Zoo Pictures

It was a beautiful day at the zoo Monday but very busy. Everyone residing in the same county as the zoo gets in free on Mondays (not us, of course!) so it was crowded along with many schools. But we had fun. I love the picture of him on the elephant statue. My picture was taken on that same statue when I was 5 and I have a picture of our daugther on the elephant when she was 5. His two favorite animals were the monkeys and the penguins. He had fun watching the penguins swimming. And, I have never seen the hippo out of the water lying on the ground so that was kind of neat to see. We bought a pass so we have year of zoo fun!

Emotional Challenges of Motherhood...

My family leave from work is dwindling down. I now have less than a month until I go back to work. I try not to think about it...it makes me sad. When we first came home, I was so overwhelmed with all the changes in my life and Jay-R's meltdowns, that I thought going back to work couldn't come soon enough. Now, that we have been home for over a month and he is adjusting well, I am sad about going back to work. I have mixed emotions. I love my co-workers and I miss the social and adult interaction from work. I also love my job as an Activity Director in a nursing home. I love the residents and I love my job-it's different every day! And financially, we need my income. That being said, I have grown to love my new position as a temporary stay-at-home mom. I get to be relaxed in the morning and not feel like I'm rushing my daughter out the door so she can make it to school on time and I can make it to work on time. I'm home when she gets home from school, and I get to be involved with her soccer team. And, of course, I get to be home with Jay-R all day learning more about him every day. My love and attachment grows every day with him. It will be hard going from being home with him all day to spending only a few hours in the evening with him during the week. I have also realized I am more insecure as a parent with him than my daughter. What I mean by this is that my daughter knew from the moment of her birth, that I was her mother and I would protect her and love her. Jay-R has only known that I am his mother since October (in pictures) and in person since mid-March. He is still learning to trust and to know that I will be here for him always. There is no doubt in my mind that he knows I am his mother, but sometimes, when I think about the five years of his life I missed, it makes me sad. We are beginning to make many memories and he is learning what being part of a family is all about. I know when I go back to work, it will be so hard to not have all this time I have now. Our plan is daycare (which is his preschool) 3 days a week and lola (grandma) 2 days a week. We really feel he needs the daycare setting to help transition him before kindergarten. Even now, it kind of bothers me when other people are holding him. I know it is healthy for him to bond with other people and by all means, I encourage this, but I always feel a sense of relief when he is back in my arms, his arms around my neck, and saying, "I love you Mommy". Being a mother is hard...trying to balance work, children, spouse, and your own sense of identity. I was able to work only part-time until my daughter started school and I loved having this time with her. And, I am thankful that I have been able to take this leave from work to have this time with him. In three months, he will be in kindergarten and our daughter will start jr. high. Children grow up too fast!

On a totally different note, Jay-R went to bed right at 9 tonight! Yeah! Hopefully the early drop off at preschool in the morning b/c I have a dr. apt. will go okay. He doesn't like the caregiver changes when they take bathroom or lunch breaks.

Picture Post

Jay-R is at preschool so I am using some of my free time to post pictures and then upload and order some prints. We visited the Butterfly House last Friday and he loved it! We were there an hour and a half and he would have stayed longer had we not needed to leave to pick up Ashleigh from school. He just sat in amazement and watched the butterflies fluttering around. One landed on me and he loved it! They also have huge goldfish in their pond and he loved those, too. He took the "no touching" rule very seriously, too. I am hoping to visit there again soon with Ashleigh, too, because she loves going there, too. The sand and water table pictures-he had fun helping Daddy put it together and then had fun playing outside. I found blue sand which was fun until we added water on Sunday-made quite the mess! And the box-what is it with kids and boxes? Yesterday, it was nice so we headed to the zoo. I'll post those pictures soon, too. He had his picture taken on the same elephant statue that I had my picture taken on when I was 5!

Front Page News....

Yes, we made the front page of our local newspaper. They did a story about Jay-R's adoption. They had called asking if they could talk to us. I love to talk to people about our adoption experience and to raise awareness about adoption. At this point, we have settled into a comfortable routine, and none of us could imagine our life without this boy with boundless energy.

Here is the link to the article (sans color photo): http://www.ourtownsnews.com/FUL/phillipine-adoption



I am looking forward to some girl time with Ash and her friend tomorrow. We are going to see the Hannah Montana movie. I'm not a big fan of the show but the movie previews look good. Kory is going to work on baseball with Jay-R. He has his first practice on Tuesday and he is so excited!



I promise to post pictures soon. The problem with digital cameras is it is soo easy to take a million pictures and then leave them on that little SD card. Since our Philippines trip, I have around 600 pictures I need to sort through and decide what I want to print. I have some pictures of him playing with his sand table and from our Butterfly House outing which he loved. I'll try to post them this weekend.

