Our Justice League was out in full force this evening.
Rain or Shine, we knew they'd be out there, and they didn't disappoint.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
The phone call I will never forget.
Five years ago this week I recieved a phone call that I will never in my life forget. Sara and I had yearned to start a family since the day we tied the knot and that dream became one HUGE step closer to reality on October 29, 2007.
We had started the adoption process 10 long months earlier and had pretty much come to the conclusion that we wouldn't be getting that phone call we so wanted from our adoption agency until after the new year. Hence when the phone rang with a 317 number and it was our agency director on the other line I was in a bit of shock. As she spoke in her very thick Russian accent I feverishly jotted down any and all info I could decipher. The magnitude of the fact that she was describing the boy that we had dreamt of was lost in that moment as I did everything I could to write down anything she could share. I can't adequately describe the feelings I was having when on the phone with her, but I will certainly never forget how it felt.
After hanging up I gathered myself for about a second and called Sara. The only problem was that she was in the middle of a conference and was unreachable. If I called her phone twice I called her a thousand times until she was finally able to pick up. I can remember exactly where I was on the interstate as I pulled over to make sure that I relayed everything I knew about the boy that would soon become our son.
His name was Georgiy Valeryavich Ivanov.
They called him Gorsha.
He was tiny.
He was born on December 4, 2006.
He lived in an orphanage in a city named Samara.
He had been diagnosed with many issues (which we found is common in Russia)
He spent the first couple months of his life in a hospital.
He was in good health now.
I rolled through each of these things with Sara on the phone as we each were in disbelief this was happening. After hanging up with her I drove the rest of the way home in quiet, trying to digest the fact that we would be leaving for Russia very soon to meet a boy that we had never seen a picture of, yet who would undoubtedly become the Lleyton of our dreams.
We had started the adoption process 10 long months earlier and had pretty much come to the conclusion that we wouldn't be getting that phone call we so wanted from our adoption agency until after the new year. Hence when the phone rang with a 317 number and it was our agency director on the other line I was in a bit of shock. As she spoke in her very thick Russian accent I feverishly jotted down any and all info I could decipher. The magnitude of the fact that she was describing the boy that we had dreamt of was lost in that moment as I did everything I could to write down anything she could share. I can't adequately describe the feelings I was having when on the phone with her, but I will certainly never forget how it felt.
After hanging up I gathered myself for about a second and called Sara. The only problem was that she was in the middle of a conference and was unreachable. If I called her phone twice I called her a thousand times until she was finally able to pick up. I can remember exactly where I was on the interstate as I pulled over to make sure that I relayed everything I knew about the boy that would soon become our son.
His name was Georgiy Valeryavich Ivanov.
They called him Gorsha.
He was tiny.
He was born on December 4, 2006.
He lived in an orphanage in a city named Samara.
He had been diagnosed with many issues (which we found is common in Russia)
He spent the first couple months of his life in a hospital.
He was in good health now.
I rolled through each of these things with Sara on the phone as we each were in disbelief this was happening. After hanging up with her I drove the rest of the way home in quiet, trying to digest the fact that we would be leaving for Russia very soon to meet a boy that we had never seen a picture of, yet who would undoubtedly become the Lleyton of our dreams.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
He said what?
As we were driving home from Parker's basketball practice this evening he said something that both floored me and didn't surprise me.
It went like this...
Parker: "I can't wait until next year."
Me: "Why so?"
Parker: "I get to do more homework. I want to think."
Someone please remind me of this very brief conversation next year when Parker is entrenched in 4th grade homework.
It went like this...
Parker: "I can't wait until next year."
Me: "Why so?"
Parker: "I get to do more homework. I want to think."
Someone please remind me of this very brief conversation next year when Parker is entrenched in 4th grade homework.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Call me a late bloomer.
As I mentioned the other day while updating how the kids were doing, Lleyton has a little admirer at school. By admirer I mean a little girl who has told him she wants to date him, kiss him, and marry him. Knowing how much she likes him and how he describes the way they interact, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised this evening when he told me that he gave her his phone number.
You read that right, my 5 year old son gave his number to a girl. When I say his number, I mean my number. So I am both dreading and excited about the prospect of this young lady calling. I can only imagine how entertaining it would be to watch our little guy converse over the phone with anyone, let alone a little admirer.
I'm pretty sure I was 15 when a girl was interested enough to pick up the phone and call me, and my son has me beat by a decade. Dare I say he's growing up a bit too fast, but it's easy to see what his friend sees.
This little guy is the total package...
You read that right, my 5 year old son gave his number to a girl. When I say his number, I mean my number. So I am both dreading and excited about the prospect of this young lady calling. I can only imagine how entertaining it would be to watch our little guy converse over the phone with anyone, let alone a little admirer.
I'm pretty sure I was 15 when a girl was interested enough to pick up the phone and call me, and my son has me beat by a decade. Dare I say he's growing up a bit too fast, but it's easy to see what his friend sees.
