Hope everyone that is expecting a shirt loves it.
Thank you again!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Superman shirts are on the way!
We spent quite awhile last night packing all of the shirts and I helped the nice lady at the post office meet her quota for items shipped in a day today.
Hope everyone that is expecting a shirt loves it.
Thank you again!
Hope everyone that is expecting a shirt loves it.
Thank you again!
More baseball related pictures...
This Spring has definitely featured a lot of baseball, most of which has involved us hanging out watching Parker gobble up grounders out of the corner of one eye while trying to monitor Lleyton out of the remainder of our eyes. On top of that type of baseball we also took the boys to watch the pros in action a couple of weeks back. We joined a number of Parker's teammates and their families for a night out at Great American Ballpark. And of course we have pictures to prove it...
(Lleyton has recently become more opinionated regarding what he wears to school, hence the Carson Palmer jersey and cowboy boots.)
Monday, May 30, 2011
Win, Lose, or Draw
No matter the outcome of the game, these kids are always smiling.
They gave their best all weekend and didn't come out on the smiling side on the scoreboard this morning in the championship game, but you wouldn't know it looking at this picture.
They gave their best all weekend and didn't come out on the smiling side on the scoreboard this morning in the championship game, but you wouldn't know it looking at this picture.
I'll admit, I was dreading spending the lion's share of our long weekend at the park watching 7 year old baseball, but these guys made it very enjoyable (the fact that frothy adult beverages were offered for sale didn't hurt either).
Addy and Lleyton were troopers throughout all of the games as well.
Here are a few pictures from our weekend of baseball...
Future Star? At least he looks the part.
Yankee cheerleaders.
I hope he never wants one of these. One good thing is that he knows he can't have one just yet, because he was adament about toys like this one being for men, not boys.
Looking the part again.
Rally cap time late in the Championship Game.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Security System...Lleyton style
We live in what most would consider a very safe area, but Lleyton must have decided we needed a bit of extra security, as we came up to our room yesterday evening and were greeted by Batman, Robin, and Spiderman all lined up at attention guarding our window.
Thank you to Lleyton for making us feel even more comfortable.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Thank you!
For those that may not know, allow me to tell you something about a group of people that we are grateful to be associated with. I'm talking about people in and around the adoption community (adoptive families, adoptees, birthmothers, adoption/orphan advocates). It never ceases to amaze me how kind, genuine, supportive, generous and caring people in this group are. Prior to jumping into our first adoption, we had never been a part of such an incredible dynamic, and it just keeps getting better.
To everyone out there that has helped us spread the word, whether via your blog, or facebook, or twitter, or whatever means you have, and those that have purchased shirts, Sara and I say THANK YOU over and over again.
We set out on this first fundraiser not sure what to anticipate, and thanks to your willingness to help and willingness to buy we have exceeded any of our expectations (and we still have almost a week left!).
It will be fun to look back down the road and tell Camden how much support we received to help bring him home from many people we are close to and even more that we have never met.
If you're up to it, we would love for you to keep spreading the word. The shirts will be available until next Tuesday.
THANK YOU!
Matt, Sara, Parker, Lleyton, Addy, and Camden
To everyone out there that has helped us spread the word, whether via your blog, or facebook, or twitter, or whatever means you have, and those that have purchased shirts, Sara and I say THANK YOU over and over again.
We set out on this first fundraiser not sure what to anticipate, and thanks to your willingness to help and willingness to buy we have exceeded any of our expectations (and we still have almost a week left!).
It will be fun to look back down the road and tell Camden how much support we received to help bring him home from many people we are close to and even more that we have never met.
If you're up to it, we would love for you to keep spreading the word. The shirts will be available until next Tuesday.
THANK YOU!
Matt, Sara, Parker, Lleyton, Addy, and Camden
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Happy Mother's Day!
To my mom and my wife,
Happy Mother's Day!
I feel extremely fortunate to have grown up under the tutelage and care of such a fantastic mom, and I am confident my children will share the same sentiment.
Speaking of my children, here is Lleyton executing on our plan that Sara wasn't supposed to raise as much as a finger today, while he watered her flowers on the front porch.
Happy Mother's Day!
I feel extremely fortunate to have grown up under the tutelage and care of such a fantastic mom, and I am confident my children will share the same sentiment.
Speaking of my children, here is Lleyton executing on our plan that Sara wasn't supposed to raise as much as a finger today, while he watered her flowers on the front porch.
In an unrelated matter, nothing brings brothers and sisters together in perfect harmony better than Spongebob Square Pants.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Birthmother's Day
Today is Birthmother's Day.
On the eve of the day we have always known as a time to celebrate moms and all they do for us throughout our lives, we celebrate a day meant to acknowledge, commend, and thank those women who have made the decision to give their children up for adoption.
In our case, that means taking time to think about four different women. The path that each of our kids took to ultimately end up in our house is unique. That being true, they all started the same way, with a mother's decision to give up their child. Whether that decision was made at birth, or years after, the decision was the same. A decision most likely based on a belief that there could be a better life for this child elsewhere.
