Swimming

We are so blessed to live in a neighborhood with a pool and today we got to go check it out. We all had fun. Kaden and Oliver are still a little timid in the pool, but they got more comfortable the longer we were there. Kaleb loved it, he just splashed and splashed the whole time we were there. It is so nice to have a place that we can go through out the summer to cool off, and it is almost right across the street from us which is even better. My handsome Mo-Mo....

Kevin, Kaden, and Kaleb....

Happy Birthday Kaleb!!!

Yesterday was our baby boys birthday, at least the date that he was given, the doctor thinks he is actually a couple of months younger, but this is the date that we have so we celebrated. We are just so happy that he is home and that we were able to celebrate as a family. We had a few friends over and I made some Ethiopian food. It turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. I made doro wat, yummy, shiro wat, yummy, Ethiopian cabbage, yummy and spicy lentils, not so yummy, I will have to work on those. Here is the spread......

Some friends that were brave enough to try Ethiopian food with us...

The kids eating chicken nuggets....

Kaleb has a really strong gag reflex, so if we feed him food that isn't pureed, he will gag and throw up.... fun. So instead of birthday cake we had birthday ice cream. He loved it when everyone sang to him.

Here he is enjoying his ice cream.

We had so much fun celebrating Kaleb's birthday! We are going to have a family celebration with our extended family later this summer so maybe then he will be able to handle some birthday cake.

Kaleb, we love you so much and are so thankful that you are a part of our family. You bring so much joy to our home, you have the most infectious laugh, and you are the mushiest little boy ever! We are excited to see what this next year holds for you!!

3 Months

Kaleb has been home for three months now, and what a difference three months have made. The first month home was extremely difficult. I had no idea how hard bonding would be, especially how hard it would be for us to attach to Kaleb. I just assumed that we would instantly fall in love with Kaleb, I mean he is an adorable baby, what is not to love? Well, we quickly learned that it took a little more work and time then that. It was hard to wake up multiple times through out the night to take care of a baby that didn't want you to touch him. To wake up knowing that you were going to spend the next hour trying to console a baby that would scream in your face and push you away with all of his strength. I just had to keep telling him that I was his mommy, that he was safe, and that I loved him. I remember reading somewhere that you just needed to keep saying "I love you" even if you didn't feel it because eventually you would say it and mean it. I trusted that and just continued to say it and I can say now that I really do mean it. I love that little boy so much, I just want to squeeze him to pieces. I am not writing any of this lightly, because trust me these are things that I didn't want to be feeling about this sweet baby that we had waited so long for, but I did. But I also trusted that God had brought us on this journey and that he would continue to carry us through.



Over these last few months I have learned so much about my sweet boy, here are a few things I am loving about him these days....



* He will dance whenever I sing any song to him, even if it is one that I just made up.

* He loves to stand now and will stand for a couple of minutes holding on to the table.

* He gives the best kisses. He will grab my face and pull me in for the wettest kiss ever.

* When someone he doesn't know talks to him he will turn his head and bury it in my chest.

* He thinks his big brothers are the funniest people in the world. They can make him laugh that great belly laugh.

* He loves to wrestle with his papa.

* He is trying to talk and will repeat words and phrases like, all done, papa, mama, dog, and he even said my nephew Hunter's name once.

* Whenever there is music on he will either dance or clap.

* He is sleeping through the night!!

* He loves to have his feet tickled.

* He rolls everywhere, he hasn't started crawling yet, although he is close, but right now he doesn't need to crawl because he is an expert roller.



Just a few things I love about our sweet boy!

Mother Daughter Tea

Today I was honored to speak at a Mother Daughter Tea about adoption and Kaleb. I am not a public speaker, but since we began this process God has brought about a couple of opportunities for me to speak about adoption. I am always nervous, but I am able to hold it together, and more importantly I am able to talk to people about adoption and the amazing impact it has had on our family. Here is a little video that Kevin made, and I showed it this morning. It makes me want to go back to Ethiopia....