Little Moments

I have discovered lately that it is the little moments that are becoming the most important to me.  The other night, I walked upstairs to discover a little boy who was up way past his bedtime.  He was entertaining himself by singing.  I took a moment to go in and snuggle with him while he sang.  I had so much fun that I HAD to record it.  I want to keep this fresh in my mind for a long time to come.  I want to remember him exactly as he is right now.  (And now I am obsessed with recording his sweet little voice.)  Of course I also want to share it with you!!  (Depending on your computer system, you may have to download the sound clip to hear it.)

The Whole World

ABC

And my Favorite....Little Lady (Gus has been calling me little lady lately...LOVE!)

Holy Moly!!

I just realized that it has been WAY too long since I last posted here.  There has been lots going on at Stape's House this summer.  Our life is so chaotic....especially during the school year with both of us teaching full time and coaching.  Not to mention being parents and this little side business I call Thirty-One.  We truly enjoy a little bit of so-called "down time" during the summer.  Here is a little play-by-play of what summer 2011 has brought us.

June

• Finished the school year.
• Prepared for Gus' second birthday party.  Those of you who know me, know that it is never just cake and ice cream at this house.  There is always a huge theme.  This year....barnyard!!  As much as I wanted to, I did refrain from hiring the traveling petting zoo and pony!
• Joel left for a week at Boys State while Gus and I roughed it alone here at home.  It was a challenging week for me.  Probably worthy of it's own blog post.
• Joel came home and the next day we left for the Great Smoky Mountains.  My parents rented a cabin up in the mountains and invited us along.  There will definitely be another blog post to follow on that.  Me + Nature = an amusing combination!

July

• We returned home from our mountain adventure to discover some damage was done to our fence and one of our cars so we have spent time this week getting quotes and talking to our insurance agent.  Ugh!  I hate dealing with that!!
• We ventured over to the west side of the state to visit with my friend, Kim, who was "home" visiting her family.  I say "home" because I am a firm believer that Arizona should not be her home but Michigan should be.  I miss her something fierce and I hate that she lives all the way across the country.  (Mind you...our parents are neighbors so as teenagers, we were only moments apart.)  We also got to visit with the Carlson's.  Their daughter, Eme, was born 3 days after Gus and is also adopted.  We have become good friends as we have traveled the adoption road together.  Eme's Uncle Joe Maly is my husband's college roommate.  Joe is the godfather to both Gus and Eme.  I LOVE that we have such a great time together and have so much in common.
• I have been getting ready for the Thirty-One National Conference.  I am going next week and I couldn't be more excited.  Because I am a director, I get to plan some fun stuff for my team.  I can't wait to give them the stuff we have been working on.  SO FUN!!  (I wish I could tell you but some of them read my blog....so you will all have to wait.)

Coming Up

• I go to the National Conference for four days!!
• We get to head up north at the end of the month to Torch Lake for a week.  So excited because we get to spend the week with most of Joel's family.  His sister, Sarah, and her family, who live 6 minutes from us, will be up there.  Gus LOVES his "Wendan and Nana".  (For those that don't understand Gus-speak, that is Brendan and Hannah!)  We will also get to see Joel's sister, Sherri, and her family.  I CAN'T WAIT!!  They live in Nebraska now and we haven't seen them since Thanksgiving.  Miss them lots and can't wait to spend some quality time with them.  Gus has been practicing their names.  We point to their pictures and he says their names.  Now that he is a little older it will be lots of fun to see him interact with them now.
• AUGUST....dun...dun...duuuuunnnn..... (that was the scary music in case you couldn't tell).  Once August hits, our summer is over so to speak.  Football and cheerleading both start up in August along with me going back to work.  Before school starts, I will spend many, many hours in my counseling office working on student schedules and enrolling new students.  I love my job...but I am really loving my time at home this summer.  I can't believe it is already half over

Loving life these days!!

Bipolar Day

Well, today was a little bit of a bipolar day.  We got the call yesterday that we have a closing date on our new house!  We are so excited that this dream is becoming a reality!  We also got a call last night that school was canceled for today!  How exciting!  Good news about the house and we get to sleep in the next day and play with Gus all day!!

Today all three of us took advantage of sleeping in.  Gus slept until 9:30!!  I don't know when that have ever happened!  (But I LOVED it!)  We spent the rest of our day playing and packing.  Now that we have the closing date, we decided we can really start packing up our house.  We have packed a lot of it...but now we are really getting serious.