Each of our kids' stories is just that, their story to share as they see fit. As they grow up we will fill them in on all of the details that we know of.
In Lleyton's case, we have communicated with his mother. We have pictures of her and her family. We have her story, and we know her reasoning for giving him up. I'll be the first to admit that at times, while I watch Lleyton battle some of the issues that he has to deal with, I get upset with his birthmother. When those feeling come about, I quickly remind myself (or more often than not Sara quickly reminds me) to be thankful that Lleyton is with us. The truth of the matter is that we are so grateful to his birthmother for carrying him throughout her pregnancy and ultimately giving birth to him. Sara and I realize that she didn't have to do that, but she did, and because of that we have our little man here with us.
In Addy's case, we had prepared ourselves for the possibility that we may have been able to meet her birthmother during our trip to Ethiopia to bring her home. We were very saddened to learn that she had passed away before that meeting could take place. Oh how we wish we could have met her. Looking at our little girl, I am certain her birthmother was beautiful, and we would have loved to have been able to meet the woman that gave her that personality of hers (she can be a bit of a spitfire).
We recently made an effort to find out a bit more about Parker's story and his path to where he is now. Not surprisingly, we weren't able to find out very much. We wish we could reach his birthmother. We would love for her to see the young man her son has become.
While he isn't technically a part of our family yet, we don't see it that way when we think of our little guy in South Korea. So on this day we also think about the young lady half a world away that relinquished her rights to the baby boy that will one day become our fourth child. She, just like the birthmother of each of our other kids, made the very difficult decision to give him up, and we feel very fortunate to be the people that will be welcoming him into our family.
So as I sit here tonight and think about each of these women, I wish I could personally tell each one of them how much their decisions have meant to us .
From Sara and I to each of them, thank you so much! The children that you gave birth to are in good hands and we look forward to sharing their stories with them as they grow older.
On the eve of the day we have always known as a time to celebrate moms and all they do for us throughout our lives, we celebrate a day meant to acknowledge, commend, and thank those women who have made the decision to give their children up for adoption.
In our case, that means taking time to think about four different women. The path that each of our kids took to ultimately end up in our house is unique. That being true, they all started the same way, with a mother's decision to give up their child. Whether that decision was made at birth, or years after, the decision was the same. A decision most likely based on a belief that there could be a better life for this child elsewhere.
Each of our kids' stories is just that, their story to share as they see fit. As they grow up we will fill them in on all of the details that we know of.
In Lleyton's case, we have communicated with his mother. We have pictures of her and her family. We have her story, and we know her reasoning for giving him up. I'll be the first to admit that at times, while I watch Lleyton battle some of the issues that he has to deal with, I get upset with his birthmother. When those feeling come about, I quickly remind myself (or more often than not Sara quickly reminds me) to be thankful that Lleyton is with us. The truth of the matter is that we are so grateful to his birthmother for carrying him throughout her pregnancy and ultimately giving birth to him. Sara and I realize that she didn't have to do that, but she did, and because of that we have our little man here with us.
In Addy's case, we had prepared ourselves for the possibility that we may have been able to meet her birthmother during our trip to Ethiopia to bring her home. We were very saddened to learn that she had passed away before that meeting could take place. Oh how we wish we could have met her. Looking at our little girl, I am certain her birthmother was beautiful, and we would have loved to have been able to meet the woman that gave her that personality of hers (she can be a bit of a spitfire).
We recently made an effort to find out a bit more about Parker's story and his path to where he is now. Not surprisingly, we weren't able to find out very much. We wish we could reach his birthmother. We would love for her to see the young man her son has become.
While he isn't technically a part of our family yet, we don't see it that way when we think of our little guy in South Korea. So on this day we also think about the young lady half a world away that relinquished her rights to the baby boy that will one day become our fourth child. She, just like the birthmother of each of our other kids, made the very difficult decision to give him up, and we feel very fortunate to be the people that will be welcoming him into our family.
So as I sit here tonight and think about each of these women, I wish I could personally tell each one of them how much their decisions have meant to us .
From Sara and I to each of them, thank you so much! The children that you gave birth to are in good hands and we look forward to sharing their stories with them as they grow older.
We have a winner!
Thank you so much to those of you that have helped spread the word about our Superman was Adopted shirts. The response to our fundraiser has been fantastic.
Onto the good stuff...
We have a winner of our first ever blog giveway. Earlier this evening Lleyton reaching his little hand deep into a hat pulled out this name...
Onto the good stuff...
We have a winner of our first ever blog giveway. Earlier this evening Lleyton reaching his little hand deep into a hat pulled out this name...
So there you have it. Congratulations to Emmy! You are the winner of a $25 gift card from Amazon and the title "1st Ever A Brother for Lleyton Blog Giveaway Winner".
