3 months with Shaun

Abby and Shaun

November 2009

We have been a complete family for more than 3 months now, Shaun is over 19 months old!

Time is really flying by as the holidays are just around the corner. It's still hard to believe Shaun is home, but at the same time, it is getting hard to remember what life was like before he came to us. Just today we were looking at pictures from our trip to Nashville, just 7 months ago.....we celebrated Shaun's 1st birthday there, but it seems like it happened years ago....

Shaun is doing great! I have said it before and I will say it again......he is the perfect fit for our family, and we seem to fit him pretty good too! He is such a sweet, happy, curious little guy! He spends the days trying to keep up with his big sister, dancing, building blocks, playing outside and just making mom and dad laugh and laugh and laugh... :) Honestly, I do believe that you haven't truly experienced parenting until you have 2 very different children to care for. Just watching them play together....they laugh, they argue, they are really entertaining ;) Some times it is CRAZY, I will admit. Dinner time at our house is not the way it use to be. Shaun has a ritual when ever anyone is preparing food. He stands at our heels and does this "I'm hungry" dance. We usually get Abby to help us out at this time of the day. She can find anything to get his attention (see above picture). She is really helping Shaun with his speech, she just started sitting down with him this past week, and he has had improvement. I think she is eager for him to start communicating better, and he seems ready and willing to be her "student". She breaks words down for him and repeats them very slow and clear. I was delighted when he started responding to me a few weeks back, but I was tickled when he would do it for Abby too. You can tell that she is proud to do this and we are so proud of her and her patience with her Thai born brother. She loves him so much and it shows every morning, every night. (hopefully it will stay this way!)

We are heading to NY for the Thanksgiving Holiday. We will be spending our time with family, which we are so grateful for. We will see Grandma's and Grandpa's, many Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Hopefully some old friends of mom and dads too. It will be a fast whirlwind of a trip, but they are all worth it. We are so excited for Shaun to see his family again! Abby is super exited and is hoping for snow! I am sure that we will have pictures to share!

Texting on Mommy's phone!

Just had to post this! Is he Americanized or what?
Shaun is very comfortable, as you can see!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our family!

We had a great night for trick-or-treating.....mostly treating!

The kids had fun getting dressed up together, not sure Shaun knew what was really going on.....BUT once he saw the candy go into his pumpkin bag...he was off following his sister o the next house! (we actually practiced this the night before with cotton balls and me hiding behind his bedroom door!)

Can I just say that I LOVE our neighborhood at times like this! We have made so many friends all down our street this year, all anticipating Shaun's arrival. They just love seeing him every chance they get! He is like a little celebrity around here, with his big sister!
What fun it was to watch our 2 kids on this holiday. It is times like this that I imagined over and over again!

After the treating, the kids web-cammed with Grandma and Grandpa in NY so they could see them in their costumes and share their excitement! Shaun loves to web-cam.....anytime the computer screen is on he just expects someone's face to be on the screen. He and Abby actually share a chair for this and to watch them is so much fun too!

We kept the kids up a lot later last night, watching the Yankees take game 3....did I mention that we are YANKEE fans....GO YANKEES!

We all woke up around 8:30 well rested and ready to enjoy yet another day as a family of 4!

These are such good times!

The leaves are falling!

The leaves are falling! These past few weeks have been tough with all of us being sick, Shaun and Mommy getting the flu! Let me just say.....we made it! We are all feeling MUCH better now and just so glad to have it passed us. I have spend a better part of the past 3 days with loads of laundry and disinfecting just about everything in the house.

The kids had fun with our leave piles! We have 2 large Ash trees in our yard that grace us with a couple days worth of racking! As always, we made huge piles for the kids and let them have at it. It is one of my favorite things of the fall and I cannot help but remember all the fun I had doing this as a kid. Shaun got right into it as soon as he say his sister in action!

1 and 1/2 and doing great!

Happy together!

