Thanksgiving

This is Jack wearing his new favorite hat. My cousin works for the Yankees, so I'm sure he'll be happy!

Eric and I went to the outlets in PA Thursday at midnight. This was the line to get ono the bus to be transported from the far away parking lot. It was crazy! We really didn't need to shop just wanted to see what it was like. We had a ball. Everyone was really nice and having a good time.

Cam and Ethan happily sitting on Sayde's lap.

This year for Thanksgiving we went to Youngstown to visit Grandma and Papa, Great Grandma, some cousins, and a Great Aunt and Uncle. The kids had a wonderful time and it was nice to see everyone. Ethan loved Sayde (my cousin). He is still talking about her. She must be pretty special because he is pretty picky. He spent most of Thanksgiving playing with her and kept her very busy :)

A few things we are Thankful for:

• 
  Good friends that are always around when we need them




• Awesome neighbors that we can count on




• Health




• Family that loves us and our children no matter what




• Love




• Perspective




• God




• A House




• Food




• Medical care




• Our children




• Life




• There is so much more.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Let us remember to be thankful always.

A Year Ago

Do you remember what you were doing a year ago? I sure do. We were trying desperately to figure out which direction God wanted us to go in order to expand our family. We had adoptions running in both Kaz and NSN China. Just when we were starting to get really frustrated God made it very clear that we were supposed to be adopting from SN China. Between hitting walls with our Kaz adoption, an interesting church sermon, and our own hearts we knew what we needed to do. After putting our paper work into the China SN we received a referral in one day.

A year ago we were staring at a picture of our little boy. We were frantically calling IA doctors and filling out papers. We were running around like maniacs. It was one of the best days of our lives. We were in complete awe of the process that brought us to our little boy. He was just the right one and we knew it! A year ago was when I fell in love with my son.

A year later I cannot believe we ever didn't have him. He has fit in and amazed us in every way. His smile lights up a room, and he can charm just about everyone. Even the tough nosed doctors have a tough time keeping a straight face with him around. All I can say is God sure knew what was best. I cannot even imagine life without his smile, his charming eyes, his funny tantrums, and mostly his "I wuv you".

I am so thankful that I have had the experience of adoption. I'm so thankful for this wonderful spirit that has been put in my house. There are no words to define the feelings we have been allowed to embrace over this past year. There is no way for me to even explain the amount of gratitude that I have for being allowed to be Jack's mom. One year later life is grand.

I wonder what I'll be doing next year at this time?

Cam's Birthday Party and a Weekend at Grandma and Papa's

Jack is ready to drive the hayride!

Cam at his party! My happy little man.

Everyone on a hayride!

The boys feeding the fish with grandma and papa

Last weekend we celebrated Cam's birthday. We turned our backyard into a minature farm. We had a bonfire where we cooked our own hotdogs and smores too. Thanks to our awesome neighbor's we had a hay ride (4 wheeler with a nice hitch). We also had pinata's, glowsticks, and fun in the dark. It really was a lot of fun. Cam seemed to really enjoy himself.

This week my wonderful (really wonderful) parents took all 3 of the boys for a long weekend. Eric and I got so much done!! We put up our closet doors, changed our blinds, raised our coat hooks, built steps, stuccoed (sp?) our old garage wall, washed the van, cleaned the entire house, organzed our office, redid our files, cleaned out the tool room, slept, and went out to dinner. I'm pretty sure we could have knocked down our whole house and rebuilt it! Amazing how much you can finish without three little helpers! Meanwhile the boys visited a Christmas 'store and fed some fish at a park in Youngstown.

Cam is growing up!

Cam's first day of school

Cam the ham!

In the last few weeks my baby Cam has decided to grow up. He is sleeping in his big boy bed. Even better he's potty trained! He was so easy. A couple of days and he was finished with diapers. We are so proud of him. He is so proud of himself and it's so cute!

So with that said I'm going to rant a little. We were having some childcare issues. My children go to childcare where I work (which has always been a blessing). Recently, every time I picked up Cam we had reports of him fighting with his brother ect. ect. I then realized that because Jack often screams (for nothing) they assumed Cam did something...Sometimes true sometimes not. I also realized that they weren't really doing much but letting them free play for 4 hours. This would be fine once a week, but four times a week was not working for Cam. I realized he wants to be a big boy. We found a nice little school called Sally's that was willing to take him in their 3 year old program. He loves it, now he only has 2 days of childcare and all is well!

I really cannot believe that Cam is 3! Where does time go? I have to say I'm a little sad. After all, this is the baby I almost lost. This is the child I prayed so hard that it hurt. This is the baby that changed my perspective and direction. He is part of the reason we have Jack. He means more to us than one could ever know. This is the baby I rocked to sleep every night of his first 2 years. Every morning I have gotten Cam carried him down stairs and plopped him on my lap with his cup of milk. I went to get him out of bed, after the first night his new bed, and he said, "I'll do it myself mommy". I almost cried. Thank goodness he bounded from his room with a giant smile and hug. I guess I have to accept the fact that he's growing up.

Happy Halloween!

Ethan's soccer season is over. He received his first trophy and was very proud!

So, why are our pumpkins all mushy by Halloween???

Jack fell asleep on our bed at 10:30 am. Hmm maybe you shouldn't have gotten up at 5:30!

All three of their first Halloween's! One from China, one from, Vietnam, one from Russia, and yes we all live next to each other!

Jack got up early on Halloween morning. He was completely crazy all day!

Ethan on his farm field trip! It was nice and muddy.

Halloween was fun as usual. Jack got up at 5:30 am. He was so crazy. It was like he knew all long. We started the evening off with our neighbor's and our traditional Chili meal (thanks Jim). Then the dad's took all the kids trick or treating and the ladies gave out candy and drank too much wine (well at least I did!) Jack did really well and signed thank you almost every time. Cam was an expert! He could have gone all night. Once he got back he wanted to try each candy taking a bite and returning it to his bucket. Ethan was so tired, but did pretty good once he warmed up. I can't believe Halloween has already come and gone. It's my favorite holiday, so I'm a little sad, but at least I have lots of candy!

Other News:

Cam is indeed sleeping in his bed, the crib is officially gone! He loves his new big boy room! Cam is also using the potty as long as he is naked. However, once underwear is added we have lots of accidents. Anyone have suggestions for this??? I'm pretty sure we can't leave the house naked! I cannot believe my little boy is growing up! When did that happen?

Looking forward to a great November!