firsts

With all the wedding excitement I forgot all about some of Will's firsts from the beach trip (most pretty insignificant, some are obvious and alot of them seem to be centered around food.  Alll worth mentioning):

 

• first Mc.Donalds Happy Meal
• first crown from Burger.King
• first time at the beach/ocean (obviously)
• first hush puppy (not a fan)
• first time down a big boy slide and curvy slide (LOVED both)
• first car ride longer than an hour
• first time forward facing in the car
• first bloody knees (both)

 

the riley jumping project

here's some video from this afternoon of riley taking flight, downhill, into the bushes...

where have all the kleenex gone?

Will somehow got ahold of the (brand new) kleenex box in the backseat. The box is now empty. But he did stop a few times to actually "blow" his nose (listen closely). For safety reasons I couldn't get a hold of the box so I had to let him empty it. I tried a few times when we stopped to grab it fro him but he had it just out of reach.

No drivers were harmed in making this video. My eyes never left the road.

floo powder

Mr. Wilson is getting his H1N1 vaccination today. Julie read somewhere last night that its supposed to hurt worse than a regular flu shot. Not sure who actually did that study, but hopefully that won't be the case. One of us will post an update when all is said and done...

UPDATE: Will survived. He cried for about 2 seconds and all was well. I think the fact that we weren't at the doctors office helped. We have to go back in a month for the 2nd shot. Hopefully it will go just as well. Now 2 out of 3 of us are protected.

Favorites of the month - Oct

 

Food - Mandarin Oranges & Tomatoes

New Word - Paper, Color, Cracker

Animal - DOG, he is head over hills IN LOVE with his puppy these days

Song - Itsy Bitsy Spider

Book - Grover Goes to the Farm ($1 bin at Tar`jay)

Favorite Mischief - opening and closing the microwave

Toy - shopping cart

 

more beach pics

Here are the rest of our beach pictures. I am so happy how they turned out. Now I have to get started on the Christmas cards! (Umm, 7 weeks and counting) How will I choose which pictures??!!

wedding march....

*My sweet friend, Laura, met us today to take some pictures of Will in his fancy suit (aka, Halloween costume).

 

My cousin Renee got married this weekend.  She & Joseph had a perfectly sweet day!  The ceremony was beautiful and I don't think there was a dry eye in the church ....so sweet.  I have been to alot of weddings, but yesterday's has to be one of my favorites. Though I'm probably a bit biased....  I can still remember the day Renee came home from the hospital .... there's something special about witnessing life events of those you've known since their very first days.

 

Mister Wilson had the privilege to being the ring bearer yesterday.  Thankfully, all that meant was hitching a ride in a wagon with the flower girl, heading down the aisle and back out the side door.  He & Julia did a great job of quietly riding and winning over the guests with their cute faces.

 

Will did an even better job at the reception.  He's never done well staying up past 7:00.  But he really surprised us all by staying up really really late.  He lasted until Renee & Joseph left the reception around 9:30!  Will was charming and totally out of character the whole night (maybe it was his way of celebrating Halloween).  I guess he wasn't out of character, but he definitely came out of his shell around others.  He even busted out some dancin' moves we had no clue about. He was a dancin' machine!  He'd dance with anyone that would hold him.  He even stood on the chairs and danced for awhile.  It was so funny to see his silly side coming out.

 

Sadly, I only have a handful of pictures from the wedding.  And totally out of character for me, I only took 5-6 of Will (all of him dancing).  Thankfully, my friend Laura was up for a quick photo shoot of Will today.  I wanted to capture this cuteness before he outgrew his suit.

 

And since I have no pictures, I'm shamelessly stealing wedding pics from the photographer (who was absolutely amazing)......

 

Cowardly Lion

Will will be dressing up for Halloween tomorrow, but thankfully, not in costume.  As you can see he was NOT a fan of being a Lion, he lasted about 2 minutes before the final meltdown.

 

Mister will be sporting a suit tomorrow for a very special occasion - cousin Renee's wedding.

Here he is getting ready for the Rehearsal Dinner.  He did wonderful this evening, praying he fully cooperates tomorrow (umm, not that the wedding is all about him.....).

family beach pics

While we were at the beach we had family photos taken (thanks for the idea Emily). We got a sneak peek today. My favorite of these is the last one. But I can't wait to see the rest!

meeting across the river

Today we're meeting with our social worker for our annual homestudy update (for China). Hard to believe another year has gone by, and that we're updating our homestudy yet again. Frustrating, but that's the way it is, I suppose.

We'll make it to China someday. Unfortunately, it seems to feel further and further away, when it should feel just the opposite.

TWO's

Will is embracing 2 syllable words now. He's always attempted to say 2 syllables but he's really enunciating them now. His favorite (and the most funny) are Cracker, Paper & Color.

