First week alone!

I know it has been almost 2 weeks since I updated everyone. Well things are going good. My mom left a little over a week ago so I have been on my own and I think I am doing a good job at it. I took Stephen to the pool several times last week and he enjoys the pool very much. The first day we went with Kristen and Peter to their family pool. He just loved it. Next day we went with Aunt Jo, Isabel and Jacob. Isabel and Jacob played with him in the kiddy pool a lot. They wanted him to watch them dive off the diving boards. We went and watched but I don’t think he really could see them; too many people at the pool. Then Dad got to come with us to the pool on Saturday. Stephen loved having his Dad in the water with him. We had a meeting today with a group called “Help Me Grow”; they will help us evaluate how far behind Stephen is and what we can do to help him out. We will have many more meeting with their doctors.

Drew and I realized over the weekend that we painted Stephen's bedroom in Kazakhstan flag colors. What is weird about that is we painted his room before we had even thought to adopt about 2 years before. We are looking at building him a couple of toy boxes now and are going to paint them definetly but in Kazakhstan colors.

We are heading down to Columbus on Sunday for the holiday. It will be a really long day. We are planning on seeing both sides of the family. It will be an interesting weekend; I will let you know how it goes.

Welcome home party!

I know I promised to write a note every week but it has been a little crazy here. I know everyone says not to have a party for a while after they get home. But we did it a little different. We wanted all the craziness out of the way as soon as possible so that we could then settle into a routine. We had a party on Saturday 16th for friends that had not gotten to have a baby shower for me and to celebrate his birthday. We also had a few family members from Drew’s side of the family here. In total I think we had about 60+ people at the house. Stephen did such a great job with everyone and even fit in an hour and half nap while people where here. On Friday we took Stephen to the doctor and he has put on 2.5 pounds and grew 3 inches since we came home. We are very excited about that. The doctor has set us up with a couple of other doctors and county help for international adoptions. We are looking forward to meeting them and working with them to help Stephen grow.

Today my mom starts her trip back to Alabama. After today it will be me, Stephen and our two dogs, Hurc and Angel, home alone while Drew is at work. That will be the true test of how good I can do this. I am sure I can but it will all be true that I am a real mom. Up till now it hasn’t felt real but today it is starting to feel real. I am sure that my mother and stepdad will not be staying away for long. For this year they will have to travel to see us. Drew used up all his vacation time for this year. I think we will be heading down to Alabama for Christmas then for vacation next year.

Stephen is doing so well; started to furniture surf while walking and is taking our fingers and walking around. It is really hard to believe he is the same child that we met almost 5 months ago. I am so happy to have him home with us and not overseas where we worried about him.

I think that is all for now. I will keep you all updated better from now on.

Thanks again to everyone for support and help.

First week home.

Sorry for the delay in updating everyone. It has been a little crazy around the house with the newest addition to the family.

So lets get you all updated. We arrived home on August 1st around 3pm. But I guess I should start with when we landed in Detroit we were told our luggage was not on the plane and that it would come in the next 24 hours. Our luggage finally all arrived on Tuesday which we were very happy to get because all of Stephen’s clothes were in them plus a blanket that was made for him and a gift from Kaz that he received from Olga.

Mom and Don picked us up at the airport. They were happy to finally meet their grandson. He took to both of them right away. Grandpa headed back to Alabama on Sunday and already is ready to come back and spend more time with him.

It is a week today that we have been home and Stephen is doing great. He is exploring his new house all the time. Grandma taught him the sign for more and he can do the sign but is not sure what it means quite yet. Stephen has also gone on a few car rides and went shopping already. He has met his neighbor, an 11 month old little boy named Peter, and they seem to get a long pretty well. They are still too young to do much but I know they will grow up to be good friends. We have had a few visitors at the house. He seems to be adjusting well to everyone and everything. He goes to people very willingly, does not through a fit and just keeps that great smile going. He is sleeping okay although he wakes up a few times a night but has slept a few nights for 7 to 9 hours. Just once in a while he wakes up screaming then we go in put our hand on his back and he goes right back to sleep. He loves his DOGS and they love him. Angel just lets him climb on her and pet her. Hurc on the other hand just stays out of his way but that is a good thing since he is old and hurts a lot.

I went to the doctors the other day and took Stephen with me and she did a little work with him also. Since then he has been standing up on his own more, crawling around more and I won’t get into much details but he is needing his dipper changed a lot more for the better. I think she did him some good she wants to work with him some next time I go which I am happy about. He does have his first check up next Friday; I hope everything goes well then.

Stephen will meet a lot of his family and friends next weekend as we are having our summer cookout. After that things will calm down for him and it will just be Drew, Stephen and myself for a while. I am sure we will still have family and friends stopping by but not the large groups like we are having now at least not till Thanksgiving.

I can’t believe he is really here. We are finally a FAMILY!!!!!!!

I will keep you all updated. I promise but just might not be everyday. Maybe once a week we will see.

Thanks again to everyone. Hope to see you all soon.

We are home!!!!!

We have finally landed in Cleveland. We are all very tired. I will post more later.
Thanks to everyone.