Halloween Photos

Sorry they are a little late but there are some good ones here and worth the wait.  He had a great time trick or treating.  He did have a few houses where he forgot the “trick or treat” line and instead said, “please candy!”  Either way, it worked and he kept going until he couldn’t walk anymore.

Halloween Eve in my holiday PJs from the Contafios

Resting up

Penguin ready to get some candy! (Linda, its a Teaism bag decorated!)

Carving pumpkins…

We had a nice quiet weekend and decided to carve the pumpkins that we purchased when we went to the pumpkin patch with our friends.   He took the carving tasks very seriously and was really concentrating!

Getting instructions from mama

Drawing the face with daddy

Concentrating on the carving...

The finished products!

Happy Birthday Carter!

We love you so much sweet boy!  You can’t imagine how much joy you bring us every day! 

More cupcake!

Pop pop with a party hat

Thanks G-ma and Pop Pop for my new coat!

I'm this many now!

Play date success!

I was thrilled to have Carter’s play date today.  A mother of a child in Carter’s class reached out to me to set up a play date for the boys since they are the only boys in the class and her little one was having trouble adjusting to school.  As it turns out, they live in our neighborhood, will go to the same school, and are 6 months apart.  Also, they are Vietnamese. 

Today on the play date, I asked her if she could speak Vietnamese to Carter and, lo and behold, he still remembered!  I was so happy about that.  She would ask him questions in Vietnamese and he would answer in both Vietnamese and English.  It was so cute and it made me very happy.  I told her that I would really like him to retain his language and hopefully our regular play dates will help Carter keep his language and her son learn more English.  They were so cute together and we had a nice time at the playground.

Carter’s New Wheels

I love hand-me-downs….especially toys!  Thanks to a generous Aunt, Uncle, and cousins, Carter is now the proud owner of a pre-owned Mini!  He loves it and it has worked wonders as his “reward” for being a good listener!

Taking the driving very seriously

I love it!

Just photos…

A few favorites to share…

First day of school

Happy Re-Adoption Day!

Our sweet boy!

Photo op in daddy's old suit

Tears of joy….

It is only 2:30pm and I’ve already cried twice today.   Weird for me as I’m not generally an overly emotional person but I thought I’d share with you what transpired and caused me to cry twice today. 

Earlier this morning, Carter and I were in his playroom.  I was on my favorite chair reading the Sunday paper and drinking my SECOND cup of coffee while Carter was on the little sofa, looking at his farm animals flash cards and singing to himself.  I looked up from the paper after hearing his sweet singing and watched him play for a minute.  And then it hit me and I started to cry. 

There are some times when I just look at him and get completely overwhelmed with love and gratitude for this precious gift that we have been given.  And today, it made me cry.   At one point, he looked over, saw me crying, and came over to me, lips puckered saying, “Kiss mama!”  And I picked him up, he squeezed me tight, and gave me a kiss.  We just sat there for a bit, lost in the moment, me crying my eyes out.  Then, he pulled away from me and said, “Carter dressed, outside, ride bike!”  And so we got dressed, went outside and he rode his bike.

Fast forward….

Carter is now napping and I sat down to check my mail.  When I did, I received this from my friend Bonnie….

And the following note: 

Stopped and had a little chat with gramma j and aunt mary lou.  Told them they’re missed and what they are missing in carter and what a great little boy he is but that they already knew that since I had no doubt they’d already had many conversations with him
Love you guys!

Bonnie was my old college roommate and, while we didn’t know it when we agreed to be roommates, her father’s and my mother’s families were from the same small PA town.  Her grandparents lived across the street from mine, her uncle went to the prom with my aunt, and her father and other uncles had my grandfather as their machine shop teacher in high school. 

Sadly, both of Bonnie’s amazing parents are already in heaven and they are buried very close to my grandparents and my mom’s sister Mary Louise.   So, while she was in PA this weekend, she made a trip to “visit” them all and it really moved me.   Despite them being gone for quite a while, I still miss them so much — and I am moved to tears. 

But today’s tears were not so much about missing my grandma and aunt as it was for God reminding me that I am blessed with many gifts if I only slow down long enough to see them.  Thanks Carter and Bonnie for today’s reminders; you are both bigger blessings than I could have ever wished for myself.

So while I am not one to get overly emotional or don’t often give advice, here’s hoping that you all take the time to slow down once in awhile and admire God’s gifts all around you too.

Happy Re-Adoption Day!

