European Bungee Jumping

My brave little girl had a great day at day care today. It doesn't sound like much, but believe me--it is!! We promised her if she had a great day that she could go to the mall and go bungee jumping. They have this thing set up in the center court and she saw it while shopping with Grandma Nan a few weeks ago. Well, the bribe worked and she had her reward. So even though it was snowing out like crazy, we took the whole family to watch her. As you can tell from the pictures--she had a ball!! She even did a few back flips. They probably let her jump for about 15 minutes. She was pretty tired at the end of those 15 minutes though!! The boys loved watching her and Brody was yelling the whole time. Just not sure what he was saying!!

Well here are some pictures of my little gymnast!! Have a great New Year everyone!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

I know it has been forever since I wrote something here--I am so sorry. I can't believe the energy--physical and so much mental!!--that it takes to add another person to our family. Don't get me wrong, it is going very well, but the bickering, the noise, the mess (if I am saying that you know it is bad!!), and then add the holidays on top of it and well, let's just say we are lucky Dan and I haven't checked into Bellin Psych!! :)

The kids continue to be healthy and happy for the most part. Lily would tend to disagree with the happy part because she now has 2 brothers getting into her stuff and she has decided that she would really like to play only with Xavier's toys--of course, when he wants to play with them, so talking about sharing takes up what feels like a large part of our days! Xavier is doing very well. His language skills are improving every day. His vocabulary I think has quadrupled, if not more, since he arrived here. He knows the names of everyone in our extended family--and he and Brody love to look at pictures and name everyone they know. We are still having some problems with the repeating of words, but I think it is getting better--I sure hope it is not because we are getting used to it!! The Birth to 3 Therapists come weekly and they continue to see big improvements with him. It is still to early to be sure, but I think we will be enrolling him in the Head Start program which starts in fall for 3 year olds. I am thinking anything we can do to give him more positive learning experiences is good. But everyone who meets him tells us what a sweet, happy child he is. We are very blessed.

Here are some of the pictures from our Christmas get together last night with my mom, my brother, Eric and his wife, Nicole. My mom brought her dog, and Eric brought their large golden retriever--so we really did have a house full. But it was a lot of fun. We don't get a chance to get together very often. The kids loved having everyone here, and of course, presents are great too. I love the picture of Brody with the microphone--he is a hoot!! It was Lily's present but as soon as he saw it he had to pick it up and start singing "Day-o!!" The Banana Boat song, for those of you not familiar with Brody's obsession with that song. Brody will be getting his own microphone from Grandma Carol and Papa later today.

Have a great Sunday everyone!!

Trick or Treat

What fabulous weather for trick or treating. About 60 degrees and sunny. And not having to push the clocks back yet, still light out. My friend, Lorrie, brought her kids, Alaina and Evan, over for trick or treating. This is the first year we actually went in our own neighborhood. And they made quite the haul!! Lily was a pirate girl--who wanted to be a shark, but the costume didn't fit her so I left Evan wear it!! She would tell people that whole story when they asked her what she was going to be for Halloween. Brody was Roo from Winnie the Pooh, and Xavier was a lion. Lily and Brody both had parties at daycare so they had bags of candy before we even hit the streets. I took Brody and Xavier just to our neighbor, Jean's house. She always gives them something extra special. She was so sweet. She just found out about Xavier the day before but had a bag full of Matchbox cars for him. He was very excited. So after that one stop w/ the whole gang--Brody and Xavier stayed home to pass out candy with Grandma Nan.

The rest of us walked around the corner--into the "fancy" neighborhood! :-) I was shocked at how many cars there were parked there--people bringing their kids to trick or treat there. I was also amazed at the full size candy bars and bags of Skittles. Lily and Evan had to run to every house and see who could get their first. Lily started off wearing her eye patch, but I was so nervous b/c I knew she was having problems seeing, so I was glad when she took it off. We only went to the streets around the corner from us, but that was enough to fill everyone's buckets.

And now, a day later, I think Lily has only eaten 2 pieces of candy and they were gummy cats or something like that. I just wish Dan and I could say the same!! :) Happy Halloween everyone!

“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower”

Thursday, Oct. 30th, we all stayed home to get to know Xavier as a family. It was a lot of fun. Very overwhelming. I was telling Dan that I thought the noise level would go up, but didn't think it would triple!! :-) But we are assuming this will be the loudest day, because all 3 of them were just crazy!! Xavier was running everywhere in the house, discovering all of the toys, the cats, the refrigerator, etc. And Lily was right with him being the tour guide and the boss of the toys. Giving him specific instructions on how to use the toys, when they can be used, and much more. Definitely being the big sister. Brody was a little confused as to why this other kid was sitting by his daddy and didn't seem to be leaving. And now 2 days later, still not sure what Brody is thinking, but he can say Xavier's name.