I worked on our closet first....we have a lot of crap in there!  Four large boxes full and still not even 1/2 way there.  I was almost embarrassed about how much we have in there but then I stopped and realized that with such little storage space in this house, a lot of stuff gets jammed in the closets so I don't feel quite as ashamed.  Now I must admit that I am totally motivated to organize and discard unnecessary items.  My friend, Katie, at The Terp Blog has been organizing in 2011 and I am so jealous of her!  Check out her blog and what she has been doing.  I am LOVING her wooden hangers!!  Look at the mishmash that I packed today.

I have every intention of only putting things that we need in our house and discarding the rest.  We have already been sorting through as we pack things but I am sure that there will be lots more once we get into the new house.

I then moved into packing Gus' room.  I kept out only the things that he NEEDS!  I did keep out his cars, the car ramp, a few books and his blocks.  Other than that, all toys and books are packed.  All other baby related items are packed.  We have clothing to get us through and the baby "essentials".  It is almost like living out of a suitcase for him.  But I think the bare minimum right now is necessary.  I was a packing machine.  Wasn't phased by any of it until I saw this....

...and then I lost it!  Lots of tears.  It brought me right back to the fall of 2008.  We had finally got on "the list" at the agency and since you never know when you might be matched, we thought perhaps we would slowly get the room ready.  This is what the closet looked like in the beginning.  I remember thinking that I couldn't wait until those cubbies were filled and that there were clothes on that rack.  I remember how desperate I was to be a mom.  Looking at this almost empty closet made all of those feelings come rushing back.  I pulled myself together and finished emptying the closet.  Check out how great these matching hangers look!

I love that all of Gus' hangers match.  No store hangers ever brought home.  Oh!  And I love his little cowboy hat that fit perfecting in this box upside down and keeps the hangers from sliding around!  (Yes, the box is labeled "hangers and a hat" and it is color coded so we know that it goes to Gus' room.)

I emptied on of Gus' chest of drawers.  Found the box that holds his first comb used at the hospital.  That boy had a head of hair!  And I found his hospital bracelet...and the baggie of hair from his first hair cut.  Tears again!  (It doesn't take much.)

I finished up packing Gus' room.  For the most part, that boy is packed and ready to go.

So when people ask us why we felt the need to move....this is why!  Look at all of the boxes from one little boy's bedroom.  Poor kid has no room to breathe with all of his baby stuff, toys, books, etc.  Can't wait to get into our new house where Gus will have his bedroom and a play room!  What a lucky boy!

I will kick that intruder's arse....

Just wait...here comes another edition of, "Beth is crazy!"

Today seemed like the longest Friday of all time.  Long, crazy day with lots of student drama and discipline going on.  Not to mention followed by a cheer practice where the girls were simply stir crazy and unfocused and the coaches (myself being one of them) were getting very frustrated.  My friend, Diane, watched Gus for us today while I was at practice and Joel was helping to run a charity event.  After practice, Diane, Gus and I ran some errands together.  We finished up just in time for me to get Gus home for bedtime.

After wrestling with my 1 1/2 year old alligator to get him out of the carseat and he tried to slither out of my arms as we walked up to the house, I was finally able to let him run free once we walked through that front door.  I casually took off my coat as Gus ran around like a mad man and I walked into the kitchen to hang up my coat and.....BOOM!!!  There is was!  The door leading from the kitchen into the garage was wide...I mean WIDE open.  Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!!!!  (Okay....yes, I had some other choice words running through my head.)  I snatched Gus up, grabbed my cell phone and ran out to the neighbor's driveway as I called my husband.  (The neighbor is a police officer....I figured I could always have him come kick the intruder's arse if need be.) 

I frantically called Joel to ask if he by chance left that door open.  His response, much to my dismay, "ya know....I think I might have.  I left in such a rush."  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?  How do I know for sure?  And why didn't I think to grab my coat?  I am freezing.  Should I go back in?  Maybe I should make Aaron go check it out first.  Should I call the cops?  Am I being ridiculous?  Am I overly paranoid?  Maybe I should be more concerned?  Many things went through my mind.  Oh!  And thank goodness I hadn't yet gotten Gus out of his coat.  He was warm and at this point playing in the snow at the neighbor's house.  After a lot of thought, we went back into the house.  I set Gus down and I grabbed the broom in the kitchen and went around the house with a broom in one hand and my phone in the other with it already dialed to 9-1-...just in case.  I kicked open every door, the shower curtain, looked under the bed and jumped in about in an effort to surprise the intruder and so that I could kick his/her arse with a broom.

