Day 03: Clearly we are a family now.

Day three is a challenge to post the cast of your favorite tv show. This is pretty painful for me to admit but as a family photo challenge the truth is that our tv rarely leaves Sprout. The only time you will see it off is when I break and watch TLC, HGTV, or Food Network. I do not necessarily watch these because I want to any more but because they are most likely to have appropriate things that V can be in the same room with. So with that being said our favorite family aka: V's fave cast is:

The second runner up...because I cannot stand Caillou..even though the boys can watch it all day, is!

Yes, our life is now singing along to shows like the Pajanimals :)

Day 2

My second day challenge was a picture of you and the person you have been closest to the longest. This is 26 years in the making so hands down the easiest. My baby sister Telesa.

Honeymoon over and now onto the rest of our lives!

I find myself really itching to post photos of V. I want everyone to see the exciting things and thankfully I have a few friends and family members that can receive photo text messages. Though this still does not satisfy my need to share our little guy. With that being said things are well in our home. There are always a ton of appointments, negotiating everything in a five year old fashion and lots of school work for me. We are busy and happy all at once. I finally made the decision that staying home with V is what would be best for all of us. While I have tried to work and keep that door open it seemed best for us all that I make the decision to stay home. It hasn't been easy coming to the decision because as most of you know, I work really hard and take it much more serious then I ever should. It has always been my dream to be a stay at home mom and boy does this job require WAY more then any other thing I have attempted. 


Since I cannot post pictures of little foot I will go ahead and do a 30 day challenge that fits for our family. We are all on countdown until June when we will get to post the final picture that says we are formally done with Adoption! And then who knows....maybe another little foot for the family of three to grow ;)

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with ten facts:

1. We were married on February 28, 2009. 


2. V is our first child.


3. V will change his middle name to James after my husband.


4. We share our room with our five year old little foot and *gasp* kind of like it.


5. We have two dogs that sometimes make us feel like three children live here.


6. Our parental hopes include that we can pass along a love of sushi to V.


7. Our families (biological and chosen) are the most important parts of our lives.


8. Autism is a part of our daily lives but not the definition of those days.

9. This June will be the formal time of adoption.

10. Currently there is baby and puppy fever.

All sorts of new adventures coming up.

Hello everyone!
It has been a couple of weeks so I have updated and like normal in our crazy house there are
lots of new things that have taken place and even more to come. Right now the boys are downstairs and I have officially taken a short day sabbatical of being mom. I have to admit right
away that I'm not doing a good job at it and will promptly return my role once this blog has been posted. So much for thinking the grass is greener on this side :)


First off school is going so well. V is a child who cannot wait for the next school day. Even after going for the morning, he is ready to go again by mid afternoon when the big kid buses start rolling through our neighborhood. His teachers are really on board with our goals for him and everyone has been very nice. I could not be more grateful for the school process thus far. Like any mom I have great hopes for him and I know that he has so much potential.


The biggest event that is soon to take place is that we are moving. Yes, we have not only tackled the holidays, being new parents and everything else..but now add moving to that list. Our current landlord has decided that she no longer wants to be a homeowner and is selling the house. It was certainly an out of the blue decision on their part and that left us looking for a new place. Me, being the queen of find places( I did not give myself this title, a fantastic friend did) was able to find a place that is going to work out for all of us. Today in fact we go to sign the lease and get all of that secure. So no sooner then we can blink an eye it will be time to pack up this house and on to the next stop.


I'm a bit sad about leaving the house because we have been really happy here. We got to bring V home here for the first time and spend that first family night together. We got to bring him home and say welcome to where we live. He got on the school bus here, had a first Christmas. All sorts of things that we won't forget. I have to remind myself that we are a family and we will move together and ultimately this is just a house. We are going to start working on talking to him about the new place and get ready for that big transition.


Speaking of all things amazing...last Sunday was his Welcome Home party and he did amazing! We were able to have family and friends come together and meet V and of course he was overloaded with some great new toys, books and clothes. I think it was very evident that he was one special little guy that day. I could not have imagined a better event thanks to Telesa and Rusty! As soon as I can start posting pictures of V, I promise to overload everyone!

Owl Cake made by Joan. We love talented family members!

V loved his Car's Rice Crispy Cake! His name was on the hood and really adorable!

Until then here are some photos that I can post! Enjoy!

Everything was car themed for the most part. Except for some owl stuff for his mama:)

V is Cars crazy.

Finally home

As most of you know V moved home on the 23rd. You may be wondering why I have not had a post in regards to how amazing the move home would be and how perfect it truly has been. Well, it has been those things and left me utter speechless to explain the changes in our home and lives.

Moving a child into your home that close to Christmas is incredibly joyful and a bit more stressful. We drove to get him that morning with my mom and she was exhausted and excited to meet her grandson. After stuffing and I mean stuffing our tiny little car with all his belongings we were off. The drive home that time certainly felt different then just the normal transition weekend. It was the drive that meant we are now going to be a forever family and good, bad or indifferent it was finally happening. He was lucky enough that the first day home we got to attend a Christmas party for our agency and meet some of the people that now make up our extended support and family. He even went to SANTA! I had tried on multiple weekend visits to get him near santa for a picture and it just wasn't happening. Low and behold he ran right up and even smiled for the picture. Amazing I tell you!

