Field Day!

Henry recently had Field Day at school.  There was much anticipation, and in the end, a good time was had by all.  I appreciated that the kids all had fun, and the events weren't overly competitive.  They were much more focused on participating and having fun than on winning anything.  There was lots of water activities, and while the kids at first shirked the thought of getting wet, in the end, they loved it.  Here is our photo recap:

First, they had free play on the basketball court.

Next was the first water activity.  It involved wringing a wet sponge on the person in line behind you.  The second round included the chance to dump a glass of water on the person in line behind you.  The goal was to be the wettest team in the end.

Next was the classic game of "tug of war".  First, it was Henry's class against another class.  Henry's class got womped.  So Henry's teacher and I jumped in for the next round and helped their team to win.  Next, they switched up in boys against the girls.  Again, girls womped the boys.  So again, teacher and I jumped on and saved some face for the boys.  (Can I just say that my arms were sore all weekend because of this!)

Next was a game of chase with the waist flags.  Last man standing with his flags in-tact, won.  Henry tied in one round for first.

Next up, another water activity.  This one involved passing a full bucket with holes in the bottom over the heads of the team until it reached the end of the line and the remaining water was dumped into a bucket.  In theory, the first team to fill their bucket won.  In Henry's case, he ended up at the end of the line with some of his buddies.  Very little of the water left in the holey bucket ended up getting poured in the team bucket.  

This was some kind of obstacle course.  There was really no goal and no winners.  The kids just took turns rolling a tire back and forth, and running a styrofoam cylinder across while jumping hurdles.  It did burn off a lot of energy.

On to the Bounce Houses.  There were about 5 bounce houses and inflatable slides set up.  Even Henry's teacher got in on the action.

Next, it was scooter racing in the cafeteria.  This looked like so much fun I wanted to try (but I didn't).

This was followed by a few games of dodge ball in the school gym.

SNOW CONES!

The kids got to jump rope or play with hula hoops.  Henry's jump roping skills are on fire!

The final event was another that involved water.  The kids had to wrap a towel around their back, run to the pool, dip the towel in, and wrap it around their back again.  They then ran to the next kid who repeated those steps.  In the end, the kids were all a giggling, sopping mess.

From there, they went to the side of the school and had a picnic lunch.

All in all, a great time was had by all.  Even Nana and Papa stopped by to watch some of the activities.

CA Recap from Last Weekend

Below is a photo recap of our CA program last weekend. It was a wonderful weekend and we had fun visiting with our friends. The program was very upbuilding with excellent reminders. The speakers all did a fabulous job. Our DO announced that they had been called away from their assignment and would be receiving a new assignment in the Education arena. He will be missed.

Here is Henry and Nana posing before the program on Saturday.


And here is Henry posing with Papa.


I snapped this because they both seemed to be enjoying themselves so much. Turns out Henry had talked Nana into telling him the story "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"


I take this picture every year as a point of comparison.


Here is the same picture taken during his first CA. It was March 2005.


Me and my baby!


Henry and Papa looking up scriptures. (The DO is in the background.)


Henry had a friend sit with him for the first time. Then he sat with another friend for the afternoon session.


Henry and his friends feeding the fish in the pond on the assembly hall grounds.

Henry enjoyed volunteering to help with our cleaning assignment during this assembly as well. Both days, we were assigned to help clean the dining room after lunch. Henry loved being in charge of the squirt bottle and several of the friends had him spraying the tables. He was also most excellent at putting the right number of chairs back at each of the tables after the vacuuming was complete. At the end of the program on Sunday, we were assigned to clean the water fountains. Henry really enjoyed this assignment, as well, as it also involved being in charge of the squirt bottle.

We also remembered to bring his wallet on Sunday and he extracted a sum of his choosing to place in the contribution box. I was quite proud of his willingness and generosity.

And each night after the program, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with our friends. It was a perfect weekend, all the way around.

