More Pics

Just adding some more pictures from the photo session, cause they make me smile :-D Josiah has that monkey somewhere in just about every picture with him...too funny!

Bedtime

Josiah's been doing so well in most things, but has a hard time settling down to go to sleep. David or I have been lying down, alternating nights, with him until he falls asleep. Often it's an hour or more until he is out. He also gets very upset if he even thinks we are leaving. A couple of times I have had to step out for a couple minutes...I talk with him and explain that mommy has to leave, but I will be back. He nods as though he understands, but after a minute, he starts crying and screaming.

However, last night, we had a REALLY good night! I stayed with him, but had to leave for a few minutes. I explained again, he nodded, and I stepped out. He was quiet the whole time, and even still cheerful when I returned! AND he was asleep within 20 minutes! Hopefully, this is progress that will continue!

Picture Day!

Today was a bit crazy. We had quite a bit of yelling and pushing this morning... And then I thought it would be great to cut Josiah's nap short to go get pictures taken. We did get a few good shots. We also had a visit from the little green eyed monster... FUN FUN!

He's so cute!

Awww...

ACHHHHHH!

So over this...

Home One Month!

WOW!!! Today marks one month since Josiah has been home in the U.S. It has been so amazing to see the changes in our little man already!

He does much less pouting, and gives so many more smiles.

He comes up to us for random kisses and hugs.

He repeats many words after us and has amazing me with his understanding already.

Three of his four eye teeth have surfaced, and the last is just about there.

The only way I could get a picture of his teeth was to tickle him! :-)

The are some of his favorites so far...

Food: chicken nuggets, turkey lunch meat, french fries, pasta with tomato sauce, yogurt, bagels with cream cheese. No ice cream yet, but Daddy's working on that.


Toys: Monkey (the one he threw away from him in Ethiopia), Dora music player, shake n' go car, play kitchen dishes and food, learning puppy, Mommy's phone and camera



Activities: "talking" on the phone, dancing, going for car rides, teasing the cat

Sweet Siblings...

This is how I found the kids this morning...

Josiah had a rough time falling asleep last nights, and Elizabeth was of course awake, too. She wanted to sleep on the trundle. One of the times Josiah got upset, he crawled down to the trundle next to her. She crawled up to his bed so he would follow her back up, and then would stay in his bed like Mommy had told him.

Elizabeth logic

Elizabeth: When we move, can we move on the other side of the bridge?
Mommy: Why do you want to move on the other side of the bridge?
Elizabeth: I've never lived on the other side of the bridge.
Daddy: Mommy and Daddy lived across the bridge before.
Elizabeth: But I've never lived on the other side of the bridge with you. And Josiah's never lived on the other side of the bridge.
Mommy: Honey, Josiah lived on the other side of the world!
Elizabeth: But he's never lived on the other side of the bridge!

True enough!

(No, we are not planning on moving...it was just part of a conversation we were having.)

Big Boy and Big Sister

Josiah has decided that he is now sleeping in his big boy bed. Tuesday, I put him down for a nap in his bed because David was sick and sleeping in our room. (Josiah has a tendancy to be VERY noisy for about five minutes, and then he's out.) I stayed with him until he fell asleep...with no noise, and then went to get him as soon as he woke up. Wednesday, I decided we'd try again. He didn't fall asleep quite as quickly, and Elizabeth was not happy about being left out. So we pulled out his trundle, and Elizabeth stayed in with us. Well, that night he started screaming as soon as we went toward my bedroom, but was fine with lying down in his room. Elizabeth again did not want to be left out, so she came in and wanted to be a helper. She said she wanted to sleep on the trundle and make sure he didn't fall out of his bed, and would be there for when he woke up. It was great!...other than Elizabeth deciding it was her job to wake him up. :-p Last night, he wouldn't even consider going into our room. He and daddy curled up in Josiah's bed, and he was out! It's nice to have our room back, but kind of sad not to see his face waking up right next to me in the morning.

Here's our big boy on his bed. I also added a couple of shots of his room since I realized I haven't posted those before. (Haven't figured out what's going in the red, yellow, and green frames yet, but we wanted to include Ethiopia colors!)

Also, Josiah has finally started to like the bathtub! He even came running last night when we started running the bath water. He and Elizabeth were having a grand time playing when he kind of tipped over onto his side. I thought he would scream, but he laughed and started lying on his belly like he was swimming! He did this many time during the rest of the bath, and even when getting water in his face, laughed the whole time!!! Who knew he'd turn out to be a water baby?

Figured I can't keep giving bath updates without posting a bath pic. ;-)

Today is a better day

David and I are feeling a lot better today! We're still pretty tired and sore, but definitely feeling better than yesterday. Elizabeth said yesterday that her stomach and head hurt, but she's been eating fine today. So hopefully we are in the clear. (I did keep her home from school today, just in case.) Josiah is his energetic happy self, even while his four eye teeth are about to pop through any second. We missed his physical yesterday, so we'll have to make another appointment.

Another praise--David found out that he received a promotion with his employer! Yeah, David!!! I'm very proud of him! Hopefully, that will help down the road if we decide to make a change. It also means a pay raise...which is always nice. We have to finish paying off this adoption before we can save for the next, right? ;-)

Sickness...

...has hit our house. Fortunately, only two of us are sick so far. Unfortunately, it's David and myself. The kids are probably going to be watching way more t.v. than they should today, but what do you do? Elizabeth has been a very big help so far this morning. She even went down to the basement herself to put the dogs out. Josiah was pretty calm and cuddly this morning, but there's only so long that can last when you're two.

Thankfully, I am feeling a little better in the last hour or so...at least to functioning level. Hopefully, this is a trend that continues and David starts feeling better before long. Praying the kids don't get it cause it's nasty!

A Few Snippits...

Earlier this week:

Josiah kept putting his stuffed monkey in front of the camera when Mommy was trying to take pictures. But Mommy caught two great smiles anyway!

We were wondering if he would like bagels with cream cheese. What do you think?

Saturday:

Go MARYLAND!!!! What a win!

Hanging out on pile of clean clothes. Where else? (This is while Daddy put together Josiah's bed. Daddy did a GREAT job! The bed is just a bit higher than we remembered.)

Sunday:

After church today, friends and family joined us at Mom Baber's house to celebrate Josiah! We were so blessed! It is so amazing to have a community of friends who have and will support us as we build our family. It's also great to have so many BTDT families for advice and reassurance!

Josiah met, and quickly warmed right up to, Great Uncle Bill!

Hey Grandpa! Ms. Reba gave me this great jacket, and I'm ready to go flying with you now!

Today, Elizabeth received a Cabbage Patch Kid from a friend. First of all, we thought it was pretty cool that her baby has the name "Ruby"...the name of a baby we saw in Ethiopia who is now home with her Mommy and Daddy! PRAISE GOD!!! We explained to her about the adoption papers it comes with, and she really lit up! A little while later, she comes walking down the hallway with her baby in a stroller and says, "Mommy, pretend we're coming out of the airport! Mommy, say welcome home!" (Yes, church family, our kids are well-trained in airport homecomings!) She then started going back and forth to bring home new children. Josiah started pushing the stroller back and forth following behind her as she increased her clan.