Please enter this drawing for a new iPad and help bring Sofia's newest little friend home! Lydiah is being adopted by a local family who just brought home John David from Ukraine last Fall. They fell in love with Lydiah while visiting JD at the orphanage and now they are going back to get her and bring her home. This family is AMAZING and deserves our support! PLUS...you have a great chance at winning this HOT new gadget! We LOVE our iPad and there are so many useful applications for adults, kids and even babies :)!
Love for Little Lydiah
Living life one day at a time as a family of six...3 busy and bouncy boys and 1 Ukrainian princess. Our third son Joaquin was our unexpected blessing who came to us with a little something extra called Down syndrome and inspired us to adopt Sofia an orphan we fell in love with through Reece's Rainbow. We hope that our story will help open people's eyes to the beauty and gift that ALL children are. We are all more alike than different!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Turning Two!!
Sofia turned 2 yesterday and we celebrated with a tea party for all her friends. Everyone was asked to come dressed in their party dresses and ties!
It was a beautiful celebration and we had so much fun. The pictures say it all. Enjoy!
Happy Birthday Sofia! We love you and can't imagine life without our little girl.
It was a beautiful celebration and we had so much fun. The pictures say it all. Enjoy!
Happy Birthday Sofia! We love you and can't imagine life without our little girl.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The Wheels on the Bus
And he's off...to preschool. Oh my goodness, a mixture of emotions bottled up inside. Pride, excitement, hope, joy, nervousness, sadness, fear. All of them at once bubbling up to the surface. Proud of my big boy. Excited for this next new step. Hope for a wonderful first experience with school. Joy at seeing his smiling face. Nervous about letting go. Sad seeing him get worried. Fear for all the unknowns.
We talked all morning about the bus and sang one of his favorite songs "The Wheels on the Bus". We got his backpack ready with some pull ups and wipes. We got a nice big brunch inside his belly and got dressed for the morning. The bus arrived promptly at 11:00 and as the wheels went round and round toward us Joaquin yelled out "BUS!" My voiced cracked a bit and tears welled up inside my eyes but I kept it together. I think it helped that I had to rush to pick up Mateo at 11:10 from Kindergarten and had Sofia to take care at the same time so those things served as great distractions.
Hector followed the school bus to pick up two other preschoolers and then followed the bus the 1.5 miles to Joaquin's school (he felt like a stalker!) I was able to get there in time to see Joaquin being walked to class with one of the main teachers Miss Kelly (who is a DOLL!!!) and she had plenty of hugs and snuggles to give him when they greeted. It was only when he saw me that he gave us his sad face so it was then that I realized I needed to let go and let him grow from this experience without me distracting him.
I pick him up at 2:20pm so we'll see how it went. We decided not to go into class with him because everytime Joaquin saw us he got a little sad. PRAYING he has fun today and that he enjoys school and that the classmates and teachers love him as much as we do.
I'll try to upload the video of him getting on the bus later! SUPER windy day here today. He almost blew over a few times with the backpack on his back! My teeny tiny sprite.
We talked all morning about the bus and sang one of his favorite songs "The Wheels on the Bus". We got his backpack ready with some pull ups and wipes. We got a nice big brunch inside his belly and got dressed for the morning. The bus arrived promptly at 11:00 and as the wheels went round and round toward us Joaquin yelled out "BUS!" My voiced cracked a bit and tears welled up inside my eyes but I kept it together. I think it helped that I had to rush to pick up Mateo at 11:10 from Kindergarten and had Sofia to take care at the same time so those things served as great distractions.
Hector followed the school bus to pick up two other preschoolers and then followed the bus the 1.5 miles to Joaquin's school (he felt like a stalker!) I was able to get there in time to see Joaquin being walked to class with one of the main teachers Miss Kelly (who is a DOLL!!!) and she had plenty of hugs and snuggles to give him when they greeted. It was only when he saw me that he gave us his sad face so it was then that I realized I needed to let go and let him grow from this experience without me distracting him.
I pick him up at 2:20pm so we'll see how it went. We decided not to go into class with him because everytime Joaquin saw us he got a little sad. PRAYING he has fun today and that he enjoys school and that the classmates and teachers love him as much as we do.
I'll try to upload the video of him getting on the bus later! SUPER windy day here today. He almost blew over a few times with the backpack on his back! My teeny tiny sprite.
Monday, February 7, 2011
THREE!!!
Here are some pictures of me on my third birthday last week! I had so much fun but in the middle of the party I came down with a big fever and didn't feel very well. It was still so much fun spending my birthday at a gymnastics center with 31 of my buddies!
I'm a BIG boy now! Watch me grow and learn and soar! The sky is the limit for me!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Sweet Sofia
Picture captured by the amazing Penny Sylvia for DSIA.
There is nothing sweeter than Sofia's face!
Quick update on our wonder girl! She is pulling up to stand on EVERYTHING and climbing onto things as well (as evidenced by her constant bumps and bruises). She is a COPY CAT...she will literally do whatever anyone else is doing. She is constantly using new signs and can very clearly say banana (nanana), mama, papa, nana, ball (baa), tickle (ticka) and many more words. She can blow into a recorder (brand new skill learned today!) and she drinks only from a straw now. She is cruising on furniture and in her crib and will push a shopping cart or walker toy and walk around. She has absolutely perfected her creep on hands and knees and is FAST. She dances and loves bathtime. She throws a ball and explores her whole house. She and Joaquin ADORE each other, give kisses, pats on the back and get into laughing matches in the car. Sofia's big brothers adore her and want her around them all the time, they fight over her often. She is very much in love with her mama, papa and nana. She is sassy and when she's done with something she is DONE. She has perfected her coy head tilt when she wants to be cute. She LOVES to eat and DO NOT get in her way. The only time she is truly angry is whenever food is taken away or not coming fast enough! She sleeps through the night and never makes a peep and likes to nap twice a day or one long nap but is totally flexible about this. She loves her bed and her room all to herself. All in all she is doing incredible and we continue to bond with her a little more every single day.
My friend and fellow blogger Bethany just wrote an amazing post on her blog "Our Perfectly Imperfect Life" about the rewards of special needs adoption. She speaks from her heart and really paints an accurate picture of the bonding process when adopting a child. Read it here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)