Taiwan Reunion!

Yesterday we were able to see Chuck, Amy and Morgan. Morgan came home from Taiwan October 2008. We became friends with them, while waiting to adopt. They used the same agency we did. They are our 1st Internet friends!

Sunday we ate lunch at Logan's (Andrew's favorite) and went to a children's museum. Brooke and Morgan are still to young to "play together" but they got along great. Brooke even threw a piece of roll at him during lunch LOL! Morgan is so cute and laughs all the time. Morgan loved the fire truck and Brooke loved playing in the rocks. Andrew had a great time too. His favorite was "working" on the car! I hope to add more to our group of families who have adopted from Taiwan (speaking to Kristy (AL) and Jennifer (TN)!

One Year Ago ....

Brooke one year ago (two weeks old)!
Brooke at one year later on Andrew's 1st day of school!

One year ago today we accepted our referral of Brooke!! It is so hard to believe it was just one year ago. It seems like forever ago. Referrals had been really slow and I felt discouraged. I was at work when Byron called to let me know Tein (from JOH) had called. I had to see two more people before I could get home and then we opened the email of Brooke together. It's hard to describe the feeling of seeing a baby's picture that will one day be your daughter. All we had was 3 photos and a short video. We were lucky to have a fast judge....we were able to meet her four months later! What a great Christmas gift!!!! Like a gift from GOD!!! She has grown and changed so much. It's seems she has been with us forever!!!!!!!!!!!! We love her so much!

Andrew Starts Four Grade!

1st Day of fourth grade.
I like this photo it looks like Brooke is crying "Please don't go"

1st day of fourth grade!




1st day of K5!






Each year I have to take pictures of Andrew's 1st day of school. He started four grade!!! Only 8 more years of 1st day of school. I'm not sure how willing he will be at 16 to pose for all the photos LOL!! Our family always dreads school starting. Andrew is such an easy child, we just like having him home with us. I hope we will feel the same way with Brooke. I think she we have more ATTITUDE!!

Mother of the Year Award?

I know some of you are thinking....wow two post in one month!!!!

Multiple times this year I have missed opportunities to win the mother of the year award.

Example one, while trying to find a pack n play for our camper. I put Brooke in one on the top shelf at Target. She feel backward and I could not get her out! Luckily Andrew had a plan and I think maybe only the security camera's saw that one. I was almost in a panic while Brooke was screaming very loudly. Whew!! After Andrew was able to get her out he said, we should have taken a picture to post on our blog. LOL Lesson learned: Don't put your baby in high places that you can't really reach!

Next lost chance was this past spring. When the weather man stated that the tornado warning was over. We all stood in our living room commenting that "wow, I've never seen wind like this before", a tornado blew down three trees and damaged our car. All while we were standing in the livingroom together. Lesson learned: Strong winds= TORNADO.

Most recently I was lying in bed and about 10:30 I heard a man and women yelling/fighting. I live in the country and you cannot see another house from mine. Byron was working nights so I went to investigate. I walked outside and it sounded like it was coming from next driveway over. The shouting continued. By now, Andrew (10 years old) joined me outside. Then we heard a lady scream followed by a gunshot, then silence. Andrew and I ran into house and I called 911! After calling I had Andrew stay inside and I went on the back porch to "listen". My fear now was the police would show up and he would be running through the woods to my HOUSE! I wanted to see/hear him before he reached us so I could call 911 again...probably not wise. A few moments later, I hear more yelling followed by three gun shots! I called 911 again and shortly after the police arrived. Andrew was really scared, but I assured him no one was hurt as evident by not hearing an ambulance LOL. Andrew ask that night "mom, it's been along time since I slept in your room, can I tonight?"

Lesson learned: If you hear people fighting at night, don't let you son go outside to investigate with you!!!!!

Will post more on Brooke soon! I need to post soon on Byron missing the Father of the year award while taking Brooke on her first kayak (sp) outing!

Two Months Later...