Reflections on a month gone by...

Jay-R continues to adjust well. Looking back, I can see so many things like...

The meltdowns are now simply age related temper tantrums because he didn't get his way. He hates timeouts but that is where he goes....a little alone moment in his room. He sits and cries and waits for his 2 minutes to be up. These really don't happen too often. He listens really well. He is so polite, too, and says, "please," "thank you," "you're welcome," "sorry." He is just so sweet, he really is, and it melts my heart.

The English...wow, has he picked that up! It is amazing...he says new words every day and is putting together phrases and short sentences. He didn't score very high on his literacy tests at kindergarten registeration but that is to be expected with the communication barrier.

He is learning to play by himself and to keep himself occupied. When we first came home, he was overwhelmed by all there was to do and he could not stay focused on one thing for more than a few minutes. Yesterday, the local newspaper visited to interview me about a story for the local newspaper about our adoption. Jay-R watched Dora and played with toys for almost the entire hour. I can also go upstairs now and grab a load of laundry when he is downstairs and he is okay with this. I can tell that he is so comfortable in his home.

He is very used to routine. At bedtime, we get pjs on, brush teeth, read stories in the comfy rocking chair, do a Bible story, say prayers, sing a few Bible songs, and then go upstairs. We turn on his night light, music, and I stay in his room with my computer until he falls asleep. Yesterday, Kory didn't have the lighting exactly like I have it in the living room when we read stories and Jay-R was quick to correct him. Tonight, he had the lighting ready for me before I even was in the living room.

He is just doing so well. Our very rough days have passed. Sleep can still be an issue as it was last night, but somehow we manage. He stayed later at preschool and ate lunch on Tuesday. When I arrived to pick him up, the room was dark because the other children in all day daycare were napping. Jay-R was looking at a book. He seemed a little sad and ran right into my arms when he saw me. He talked about school a mile a minute once we left but he doesn't seem to like the nap thing. He told me today, "Jay-R no sleep at school." That will be another bridge to cross when I return to work and he is there all day for daycare.

Speaking of work, I have about one month before I return to work full-time. That will be another adjustment. We are beginning to feel very comfortable in our life at home. It is hard to imagine life before Jay-R except I had more free time! He keeps things interesting and unpredictable at our home. We have pretty much returned to our routine before Jay-R except we haven't had a chance to really socialize with family and friends and we miss everyone but we finally have some free time coming up. Our camper came home last night and that gives us something more to look forward to and something new to share with Jay-R.

Oh, we found blue sand! Despite the cold, he had fun playing in the sand last night at his sand table. I'll have to post pics soon but I am too tired now to load pics. I need to catch up on lost sleep from last night!

Roadtrip

Jay-R took his first of many roadtrips to come this past weekend. We ventured to the St. Louis area to visit with Kory's family for a birthday party and a baby baptism. Jay-R met the last of his cousins. He had a blast jumping in the inflatable jump house they rented. With the weather being in the 80s, he was a sweaty mess! With all the jumping and swimming at the hotel, he was absolutely wore out and slept through the entire baby baptism. He never even knew he went to church! He did really well on both ends of the trip except for around the last 30-45 minutes. The way there, it was way late and he was just plain tired. On the way home, he was plain tired of being in his carseat. Unfortunately, on Friday he learned how to unbuckle it all by himself. He is usually good about staying in his seat but he has his moments!

Today, we visited the pediatric dentist. The poor little guy is going to have to have surgery to take care of his excessive dental issues. He has a mouth full of cavities which we were expecting could be the case with having been told this is common with older child adoption from the Philippines. We are just thankful they are all his baby teeth. We are hoping we can get this addressed and when his adult teeth come it, his dental problems will be behind him. Hopefully, this might increase his eating after the dental work is complete.

Tomorrow marks another day of preschool and the end to our unseasonably warm weather. It's back to the 60s. Oh well, it will still be warm enough for him to play with his new sand and water table he got today. He is so excited to get that thing out of the box tomorrow! I'll have to post pictures. My sister in law found colored sand so hopefully we can, too....how fun!

He did it! She did it!

This picture cracks me up! The other night Kory and I were cleaning up in the kitchen while Ashleigh and Jay-R finished their dinner. When I looked into the dining room, they were both laughing. They had made "cereal" from chips, milk, and water. When I asked who did it, this was the reply I received! Ashleigh has been waiting a long time for someone to blame for things...it's amazing how they feed ideas off each other and get themselves into so many things. They are bonding really well and it is a joy to see Ashleigh acting in the big sister role. She is an awesome, patient big sister who has a heart of gold and loves her brother so much!