Shaun is doing GREAT! He turned 18 months yesterday, which we celebrated in a small way, with colorful ice cream for dinner and a little singing!

(we did not get to celebrate Shauns 1st birthday, so this was a special day for us and him)

What else can I say other than go on and on about how lucky and blessed we are. We have the best kids! It is awesome, our family of four! It 's hard to believe that tomorrow, Shaun will be with us for 2 months. He has done so well adjusting to us, probably better that we have adjusted to having a BUSY toddler in the house. He is sleeping GREAT (12 hours a night+ 2 hours of a nap) and eating GREAT (everything he can get his hands on) and enjoying being part of our family. He is mostly all smiles and is babbing A LOT! He says ABBY for everything, but this morning I finally got a mommeeee again. You can tell he is practicing his sounds, he humms and sings....although it is his babble it is so fun and amazing to witness. He is silly, so silly he keeps Abby laughing and he is starting to learn to be a little more patient and not getting upset when he doesn't get his way. He is really just the sweetest boy. I REALLY enjoy being home with him day to day. Again, I am blessed and lucky to be able to do so.

Pumpkin FUN!

What a GREAT FAMILY DAY!

We went to Trenton, Ohio today for the opening fall festive at Barn n Bunk!

We had so much fun with the kids and it was so nice to be outside after almost a week staright of rain.

This place is great! We know about it because a few years ago we went with Abby's preschool class. We will go every year we are in Ohio....we love it!

The kids picked their own pumpkins, went through the hay house, went in the bouncy houses, rode scooters, we all did a horse drawn hay ride. We also slung shot apples and fired of corn......The best part by far was the large corn maze and the cart to pull the kids (and pumpkins) to the car on our way out!

We left with some graet photos, fun memories and 77 pounds of pumpkins!

I think this year, I have the largets pumpkin I have ever had!

Just gotta love days like this!

Fun Times!

Making pea eyed meatball monsters....

Making a mess with meatballs mashed potatoes and peas!

What's it like with two kids at home?????

FUN FUN.....FFFFUUUUUUNNNNN!


Aren't they just the silliest? Boy,... do these two go together ......like bologna and cheese, maybe???

Shaun with his "yankee-blankee"...

every morning, Shaun trots out of his room carrying his blankee! It is the cutest thing ever!

It stays by his side most of the day and when we travel he caries a 12X12 swatch of the fleece! Funny to think I bought this fleece about 6 years ago......I must have known!

Big Sis! Abby Liz is really enjoying reading to Shaun! This is perfect practice for her and just stepping back and listening to her is so sweet!

Well, approaching our 7 week mark of being home and I have to say that life is GREAT! Everyone has adjusted very nicely and we are on schedule, which is SOOOO IMPORTANT!

Shaun is such a sweet boy! He is showing us so much more everyday! He loves anything we give him to eat. He has done well with out a bottle and is just using a sippie cup. Nothing at night and wakes up just once if he is wet! He sleeps most nights from 8pm to 7 am. He is napping everyday for at least 2 hours.

He can say, Mama, Daddy, Abby, ball, boo, and crabby (Abby has a a new pet hermit crab!).

He babbles constantly and points to everything. He can blow kisses, gives kisses, give hugs and waves bye-bye. Also, if you ask him where Shaun is, he will point to his belly. He is super curious and very smart. It has been fun just watching him figure things out.

He can be very calm or super crazy, but all at the right times! He laughs continuously and I mean super loud belly laughs! Who wouldn't love that?

The Grandkids together!

All together!

ShaunHenry, Maria Kathleen, Abby Elizabeth, Anneka Rose and Julia Josephine!
"the girls"

Getting a picture for the Grandparents was easier said than done! But we know they are pleased with the result! It was soooo nice having family here, especially family that we have missed so much! This was their first visit with us and hopefully NOT the last!

