A Walk in the Park

This spring weather has been so crazy. Temps in the 70s, then snow with temps in the 30s (in May nevertheless!), and back to a beautiful and breezy 70! I'm hoping for a really green end of spring and summer with all the rain we've been having. My yard is turning into a swap it feels like. We try to get outside to play every day that it's nice out, but with the yard being so damp all the time sometimes we go to the park instead :)

Luckily, there's one just a few miles down the road that we can get to pretty quick.

Waiting on Dad to finish mowing so we can
go to the park.

Two handsome dudes ;)

WEEE...

EEE...

EEE...

EEE!

He LOVED these musical chiming tubes

Peek-a-boo!
(His all time favorite game)

Where did Daddy go?

With the nice weather we've also gotten to wear shorts out and about for the first time. Shorts are great because their stylish without being jeans (which can be hard to crawl in) and comfy without being sweatpants (which is what nearly ALL baby boy pants are if their not denim; thanks a lot Carter's!) I say this outfit was a win/win :) We even had a navy blue bucket hat to wear when we were playing outside!

Here I come summer! (The checkout lady at
 Target referred to D as 'she' and 'her' while she was
bagging my groceries and finished it with "She's
so pretty!" Really?! Maybe if he had on a dress, but
this awesome outfit does not say girly.) 

Too cute

Here We Go Again, Baby Numero Dos!

Wowza! So I didn't expect to be so ready to start thinking about having another child join our family as early as I did. Right after Christmas time just when I was starting to feel like I kinda knew what I was doing and had this 'mom' thing more under control (and more importantly, Declan was sleeping through the night), I start wondering... "What about a sibling?" I mentioned this to Matt (who thought I was a little crazy for even thinking it at this point, or a lot crazy) and he made me agree to wait and discuss it further once Declan was officially 6 months old (Jan 2013). Matt and I have known for a long time that adoption would be part of how we built our family. We just didn't know the when or how. Well, I proceeded to do my own research on adoption so come 6 months, we would be ready to officially get started (I discovered this process can sometimes take years, and we wanted our kiddos to be relatively close in age).

Turns out that adoption is going to be apart of our lives now, and we're learning how :) To answer a few of the questions we get asked... No, it wasn't that pregnancy was so terrible I don't want to do it again (I actually really liked it and will miss not being pregnant again--- recovery from labor and delivery and those first 6 weeks or so? Won't miss those a bit!!!) Matt and I both have a heart for the millions of orphans in the world (especially the third world) and feel like this is an area when we can make a tangible difference for at least one of them. And ultimately, we want more children and don't feel that they absolutely need to be biologically related to us for them to be our son or daughter :)

Where are you adopting from, and why? We discussed domestic adoption and adopting through the foster care system, but in the end felt more drawn to international adoption. Each country has its own set of guidelines for prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) such as age, income, number of children in the home, and other considerations such as the age of children available, timelines for completion of adoption, travel requirements, and stability of the foreign country's adoption program. Africa was a no brainer for us (we have very close family friends from Zimbabwe, and felt this is where the biggest need was). Realistically, there were about 5 countries for us to choose from. We narrowed it down to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Ethiopia (ET). The DRC is relatively new to the international adoption scene and can be on the unpredictable side, whereas ET has been completing international adoptions for years with a stable program. When you invest this much love, time, and effort (and let's be honest... money too!) you want it to work out :)

After weeks of research on adoption agencies, we decided we felt most comfortable with Adoption Associates Inc. in Michigan (AAI for short; a smaller but very active adoption agency) for our international adoption agency. We then had to pick a local adoption agency to complete a home study (read: comprehensive social work study of EVERY aspect of your life), so Adoption & Beyond in Overland Park is completing that portion of our adoption for us.

Kind of like finding out you're pregnant, sometimes you wait a little while before announcing to the world and making it 'official'. This new child of ours may not be in our home for another 1-2 years so we didn't want to announce it to everyone everywhere from the beginning (I managed to make it almost 3 months without sharing! So hard!). Well, today we received our completed home study that approves us as adoptive parents!!! I got so giddy with excitement when I was reading our 14 page write up (yes, 14!) that I nearly got teary eyed. One big step done, but a lot more to go.

