Home 6 months!

As of March 2, our little boy has been home with us for 6 whole months!! Jeff and I were talking about how we cannot imagine our family without him and it seems as if he has been with us for much longer. He and Alex and Aerin are 3 peas in a pod, and "the big kids" as he calls them, really love to play with "Garfield." Even though Jeff and I have begun calling him Anderson most of the time, Alex and Aerin still call him by his Thai nickname, "Garfield", and I love it!! We will be celebrating his 3rd birthday this month (21st), and 7 months since his "Gotcha Day"(20th) in Thailand. March has and is going to be filled with celebration and praise for what God has done in his precious life and in our family. So, I thought I would share some highlights and memories of the past six months and six days since we brought him home! {Because, I am appalled at how little I have blogged about his progress and our family in general and would like to record the memories before I forget them ;)}


September/October 2010
*Anderson discovered popcorn and it became his favorite snack!
*Our sweet friends from church gave us a "Welcome Home" party/shower for Anderson and we had a wonderful time. A game of "Never, Have I Ever" and a "cake wreck" made it especially fun!

So glad Joy didn't make the bakery fix it!

*Doctor's visits, doctor's visits, doctor's visits...details to following the November/December section.



September-Anderson sitting in the Bumbo seat Aunt Pam gave him.

 *Anderson is learning new words "open and close" as he opens and shuts every cabinet and armoire door in the house...over and over and over again. Hours of entertainment!
*He loves to wear my sunglasses and call himself a "cool cat"

*We take him to church for the first time, and he really enjoys the music
*In order to sleep, he must babble for an hour before going to sleep, lying next to Mom on the couch or in the bed.  He will not sleep at night in his portable crib, but will take naps in it.

with Daddy at the Swedish Fest Parade

*Alex and Aerin have a hard time focusing on their school work because they want to play with Anderson all of the time, as he does puzzles and plays with his cars and blocks while we do school.
*He loves to ride the New Holland mini tractor that my Dad gave to Alex and it is great to see him sitting up on it.

October on the "twactuh"

November/December 2010
*He watches the Iron Bowl with us and learns to say "War Eagle" from Papa (Daddy and Alex do not like this, as they are huge Alabama fans, but we all laugh about it)
*When we pray, he says "talk to Jesus, mommy, daddy, amen!" So precious. He also loves to hear mommy sing praise songs.

Playing with his buddin..buddins, his favorite toys!

*We take him to the neurologist and confirm that he has diplegic Cerebral Palsy (affecting lower limbs, bilaterally, with some involvement in his upper extremities). We plan to get him fitted for leg braces to help him learn to walk.

Not the best quality, but this is a familiar site at our house!

*He sees a pediatric opthamologist and we find out he is extremely nearsighted.
*Early Intervention is regularly coming to our house to help with Occupational Therapy, and in December he is evaluated for Physical Therapy. 

With my beautiful grandmother on her 90th birthday!

*Our first Christmas as a family of 5 is special, and Anderson learns to say "pretty tree" and "look, don't touch..." when looking at the ornaments. He also learns to say "Jesus loves me". I think he had as much fun watching Alex and Aerin play with their toys on Christmas morning as he did playing with his!

Christmas morning in front of the tree-an annual tradition!

January/February 2011
*We are in full swing with Physical Therapy, and doing regular stretches to help his mobility.
*He loves to laugh at Alex and Aerin, and they each have their own special way of making him cackle!
*At the end of February he is fitted for his leg braces at Biotech in Birmingham.
*We finally get his glasses!!

Seeing his favorite book, Gossie and Gertie, with his new eyes!

*He has always loved cars (they are his favorite toys), but now he begins to get interested in Thomas the tank engine (just like Alex was at his age). He wants to wreck the track when Alex tries to build one for him and yells "CHOO CHOO TAIN"

Sweet brothers!

March 1st - We get his braces (aka Superman Legs) and he is getting accustomed to wearing them.

March 2nd - HAPPY SIX MONTHS HOME, ANDERSON!

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To Anderson: We love you, our son and brother. God has given us all a gift by choosing us to be your family. You are funny, spunky, and full of determination, and we cannot wait to see what He has in store for your life. You bring us so much laughter and fun every day and we cannot imagine life in our family without you! Alex is a proud big brother, Aerin is a loving big sister, and Mom and Dad cannot believe how blessed we are when we see the three of you together. You have already fought so many really tough battles in your short life, and God has given you the gift of pure stubbornness so that you never allow the obstacles in your way to keep you from moving forward.  You are our son, and a son of your Father in Heaven. We pray that you will always know how much we love you, and that you will always abide in God's love. Love, Mommy and Daddy

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If you have read this far, thanks for letting me use my blog as a memory book! I thank God, my Father, for giving me more of an understanding of my spiritual adoption as His daughter because we have walked the road of adopting our youngest son. And I pray that HE continues to use the life of our son and our whole family to bring Him glory as we learn what it means to love Him and others above ourselves, our stuff, or anything else that would keep us from knowing Jesus and seeing Jesus and following Jesus wherever He leads!

Loving and Learning,