The note left for santa

My mom got to stay through Christmas morning and we made Christmas Eve our holiday time with her. We made cookies with the boys and left a note for santa and then put the boys in super adorable pjs and sent them to bed. It reminded me of sleeping with my sister and being so excited for santa to come that we tried to stay up all night. Sis would jabber all night long about what we were getting and then pass out. The boys came running down the stairs. Said wow and then just wanted to play. V was excited by his gifts but really it was a bit much with the noise and moving that early in the morning. After all the presents were opened and breakfast was started we had two very happy boys. It was beyond a blessing to be a mom on that christmas morning. At one point I looked over at him playing with his new toys and became really overwhelmed and cried. It was the happiest cry of my life.

Once all of the hoopla of the holidays ended we have been trying to get into a schedule that makes sense for all of us. Matt is back to working the normal schedule and I'm down to just a couple days a week for now. We have scheduled doctor appointments, visits and school. Speaking of school....drum roll please...as I type this little blog a certain somebunny is at school now!

We took him to his first day of pre-school this morning and he was overjoyed with going back to school. This mama had a hard time with him being gone since it feels like he just got here but when I saw how excited he was to be there it made all the difference. Tomorrow morning will be the first school bus ride and he has been talking about nothing else since yesterday.

So all and all we are doing really well. I am learning how to breathe and not worry that every moment has to be perfect and that the laundry will get done at some point. We are learning how to take the "advice" that people are giving us when they are speaking on subjects which they have no clue and just smiling. We are learning that in the end it is true that we are just a family like any other family. We may have some quirks and extra rules or events that take place, but trust me when I say that we put in our mix matched socks just like everyone else.

Birthdays, Move Days, and Christmas Days!

We are officially three days away from the big forever move home day. In some moments it feels as though just yesterday I was emailed our transition schedule and wondered how in the world we would make it two months and then it feels as though the time has flown by. We have perfected working through our four days to get to him coming home in warp speed. Each weekend has been a new learning experiencing and more moments that we fall even more in love with V.

Already our lives have been so different and so amazing because of him. Our "honeymoon" phase is just about over and the word no comes a little more often and grumpy pants are put on, but for anyone who has adopted you know that feeling of just breathing. The grumpy moments are when we really focus on being a family and not being on eggshells. When it is 5:30 am and I beg for him to watch Sprout so that mama can close her eyes for a few more moments, it feels real.

This past Friday I had the pleasure of turning 30. I always said that if I was not a mother by 30 that I was just going to give up the dream and make a very big radical life move and take off to somewhere. Little did I ever know that on my birthday I would walk up to the door and there would be my husband and son. Matt did an amazing job of not only having V armed with flowers and a card, but also my birthday present in his pocket. Let me tell you all that he could have had pocket lint to hand me and in the moment it would have been gold.

As our move in date approaches we get to do so many 1sts as a family. Putting up a Christmas tree, cooking dinners together, Christmas shopping, lots of movie snuggling time and V meeting our families. Being parents around our friends and family has been really beautiful. On Friday morning when we pick up our son for that final transitioning moment he will be meeting my mother for the first time. I can only imagine that she will be just as nervous as we were that first time. Then V will shine those big brown eyes at her and she will melt.

People tell us that we saved his life and the truth of the matter is that he saved ours. There is no present and no moment that will be an more important then those times that he yells for Mama!!!! down the hall or when Daddy comes to the door and his laughter turns to babble from excitement. Our child is our blessing and this holiday we hope that everyone else finds just as much joy as we have.

Adventures in learning a new kind of fun.

The time is moving along with the holidays, visits and getting settled into life as a new family. V is doing so fantastic that at times we wonder if we have to pitch ourselves to wake up. There are the normal moments that he doesn't want to listen or we are tried, but we certainly cannot complain. V is a very curious little guy. There has not been a single interaction that he has not totally embraced. He got to meet my high school friend/brother and managed to easily melt his heart right away. Uncle Jed (inside family joke) brought him  a couple of new cars and that night we got to put him to bed while he clutched the cars in his hands. Our little boy is busy, happy,always hungry and above all the biggest part of our life.

Last night we had a winter parade in town and decided that we would bundle up and head down to the Main St of town and watch the parade. It was another one of those moments that made me realize that we had to learn how to have fun in the way that V could be comfortable with. When the people and noise became too much he would go back on the sidewalk with daddy and play cars. It was a big difference from Q, who loves to be right in the middle of the action. When I used to picture what our child would be like, I had this rosy view of a child who was super outgoing and wanted to try everything. It is amazing to me how wrong and right I was all at the same time. V is outgoing but he needs his time to decide for how long and he wants to try new things but he needs to know it will be structured.

We are now 20 days away from this official move home and we could not be happier. It was really exciting for V to meet Matt's mom, sister and her children. He was so comfortable right away with everyone. It took him no time at all to run around and want everyone to hold him. Now we will be moving along to Christmas. We were very excited to do shopping for him and are sooo excited to see him come down the stairs on Christmas morning.

All and all there are no complaints here and we are all settling into our new roles well. Soon we are hoping that everyone will get to meet our little guy!