November

So, November is Adoption Awareness Month. This is a fact I knew nothing about in years past, but for some reason I find myself acutely aware of now. I had not been exposed to adoption much in my lifetime until Amy and I decided to find the love of our lives through it. Everyone who has gone through the adoption process has their own reasons, but I would like to thank them for trying to make a difference in the life of a child or young person. Adoption or foster care touches the lives of so many people, not just the adoptive parents or child. I believe my family and friends can attest to that.

So, on a more personal note, please see the pic below of our Natalie playing with her BFF Lily. OK, we don't know that they are going to be besties for life, but I certainly hope they can become good friends. Lily is the daughter of Joe and Gina Saltsman and the little sister of Lauren. They went and returned from China about a week ahead of us. Lily is just a bit older than Natalie, but they are very close in size and, it seems to me, in personality. Amy and I are very happy to have met the Saltsmans and hope that we can watch our girls grow up together. It would be great for both girls to realize that even though a family is not based on looks, there are ones out there that like just like theirs.

Also, it isn't just for the girls benefits. I know I enjoy talking to another family the gets the difficulties and joys that go along with raising a child of International Adoption.

That is Mr. Potato head they are "playing with." I think this picture was probably taken amidst a lesson of sharing for both girls. Lily was protective of her toys and Natalie wanted them to be hers. I think they worked it out by the end of the night. Lily did graciously share one of her tutus with Natalie.

As far as life with Natalie goes, everything is moving along without much difficulty. Well, change is always difficult, but we manage, right? We think Natalie is going through some attachment issues right now. While these might not be fun for the parents, they are essential for Natalie and ultimately healthy for our family. Also helpful is that Amy is no longer bombarded with work and we can spend more time together as a family. That may mean Amy and me watching TV while Natalie runs around pulling all of her toys out and drooling, but at least she sees that we are all there together. FYI, she is drooling because she has some more teeth coming in. We have been lucky in that department as she had most of them when we got her and has had no fever or, as far as we know, serious pain with these four coming in now.

Finally, below you see Amy and Carla with Natalie. Carla stopped by to visit for a while to remind me how scarily similar her and Amy really are. Thanks for stopping in Carla. Hopefully in December we will get a visit from Olivia Proulx Smith, if her parents can work us into their schedule that is. :)

Get Candy. Get Candy.

i guess i better put some Halloween pictures up, huh? it was a pretty interesting couple of days. i don't think she ever figured out why people were dressed up in costumes, but it didn't take her long to realize she was cute and people would give her lots of candy. candy that she wasn't really supposed to be eating, but Ma Ma apparently slipped her some today. i thought i was going to be the first to break.

on Saturday, a local church offered a trunk or treat for the area kids. it is pretty cool as it is just a condensed version of the Halloweens we all grew up with. it is car to car in a parking lot instead of house to house. she was nervous at first with all the people wearing "weird" outfits, but, as usual, it didn't take her long to warm up. you gotta love this outfit though.

Go Cats!

next came Sunday. we didn't do the typical door to door but wanted to make sure she got the spirit of the holiday and that family got to see her. she loved grabbing items and putting them in her basket. Saturday was my outfit and Sunday was Amy's.

finally, just some pictures of Natalie playing in the leaves. again, she wasn't real sure what to think about this. let's just say the pictures make it look like she enjoyed more than she actually did. thanks for checking out the blog, peeps.

It is amazing how such a little child...

You can pretty much finish that sentence with just about any statement.


Someone said that to me today with the ending something to the effect of "cause so much change." It really got me thinking. It is amazing how such a little child can change your life.


I didn't used to spend most of my day thinking about one person. Sorry, Amy, but you didn't get most of the day. I didn't use to look forward to stepping through my garage door into the house. That was just a mundane part of the coming home routine. Now, thanks to a little girl, it is a big event. I didn't use to care that much for hugs and kisses on the cheek. It is amazing how such a small child can change all those things.