The international adoption process is pretty long and complicated but it breaks down to something like this...
-chose adoption agency and apply for services
-collect a rainforest's worth of paperwork about your entire life
-submit mentioned rainforest, have home study interviews, and obtain completed home study
-submit more paperwork to the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services), get fingerprinted for the 2nd time, and obtain approval from US government to adopt
-submit third and largest rainforest to foreign country along with USCIS approval and home study (collectively called a dossier)
-now you are officially on the 'waiting list'
-be matched with a child (we're anticipating a 1-2 year wait, and honestly we're not in a hurry)
-travel to foreign country to meet your new son/daughter and go to court hearings, visa interviews, and eventually bring them home to the US (this last part can take a few weeks to many months, and may require multiple trips)

We are timeline-wise still at the beginning of this whole process but paperwork-wise getting close to done. We joined AAI and were accepted at the end of January. February and March were nothing but paper chasing (birth certificates, marriage certificates, Dr visits for everyone including Declan, bank statements and past W2s, 9 reference letters, employer reference letters, employment verification, etc ) and completing education requirements (1 book, 3 videos, 1 weekend conference, 4 online education programs). April was interviews and home study completion. May/June should be USCIS approval, and June/July should be dossier submission :) Whew! I'm already tired. Then we start the waiting game.

My feelings before the home study: anxious, but feel silly for over preparing, I wanted to bake cookies which Matt said was "trying too hard" (I did anyways and had fresh lemonade too), gave me a reason to spring clean the house from top to bottom (the cleanest it's been since D was born), I'm sure it will go fine, I'm wondering if it will feel formal or relaxed (our social worker said it would be casual and not to worry about it), D will be awake for the first hour or so that she's here so I'm really hoping he's in a good mood and makes us looks like model parents :) Overall, a little nervous but I'm sure it won't be that big of a deal and she'll approve us as adoptive parents. All our paperwork from this point on, depends on what they say about us in our home study.

My feelings after the home study: that wasn't as intense as I was prepared for or had imagined, she didn't once mention how impeccably clean my house was, she didn't want a fresh baked cookie OR lemonade (both made expressly for this purpose, I however ended up eating a half dozen...), it was very casual like we were just visiting rather than being interviewed (other than the fact she had a pen and paper and was taking notes here and there), it took about 2 hours but could have been condensed into 1 hour I think, I so wanted to listen in during Matt's solo interview portion but like a good rule-follower I did not, and I'm confident about her recommendation.

Home study= 83 pages of personal information + 9 reference letters + 14 hours of education + 1 book + 3 Dr visits + 4 repeat visits to Matt's Dr to get the papers filled out right + 1 weekend conference + 4 vials of blood + 3 interviews + 1 tour of our home = approved as PAPs!

Next step... get the US Government to agree :) Bring it!

Impromptu Easter photo shoot

Thank you Nana for snapping these for us!

8 months and Easter

Well, D is a whopping 8 months old now. Two-thirds of the way to 1 year. That's just crazy to me. Some days that sounds about right, and others too long. Generally too long, but when I think about how far he's come developmentally it puts everything in perspective.

We now eat 3 meals a day plus 5 nursings (morning, noon, afternoon, bedtime, and dream feed). He's been sleeping for 12 hour stretches at night since 6 1/2 months. (Recently started waking up hungry around 6am, so I added his dreamfeed back in and that fixed it). Scooting/army crawling/inch worming since 7 months. And as of 8 months legit crawling, pulling to stand, and cruising! I know that some moms will get all weepy with these new stages as their babies gain some independence, however, I am pretty thrilled by it. Don't get me wrong, a small part of me is sad to see him grow up. But a bigger part of me is excited to watch him accomplish new tasks. Working where I do, I know a lot of those kiddos won't do the things D does. So I'm thankful. And it is just heart-melting when that chubby, wiggling boy crawls to you, pulls to a stand using your leg, and reaches his hands up (hold me Mommy!) Too sweet :)

I think I can, I think I can...

I'm pretty proud of myself and so is Mom and Dad!

We've had a few playdates with Rowan, Carson, Reece, Lainey, and Jenson. He's getting a bit more interactive and not crying quite as much when others babies get loud (if they cry though, he's gonna turn on frownie face and the waterworks). It's pretty cute to watch him reach out to touch their face or poke their belly. He's so curious. I keep telling myself that he's in that explorer/scientist mode right now. "If I hide my eyes behind the blanket, every time Mom is still on the other side even if I can't see her" "Every time I go to play with the door stop, I'm going to be told that it's not a toy""The door swings open, the door swings closed, the door swings open, the door swings closed..."

