Steph's Adoption & the Family

The pic above was taken on the day Stephanie officially became a Dodson. I was thinking of all the kids today and how they relate to Stephanie. They are all really great with her. Jessy tries to make obedience fun for her, sometimes get frustrated at her but for the most part tries to be light-hearted. Jessy gives her lots of baths and loves doing her hair, which, by the way, she pulls out within 5 minutes. Jessy's solution to "surviving Stephanie" is to put Barney on and sit with her on the couch. Jessy may be reliving her toddler years... Sammy is so much like a dad - you just have to see it. He takes the most "care" of her. Talks to her like a dad, and will do anything for her. He enjoys her and never seems to get frustrated at her. Nathaniel is her buddy - the most "fun" for her, the one she asks for the most right now. I dropped the kids off at Michelle's today and when we drove off, she was in shock that Nathaniel was not back in the car. That changes every couple months - she usually picks one she is really into. Nathaniel plays outside with her a TON. She has gone through them all as her favorite and currently is settled on Nathaniel. Dani seems to like watching Stephanie do things she shouldn't and then tell on her! I call Dani her nanny - she plays puzzles with her and reads to her. Dani spends the most time with her, which is probably why she is around her when she gets in trouble. Today Dani caught her pulling all her clothes out of the drawer. I told her I would deal with it later. Dani asked if she could go in there and play with her - so...I said yes. I checked on them 10 minutes later and they had clothes on their heads, clothes all over the floor and were having a BLAST. I'm wising up to the fact that with Stephanie, Dani can get away with a lot as well! They had huge grins on their faces. I know in 5 years I will miss the clothes being all over the floor and the silliness of the toddler years. Robert and I are so blessed with our kids. God is so good. What would we do without all FIVE of them???