The Weekend In Pictures {and a few words}

A visit from the family...and a fun time reading new books!

Snuggles with Nana...

...and Papa, too!

Last week I finished knitting the hat I have been working on...

just in time for Spring :)

Brad put up a new swing for Matthew...

feelings about swinging are uncertain at this time!

Watched The Jungle Book - it is a new favorite!

Can you tell he is "in the zone"?

There's just nothing better than a weekend

with no agenda!

Thankful Thursday

* I was so thankful that the day started out like this:

* Unfortunately, I spoke too soon, and Matthew's skin got worse again after my last post. But I was very thankful that we had his 15-month check-up scheduled for that day anyway, and that our pediatrician decided to send us to a dermatologist. Super thankful that they got us an appointment quickly and that we were able to go and see him today!

* Thankful that we now have a plan for getting him feeling better. It is so sad when he just itches and itches and looks at me with eyes that say "Make it better, Mommy!" It just breaks my heart! At least now we can do something about it.

* Thankful that Matthew figured out how to give a raspberry (also known to some as the "zerbert" - when you blow on their tummy and make that funny noise...wow, it is hard to describe so I hope you all know what I'm talking about!). Well, Matthew figured out how to do it on my face today while I was talking to the doctor! He just kept doing it and laughing...the doctor did not even crack a smile! It took all my self-control not to crack up and to keep listening to him!

* So excited and thankful that my mom and dad are coming to visit tomorrow!

* Thankful for the ice cream cone I am going to go and eat now :)

Blessings When You Least Expect Them

It has been a few weeks since we found out about Matthew's food allergies, and I am so happy to be able to say that things are going MUCH better! The overwhelming feeling I had at first has now faded, and I feel like we are getting a handle on things at last. Along with this change, I have found many unexpected blessings:

* I am enjoying cooking. Gasp! I am finding lots of new recipes and

starting to really enjoy trying new things. It's great!

(and I think I have inspired Matthew to become a chef...

either that or my cooking is so bad that he knows

he needs to take over for me!)

*Brad and I are eating much better than we used to.

Vegetables with every meal...what a new concept!!!

*We eat dinner together at the table every night...

and dinner time is not stressful! Since I have to plan ahead now,

it seems to be much less busy around dinner time.

Love it!

*The biggest blessing of all...

Matthew has started to look and feel (I think!) better :)

He still sometimes gets splotchy but overall is doing

much better now that those foods are out of his diet.

Tomorrow is his 15 month check-up, and I look forward to checking in with the doctor to make sure that he really is doing okay. I am happy to have my smiley little guy back again!

A Family of Three

Tomorrow we will be meeting with our social worker for our final post-placement visit! Matthew has been here a little over five months now, and soon we will be able to finalize our adoption. We could not be more excited to officially become a forever family :)

Before we adopted I was a little nervous thinking about the post-placement visits. What if I did something wrong while our social worker was visiting us? What if it was obvious that I wasn't super mom?? Well, now that we've had two of these visits I am no longer nervous (not because I am such a great mom, but because I know she is watching to see that we are caring for him and that he is adjusting okay). At the last visit, Matthew did a face plant into a toy and I wasn't able to catch him. I felt like mom of the year and nervously looked at our social worker to see if she was taking notes. She was great about it and I quickly stopped worrying!

Now I am just so excited for our social worker to see Matthew again! He has changed so much in the last two months, it is just incredible! His personality is blooming, he is active and engaging and learning so many new things that I just can't wait to show him off!

I'm so thankful that we are a family of three now :)

At each visit we have to give our social worker pictures.

I just love these ones!

Sometimes

Sometimes life isn't crazy exciting moments. Sometimes days go by with nothing that anyone would classify as "exciting" happening. Sometimes it's full of ordinary stuff, uneventful.

But the truth is, there is so much joy to be found in the ordinary!

My heart has been full these last couple of days, for no particular reason at all. The ordinary is just so amazing to me. I marvel as I watch my little boy walk around the sunroom...how did he learn how to do that?

I stare into those beautiful eyes...

so thankful that I was given this most precious gift.

I hug him, and he hugs me back!

And sometimes, for no reason at all,

he comes over just to give me a kiss!

Really, does it get much better than this?

I watch the man I love care for our son...

he is such a wonderful father.

"Sometimes reality is so good,

it puts your dreams to shame."

~Anonymous~

I read this quote when we were still on the long journey to Matthew...and now I am living it!

You've Got to Be Quick

This morning I was trying to video Matthew saying "cracker" since it is just too cute. Our first attempt...well, as you can see, it didn't turn out exactly how I'd hoped!

Yep, Daisie is a well-fed doggie :) I am often not quick enough to stop this from happening. But on the bright side...there are never any crumbs!

Take two on saying "cracker":

I made another video after the first one, and of course he would not say "cracker" no matter how many times I asked...but when we were watching the video afterwards he was sitting on my lap and kept turning to me and saying "cracker" every single time he heard me asking him to say it on the video! Not helpful - but stinking cute!