A day out and about with my buddies, Reece and Carson.

He doesn't do much that he has to be told 'no' for just yet. Mostly no grabbing faces/hair and no playing with the doorstops and outlets. We plan more on house-proofing D rather than baby-proofing the house (to an extent; the dangerous stuff will be locked up, ie- cleaning supplies). We still need to figure out what to do with our staircase. I would like to think this would be a great example of house-proofing D, but it probably needs to be baby-proof as well. With how fast he moves and climbs now, the stairs could be a bit trickier. And a fall down the stairs onto a wood floor is no good.

Anything is a toy, right?

We're working more on our fine motor skills now. He has little interest in picking food up to feed himself. I think he knows that I can get it in there faster, and he just wants it in his mouth! I though maybe his puffs were hard to pick up off the tray so I held one in my palm for him instead. He looked at my palm, then at me, attempted to pinch it (he can use his pincer grasp to get it but then lets go before he gets anywhere near his mouth), and when that didn't work he leaned way down and just licked it off my palm! Well, I guess that's one way to do it, but I don't see his kindergarten teacher being impressed with that skill.

I'm so hoping that he'll start signing back to us soon. We don't do a ton of signs (I wish we did more) but he definitely shows a reaction to 'milk' and has for quite some time. For now we use the basics and I'm starting to add a few more as we go. Common signs we use: milk, more, eat, drink, water, play, bath, ball, help, mom, and dad. I'm proud to say his first word was Mama!! Matt and I have been repeating mama and dada to him over and over waiting on him to say one :) Pretty excited it was Mama since every other baby we know right now chose Dada. I feel a little special. I'm not sure he really associates it with me. He says it most often in the evening when he's more cranky and wants his milk and to go to bed.

Spending Easter weekend in Joplin with our parents and celebrating Matt's birthday was a good weekend. My grandparents played a huge part in my childhood, so it makes me a little sad that D doesn't have them around all the time. But we're grateful for the times we do get to see them and spend with them. Matt's mom has one of those fancy schmancy pro-style digital cameras and obliged my request for a few family photos since we were all dressed up. I searched of and on for weeks about what we were all going to wear. You know... cute dress, coordinating outfits, etc... I'm pretty happy with how it turned out though. Fun bright spring colors for each of us :) AND this is only the second 'family photo' we've had since he was born. I'm not very good about planning ahead for things like that.  I don't even have a baby book for D. I don't think he'll really care when his first tooth came in (not yet, by the way, but it's my excuse for all his cranky behavior and probably will be until he's old enough to drive), what day he first said Mama, or what foods he liked/disliked. It would just be for my keeping anyway, but I still feel quasi 'lame mom' about it. Oh well...

Checkin' out my first Easter egg

Squeaky clean :)

He loves animals, especially dogs and cats.
He just squeals and giggles at them,
 then proceeds to chase them around.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Whoa! Yeah, that's only 28 candles folks.
It looks like he could be turning 90 from
the glow!

Happy Easter peeps!

Not real impressed with the whole Easter basket idea.
He got some swim shorts, a hat, sunglasses, and yogurt melts.

Found a little weed between the cracks. If
this interest keeps up, I see a very handy new
skill come later this spring and summer!

Where did 2 months go?

Apparently I am incapable of being a mom, working only 2 days a week, AND maintaining a blog. I'm not sure what that says about my mental capacity or my time management skills (I'm going with the latter). But needless to say, there are a ton of updates to be put up. I feel like I should try and go back to where we left off and fill in each little gap that we missed. However, that would take waaaay to long.

So I'm going to touch on each subject, and post more later :)

-My baby is now 8 months old!
       When did this happen? Six months seemed ok. Not too old, but not a little baby either. Seven months, ok. A little bit on the older side. EIGHT months!?! He's almost a year old! For some reason this age puts me over the edge about him being such a big man. I've already been searching for first birthday party ideas (probably in place of updating this). I'm a terrible party planner/decorator, and have several friends who rock in this area and will also be having first birthday parties for their own little ones this summer. So I'm feeling the pressure to make his first birthday an "event to remember". We'll see what comes out. I'm sure I'll have looked and planned so hard, so only have a so-so actual turn out. Disappointing for me. Either way, Declan won't care or remember. Only what we have in photographs. All I know from my first birthday party was that it was outside on my grandparents patio with my family and a few kids that I can't name. Point being, I'm going to try and not be so critical of myself and focus more on having a good time with D-man on his birthday, rather than be so concerned if the party theme turned out how I wanted :) (more on D later!)