Thanks again to everyone that is now following the blog, tweeted about our sale, wrote about Superman was Adopted shirts on Facebook, and anything else you may have done. We truly appreciate your support.
Monday, May 2, 2011
SUPERMAN WAS ADOPTED shirts...and a GIVEAWAY!
Who doesn’t love a very cool t-shirt? We certainly do, and hopefully you feel the same.
Sara and I are very excited to have the chance to do some fundraising for our adoption by selling a fantastic looking shirt. As we made the decision to move forward with our 4th adoption over the course of the last 4 years, we both knew that in order for this to be possible we were going to have to rely on some fundraising efforts.
Any and all money raised from our sale, and any other fundraisers we do in the future, will go directly towards bringing our little guy home.
Buy them quickly. We will only be selling them for two weeks. We will take all of our orders after the two weeks and get all of the shirts printed at that time. We should receive them within about 7-10 days and we will then send them onto you as soon as we get them...and shipping is FREE!
Take a look at these shirts and tell me you or your little ones wouldn’t look fantastic in one…
From our experience, the shirts may run a tad bit small, so you may want to keep that in mind while ordering.
You can order a couple of different ways. You can order right here on our blog and pay with PayPal or credit card, or you can email me (abrotherforlleyton@yahoo.com) what size(s) and color(s) you would like and then send a check through the mail. Either way works for us.
Along with the shirt sale we are also going to be doing our first BLOG GIVEAWAY!
Here is how you can help us spread the word…
Become a follower of our blog, then leave a comment on this post letting me know you are following (for those of you already following, leave a comment telling me that). Each follower that leaves a comment on this post will get one entry into our drawing. If you really like what you see, link back to our blog, grab our button from the sidebar, and/or post about our t-shirt sale on Facebook or Twitter. Let me know via your comment if you did any of these things and you will be given another chance(s) to win.
This coming Saturday night (May 7) we will put all of the names in a hat and have one of the little ones draw out the big winner.
What’s the big prize?
$25 Amazon.com Gift Certificate
and
The esteemed title: First Ever A BROTHER FOR LLEYTON Blog Giveaway Winner
Thank you for your help bringing little Camden home!
Sara and I are very excited to have the chance to do some fundraising for our adoption by selling a fantastic looking shirt. As we made the decision to move forward with our 4th adoption over the course of the last 4 years, we both knew that in order for this to be possible we were going to have to rely on some fundraising efforts.
Any and all money raised from our sale, and any other fundraisers we do in the future, will go directly towards bringing our little guy home.
Buy them quickly. We will only be selling them for two weeks. We will take all of our orders after the two weeks and get all of the shirts printed at that time. We should receive them within about 7-10 days and we will then send them onto you as soon as we get them...and shipping is FREE!
Take a look at these shirts and tell me you or your little ones wouldn’t look fantastic in one…
From our experience, the shirts may run a tad bit small, so you may want to keep that in mind while ordering.
You can order a couple of different ways. You can order right here on our blog and pay with PayPal or credit card, or you can email me (abrotherforlleyton@yahoo.com) what size(s) and color(s) you would like and then send a check through the mail. Either way works for us.
Along with the shirt sale we are also going to be doing our first BLOG GIVEAWAY!
Here is how you can help us spread the word…
Become a follower of our blog, then leave a comment on this post letting me know you are following (for those of you already following, leave a comment telling me that). Each follower that leaves a comment on this post will get one entry into our drawing. If you really like what you see, link back to our blog, grab our button from the sidebar, and/or post about our t-shirt sale on Facebook or Twitter. Let me know via your comment if you did any of these things and you will be given another chance(s) to win.
This coming Saturday night (May 7) we will put all of the names in a hat and have one of the little ones draw out the big winner.
What’s the big prize?
$25 Amazon.com Gift Certificate
and
The esteemed title: First Ever A BROTHER FOR LLEYTON Blog Giveaway Winner
Thank you for your help bringing little Camden home!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Our very special guest.
We always enjoy having family over to the house to visit, and today was no different. What set today apart was our extra special guest. Along with looking forward to seeing Sara's mom and step dad, we were also very excited to see her Grandma. For as long as I have known her, Grandma Rena has not ventured out of town other than to visit Grandpa Bob in the hospital in Indianapolis. So we were honored that she would want to make the long drive to visit us. The visit was awesome. Grandma Rena was such a good sport with all of the kids. I am sure she is going to get a very good night sleep tonight after the little ones put her through their version of the Olympics. I hope she enjoyed the visit half as much as we did.
Shortly after her arrival, Addy came to the conclusion that Grandma Rena and her were fast friends. They hit it off while drawing pictures.
Highlights from the Olympics...
Flawless form.
Flawless form, Part 2.
Staring down the sign before delivering a perfect strike.
After retiring Lleyton on 3 pitches, she made quick work of Parker.
4 generations.
The boys are always so excited to see Grandpa Don. When Don is in the house, fun abounds. Here is Lleyton waiting anxiously for his arrival.
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