However, it ain't all sunshine and roses either. It is amazing how such a small child can frustrate you to no end. It...can make you so mad. It...can make her parents so mad at each other without knowing she had any effect on that. It is amazing how such a small child can rip through the life you thought you were so comfortable with like a tornado (and make the house look like just that as well).


All in all though, it really is amazing how such a child could carry so much love with her. I can no longer imagine my life without her, nor do i care to.












































This last picture is from my friends Terrell and Amy's wedding. I think Natalie liked the reception more than anyone there. She had a blast. I was really hoping there were some pictures of her with Amy in their traditional dresses, but alas, I had none. I am sure my friend Tim can help me with that.

Lookin' pretty

not much to say, but wanted to post some new pictures. we absolutely love this dress sent to us by Marvin and Julia from China.

Natalie is doing very well with her walking. she rarely crawls these days. she dances a lot though.

enjoy the pictures. we certainly do like looking at our beautiful girl.

And this is how we...

WALK!

Here is what you have been waiting for...Ramblings from a Tired New Mom

Seven years is a long time to be forced to wait to have a family (and I realize that others wait even longer). I can only believe that Stephen and I went through what we did to lead us to this particular child. Our child. And as our sweet girl lies sleeping in her crib now like a little angel, I know we have been blessed. Just a few short months ago, we had no idea when we would ever hear the good news from China. It’s amazing how quickly your life can change for the better.

I was thinking about the upcoming holidays and how completely different they will be this year. The holiday season has been rather depressing the last seven years, but especially the last couple of years. Seeing Natalie’s face in the glow of the Christmas tree lights is something I’ve dreamed about for so long. I hope she loves the holidays as much as I do.

I knew I would be tired as a new parent, but I thought that just maybe there would be days when I had the same level of energy that I used to. The adjustment to our new life has been challenging in many ways, but we are so happy to make it. I no longer have to set my alarm clock, waking up instead to Natalie chattering to herself in her crib. She’ll hear me stir and then look over at me and smile that smile, and we’re off!

We received her official U.S. citizenship certificate recently. You’ll see us posing with it below. It’s pretty cool and was really moving to read. It took me back to when we went to the U.S. Consulate’s office in Guangzhou on our last afternoon in China. We entered the building and when we got to the escalators, that American flag was such a welcome sight after being away from everything familiar for over two weeks (it wasn’t lost on us that we had experienced just a small taste of what changes and challenges Natalie was to face in the near future). We both got teary-eyed as we took the oath for her. I hope that as she grows up she’ll be at peace with what a different path her life has taken.

So we’re trying to decide what Natalie should be for Halloween. Stephen thought she’d make a great Ewok, but he got overruled. I, of course, voted Munchkin; I’m sure we’ll reach a middle ground.

Enjoy the pictures, and maybe it won’t be so long until I post again.

Natalie with two of her cousins.

Just one of the many faces of Natalie.

Loser

yeah, i know already. it has been a while. my plan was to get Amy to make the next post, but not enough people said they wanted to hear from her to get her to post. ok, not really. she is still pretty busy. she claims that there is a light at the end of the tunnel soon.

anyway, i wanted to let people know that we had a our visit to the Shriner's Hospital in Lexington and saw the pediatric orthopedist. he was very pleased with the surgery and with Natalie's progress. he did say that the rate of reoccurance for club foot is about 30% so we still need to be vigilant. they want us to have her wear the brace during the night for as long as she is cool with it or a year if she doesn't complain. Natalie is a trooper though and doesn't really let it get to her. even when she swings it all over the crib. she has even cut back on the whining when it goes on.

we are really looking forward to tomorrow by the way. we are having dinner with some new friends. this couple and their daughter traveled to China about a week ahead of us to add a beautiful young girl to their family as well. this will be the first time Natalie gets to meet her, we hope, new life long friend. it would be really great for the two of them to see each other and to see that there are families out there that look a lot like their own. :)