We spent sometime outside playing with the leaves. I am sure Xavier never did that before, and he had a ball jumping in the big pile with Lily. Brody was keeping his distance, he just wanted to swing on the swingset. Xavier really liked the slides, but didn't try the swing until today. He started with squeals of delight as I was pushing him, but quickly turned to squeals of terror. I am guessing he had never been on a swing before, and I am not sure what scared him, but I started over going very slow, and then he got used to going higher and didn't want to stop.

We also took all 3 kids grocery shopping. I have realized that I would never be able to do it all by myself at this point, but Dan and I together did it fine.

Thursday night, Xavier had visitors, when his cousins, Nate and Noah, came over along with Tammy and Dean. They had such a good time and totally wore all the kids out!!

Well, I will add more about Halloween in a little bit. Lily and Xavier are napping, but Brody wants me to dance to an Elmo video for him! It is fun!! :0)

--Teri

They are home!!

We all very sleepily rolled in to Green Bay last night around 12:22am!! Dan and Xavier got a flight out of the San Antonio and arrived in Milwaukee at 9:54pm. Lily had a great week at school and even though it was way after her bedtime, she got to come along. Dan's parents, Dave and Carol, came along as well. Thank goodness, I don't know if I could have stayed awake to drive down there.

Lily was so excited she couldn't stand it, but still was able to fall asleep in the car and we had the hardest time waking her up as we got close to the airport.

Finally we saw them coming off the plane. Xavier had slept most of the flight from Atlanta to Milwaukee and was just waking up. But Lily rushed to greet them.

We had been showing Xavier an album of the family for the past week so he had seen many pictures of all us, but especially Lily and Brody. So he smiled like he knew her.

Thank you all who shared in our journey of bringing our little boy to be part of our family.

“The love of a family is life's greatest blessing”

No, they are not home yet!!

The saga continues.....

Sunday at 10:46pm

Bandera was ok. Nothing special I guess. Xavier loved going to the playground this morning and this afternoon. We stopped at Bill Miller BBQ on the way back from Bandera and got a poor boy sandwich. Had a bbq tailgate before we hit the playground. Xavier liked that including the pickles. He found a couple kids his age to play with. He mostly fed himself at supper here. Good eater. Ate most of his popsicle sitting right against me on the couch watching a discovery show on wolves. Just sat quietly and watched and pointed out the "puppies."

So here's my epiphany moment for the day.... And you can quote me in your blog if u care to: Life takes some funny and unexpected turns. Sitting at a picnic table this afternoon at a drive in in Bandera, TX (pop 957), eating ice cream with our new 2 year old son, our son of 5 days, whom I'd met once, 15 months ago for perhaps an hour, watching a group of cowboys ride by on horses really makes you understand how surreal life can be. I think that's why I like paddling on rivers. Lots of turns and you never know what's around them, but I always seem to enjoy what I find around each bend (mostly) and look forward to the next one.

From e-mails today from Dan.

10:44 am
I’m sure being here one-on-one is great for bonding for Xavier and me. He seems very comfortable with me now.

Ironically, on Sunday, we at lunch at a McDonalds attached to WalMart. They had a big TV in the McD’s with a DVD playing. I didn’t recognize it at first. Tom Hanks movie w/ Kathryn Zeta Zones. Finally it clicked. The Terminal. It’s the one where he plays a guy visiting NY City from some foreign country, but there’s a problem w/ his travel visa and he gets caught in the airport for months, can’t go to NYC and can’t go home. That’s how I’m starting to feel.

I’m starting to wonder if there’s a problem or if it’s just taking longer. i.e. is there some issue since Dad hasn’t signed off and that part is still pending. I know its technically only the 5th business day after, but man, I just want this done.

2:06pm

The good news – at least slightly good is that the agency here confirmed that paperwork is in Madison. Usually they (Mdsn) review and approve same-day. I called Linda from the adoption agency in GB and she is going to call the person in Madison who does that, to see if they can prompt it along. Just talked to her a little while ago, so I’m waiting for a call back.

Next e-mail from 3:49pm

I called Adoption Angels (agency in Texas). They said that they show the packaged delivered to Madison. I guess they send it directly. Thought it went through the State of TX. Guess not.

Since Linda in GB couldn’t get in contact w/ anyone at Madison and their message said they’d be out til tomorrow at 3, I did some searching on the internet and found the directory for that office. Tried that person – same as Linda got – she’s out. Tried her co-worker, voice mail. Tried the section manager and got her. Explained things. Very nice lady. She got me back with the co worker who said that they don’t show it in their system yet as rec’d. Nuts!! Called Adoption Angels back. They gave me the name of the person that signed for it in Madison and the date and time (yesterday at 10:04 AM). Called back to Madison – got v-mail. Left a message w/ all of the details. Still waiting for a call back now.