Well, in a very short but sweet ceremony, we re-adopted Carter here in the US.  No, it was not required but is recommended.   We had to share our story and our attorney petitioned the court on our behalf.   When it was about time to go, Carter exclaimed, “Oh my goodness Your Honor!” and the judge just cracked up laughing.  It was pretty funny.   After lots of hand shaking and congratulations, Carter blew the judge and her clerk a few kisses and we were on our way — an OFFICIAL family!  We celebrated tonight by going out for pizza with our neighbors; it was the perfect ending to a great day.

School update: Progress!

Thanks to everyone who commented here as well as sent me offline emails with their helpful suggestions for preventing (or minimizing!) the after school drama.  We have tried a number of things and they appear to be working. 

Today I arrived home from a business trip before he went to school (yes, took the crack of dawn flight so I could be home for the school drop off!).  When I dropped him off, they were already in circle talking about what they were going to do today — and they were going to be discussing vegetables.  He got out of my arms and started shouting “corn! corn!” — the boy loves his corn!  He waved bye, blew me a kiss and went on about his day.  I was pleased.

When I picked him up, they were outside playing in the playground.  He came over to me, gave me a big hug, waved goodbye to his friends, gave his teachers a “Peace Out” (his new favorite saying thanks to his daddy) and we headed home.  

Peace Out Big John! (Thanks for the napkins Aunt Kristi)

Once home, we read a bunch of books together on our reading chair, talked about his day, and what we were having for dinner.  As I cooked, he played in the Tupperware cabinet (who needs toys?).  We had a nice dinner, followed by a shower, more books, a little rocking and singing, and finally bedtime.

I'd like to blame the lack of organization on the kid but it would be a lie. As Kelly says, don't judge me.

I am breathing a sigh of relief for now.  I know all the days won’t be like this but I feel a sense of accomplishment for all of us that our day turned out drama free!

School begins…

…subtitled, “Some days you just need a cookie.”

For those of you BTDT, please let me know if you have experienced what you are about to read below — please feel free to send me advice!  I’ve learned much from my blogger buddies and now is the time to weigh in with your suggestions!

So, the boy started “school” this week and so far, so good — sort of.   He does freak out a bit when I drop him off but having worked in daycare myself in college, I know how the drop off drill unfolds.   When I come to pick him up, he is excited to see me and equally excited to tell me about his day — fingerpainting, apple juice, outside, nap, etc. 

When we arrived home yesterday, we had a quick snack and ran over to visit the neighbors as their son is going back to college and we wanted to say goodbye.  Upon returning home after that brief visit, he had A MELTDOWN!  Yes, emphasis on the capital letters.   I chalked it up to keeping it together all day at school and then finally releasing all the emotions now that he was home — plus he was hungry. 

So, I did as I have been reading about where there is “Time in” rather than “Time out” — and for us that consisted of me holding him and rocking on his rocking chair while he wails and I softly sing, telling him that everything is okay.  Yesterday this lasted about 30 minutes and life got back to normal. 

Today’s drop off went about the same.  He was excited for school until we got to the building and then he started with “no school mama, home, new car, go home….”  And we talked about how much fun he had yesterday and all the things he did.  I made it through drop off (okay, admittedly my heart breaking a bit as I heard him crying) and went to work.  I decided today to avoid the hunger issue today and slice up an apple and take that for the car ride home.  It worked…for awhile.

When we got home, he excitedly told me all about his day, singing, jumping, more painting, apple juice, etc.   He watched a show while I made dinner and then I sat him in his booster seat to eat.  At that time, he picked up his cup of milk (we are working on minimizing the sippy cups…) and THREW IT ACROSS THE ROOM!  Wow…and then the wailing began. 

Covered in milk, I quickly undressed him and rinsed him off in the shower (yes, assume the wailing continues throughout this process…) and wrapped him in a towel and back to the rocking chair we went.    We had the same “time in” with the rocking and singing and that lasted about 20 minutes.  He finally calmed down and I put his pajamas on him and he wanted to rock some more.  We did this for another few minutes until he decided he was ready to eat and said, “sorry mama…” about the milk. 

We went out to the kitchen and as he sat down to eat, happily now, I decided it was just one of those days that we needed a cookie…and then I remembered the “stash” my mother in law made when she was here.  She makes these amazing chocolate chip, oatmeal, peanut butter things that are to die for.  Before she left, she made us a batch and baked them but then also froze the cookie dough so that we could “bake at a later date…” and I did. 

Carter and I ended our day with a homemade cookie from Mamere, and loved every last bite!  Fingers crossed for shorter crying in the days to come…I’m headed on a work trip and hubby will get his first taste of the after school routine!