Adopting a Boy

My friend Angie sent this YouTube video to me about adopting boys. It is really sweet and made me so appreciative of our journey and our little cutie John. Have I mentioned before how much this child LOVES being in a family? On those days where he is really being a boy and a toddler at the same time (you know the days) I always take a step back and try to remember that he is so happy here in our home.

John loves to name everyone in our family every night before he goes to bed. He loves to talk about "mommy's car and John's car".  He loves to say "Hug, please", when he is feeling a little blue. He loves to have me sing to him every night before he falls asleep. He loves to remind me when I am cooking dinner that 1. "Mommy's cooking dinner" and 2. "Daddy's coming home!" He is quick to apologize to his siblings for throwing toys at their head. He loves ruff housing with his brother. He loves to talk about "John's house" and that dogs to do not live here :). He loves to be in charge of passing out treats to his siblings. He loves to discuss what kind of food he will eat after nap time. His favorites right now include, noodles, potatoes, muffins and ice cream. He loves to do acts of kindness and even more than that he loves the praise of "you are such a good boy" afterwards. He loves to play jump on the bed with daddy.

This boy loves being in a family, and the feeling is mutual. We love having him here. He was sick the other day and went to bed early. We ate dinner with just seven of us, and it felt so empty. If you are considering adoption - at least be open to a boy. He has changed our world, rocked our world, and improved our world. Plus - look at this face - are you kidding me?

Smiles

So ... I'm back. It has been a little crazy around here. Please forgive my absence. We have had 4 weeks of the stomach flu, 2 weeks of the regular flu, one overnight stay in the hospital - not to mention the regular chaos, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.

Things have calmed down a bit, so I wanted to catch up on happenings around these parts. First of all, John has had a lot of firsts with us. He had his first Thanksgiving. He could have taken it or left it. But we enjoyed having him around. He had his first Christmas, which he LOVED. And he went sledding, which I am assuming was his first time. He didn't really like it very much, but still fun to watch him. He has decided that he likes snow. He wasn't quite sure for the first little bit, but as with everything else, time really helps and he is slowly but surely spreading his wings and learning to try and enjoy new experiences.

I will update you later on all of John's accomplishments. But for today, I saw him do something for the first time, that made me so happy. I smiled at John and he smiled back. Up to this point he has not done that. I don't think I even realized he wasn't smiling back until today - when he finally smiled back. It is the little accomplishments that make this process really enjoyable.

My sweet puppies: John and Kate

Lydia

Lincoln

Cora 

John Eating a Bowl Full of Snow

Kate

Brigham

John's First Time Sledding

Brigham, Mia and Lydia

Christmas Highlights