Long story short....no intruder but my overactive imagination jumped into overdrive and I became a raving lunatic. But I still have my broom ready....just waiting for my husband, the door-leaver-opener, to arrive home.  He better start running.....

Adora Lane

We are SO excited about what 2011 has in store for us.  At the beginning of December we started looking into trying to lease our current townhouse and be able to buy a new house.  I have been dreaming of the day when we would be able to move.  We are bursting at the seams here.  We need more space.  And Gus needs more space to run and play!  I have told people before that my requirements in a new home would be a backyard for my baby and a basement for my hubby.  Well, there is a basement for my hubby...but it will need to be finished off.  The nice part is that the basement has the extra tall ceilings.  Perfect for my extra tall hubby.  And the backyard....oh I am so excited!!  There is a beautiful backyard that backs up to a pond.  Not thrilled about the pond, but when we placed our offer we asked for the builder to include a fence for the backyard...that was one thing that I was not willing to go without if there was going to be a pond right there.  We found a company who will manage our townhouse rental property for us, we got our preapproval for a mortgage, our offer was accepted, we signed a purchase agreement...and now we wait to close!!  That and we start packing!  Our townhouse needs to be ready to be photographed for the leasing company in less than two weeks!!  Needless to say it will be a little crazy around here for a little while, but we are super excited!!  The home we will be moving into is the former model for the builder.  Below is a sneak peek of the house.  Some things have changed since they took the pictures.  For example, the parking lot has been replaced with a yard and driveway, some of the rooms have been repainted and all of the furniture/decor have been removed.  Can't wait to make this house our home!

The parking lot, flag pole, fence and doors are gone. It has been replaced with a lawn, driveway and a garage door. 

This is the "flex" room that will be a play area/office for Gus for now. (Maybe...that's why it's a "flex" room.  It's purpose is flexible.)  I'm super bummed that they already painted over the walls.  I would have loved that design on my walls.

The laundry room.  We are currently spoiled at the townhouse since our laundry is on the 2nd floor near the bedrooms...but the main floor is just as good.

The kitchen.  There are twice as many cupboards here than what we currently have! Now our stuff won't have to be jammed in there.

The dining "nook".  Our little dining table is going to look so little in here but we will actually be able to access all four sides of it at once instead of having it against the wall.

The great room.  The only thing not great about this room is the red paint on the bottom.  We currently have a plum colored couch...I guess a can of paint is cheaper than a new couch, right?

Bedroom #1- Which will now be referred to as the craft room.  Or as I am sure Joel will end up calling it, the "crap" room.  For the time being, I will be able to keep all of my scrapbooking stuff, gift wrap, Thirty-One stuff, coaching stuff, etc in here.  And it will stay pink for now.  No use painting it when it will just be for me.  :)

This is the loft area at the top of the stairs.  Oh the possibilities!

Gus' bathroom.  It is hard to see from the picture but the wallpaper is polka dots!  I love polka dots!! And there is a border around the bottom with dogs.  Gus loves dogs!!  It's cute.

Most boys might dream of a construction/Bob the Builder room.  Personally, this room gives me a headache.  It's got to change.  This will be Gus' room.  I am sure that we will be painting it exactly the way his current bedroom is because I love that room and I am not ready to let go of that yet. Plus I already have bedding for a toddler bed that matches his current room.  So goodbye Bob the Builder...we are going to be doing some construction of our own.

This will be the guest bedroom and will become Baby Stape #2's bedroom someday.  (Unless we have a girl and then I may be willing to give up the craft room.) 

The master bathroom has a big garden tub and a shower.  I just may find myself taking more baths now with such a luxurious tub!

Our Bedroom.  The wooden decor on the wall has been taken down and that wall has been repainted.  None of our current bedding will match, but that is okay.  (And when I say none of our bedding, I am serious.  I am obsessed with duvet covers and not a single one will look good in here.  Oh well!)

Hope you enjoyed your little tour of our soon-to-be home.  We can't wait for you to come and visit us at our home on Adora Lane.

Things That Just Bug Me!!

This week I have just discovered some things that just down right bug the heck out of me and I need to get them off my chest!

1) Why is it that every waitress that we have had recently seems to think that it is okay to put the food we ordered right in front of the curious little 1 year old?  Does she not realize that he is going to instantly reach for it and make a mess?  Isn't this common sense or is it just me?