Last year I was obsessed with reading blogs, and learning to blog. Now that I'm home with Brooke I will have to work at updating my blog at least once per month! One of the things I have enjoyed about bloggging is writing about fuuny events and being able to go back to read later. The other is this is like a family journal, with things I would have forgotten about in future years.

We have been very busy. Andrew finished the 4th grade and baseball.

We have been camping alot. We went to Point Mallard (local), St Andrews State Park in Panama City,FL; then Desoto State Park and most recently spent the 4th of July at Gulf Shores State Park! Needless to say we are tired and feel we have been gone the entire month! We have had a great time with our family and friends. I have included photos of recent camping trips!

Brooke Turned one on June 28th! She is walking everywhere. Babbling, but no real words. She is very active. Fortunately for us she sleeps very well! She enjoys books and walking through the house. Brooke has done well with camping. Sometimes on the first night of camping she will cry and won't go to sleep. I often wonder what she thinks is happening. We stated camping with Andrew when he was three and every night he wanted to go home! He did great during the day. She loved the beach. She played in the sand and like to rub sand all over us YUK! Our last beach trip the waves were really big and I was nervous the entire time, but she loved it, LOL! For my JOH friends: We received exciting news in June that Brooke's birthmom had requested additional photo's of Brooke. We were so excited. We truley hope she will continue to want information on Brooke as she gets older. We hope to be able to travel to Taiwan when Brooke is much older and meet her birthfamily! We did not get to meet them while we were there.

One difference I have noticed about having an adopted child is the people you meet who have also adopted! It's like getting a baby and friends!! We met a couple while at the beach who had adopted from China. It so nice to hear others stories!

On the same day, the older couple next to us on the beach ask me "where did you get her?" Now this couple was very nice and we had talked off and on during the day. So I said very seriously "Our local Wal-mart!" I wish I had a picture of her face. I laughed and then told her Taiwan! We are really open and don't mind people asking us about our adoption, but sometimes I do like to have fun with the questions people will ask LOL! I have been tempted to say "I had an affair with an asian man" and see what people would say!!!! So I may use this the next time!!!

Andrew is so great with Brooke. We were really concerned about how he would react to having a sister after being an only child for 9 years, but he has done really well. He enjoys playing with her and is so protective over her! He likes to show her off to others. I hope this continues as Brooke gets older!

BROOKE IS WALKING!

Today was the first day Brooke decide to walk to me instead of crawl!! About two weeks ago she started standing unassisted for short periods of time. Then she started taking steps without holding on. This was only a few steps going between one person to another. Today she let go of the couch and took about 8 steps to me!! She is now 10 1/5 months old!

My plan for tomorrow is to have her wear a dress. She hates dresses because it makes it hard to crawl. My hope is she will decide it is easier to walk than crawl. I have all these really cute dresses that I'm dying to have her wear.

More Photos

Make a Smilebox slideshow

April/ May Update

First Easter
Being funny

American Kid Tradition...a parents nightmare

9 Months old

Well I have not been a dedicated to posting to my blog as I need to. I am using this blog as a family journal and will print it out at end of year! We have not had a chance to go camping due to weather and Byron's work schedule. We are in the planning stages of future camping trips!

Brooke: Brooke is now ten months old! She is taking small steps, has three teeth, and is 19.5 pounds. She still like Barney. She likes hanging up side down, wave bye bye, and looking at books. She also likes patty cake! She seems to understand several words like eat, bye bye, Brooke, and Big Hug! She is sleeping very well and in her own crib. She still is a little cranky in afternoons, but still really happy during the day. She loves playing with Andrew.

Andrew: Andrew turned 10 on the May 4th. It is so hard to believe he is almost 10!!! He is very excited. He has been playing baseball and still enjoying it. He is such a good big brother. He is counting the days until school is out.

News:

A few weeks ago we had some severe weather and a Tornado warning. The news gave the "all clear". A few minuets later, we had some strong winds. We all stood looking out the door at how windy it was. Our power went out and when we went outside we saw alot of limbs down and 3 trees were blown over. We later found out it was a tornado LOL!!! There was alot of damage on our road and one road over and one person was killed. Lesson Learned: Strong winds = tornado!!! Fortunately, we only had slight damage to one car. Andrew enjoyed picking up the limbs. We will be more aware in the future!