Friday Flashback

Today is November 20, a day that is etched in my memory. It was a day of comfort of finally being at home and being a mommy. I felt like my new life could finally begin.

We had along journey from Vladivostok back to Russia and I don't have a lot of pictures to document it. Here are a few, though.

Here we are with the wonderful Irina at the airport in Vlad, before checking in for the first of 3 flights that would take us home.


Here is Henry and Nana peeking out the window before we took off on our first flight.


And here is Henry sleeping on the seat between me and Nana on the longest leg of our journey, the segment between Seoul and San Francisco.

Overall, Henry was a trooper on the flights. For the first segment (about 2 hours long), he fell asleep and they had a little bassinet that hooked to the wall in the bulkhead seat. However, being untrained as I was, I accidentally bumped his head while putting him in there (already asleep). This woke him up and that was the end of him being in the bassinet or sleeping for the rest of that segment.

For some reason, we had very little time between our connection in Seoul. We had to go through Security again, and we were concerned that we would miss our next flight. So we were pretty much running from the time we got off the first airplane until we finally sat down on the next. Henry was starving and I remember him gnawing on his Robeez shoes while he rode along in his stroller.

As soon as we got settled on the flight between Seoul and San Francisco, I asked the flight attendant to fill his bottle with warm water so he could eat. He gobbled that bottle down as if he hadn't eaten for days. I think he ate it so quickly, that a few minutes later, he vomited it all up...all over him and all over me! Fortunately, I was prepared with a few changes of outfits for him...not so much for me. However, I was wearing layers, so I removed my top layer and was in pretty good shape.

He slept off an on during that long flight. I don't remember exactly how long that flight lasted, but it was an overnight flight. However, we passed over the international date line coming home, so we arrived on the same evening that we left...even though the trip exceeded 24 hours.

As we landed in San Francisco and went through customs, Henry officially became a US Citizen. Unfortunately, the US Government doesn't allow cameras/picture-taking in that part of the airport, so I have nothing to share with you. San Francisco is where we parted paths with Nana. After customs, she went one direction for her flight to Chicago, and we went another for our flight to Houston. Henry and I freshened up a bit, ate a bagel and waited for that final leg that would take us HOME.

I don't remember much about that last flight. I don't think Henry slept, but he was quiet and content on my lap playing with the few toys and books that I had packed for him. When we arrived at the airport in Houston, Leslie was there waiting for us. Again, the details are a bit fuzzy, but it seems like it was late on a Saturday night. By this time, Henry was DONE. I buckled him into the car seat, which was a whole new experience for him and he was cranky the whole way home. The only thing that seemed to sooth him was for me to hum the theme to Batman. If I stopped, he started crying. So all of the way home, I hummed "na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na BATMAN" over and over and over. Whatever it took.

Based on the recommendation of my pediatrician, and with the help of my wonderful best friend, Leslie, we had an open house the following day. Now, you may ask why it was recommended by my pediatrician. In fact, I had decided that we would "nest" when we arrived home to allow us both to bond to each other and to allow ourselves to begin settling into a routine of becoming a family. I wanted to limit external stimulation and allow Henry and I to merely focus on each other. However, I had a bunch of close friends that were just so excited to meet my new son that I couldn't put them off. So we decided to go with the "big bang approach" and let them all meet immediately. Then, we could settle down and focus on bonding and attaching.

Again, I don't have a lot of pictures from that evening as we were all just enjoying each others' company. And I can't say enough how nice and comforting it was just to be home. Here are a few:

And Henry seemed to instantly bond with Hailey!

That rest of November continued to be a steady stream of firsts, documented below with some of the pictures I have:

Wearing a "hand-me-down" outfit from his cousin, playing with some of his new toys.

Taking his first bath at home...he wasn't a fan of baths when he first arrived home, now I can't get him out of the shower!


His first piano recital!


Hanging out in his high chair while I prepared the next meal.


Attending his first book-study, back when we met in people's homes.


