Friends, Anniversary, Sadness

Yesterday was an eventful day.

Gavin, Grayson and I met several other adoptive families at PF Hoffmaster State Park. It was such a great reunion to see people we traveled with. Gavin was excited to know that other families did in fact look like our family too! The picture is of "Big Girum", his sister Rose, "Little Girum" (Grayson), Dawn and myself. We traveled with this family and it was so great to see them again. We will definitely have to do it again some time soon.

Brandon and I also "celebrated" our 11 year anniversary yesterday. I say "celebrated" because we attended a graduation open house with the boys! We are hoping to find a babysitter and enjoy a nice dinner together on Monday night. Brandon is an amazing man and I feel blessed to have him in my life. We really have been together for 16 years including dating, engagement and marriage and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Sadness came at the end of the night. I got a phone call from my father-in-law that my horse was not doing well and in a lot of pain. We waited for the vet to come and they really could not do anything for her. She was colicking and suffering from some neurological damage that we don't understand. After several doses of pain medication, I couldn't watch her suffer. We made the difficult decision to put her to sleep. I think I am still in shock that everything happened so quickly. Gavin and I spent last night remembering the times when we would give her a bath or the day Gavin was riding her down the street and the man asked to buy her.... We may have not seen her as often as we would have liked lately, but she has left a lasting impression and wonderful memories. Today is a sad day....

Bad Blogger!

Okay, I use to get so frustrated with people who came home with children and then suddenly became to "busy" to post! I must apologize because I have turned into one of them!!:)

This is my new renewed commitment to keep things up to date and posted.

First, thank you for all of your prayers and help with my leg. I have a nasty scar, but things are healing very well.

Since I last blogged I had to go back to work for 7 days! It was difficult to leave Grayson with a day care provider, but overall was a great experience for all of us. By the end of the week Grayson was trying to go to Deanna and really enjoyed being with all the children. The best part was He was overjoyed to seem me at the end of the day!

We are now enjoying summer vacation with a lot of activity. Gavin is involved in junior golf and just finished T-ball. Grayson is learning how to relax and "go with the flow". Gavin has had three episodes of poison ivy and so we became eco-friendly poison ivy killers and bought two baby goats! Yep, I said it, we have Bella and Edward as a part of our family and they LOVE to eat poison ivy. Gavin has a great time giving them a bottle each night too.

My next post will include pictures too, I promise!

OUCH!

Well, I don't very often post about myself! Yesterday was a once in a lifetime event though (at least I am praying that it is). I was trimming our cherry tree standing on a ladder in the back yard yesterday afternoon. It was a beautiful day and I love doing things outside so this was not an unusual event for me. The problem with yesterday is that I lost balance on the ladder, fell off and impaled my leg about 4 inches with a 1 inch diameter metal stake! I will spare you all of the gory details and the pictures, but needless to say I was taken in the ambulance to the hospital (first time in my life).
Today I am in a lot of pain and it is difficult for me to take it easy and relax especially with two very active little boys. My mom was at the house today and my mother-in-law is coming tomorrow. The doctors have put me on strong anitbiotics and pain meds and are concerned with infection sooooo walking to the bus stop is out of the question at this point.
Please pray that I have patience because I am already going stir crazy!:)

Happy Birthday Gavin!

I cannot believe it, but Gavin turned 6 yesterday! We had a very busy, but fun filled weekend.

Gavin has been doing a little testing of the boundaries lately, as if to say mom and dad do you still care? He lost a few privileges on Saturday when we were cleaning the house and all of a sudden I had my old Gavin back! It is amazing how much kids crave that structure and security. The rest of Saturday and all of Sunday he was happy, respectful and Brandon commented that it seemed that his "voice" was back.

Grayson is doing amazing. He did well at the party, but was definitely tired after all of the commotion of five boy cousins running around. He has slept in the past two mornings until 8:30 and goes to bed about ten. He has also found his voice in the past two days. He is doing much more cooing, along with the smiles. We had our second doctor appt. on Thursday and he has gained weight, he is now 14 lbs and in the 3rd percentile! The doctor commented on how happy and alert he is! We have started him on some solid foods too.

Enjoy the pictures of the weekend activities:

Gavin's new baseball gear

It was a Star Wars theme party and boy did he get a lot os Star Wars stuff!

Grayson just hanging out and enjoying all the people

First Outing

I need to post about our travels to Africa, but please understand that it is difficult to put into words. The trip had a lasting impact that I will not forget.

In the meantime, we had our first outing! My mom invited us to go to Fredrick Meyer Gardens to see the butterflies. The day was beautiful and both boys did wonderful. Grayson is so much like Gavin as a baby, he goes with the flow of the day, sleeps when he can and eats on schedule!

Grayson smiles all the time too! His eyes smile first and then his whole face lights up. Check out the picture...:)

Okay, sorry I don't know how to change the direction!

Doctor and Update

Grayson slept through the night the past two nights, YEAH!!!:)

We went to the doctor on Tuesday and he weighs 13.9 lbs and is 24.75 inches long! The doctor said that he is not the percentile scale yet, but at least he is gaining weight. We went on Wednesday for all of the bloodwork, stool check and urine sample (that was interesting). They are all standard procedure for international adoption and we will have the results next week at our next appt. Gavin had a really hard time when they drew blood because he doesn't like to see someone hurt his little brother. He actually started crying and had to step out of the room!

I will try to post pictures tomorrow, but for now I have to go and make a bottle!

Home!

We are home.
We are adjusting to our new time schedule, actually waking in the middle of the night!
We are loving this new life.
We haven't had time to post pictures.

My brother made a u-tube video you can check out on his blog: www.mattdewitt@blogspot.com

Please excuse the hair, dirty clothes, lack of make-up. The trip home was an experience to say the least!

I will post more later...

Thank you.
Brandon, Julie, Gavin and Grayson