LOVING the new play table!

-Valentine's day came and went with no big celebration. Matt was in Chicago. I was working. And D was hanging out with Julie (our new nanny, well, new back then. She's been around a few months now!) This was all fine with me. I'm not big on the chocolate and flowers and card bit. I'd rather just have a relaxing family night in.

-We had plans to go to Napa Valley at the end of February but instead Matt went to San Francisco without me (only because his flight left before mine). I was stuck on the runway in a plane that couldn't take off. D was home with my mom who drove up here to watch him for 4 days, and my in-laws were snowed in at our house as well because their flight to Las Vegas was cancelled. So our weekend getaway turned into a 2.5 hr drive home in blizzard conditions (praise the Lord I actually made it back home), D was sick with something awful, my in-laws and mom snowed in at our house with us, Matt flying to Springfield, MO the next day and driving a rental home with no sunglasses on (he claimed snow blindness after that trip). Not as relaxing as I had hoped. Matt's dad shoveled our driveway about 3 times that weekend because it just kept on snowing! (He should have just waited until the whole storm was passed, but I think it just gave him something productive to do.) And of course, it snowed again a few days later after everyone left and it was just me and D. Then it was my turn to shovel and clear the way out after the nice snow plow left a 5 foot drift at the bottom of the driveway :/ I was missing Matt's dad that day!

Just the 2 of us, watching it snow.

I didn't have a snowsuit that fit, so a jacket
and blanket made do for a quick picture.

Watching it snow some more, but from the
inside this time :)

My backyard...

-There's officially been 3 'snowmageddons' here in KC this winter (just since February actually). As I type I'm watching the third round of snow slowly seep into the ground. We only got 9" this time around, as opposed to the 22" we had accumulated from the last two snows (see previous paragraph). I'm done with snow for this year, seriously. Easter is less than a week away people.

-Hold on to your socks, because this announcement is a doozy..... Matt and I are already planning for Baby #2!!!
       For a long time, Matt and I have known that adoption would at some point be apart of how we built our family. Well, with how long things can take (ex. paper chasing, waiting, traveling, court dates) we decided that if we wanted D and our next kiddo to be somewhat close in age, then we would need to get things started. We officially started the adoption process with our adoption agency at end of January. If things go relatively smooth (which they never do in adoption, or rarely at least) we'll be looking to bring home our child in the summer of 2014. This is quite awhile from right now, but we're not ready for another baby in the house just this minute anyhow :) (more on this will follow!)

-We recently spent an extended weekend in Memphis with Matt's brother, Dan, and his wife, Kelsie. Not sure why I thought flying solo with a baby was a good idea, but lucky for me, D is easily entertained by total strangers. Matt flew down from Chicago, and I met him at the airport with D in tow from KC. I was pretty nervous about how he would handle the flight. I just didn't want him screaming the entire time as other passengers glared at me annoyed. I honestly think the worst part about the actual travel was my fretting over it. The people on the flight there were very kind, and willing to make funny faces, and talk to D. He was amused and gave out a lot of smiles and giggles. Everyone around me thought he was pretty great. The sweet young lady next to me kept poking him and trying to tickle him, and even went so far as to offer him her Goldfish snacks. I declined on D's behalf since I figured I didn't want to add choking into the picture. We had a great time in Memphis. It's always nice to see Dan and Kelsie and catch up. I imagine the 4 of us all growing old and vacationing together, playing cards together every Wednesday night (I assuming we live in the same city, because in my dream world we do), and just being old and crazy together. The flight home didn't go quite as smooth, since D was about 2 hours overdo for a nap during the flight. But he did finally manage to go to sleep shortly before we landed, so the 10 minutes of fussing wasn't all that bad.

Arriving in Memphis and waiting on Dad.

We had our very own 'Harry Potter' sleeping
in a closet under the stairs. We shared a room
with him and there was no way he was going
to sleep as long as he could see us, so we put
the crib in the closet. Much better as strange
as it sounds!

This is a whole new level of cheese...

There was no one next to us on the ride home, so we took
full advantage of the space!

Landed back in KC with one tired baby boy.

And that brings us up to date for the most part. Matt's birthday is this weekend, and I'm hoping to make it better than last year (we were in the middle of our hospital stay for D's heart). It's also Easter!! We're making a trip home to celebrate with our families, so I'm pumped for a great weekend :)