Being sized for his first pair of "good shoes".


Attending his first meeting at the Kingdom Hall.


Playing in his first box...favorite toy. Having a kid around 24/7 was new for Dolly, too. She's not quite sure what to think.


Having his first doctor's appointment with the wonderful Dr. Singhal (adoptive mother herself and featured on Discovery's Adoption Stories)


And all tuckered out after that doctor's visit, that involved drawing several vials of blood for all kinds of testing.

Reviewing these pictures to put together this blog post brought back all kinds of memories and reminded me of things I had totally forgotten about.

What I haven't forgotten is how grateful I feel to get to be Henry's parent! Prospective Adoptive Parents go into the journey called adoption, not knowing what they are going to come out with on the other side. For me, I can honestly say I have no regrets. My journey to Henry is THE best thing I've done in my life. He has become my heart and soul. And as we celebrate 5 years of being HOME, I wouldn't change a thing. That boy is my life!

The Summer in Review...a Picture Parade

Since I have been so remiss in posting this summer, I thought I would provide a recap of our very busy summer using pictures I have of the different events.

First up, after finishing kindergarten, Henry teamed up with a couple of girls from our congregation to host a "Let's Get this Summer Started" swim party. A fun time was had by both the old and the young in attendance. We really had perfect weather and enjoyed the company of our dear friends from Austin. Here is Henry with his co-hostesses in front of the fabulous cake the other mom made.

In the month of June, while we had an extremely busy month, I don't have a lot of pictures to show for it. Here is a picture of the "girls" from the girls only trip I went on to Disney World. We're missing Tammy, as she was taking the picture.

Here are some pictures of Henry from our District Convention. Henry did great. Someone had sent me a kids version of a notebook for the program and Henry enjoyed following along. Of course, the highlight for him was the drama on Sunday. (A funny side story here: When I reminded Henry on Sunday morning that the drama would be that afternoon, he declared: "There's two kinds of drama. First, the one that is like a play like we will see today, and then there is the drama that I create when I am in a crabby mood." Yep, buddy, you got that right!)

Before Henry and I took off for our month in Chicago, Leslie wanted a special day for her and Henry. She arranged to take him to a special dinosaur exhibit. She knows a way to a boys heart. They had a great time.

So Henry and I headed off to Chicago for the month of July. The very first weekend we were there we realized our timing would coincide with another JW family that I have corresponded with via email. Another single mom with a great little boy from Kaz was going to be in the Chicago area and we were able to coordinate our schedules to enjoy dinner together at the Rainforest Cafe. And thus, another great friendship was born. Amanda, it was great to meet you and your mom and your wonderful little Bo. We sure enjoyed our evening with you and hated when it had to end. Here's a photo of the new friends:

We also got to spend the day with a friend of mine that I had lost touch with a couple of decades ago. It was wonderful to spend a day with her and her husband while visiting the Lincoln Park Zoo. We had a surprise encounter while we were there with Ms. Lori from PBS Kids.

After we got home from Chicago, we had three more weeks until school started. So Henry attended a summer camp hosted by the park district in the town that we live. He got to do a lot of fun things while he was here, like go to the movies, go to the Museum, go to the Kemah Boardwalk, swimming, and a lot of just hanging out and playing with other kids. Here he is headed off for his first day:

He also got to attend Jack's "First Day of School Party" at Jumpin Jacks. This is a big room filled with an inflatable jumpie, a HUGE inflatable slide, and an inflatable bungie race track. Again, a great time was had by all. Here is Henry, along with the Host with the Most, Jack!

Henry also managed to lose two more teeth, both on the bottom, this summer. Here is a shot with a nice goofy grin that highlights those new holes in his head:

And finally, to celebrate the end of summer and the start of school, we had a small gathering at Chuck E. Cheese with Henry's best friend, Jack and family. In case you hadn't noticed, we celebrate at the drop of a hat!!

Look for "First Day of School" pictures coming soon....