Brooke's 1st Camping Trip

Brooke's 1st Camping Trip!
On Top of Stone Mountain!

Andrew with Friends.

Andrew on the Sky Hike...Look No Hands!

Andrew in front of Stone Mountain.

Enjoying a 4-D movie!

Night life!

During spring break, we took Brooke on her 1st camping trip. We went to Stone Mountain GA with four other families. We were worried on how Brooke would react to being away from home for so long. She did great except for one day where she cried almost all day! She slept in the Pack and Play and enjoyed being outside. Brooke refuses to let anyone other than us hold her now, so we hope this will change.

Andrew had a great time playing with all his friends and enjoyed going to the park. His favorite was the SKY HIKE. He also walked down Stone Mountain 1.3 miles.

We had a ton of fun and will post lots of photos soon!

I HAVE MADE IT...... TO THE BIG 4-0!

I am happy to say I have made it to 40! It is great! I have a great husband and son, a new baby girl, a new job, good friends and a great life. (And we are still EMPLOYED!! )

I hope the next ten are as great as the last ten!!

This is when Byron and I were about 5! He was so cute. We did not meet until 9th grade!


Me! About Brooke's age. I was the third child so I only have a few photos (LOL)!

Home for 3 Months!

It is so hard to believe just 3 months ago today we met Brooke for the 1st time! I can still remember seeing her in person the 1st time!!! It feels as if she has been with us forever. I think how lucky we were to be able to bring her home so young. So many adopted babies wait and wait for families, paperwork, and court hearings. I feel blessed to have a photo of her for every month of her life (including a hospital photo with her Birth mom)! This will be so important to her when she is older. I feel so lucky to have found our Taiwan Program. I would still be waiting 2-3 more years if we were with China!!!

Referrals have been very slow with JOH, so I am praying for referrals this month!!! I want each and every JOH family to have the joy I feel today!

We are taking Brooke on her first camping trip next week for 5 (hopefully not long) days. Several of our camping friends are also going. She is in a stage of not letting anyone hold her, so I hope she will feel more comfortable around some of our camping friends. It will make camping easier. Andrew did not enjoy camping until he was about 5 years old!!!

Happy 21st Wedding Anniversary to US!!

Today we have been married an amazing 21 years!! (and they thought we were to young!) We were high school sweethearts! Here are a few of our Dating pictures from the 80's

February has been a month of Change!

Brooke sneaking into Andrew's room to get his prized Backugans! First day at the park!

Brooke and Andrew watching Barney!!

Brooke's News:

Brooke will be 8 months old tomorrow. This month she has learned to pull up and wants to stand all the time. She has started to climb the stairs. She likes to play with anything that is not a toy!She is still sleeping through the nights. Her day time naps have increased from about 15 mins to 1-2 hours (two times per day). She is very happy in the morning. The is just the opposite in the evening. She hates to go to sleep and gets so tired that she has a huge melt down. We really try not to be out in the evening with her! She is babbling and will say DaDa. She is getting very vocal. She is getting all over the place.


Michelle News:
I am changing jobs and this has been very stressful. I really am looking forward to my new job. It's just stressful with a new baby and learning a new job. I don't suggest starting a new job so soon after adopting a new baby!!!

Andrews News:
Andrew has done great at basketball. Tomorrow is his last game! He is really looking forward to baseball. We have made so many friends through baseball and look forward to seeing everyone. On our 1st warm day in February, Andrew enjoyed taking Brooke to our local park. We saw many friends there!

Family News!
We have had several warm days in February and look forward to spring, camping and baseball. Today it was 65, tomorrow night the news is saying SNOW! The high will be 35-40 on Sunday. By Thurs it will be in the 60's again! This is one of the great things about AL is the weather. We have a few cold days then warm days! It is so boring in the winter!! Great timing to bring home a new baby!! We have a camping trip planned in March and really hope Brooke does great. If anyone knows of a good baby hiking backpack let me know!!