I was very nice and polite to all and very apologetic to the people in Madison that I talked to - apologized for bothering them with this. However it frustrates me if its lost somewhere there, or if its sitting somewhere and we could have already been approved.

Dan never did get a call back--so hopefully he can be a "pest" first thing in the morning w/ the folks in Madison and get a flight back tomorrow afternoon!!

Have a great night folks!!

Teri and the rest of the gang!!

Still Not Home

Well, as I am writing this Dan and Xavier are still in Texas just awaiting the news that they can head home. Yesterday was the day that we had the plane reservations for, but since that didn't happen, hoping for today. And if they do get the news they can leave, then hoping also to get a flight home.

I speak to Dan a couple of times a day and while he is getting very sick of sitting and waiting, he and Xavier do sound like they are having fun. He said they have been going to parks and BBQ restaurants!! He is lucky b/c if Lily would be with him he would be eating at McDonald's every day! :-) But Xavier likes almost everything--including BBQ, which is another reason we know that this is destiny that he joins our family!!

They also got a chance to go downtown and have the obligatory picture taken in front of the Alamo. Hoping that the next time I add to my blog--I can say they are on their way home!! Have a good day everyone!! --Teri

2 Boys on the Loose in Texas!!

Well, I am home. I decided to come home early to take care of the other kids. It was so hard leaving Dan and Xavier. Xavier had really started responding to me yesterday morning when I had to leave. When I walked into the breakfast part of the hotel, he looked up and gave me the biggest smile and said "Momee!", broke my heart to have to leave, but I did get a big welcome from Brody when I arrived home last night though too!! I don't think I was able to put him down until I had been home for over an hour, and he just wanted to be held last night as well. So I think it is good that I am home to spend time w/ Brody and Lily before Dan gets back w/ Xavier. Lily is over by Dan's parents for the weekend. I can't wait to pick her up, but I also understand that she is having a ton of fun, and she sure won't want to go home with me.

It sounded like Dan and Xavier had a good day yesterday. They went to a park to play and Dan also got a little Hot Wheels racing track and they played with that for a long time in the hotel. He must have tired him out doing something because he took a 2 1/2 hour nap!! I am sure that really helped b/c they had to be up so early to take me to the airport.

On Friday, we did get the chance to go to the zoo. It was such a gorgeous day. Can't believe I left 80 degree weather to come home to 40-50s!!! It was a really nice zoo. I wish we had the opportunity to see a little more of it, but we were at the mercy of a 2 year old that needed a nap toward the end! I think Xavier's favorite part was playing in the little kid's area and just watching other kids. We could tell he hasn't been around other kids very often--he doesn't really know what is appropriate, so we may have to work on some of those skills before we enroll in a Y class. He also copies everything he sees kids do. Lily will really have her work cut out for her!! :-)

A trip to the zoo wouldn't be complete without a train ride. They have a very nice train ride thru the outskirts of the zoo. After the zoo and an attempt at taking a nap, we headed to Fredricksburg. Which looks like an awesome tourist town. Much bigger than the small towns in Door County, but think of a main street w/ the upscale types of shops. It reminded me of Carmel, California. We didn't stop but just drove thru. Didn't look like a very toddler friendly type of town, but I would love to go back if there is ever a chance when kids are not along.

After driving thru Fredricksburg, we went somewhere we have been trying to get to since our first trip to San Antonio almost 11 years ago, and that is Wildseed Farms. It would be incredible to visit in spring--but since we were nearby now, we stopped by. They did have some fields planted for seeds--but only one that we saw. The buildings are just beautiful and there is lots of gifts to choose from along w/ the seeds from the flowers that grow there. There were lots of cats walking around, and when we sat down to eat our ice cream a one-eared cat jumped up and joined us. I would recommend this place to anyone. Very cool!!

Our last stop of the day before supper at Rudy's BBQ in Leon Springs--was Luckenbach, Texas. Some of you may have heard of the famous song about that town--click here to see Waylon Jennings sing the song on You Tube. Dan's goal is to get to all the dance halls in Texas, so he had to get to this one. There wasn't much to the town--if you could even call it that, but it was very cool. The buildings looked like they would fall down at any moment. There was a big motorcycle rally there--so there were people everywhere. Glad Xavier could experience that bit of history.

Dan called a little bit ago, and said he got Xavier's hair cut. Can't wait to see that!! I asked him if he took pictures--and he said NO!! Bummer.