2) Cow like gum chewers.  If you choose to chew gum, could you please not check it like a cow chews his cud?  It bugs me to hear that and see that!

3) My husband made me take down my original #3...and yes...that bugs me.
4) Stress.  I don't really have much to say about that but it really bugs me this week.

5) The kid in my 5th hour who ALWAYS interrupts me when I am talking to another student.  "Really?  You can't see that I am talking already?  Wait your turn you crazy kid!"  Okay...I usually just say, "I will be right with you..."

6) My stand-by favorite black flat dress shoes finally went to their final resting place this week.  I am so sad.

7) The media.  Why do they have to portray some things so incorrectly?

8) Temper-tantrums + Gus = frustrated momma

9) Economics.  I'm really not loving teaching that class right now.

10) Those who come "late to the party."  I put together a large district wide order for staff apparel.  Now that people are getting the items delivered to them, other people decided they want to order now.  Seriously?  I'm not here to accomodate every one's needs.  Do your own order!!

11) Trains.  Have I ever told you that we live near a corner that the train tracks cross two sides of that corner?  And the other route I would take is under construction?  Well let's just say it is really annoying!

Thanks for letting me vent...I feel better.  :)

Halloween 2010

More to come....

Crunch, Crunch, Crunch

Gus and I decided to take advantage of this beautiful fall weather that we have been having and go play at the park.  Couldn't help but post some pics of my little man who LOVED crunching through the fallen leaves!

Fun Times and Breaking News

I have had so much fun this week.  Now that we are in full swing of the school year, I am finally starting to get back in my groove.  It is a little strange because I am not teaching full time this year.  I am counseling for the first half of the day and teaching only 2 hours at the end of the day.  It is a little bit awkward and I feel like I am being pulled in many different directions, but at the same time, it is the best of both worlds.  I get to counsel and teach!!

Unfortunately, Gus has been having a rough week with some teeth coming in so I am sure he has kept his babysitters busy while he is there during the day.  (Once again, THANK YOU Stephanie and Miranda!!)  On the upside, we finally found a second type of sippy cup that Gus will use.  WHEW!!  The other ones that he would use are really hard to find.  I am so happy to have FINALLY found another one suitable to my little picky one.  And speaking of picky...at what age do kids learn how to pick their own noses?  Gus has come down with a cold this weekend and I really hate having to pick his boogers.  But he doesn't know how, so what's a mom to do other than pick her baby's boogies? And thank goodness for Boogie Wipes!  If you haven't tried them for your kids, I highly recommend them!  (I wonder if I can buy stock in them?  That's how much I love them!)

Gus and I also had the opportunity this week to make a quick trip to West Michigan.  (I miss that place more and more.)  We literally went for less than 24 hours this time.  We got there on Thursday evening and my mom watched Gus while I went out to dinner with my friend, Tiffany.  I love getting a chance to catch up with her.  We don't get to see each other very often but when we do, we pick up right where we left off.  I love friendships like that!  The next morning Gus and I finally got to go to the 2010 Blogger Bash put on by Sassy Baby Co.  Oh baby!!  It was so fun!!  Stay tuned because I am going to tell you ALL about it.  But in addition to all the fun that we had, I got to see my friend, Stacy from college.  It was great to see her.  I am so impressed by her and the blog that she writes.  Maybe someday, when I grow up, I will be like her and have a great blog.  So stay tuned to hear about all of the fun that Gus and I had at the Blogger Bash.

AND IN BREAKING NEWS....
Brace yourself.  The link to our blog has changed.  This is a big step in our blogging life.  We originally started this blog as a way for friends and family to go and keep up to date on our adoption process.  (I was getting really tired of hearing, "have you heard anything yet?".  "Umm...no.  I'm pretty sure the whole world will know when we hear something.)  So instead of having uncomfortable conversations about the adoption, we started the blog.  And then it became a place for our family to chronicle our life together.  Recently it has opened up some opportunities that I never knew were possible.  There are a few adoption sites that have our blog listed on their site which have led some people to us.  We have been asked questions by people thinking about adoption but want a real life perspective.  And the coolest by far is the invitation I received to the Blogger Bash with Sassy.  I will always keep this blog as one for our family.  I don't do this as a career or any other monetary gain.  I do this for us.  I do this as a way to get some thoughts out.  But if I have a chance to help others, especially in adoption, then I am ALL for it!!  So a few things will be changing but the important things will remain...our family being the center of that.  But in case you have us bookmarked, you are going to want to change the link.  We can now be found at http://www.stapeshouse.com/.  Okay...how cool is that?!?  Really excited about that.  Please stay tuned.  I am sure that there will be a lot of really fun things coming at Stape's House!