This little guy is the total package...
He's funny
He's very smart
He's helpful to a fault
He's adventerous
And he's got some really cool siblings
Monday, October 15, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Look who's back!
The blog hiatus is coming to an end. As was the case during the last long layoff from the blog, our absence wasn't attributable to lack of possible blog content, as we have had plenty going on, it was more about having too much happening to sit down and adequately write about it.
Since coming home in July, Camden has struggled, mightily at times, with attachment issues. To say these struggles were a surprise to us would be incorrect. We knew that based on his situation in Korea that we were most likely in for a difficult adjustment...and we were right. He has been home with us since July and I think we can now say that things are settling down a bit. Does he still communicate with his fists more often than we would like to see? Yes, but not as often as he did this time last month or the month before. Does he sleep in his bed each night? No, but there has been a night or two here or there where he does start and finish the night in his bed, rather than ours. Helping make things a bit easier now is his continualy improvement when it comes to speaking English. His ability to communicate in English is coming along ever so slightely. His first word was Parker, and now he has added Addy, Elmo, I wanna, Where's it at?, and a few other phrases to his repitoire.
Awhile back, sometime last year during our long wait for Camden to join our family, Sara and I listened one evening to a web cast put on by our adoption agency talking about what to expect after bringing your child home. I admit that having been through it three times before I kind of figured I knew what it was going to be like. I remember during the talk that we were told to expect the child to sleep in your bed for months after arriving home, as that is what the children are accustomed to in Korea. Be it that our other kids haven''t slept in our beds very often, I just figured that would be the case for Cam. I was wrong. Many more nights than not our little winds up in our bed at some point during the night.
All that being true, we have noted some marked improvement out of our little guy in last couple of weeks.
As for the other kids, they are doing great.
Lleyton is settling into Kindergarten. I would like to be able to report that he doesn't have a girlfriend, but I'm afraid I'd be mistaken. Since about day 1 of school, he has come home telling us about one particular young lady. This particular little lady must have older sisters or watch alot of TV, as Lleyton has reported to us that she tells him that she wants to date him and kiss him and marry him. Never a dull moment.
Parker is as inquisitive as ever. He's doing great in school and I couldn't be more happy, proud, and/or relieved to report that the major issues we were facing at the beginning of this year with our big guy have ceased. He's wrapping another baseball season in the next couple of weeks just before embarking on another basketball season.
Addy is Addy. She's as cute as ever, all while mixing in some of her now trademark diva moments. To say she's pretty and she knows it would be quite accurate. She loves Dora, shoes, and anything purple...and her brothers.
For those surprised to see us active again on the blog and checking in in hopes of seeing how big our crew is getting, here you go...
Since coming home in July, Camden has struggled, mightily at times, with attachment issues. To say these struggles were a surprise to us would be incorrect. We knew that based on his situation in Korea that we were most likely in for a difficult adjustment...and we were right. He has been home with us since July and I think we can now say that things are settling down a bit. Does he still communicate with his fists more often than we would like to see? Yes, but not as often as he did this time last month or the month before. Does he sleep in his bed each night? No, but there has been a night or two here or there where he does start and finish the night in his bed, rather than ours. Helping make things a bit easier now is his continualy improvement when it comes to speaking English. His ability to communicate in English is coming along ever so slightely. His first word was Parker, and now he has added Addy, Elmo, I wanna, Where's it at?, and a few other phrases to his repitoire.
Awhile back, sometime last year during our long wait for Camden to join our family, Sara and I listened one evening to a web cast put on by our adoption agency talking about what to expect after bringing your child home. I admit that having been through it three times before I kind of figured I knew what it was going to be like. I remember during the talk that we were told to expect the child to sleep in your bed for months after arriving home, as that is what the children are accustomed to in Korea. Be it that our other kids haven''t slept in our beds very often, I just figured that would be the case for Cam. I was wrong. Many more nights than not our little winds up in our bed at some point during the night.
All that being true, we have noted some marked improvement out of our little guy in last couple of weeks.
As for the other kids, they are doing great.
Lleyton is settling into Kindergarten. I would like to be able to report that he doesn't have a girlfriend, but I'm afraid I'd be mistaken. Since about day 1 of school, he has come home telling us about one particular young lady. This particular little lady must have older sisters or watch alot of TV, as Lleyton has reported to us that she tells him that she wants to date him and kiss him and marry him. Never a dull moment.
Parker is as inquisitive as ever. He's doing great in school and I couldn't be more happy, proud, and/or relieved to report that the major issues we were facing at the beginning of this year with our big guy have ceased. He's wrapping another baseball season in the next couple of weeks just before embarking on another basketball season.
Addy is Addy. She's as cute as ever, all while mixing in some of her now trademark diva moments. To say she's pretty and she knows it would be quite accurate. She loves Dora, shoes, and anything purple...and her brothers.
For those surprised to see us active again on the blog and checking in in hopes of seeing how big our crew is getting, here you go...
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