Two week update...

...I can't believe it has only been two weeks since we have been home from Haiti!!! Katiana had a house full of family and friends to greet her. These two pictures were taken at the neighborhood park the day we arrived home!

The day after we got home (Saturday) we went to the mall to find her some shoes to wear with her pretty pink dress......the one I bought for her LAST December! Thank goodness it fits - because she looks so pretty in pink! I think the mall was a bit overwhelming! At least it was for me.

We spent a week together - just the two of us! We visited the Doctor, shopped, tried new food, registered for school and learned to ride a bicycle! Katiana is full of adventure! Well, with most everything....except FOOD! She is being a bit stubborn about trying new things! I think she has issues with texture.....because the mashed potatoes and marshmallows were a definite NO! Of course, every time we catch her eating french fries, potato chips, hashbrowns, etc., we make sure to tell her she is eating POTATOES! Ha, ha, ha.....she is a good sport about it. The night we went to dinner at the Brick Oven restaurant - she ordered the buffet. She was able to eat all she wanted from the salad bar and soup and pasta bar. We all started off with salads and when we got back to the table - Mark said "don't look now but someone dished up potato salad! She ate it too!

One night we had a really yummy chicken dish - one our family all loves! It has sour cream, cream cheese, cream of chicken soup and italian dressing mix. We eat it over rice most of the time and it is just yummy! I worried Katiana might find it too rich so I dished her up some rice without covering it with the sauce and set the chicken on the side. She refused to try it. We all went to work trying to convince her it was "gooood" but she wasn't buying it! So finally, after telling her to "try" it in Creole over and over.....I said (with a smile) "no try, no bicycle". She is so expressive and just couldn't stand the thought of no bicycle so in went the chicken and in went a bite of rice.....and before I knew it she was handing her plate to me for seconds! After dinner, she made sure the little bit of sauce from the crockpot was eaten before she brought me the dish to wash!

She loves pizza, hamburgers and soda pop. One morning she tried to have soda pop and potato chips for breakfast! Good thing I was there.....because I quickly let her know that wasn't a good breakfast!!! She got orange juice and waffles instead! She is mostly stubborn in the morning. I have made french toast and pancakes -- both of which she ate at the Kaliko with me in Haiti. She refuses to eat them - so that leaves her to choose between frozen waffles or cereal. Last Thursday when she refused the pancakes for a second time (and I even offered them with strawberries and sugar!) she ended up with some frozen waffles......and as she was eating them - I looked at her with a little smile and said "pancakes are better than waffles" she smiled back and I'm certain she knows exactly what I was communicating. Funny girl - testing me with food! What she doesn't know for sure yet is......Mom is MORE stubborn :)

We are discovering that she understands quite a few things in English. In fact, she probably has been laughing at us all along because we overly try to help her understand our English. I know it is really lame.....but when you don't know what else to do - you begin saying your words slow with stupid facial expressions like somehow that will make her understand better! I'm pretty sure she has been amused by all of it! She is pretty smart and a tease too! So......she fits in perfectly around here!

She surprised me the other day when the kids made some good old Kraft mac and cheese. I asked her if she wanted some and without hesitation -she dished it up and ate it up- as if she had eaten mac and cheese a hundred times before! So whats the deal? - is mac and cheese the universal kid food? I didn't get the impression they had it at the Holt Fontana Village.....but perhaps they do!

So.....it seems all I have been talking about is food.....but it seems to be pretty important to her! She has mentioned on more than one occasion that she doesn't want to get fat. So.....another good reason she can't have soda and chips for breakfast! :) I'm not quite sure of the foundation of her worries - but I'm sure as we begin to communicate better we will better understand a lot of things!

Speaking of communication! Her second week home - she started school! I had planned to play things by "ear" and realized we would probably drive each other crazy if she didn't get going to school soon. She is so eager to learn and I am so proud of her! We went together to the Jr. High on her first three days of school. I must say - she is very brave to "jump in" like she has. I came home thankful I didn't have to face the hallways of the Jr. High everyday! Wow! At least I was overwhelmed ....and the LUNCHROOM - now that IS scary! Anyway, she attended her first week and after she spent an afternoon and evening trying to learn decimals and place values.....we decided she needed to hold off on math and focus on English. So she has more *fun* classes like, choir, ceramics, p.e., english, and a FOODS class. I love that she is in a FOODS class - now her teacher and peers can try and get her to eat new things!

Today (Sunday) we went for a drive in the mountains to see the changing leaves and the SNOW! Yesterday as the snow was beginning to coat the mountain she said the mountain looked like "cookies and cream". Well, I guess having cookies and cream ice cream three times in two weeks has something to do with it! Before the drive, Mark helped her make a batch of brownies because yesterday I caught her in the pantry "eyeing" the brownie mix!

I will close with this beautiful picture taken in Haiti. Life in Utah is beautiful too....and I loved when Katiana said to me just a couple of days ago, while driving in the car "mom, Utah is pretty". Yes, it is and so is Haiti! "Pretty" can be found anywhere if you just know how to look for it! Katiana is such a delightful young girl! She has an amazing attitude and is full of life. We all feel very blessed she is finally home! She was so cute about one week home, she was sitting on the stairs alone and I asked her if she was sad. She nodded yes and I asked "why?" She threw her head back with a smile and said "I don't know". I'm sure she was missing her friends in Haiti - so we talked about that and I tried to help her understand it was "ok" to be sad and happy too. She really does have a sweet spirit about her! We feel very blessed and all are well here at the Hixon home!