Happy Birthday, Gus-gus!

Deeply and madly in love with this little boy!!

I cannot even believe that Gus is a year old already!  I can hardly stand how quickly this year has gone by!  We started out the day by going to see Dr. Cadena.  After the crabby doctor in Orlando diagnosed Gus with an ear infection, I decided that I wanted to see our own doctor.  I'm glad that we did because Gus had also developed a rash so I wanted to get that checked out.  After the doctor, we stopped at school and Auntie Diane's house before coming home to take a nap.  Gus was not thrilled about taking a nap at that time and lucky for him, his cousins rescued him by stopping by to wish him happy birthday.  That night we went to the All-Star football game to watch Joe and Dan play one more time.  We didn't celebrate/party yet for Gus.  His birthday party is going to be later this month when it works for all of his grandparents (and his Da-Doh) to be there.

I am so lucky to have this beautiful little man in my life.  I cannot imagine my world without him.  It still amazes me that I get to be his momma.  I cannot wait to watch his little personality continue to develop and see who he becomes.

M-I-C...K-E-Y

Gus had a week of many firsts.  He took his first vacation!  We have taken other trips to see friends and family, but this was the first vacation we had planned that was just for us.  The idea for the trip actually came before Gus was even born.  My friend, Amy Sulewski, and I decided that we wanted to take our kids to Disney for the first time together.  So after a lot of planning (and a few uncertainties) we finally made it to Orlando.

FIRST plane ride- We started our trip in the 1st class lounge.  The parent of one of our students works inside there and invited us in.  It was nice to relax in a quiet space before the hustle and bustle of the airport.

Waiting to board the plane.

We arrived at our resort where there was a birthday surprise waiting for Gus in our room.  It included a balloon, autograph book and Gus' FIRST set of Mickey ears.

Gus and his "ears".

Gus met a ton of characters in Disney World.  His FIRST one was Minnie Mouse.  He thought it would be a good idea to try to eat her nose!

Hi Minnie Mouse!!

The Disney transporation was so easy to use.  We took a boat, the monorail and spent a lot of time on a bus.  Gus loved it because he didn't have to be in a carseat.  He was eager to look around at everything we went by.  He was like a little puppy paying attention to his surroundings.  At one point he decided to start holding onto the pole like Momma and Dada did.

Gus on the bus!  Hold on, Gus!

We went to the Magic Kingdom ElectroMagic Parade.  Gus LOVED all of the lights.  He had a ton of fun at his FIRST parade.

"WOW!!"

Gus saw his FIRST fireworks at Magic Kingdom.  (Yes, it was past his bedtime, but there was no way that we were gonna past up that opportunity!)  The end of the fireworks has the song "A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes."  This entire trip was full of emotion for me and I cried a ton!  When this song played, I lost it completely!  We are totally living the dream as our little family. 

My boys watching the fireworks.

DUMBO!  Gus LOVED the Dumbo ride.  On this ride you get to control your own elephant to go up and down.  Gus loved playing with that little lever.

Disney was smart to place an elephant on the ground for mommas like myself who want pictures with it. 

Gus has a blast riding the tea cup ride!  We didn't spin too much.  Gus just thought it was fun!  The Sulewski family were so fortunate to have Alice from Alice in Wonderland ride in their tea cup with them.  Rylie was in awe!

"Weeeeee"

Growing up, I was in love with Winnie the Pooh and his friends.  I was thrilled for Gus to get to meet those characters.  He was amazed by Tigger!

"T-I- double Grr- R"

We made this trip all about celebrating Gus' first birthday.  Gus had his FIRST frosting....and loved it.

"YUM!"

On Wednesday of our trip, Gus woke up with a skyrocketing fever.  After a couple of hours of it not going down and a very unhappy baby, we decided to go to urgent care and see if we could find out what was wrong.  Turns out he had his FIRST ear infection.  Poor peanut!  So we spent our last day at Disney in our hotel room.

"OUCH"

On the day of our departure, we were trying to pack up and get ready to go.  Gus decided to have some of his own fun.