He is also stringing 2 words together. The first one he uttered was "Bad Dog". Hmm, wonder where he hears that from? He also is saying "No, No" when he does something he's not suppose to. And just tonight he said "Thank You" when I handed him a cracker.

Here are videos of him saying cracker, color and paper. We think they're hysterical, but that's probably because he's ours :)

Pumpkin Patch

After many attempts we finally made it to the pumpkin patch Saturday with my friend Debbie and her kids, Lucy & Andrew..  Thankfully it all worked out since this was our last chance to go.  I was a little disappointed, I really thought there was going to be a sea of orange in the field.....it was mostly dead with a little orange here and there.  But we had a great time anyway.  Will could of cared less about the pumpkin.  He enjoyed the pumpkins long enough for me to get 6-7 pictures and then started saying "back", as in put the pumpkin back.  So we only bought a tiny pumpkin as a memento.  Will LOVED the petting zoo and could of stayed there all day.  He also loved running thru the kiddie hay-bale maze and had a great time playing with Lucy.

 

Notice Will's lovely orange jacket....good Mom moment - left his coat at home on the coldest day we've had all fall!  Luckily, Debbie had an extra coat of Lucy's that thankfully had no bows on it. 

 

 

forward facing

Given Will's small size, he barely meets weight requirement to turn his seat around.  (Technically he can remain rear-facing for another 10 pounds.)  But we switched Will's carseat around for the trip to the beach, mainly so we could reach and entertain him more easily.  When we went to turn the seat around we discovered the straps were permanently twisted, as in they came out of the box that way, there was no way to untwist them without tearing the seat up.  Since it was impossible to install the seat forward-facing we googled our problem and read that others who had this problem received a replacement seat it from the company.  We called up Britax and since it was manufactured this way they shipped us a brand new seat to replace the old one (yes, we had to send the old one back).  Love great Customer Service!   Thankfully we had another seat to use for the trip.

 

one of Will's firsts on the trip was looking out the window.  He loved facing the front and excitedly pointed and talked to the "Go's" that went by.  "Go" is Will's word for cars/trucks.  After the trip we turned him back around, I thought he would be upset but he doesn't seem to mind at all, and he naps much better facing the back.

picture pages

For those of you who say that Will is super photogenic....here's proof otherwise. These were his school pictures. I don't know if you can tell, but the first day he was crying. He did not like sitting there. And look at his poor feet, they're all twisted. So they took them again the next day. His clothes don't look like they fit and he looks MAD. We won't be purchasing these, though perhaps we should for a good laugh years from now.

beach videos

Here are a few videos from the beach....short and sweet.

gulp, gulp

Will PASSED his swallow test today!!! Thank you to everyone who was praying today, God answered them! Neither of us had faith that he would pass just yet, just had a feeling we were in for the long haul. And Will would not cooperate during the test and flat out refused all the drinks and food we needed to sample for the x-ray. I ended up having to give him a syringe of straight barium while they held his arms down. It wasn't pretty but it was enough for the radiologist to see that his flap was working properly. They said we could wean off the thick-it for the next few weeks and get down to normal fluids (I had to ask her several times to make sure I heard correctly).

I know compared to alot of kids, this isn't a life threatening medical issue. But it has been a big deal for us. I'm so excited that Will can finally drink anything he wants now (and try soup too). And no more measuring every single liquid that he consumes. I am beyond excited about filling up his cup and just handling it to him. Or better yet, being out and able to grab a drink from where ever and let him drink it. (Especially since I have been forgetting his diaper bag lately and causing him to go without something to drink for a few hours).

What a great Tuesday!

picture time

Here's a slideshow of the "greatest hits" from the 500 pictures. I had so many favorites, it was hard to choose. We also had family pictures taken on the beach (thanks Emily for the idea). Hopefully we'll get the proofs back in a couple of weeks.

Will had so many firsts on this trip. That's probably going to be it's own post.

We have some video too, but haven't uploaded that yet. Enjoy!

(you can click on the slideshow to open them up in a new window)

Gulp

Will's being re-tested for his swallowing issues Tuesday at 1:00. Say a prayer that he does better this time (not worse like last time). We pray that he can drink normal liquids some day!

I'm still sorting thru my 500+ pictures from the beach. I hope to have the good ones up soon.

ocean size...

Yep, we're back!

We got home from the beach a few hours ago. After spending the day in the car, it feels great to be able to stretch our legs and walk around back here at the house. We had a great time at the beach, and as you can see from the few pictures we posted a couple days ago, Mr. Wilson had a blast. He was on constant boat- and bird-watch the entire time we were there. Whenever we were up in our room, he always wanted to go right out on the balcony and look for both.

