we got the tubes!

today we got tubes in tate's ears--he was such a little trooper! i can't believe how quick the procedure is, and i'm so grateful that our doc and his staff took such good care of our little one. he was seriously in and out in 5 minutes. hopefully this will help cut down on future ear infections. i'm glad we got this done so i don't have to stress about hearing loss (one of the reasons besides ear infections that we had to get tubes). whew, i'm so glad that's over!!!

as promised, here are some recent pix to enjoy:

a fun trip to the dinosaur museum.


two tired boys:)

i leave the room for 2 seconds, and when i come back, big brother had helped tate put on his "disguise." mr. potato head's been looking for his glasses ever since!

getting ready for a swim (note the matching spider man swim trunks!)

pulling up on everything!

dance party--tate was the DJ and jack was bustin' out a few moves.

hide your valuables everyone--i'm crawling!

i found tate asleep like this one morning, so i had to take a picture. he's actually doubled-over, laying on top of his own legs--who knew he was so bendy?

i'm still here!

if anyone's still reading this blog, we're still here! it's just been a crazy summer since tate STARTED CRAWLING!!!!

for about a month now, the little man's been cruising around. which basically means i have to be wearing my super-mom outfit all the time and be ever-vigilant. just when i was getting the hang of this mom of 2 thing, they go and change it all on me:)

also, tate's been fighting major ear infections for almost 5 months now, so tomorrow we see mr. fabulous ear specialist guy to see about getting some tubes. ugh!!

along the update lines, jack starts pre-K in about 2 weeks, and he couldn't be more excited. me either!!! i'm so ready for school to start so we're back on a schedule. i might actually blog more--but don't get your hopes up. in fact, at the rate tate's going, i won't post again until he starts walking, which is approximately 15 minutes from now since he's pulling up on everything.

in fact, gotta run. he's very fond of bookshelves.... (pix next time, i promise!)

it's official!

two weeks ago today we were in texas finalizing tate's adoption, and it was terrific! it was official for me the moment i laid eyes on his picture, and now the state of texas agrees with me!

i can't believe it's been six months, and i have to say, it's just as special with the second baby as it was with the first. i'm twice blessed.


first, they swore us in (hard to raise your right hand when you're holding a 20 lbs. baby!)

our attorney asked us a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo, then she got to the good stuff. she asked us if we would love this baby forever and be his parents forever. of course we said yes!

tate slept through the whole thing, and big brother got shy when it was time for the pix.

at the end, the judge reached under his desk and handed tate a little stuffed bear--it was so sweet, and yet another moment that i'll never forget.

updates

we've been having some fun lately--

jack's learned to ride his bike--yikes! he's only run into one parked car, and since he steers while looking behind him, we've had some close encounters with the mailboxes along our street:)




tate is growing so fast! we're having trouble keeping him in clothes, considering he's wearing 12 month getups now (and he's only 6 months). this makes me fear for my future grocery bills. he's sitting up, and he's started rocking back and forth on all fours--he wants to crawl so bad! he's become the sleep king--the kid can sleep anywhere.




next week is a big one for our family--we'll be finalizing tate's adoption. i told mike it makes me ready to start this process all over again (he ran away at that point!).

oh, and check out my friends tara & eric (coming home with baby malak from ethiopia) and the nunes family (finally together with their precious daughter shiloh)--congrats, guys!

pix!

one of tate's fave places to snooze. yes, folks, that's a laundry basket!


brothers--don't you love their matching shirts?


moments later, when it all falls apart!


this baby can sleep anywhere--it's a gift:)

jack day 2008

yesterday, april 13th, was the 4th anniversary of when we got to pick up our oldest son, jack, at the airport. it's crazy how fast 4 years have gone by! yet i remember everything about the first moments i met him.

it was 9:00 p.m., and we were waiting so anxiously to meet our son from korea. by we, i mean my entire family, mike's entire family, and all of the friends we could bring together. everyone coming off that plane probably wondered what celebrity was on board, because we had signs, video cameras, and a loud mass of people. i remember thinking that time must be literally standing still, because it was taking forever for duk kyoung, the escort from our adoption agency, to get off the plane with our baby.

After everyone from the plane had gotten off and passed us by, we saw a tiny, korean woman at the end of the hallway holding a squirming blue bundle. there was a shock of dark hair sticking up above the blankets, and as she got closer, i saw that i wasn't dreaming--our 14 month journey to our son was really nearing it's end.

the moment she handed him to me was a moment which words cannot adequately describe, so i won't even try. all i'll say is that even though he was screaming his head off (it was probably all the "paparazzi" taking his pix that scared him to death!), it was one of the sweetest moments i have ever experienced. all of the waiting, the paperwork, the frustration, the worry, the craziness--it all disappeared in that first moment that i held my baby.

and now, 4 years later, i have a 4 1/2 year old little man who brings me joy, makes me laugh, tests my patience, and reminds me to look at the world through his eyes. he is a true gift, and i can't imagine my life without him.




i'm so blessed.

dancing with the stars

apparently, i only post on holidays--happy st. patty's day everyone!

i'm going to admit something--i'm a HUGE fan of "dancing with the stars" (DWTS), which by the way, starts it's new season tonight. can i get a shout out for kristi yamaguchi, of 1990s ice-skating fame? that's right, i'm a nerd.

our 11th wedding anniversary (yes, you read that right--mike robbed the cradle) was saturday, and in keeping with my obsession with DWTS, he got us dance lessons! since i know how out of his comfort zone this is, i especially appreciate it.

hopefully i'll post sooner than memorial day weekend, but i'm finding that once you actually get the baby home, it becomes much more difficult to post at all:) now that there's 2 of them and 2 of us, we haven't quite perfected our man to man defense.

oh, and i have GREAT news which i've already blabbed all over the place, so i'm sure i've already told anyone who reads this, but my sister's pregnant!!! i can't wait to meet my little niece or nephew in october--yippeeeee!