Oh well, want to get this posted for you all. Thanks again for all the congratulatory e-mails. We love hearing from you all!

Have a fabulous day, and keep saying those prayers that Texas and Wisconsin are all set w/ the paperwork and Dan and Xavier can come home tomorrow. Lily is taking a nap right now in Xavier's toddler bed! What a sweetie! It is so great to be w/ them, but now it feels as if there is something definitely missing!!

Love,

Teri

Your Breakfast is Served

We just finished breakfast at our hotel. This hotel has an awesome breakfast buffet everyone morning that includes eggs or omlets, bacon or sausage, cereal, oatmeal, donuts, fruit, etc. A pretty big spread. I just wonder what Xavier thinks our life is like......

We wake up in our tiny apartment (hotel room), but it is about the same size as the apt. he was living in.

We go downstairs and eat breakfast, which is always ready for us. Lots of food to choose from. And it is so clean and everyone is so friendly!! Which is not what he will get when he gets to his real home. Not so cleaned up in our kitchen, and anyone who knows Lily well, she is not a friendly morning person sometimes!! :-)

We come back to our room and play for awhile and then go somewhere fun. I am sure he has ridden in a car more in the past few days than he has in his whole life. One of his questions now is--where we going? And we reinforce that by going somewhere--we don't want to sit in this tiny room either!! Today we are going to the zoo.

And when we are gone, someone comes and cleans our room and gives us clean towels!! What a great life! Wait until reality sets in back home in GB!! :-)

Then we come back to the tiny room and then we try to take a nap on the tiny blow up mattress on the floor next to the window. Not such a great bed, but he doesn't know any different and it works well! :-)

Well, Dan and Xavier are calling me to come to the zoo w/ them. I will write more later and hopefully have more pictures.

Have a great day everyone!!

Let's Do Some Bouncing!

This a picture of Lily from a week or so ago, modeling the tie-dyed pumpkin shirt that we made. Brody has one too. It was a fun project. Thank you all for your great e-mails--we really appreciate your wonderful well wishes and prayers. Things continue to go well. We learn something knew about Xavier every moment--like he pretty much likes everything he eats--even pickles, which we would have never thought to give him but they were on his plate at lunch and he ate them all!! We also have learned that his 2 favorite sayings are: "Oh my God", and our personal favorite--"Oh shit!" He said that one nice and loud at Cracker Barrel when we were there for lunch. The nice older couple next to us, just smiled!! I am sure they would never have believed us if we would have said, "He didn't learn it from us." :-)

Today we went to Inflatable World--one of those indoor jumping places. It was much bigger than the one in Appleton. It was pretty cool. Both Dan and Xavier had a great time. It was fun just watching Xavier run around and play. I will have pictures hopefully tomorrow--have to get the photo cd made at Sam's. I don't think he had ever been to a place like that before, but he got the hang of it quickly.

Then we went to the big outlet mall, but by the time we got there, I just wasn't in the mood to shop, and even though Dan was being great about going to anywhere I wanted, I just wanted to come back to the hotel and relax. It is stressful not having your home near by sometimes. But I did go to Children's Place and got some great deals for all the kids.

Some of you have complained that I haven't blogged since August, so since I have pictures from this past weekend I thought I would share them.

We finally got around to carving pumpkins. 2 of the ones we carved were from our garden which was pretty neat, but I did one of a witch and it was awesome--definitely worthy of being on the cover of some family magazine!! But after a few hours it was ruined--the face kind of fell in or something--that was a little discouraging. But it still looked pretty scary. Brody didn't participate in the pumpking carving, but instead fell asleep in his swing. We also picked the last of the carrots in our garden. There were some big ones!!

Then after working on the pumpkins, we went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate the great week Lily had at daycare and 4 year old kindergarden. She brought her friend along, Anika Christiansen, and also our friend, Maria Koch, brought her one year old, Niko, for his first Chuck E. Cheese experience. Lily had a great time, she and Anika were all over the place, playing games, climbing thru the tunnels. But the most surprising was what a good time Brody had playing in the little kids area. He just loved climbing up there all by himself and going down the little slide. I was right there just in case, but I couldn't believe what a big boy he is becoming!!

On Sunday, the day before we left for Texas, Lily got her hair cut. I have been trying to grow out her bangs and every morning is a fight b/c her hair has to be put up to keep it out of her eyes, so I finally gave up and got her bangs cut. When she was done w/ her haircut, she got this removable pink extension put in. She thought she was pretty cool. And she did look adorable.

Well, that is it for tonight--Dan and Xavier are both sleeping already. Hope everyone has a great Friday. Love to you all--

Teri, Dan, and Xavier