Will got a real kick out of chasing each and every seagull that was brave enough to land near our spot. Every time he got really close to one, he'd get really excited and start to make his little excited squeaking noise, which of course cued the birds that it was time to take flight, or else fall prey to our mighty (little) hunter. Speaking of that, I'm not sure exactly what Will would do if he ever had the chance to pick one up. But based on how he is with Willie and Gus, he'd probably just try and give them a hug. Not sure these birds (or any bird, for that matter) would be up for that.

Will also loved playing in the sand. At least until he'd get carried away and accidentally sling some into his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, etc. This happened quite a bit, but we'd do our best to rinse him off really quick before he became really frustrated.

We didn't get way out into the ocean on this trip. We pretty much just got about knee-deep, which translates to neck-deep for Will. He loved standing there and watching the waves coming in right at him, then Julie and I would take turns lifting him up at the last second, to keep them from going over his head. I must admit I slacked a couple times on accident, and he did get a mouth- and eye-full of salt water. He recovered surprisingly fast and was ready for more wave jumping.

The weather turned out really nice, well, until yesterday. Wednesday and Thursday, it was breezy, sunny, and in the mid-80's. Yesterday it was cloudy and cool, constant breeze, and by nightfall, I'd swear the temp dropped to 50. Needless to say, we didn't spend a lot of time on the beach. We did venture out to the beach this morning for one last walk before we left. It was extremely cold, so cold that the sand felt like snow. My feet (and I'm sure Julie's and Will's) were numb within a couple minutes of being out there. Will of course took this opportunity to give the seagulls one last run for their money.

We also ate at a few really great restaurants. I think my favorite was the Original Oyster House. Their crab cakes were incredible. Will did okay at the restaurants the first couple days, but yesterday (at both lunch and dinner), he just wasn't having it. Once he finished eating, he wanted down immediately, and when he couldn't get down immediately, he let us, and everyone in the vicinity hear all about it. And while he cannot yet verbalize, he definitely can vocalize. And that's putting it mildly! This is something we definitely need to work on, and I'll be the first to admit it.

As for the car ride to and from the beach, Will did much better than we expected. We only had to make two (or three) extra stops, so he could get out and walk around for a few minutes to burn off the energy he gained from sleeping in his car seat. And I'm not ashamed to say that we invested in a portable dvd player prior to our trip. This really entertained Will while we were driving and couldn't entertain him ourselves.

So now that I've rambled on and on, I'm going to go relax and probably fall asleep soon after. Exhaustion has begun to set in. Looking forward to our next beach trip!!!

Also looking forward to picking up Gus tomorrow from boarding. We take him to a really great place to stay whenever we go out of town. It's like a mini-vacation for him, as he gets to play with several dogs all day long, and then gets his own little room to sleep in at night.

One of these days we'll find a beach (and condo/house) that is dog-friendly, as bringing Gus to the beach is something I've wanted to do for a long time. Hmmm, I can almost picture Will and Gus coming up with the perfect surprise attack on the seagulls. ..

I'm sure Julie will be posting soon, and with more pictures of our trip. Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts on the trip. Here's a picture I took this morning on our last walk on the beach...

"see the waves on distant shores, awaiting your arrival..."

#9

Chris & I will be celebrating 9 years of marriage today! And I hit the jackpot when it came to husbands. He's absolutely the perfect partner. He's 100% present and active in our marriage and as a parent. Every. Single. Day.

Anyway, my prayer for Will lately is that he be a wonderful husband. Of course, there's alot of character traits that go into being a good husband and all of those traits will effect other areas of his life. But it's been on my mind alot lately as I witness other marriages....I am so fortunate and blessed to have the husband I have, and my wish is that Will will treat his wife just like his Daddy does.

(our first anniversary)

18 months

October is a good month....my birthday, anniversary, Will's half-birthday and our adoption finalization day (not sure we'll actually celebrate that annually but we'll definitely acknowledge it - it was the day he shared the same last name as us).

We had Will's 18 month check-up last week. He's doing great. The doctor loves that he's "perfectly on track" considering his early/small start in life. He's 24lb 2 oz and 32.5 inches. He hit all the other milestones for an 18 month old. He received 4 shots including the flu shot. He was not a happy camper....actually he was crying the second we got in the room. He has already figured out that going to the dr means you're going to get "stuck".

We're barely 2 weeks into October and I already have too many favorite pictures to post so it's time for a slideshow. Enjoy!

--
Julie

productive day

It's only Saturday and it's already been an extremely productive weekend. I finally found this book for our bookshelves, it's such a sweet book.

I also updated our China paperwork for the 3rd time. I've had it for over a month but was too mad to take care of it. I finally finished it and it's ready to be mailed. Now we just need to send our request in to be fingerprinted. The only silver lining there is that it will require us to go to shopping Atlanta.

I read online about taking your short sleeve t's and making them long. SO I updated Will's summer t's using his old shirts from last winter, cutting the sleeves out and adding them to his shirts. Lots of new shirts! And if they still fit next spring I'll just take the sleeves back out.