"Gus-gus....where are you?!?"

The bathroom door had a mirror on it and Gus could not get enough of it!

"Who is that handsome devil in the mirror?"

We had a WONDERFUL time at Disney World.  We have already started to think about our next trip that we will take there.  Can't wait!!

Morning Mammograms

Months ago I wrote about how much I loved morning with my munchkin.  Every morning Joel gets up before I do, gets Gus' morning bottle and puts him in bed with me which he jumps in the shower.  When Gus was younger he would snuggle with me after finishing the bottle.  And would tend to doze on and off.  Life has changed drastically.  Now when Gus get done with the bottle he chucks it onto the bed much like a football player spikes the ball in the end zone.  After chucking he beloved "baba", he proceeds to climb all over me and is ready to play.  For some reason, Gus chooses to use my breasts as climbing rocks as he tries to reach for the decorative part on our headboard.  I have tried to explain to him that I do not need him to squash my chest like they do for mammograms, but he doesn't seem to care.  Bummer.  I used to love our relaxing mornings together and although they are not as peaceful as they used to be, they are just as much fun!  And despite not loving mornings and having to get out of bed...I love hanging out with my little monkey in the morning and surprisingly I do not really mind being used as a step stool. 

NIAW

One of the blogs that I read has brought NIAW to my attention.  Apparently it is National Infertility Awareness Week.  No reason was found for why we couldn't get pregnant and there is nothing to say that we couldn't get pregnant someday.  The blogger creating this awareness posted a great video.  It was something that I could completely identify with.  I have often found myself asking many of the same questions. 

It is strange that through our stuggle to get pregnant and through Gus' adoption, I have formed many stronger friendships with others who have similiar lives.  But it took one of us being brave enough to talk about it and share our story.  It is so easy to feel like you are the only one.  Just by sharing a story, it is easy to see that there are so many others in the same boat. 

If your are interested, check out this video.

http://vimeo.com/11214833

What?!? No way!!

This week has been kinda rough but today there was a bright spot.

Joel was being interviewed by a 9th grade English class for their biography unit.  One student, MC, raised his hand.  "There are people going around saying that Gus is adopted....so is he?"  Turns out MC, who is one of Joel's players and knows the two of us pretty well, had NO CLUE that Gus was adopted.  It was pretty funny.  He felt pretty embarassed and kept apologizing to us.  I explained to him that that is no big deal.  "Adopted" does not define who Gus is.  I don't ever want one word to define who he is.  I explained this to MC...but he still felt bad and was completely shocked!  But when I think of it, he is a freshman.  He didn't see that I wasn't pregnant last school year.  How would he know?  Poor kid is mortified.  I did explain to him that I am sure many kids were happy that he asked that question because it was something that many of them, I am sure, wanted to ask.  It certainly opened up a wealth of questions for Joel.  One thing is for sure...those 9th graders learned a lot about the Stape Fam today!

Curious Gus

Gus is into EVERYTHING!!  We are constantly chasing him...and I love it!  I will admit that we were a little behind on the baby proofing but I think that we are getting there...which is good since he is a speedy little monkey.  We are looking forward to Spring Break to really do a better job of baby proofing.  I'm thinking it would be easier just to keep him in a bubble...that way he will be safe.  Since that doesn't seem like a great option, we will just have to be right next to him all the time when he is free roaming or resort to using the pack n play.  He is fun to watch while he is playing in his pack n play.  I love when he stands up and you can see from just his nose up above the edge.  Or when he crouches down to peer at us through the mesh below.  Too cute!  I love watching how curious he is and how he can't stop looking at his surroundings.  Even when we are carrying him, he wrenches his body around so that he can see where we are headed as opposed to where we have been.  I love my son's optimistic view on the world!!

What a day!

Well, I have only been home with my little munchkin for about two and a half hours.  Since then I have been chewed on and drooled on.  The little angel dumped his bottle on me which happened to be leaking.  He spit out baby food (carrots) at me and it got into my hair.  His stinky diaper seeped out of it's barrier onto my lap and to top it all off, I got peed on when I changed him.  What else can happen in the next few hours?!?  I'm exhausted....whew....

FINALLY!!!

Our adoption is FINALLY finalized!!!  We have waited 8 months for this and it finally arrived!  Can't believe that we made it!

8 months!!

This 8 month old would like to chew on the paper that his daddy is holding up.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our little Cupid!!

A little late...

Okay....it took a while to get these posted.