up Rabina immediately when she came in the room. 

Let me tell you, these girls have smiles that will knock your socks off. Rabina’s laugh... oh boy... melts my heart. The home staff stressed over and over again how happy they all were and how good they were... well K & K at least. They said Rabina was stubborn and a “spoiled brat”! HAHA! I truly think they are happy children, but I’m trying not to deceive myself. I know that some of this could simply be survival. Their smiles have protected them and helped them to fare well in the orphanage. Time will tell what their personalities are really like although I don’t think my “made up personalities” from their pictures are really that far off. Rabina may be the one who surprises us the most. I called her “my little grumpy bunny” but she’s not grumpy... she’s just “my way or the highway”. She has a temper. She has already pulled my hair, hit Lance and spit at him. Lord help us when she makes it to her teens.

We waited for over an hour for Mrs. K, the director, to come in. She seemed to be in an ok mood. We finally got around to the paperwork. We made sure we had everything we needed. Whew, that stressed me out. I was glad to be done with all of that! Afterward we headed upstairs to check out some of the orphanage.

We met with some of the aunties who have cared for the children. We also spent a few minutes with the girls’ teachers. They ware very nice and spoke good English. They said the girls were very intelligent and sweet. They gave us some of their school work and art work. they also had written letters to us explaining what the girls knew and also a little about their personalities. I was really not expecting any of this. I was just so grateful! I have yet to actually look at any of it really. We’ve just been so busy with the girls. Khushboo did show me Kashila’s English test book back at the hotel. She read me some of the words inside and I helped her with the ones she didn’t know. 

There was at least one other family picking up children that day. One family was from Spain and they were picking up one of the little girls that I had recognized. We had actually asked about her after we had lost the girls’ referral. It was quite busy at the Welfare Home! Mrs. K had us sign that we were taking custody of the girls and then we said some more goodbyes and loaded up in the van.

At this point it had gotten hotter outside and the girls were all dressed in long sleeves and jackets. I held Rabina in the front with me and the two Ks got in the back with Lance. We had our plastic bags ready just in case anyone felt sick, but nobody did. I had expected Rabina to be upset when she realized we were leaving. Nope, she waved goodbye and got in the van with me with no complaints. Kashila was quiet but seemed fine. Khushboo cried quietly on the way to the hotel. I tried to assure her it was totally ok to cry. Rabina fell asleep in my arms and didn’t wake up until I laid her on the hotel bed. 

The girls were hungry when we got to the hotel so we changed their clothes (they were freezing when we stripped off the layers) and ordered up room service. They ate some pizza and some rice and and some dal (lentils). They ate fairly well. Rabina can feed herself nicely which kind of made me sad. Lance was able to feed her some pizza but she wouldn’t let me feed her with the spoon. SHE wanted to do it! The girls drank a lot of water. I mean glass after glass. 

We watched some cartoons in Hindi and I began to treat their hair for lice/nits. The home told us they didn’t have any. I guess by didn’t have any they meant hundreds and hundreds of nits. Their hair is so thick so I was seriously overwhelmed. As I worked through Khushboo and Kashila’s hair they would look at the nits I had pulled out. I think they finally understood what I was doing. They would look at me with this embarrassed and grossed out look. I tried to reassure them that it was ok, we would get their hair clean. I smiled and hugged them when they searched my face to see if I was disgusted by it. It took so long. Kashila would say “Mom, break?” and I would let her go play and start back on Khushboo’s hair. Rabina had a few but nothing like K & K. 

Rabina LOVES phones. All of them do really, but Rabina particularly! She will pitch a fit if you take it away. The girls also love the camera. They took lots of pictures with it. I can’t wait to see them all.

Around 6:00 K & K started saying they were sleepy. So we gave them some peanut butter crackers and got them all tucked in. All three slept on the pull out couch. Not what I expected but I was ok with that. They all fell asleep pretty quickly. Before they went to sleep, we FaceTimed with the boys. Mandee had to wake them up but it was good to see their faces.

I would say that our first day together was really great! God was gracious to us, and I’m so thankful for all the prayers that went into this special day! We have some really amazing girls! We can't wait for you all to meet them! 

Well, I’m going to try to rest for a bit more before our day starts. -K