I finally cleaned out my files/favorites on the computer and ended up re-discovering this Owl idea so I made Will a (another) new shirt. I wanted a Fall shirt, but didn't want to be stuck with orange & black.

AND I made a couple of key chains that I found HERE.

Wonder what all I can get accomplished tomorrow??

spin me right round....

Will loves his fireman's hat (from Graham's party). And he's recently discovered how to spin. The two do not make for a good combo, but he keeps doing it anyway.....

Favorites of the week

• New Food - Turkey (lunch meat), he says "Yum" every time
• Favorite Food - Toast (makes Momma proud)
• Mischief - Tie this week: Running Gus over with his cart/car/horse (anything that pushes) AND opening Mimi & Poppy's doors in attempt to go "out"
• Toy - puzzles (he doesn't fully get the concept yet)
• Shoes  - the boots have been replaced recently with his faux-Crocs
• Favorite Animal - Dog (he says it constantly and "woofs" after saying it.)
• Book - Tugga Tugga Tugboat (anything that makes noise is a "boat")
• New Word - MOMMA!

say our names....

I got lucky today, I caught Will saying both Momma & Daddy.

birthday weekend

I had a wonderful birthday weekend (I make sure to celebrate more than 1 day).  We had a date night Friday night and then spent the day with my family Saturday - Bark in the Park with Riley & Gus, dinner and games.  It was a great weekend and perhaps our last warm weekend too.

The best gift of all came this morning when Will FINALLY said "Momma".  We were looking at pictures on the fridge and I was pointing to me & Chris.  He said Daddy a dozen times and I tried one last time and pointed at myself and he finally said it, without a doubt.  Thankfully Chris was there too, otherwise, I'm not sure I would of believed it.

He's been saying Daddy for weeks.  He'll hear Chris in the kitchen and will ask "Daddy?".  He says it all day long.  It didn't bother me too much, but the fact that he says "Riley" constantly was a bit much.  I should come long before the new puppy.

What a great start to the week.  And this is our last full week of work, next week we're taking much needed time off!

baby carrier

My adoption friends are asking about the new carrier.... it's the new Ergo Sport. I sold my old Ergo carrier on Ebay and made enough to buy the new one.

We are to the point where Will does not want to be in the stroller unless we're taking a true walk and not slowing down. So we've been carrying him alot more than we use to. We tried carrying him in the carrier this summer but he got so hot in there it wasn't worth it (we would have to take his shirt off before he could ride in it).

Last week I stumbled across a sale and took a peak....who knew there was a new Ergo that was cooler! The fabric is lighter weight and has a vent in the back. Granted Sunday was only in the 80's but he didn't get hot at all. The new one also has longer straps. They seemed to help with the side carry. I have yet to do the back carry b/c I don't think Will would enjoy it very much (he doesn't like riding in the front anymore). But he loves being on the side. The only problem with him being on the side is that he kicks me in the legs while we walk but even after 2 hours it wasn't too bad. And after 2 hours I felt way better than I do when I have to actually carry him.

I found a 15% coupon and free shipping HERE, if you want to check it out.

parties, parties everywhere

September is a busy birthday month for us.  Saturday we celebrated Graham's birthday complete with a tour of some fire trucks.  Will wasn't too interested in the fire trucks but was quite taken with the giant ceiling fans in the fire hall.

I love this picture of Graham blowing out his candle.

Will loved his party hat.  But he kept wanting everyone else to wear it too.  The best was when he kept pointing for my Nana to wear it.... you don't mess with my Nana's hair.

 

After taking a 45 minute detour around some flooded roads, we made it home in time for Chris to get ready for Uncle David's 40th birthday party.  Sadly, Will& I had to stay at home since it started at 7:00 (W's bedtime).  I had hoped we could make it for at least 30 minutes, but will decided he was ready for bed at 6:45.  Chris said they had alot of fun.  Here's Chris & Will in their semi-matching shirts before the big party.  Will is starting to look less and less like a baby....

 

Since we started talking about Int'l adoption we have been trying to go to the annual Culture Fest.  We finally made it (3 years later) Sunday!  We got there in time to watch the Indian dances.  Everyone was really good.  Will especially liked this group.  He started clapping and grinning.

Not sure what culture this was represented, but there were lots of references to "lords" and "maidens" during their duels.  Very Robin Hood like.  Chris got a kick out of it.

 

 

We had a perfect weekend and loved being outside. 

*I bought a new baby carrier and Sunday was the perfect day to try it out.  Will stayed in it the whole time - 2 hours.  It was so nice to carry him easily.

Will getting his groove on....

giddy up

Will takes his horse riding very seriously.....and likes to live a bit on the wild side.

(and I'm a fan of the super short video, you can thank me later)