The time was spent just being together and I think we all needed that. We all get so caught up in so many things in life...it's hard to be there for the ones we want to be there for the most. We always wish we had more time, which is such a good sign, I think. I sit back now and wish I had said this or done that........Do they really know how nice it was having them in our home? Finally?

Since we live so far away from....anyone, when we have visitors, especially family, to me...my home feels......more like a home. Does that make sense?

FAMILY!

September 2009

OUR FAMILY

We have adjusted! We were put to the test last week with 7 visitors for 4 days! We had a great time with Aunt Kate, Uncle Jason and the girls! Also we were treated to Aunt Alison and Uncle Tim! What a wonderful time we all had together.

With us all spread out, we were fortunate that Alison and Tim flew to NY from CA and WA, they then all drove to Ohio, to meet Shaun and spend some much needed family time with their brother Kevin!

All the girls....Abby, Maria, Anneka and Julia are growing up so fast! They had lots of fun together playing barbie, polly pockets, little pet shop and just full out silliness. Will will be posting more pictures of our time together in the next post.

Alison took a great picture of our family! We just love it and the scenery is just perfect! Thanks, Alison!

Shaun is doing VERY WELL for only being home a month! It seems like he has been here forever!

It is amazing how much change he has excepted over the last few weeks. He is now sleeping through the night, no bottle, no formula and eating mainly finger foods with little help. He is still allowing me to feed him breakfast, which I love to do, so I will until he does not allow me to.

Words,.....are sorta starting to be there..........but he is into pointing at everything. He says Momma, Dadda, Abby and MMMOOOOMMMMMMOOOOaaaaa (what ever that means)

He is doing great and it's hard to look back at my posts from Thailand and remember how distant he was with me. He gives me kisses and blows me kisses at night. We sing, and he loves it! He likes to cuddle and we have already had a few naps on the couch together!

We are just wonderful!

Back on-line!!!

We are back!

Here is a nice picture of our kids! The bologna (Abby) and the cheese (Shaun).

We have pictures of Abby in this same spot from every season since we moved to our house......guess we have to do the same with Shaun too!

Computer troubles...............

Ok, so, thank god it didn't happen a month ago.....RIGHT!

Our laptop has stopped working...................weep weep weep......................:(:(:(:(:(

So, if you all are wondering why I haven't posted.................this is why! Hopefully we will get things working again soon.

I hate how we are so dependent on the internet....................................

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABBY LIZ

******Happy 6th Birthday Abby Liz******

If you happen to see the most beautiful girl in the world......

WISH HER A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Wednesday (September 2nd) we will celebrate Abby's 6th birthday! Holy Cow! Where does the time go????

Please send Abby a birthday "comment".....she will love it!

***we will be having a house full for her special day and we are all super excited about our visitors! Kevin's sisters Kate and Alison will come to Ohio for the first time! Along with Uncle Jay and the girls and Uncle Tim too! Abby thinks this is super special......and we agree!***

Big sis and lil' brother!

Just a few pictures of the kids!

This week has gone by super fast, except around 2:30 am.

Shuan is still adjusting to night time sleep. How Abby can sleep through all of it is beyond me!

Getting to know BIG SIS!

At Big sis, Abby's soccer practice
Abby doing drills with Coach Neal

Ashley(our neighbor), Shaun and Abby!

It has been a much more balanced couple days! Shaun is adapting to our family VERY well. He is sleeping great at night and takes a short nap in the afternoon. He eats anything you put in his path and is just so fun. We have been enjoying the interaction between him and his big sis. She starts school on the 26th, so this time to bond is so special. I have a feeling she will not like being away from him. She just loves him and has become, as we predicted, his little Mama!

She is very gentle with Shaun. Very sweet and at his command!

I know that this time has not been easy for her, she has handled it well. It has been important to make special time for her, as she has had Kevin and I all to herself for as long as she remembers. Her and I had some "girl" time and had our first of many annual pedicures! It was so much fun watching her experience this for the first time. It was a day I will never forget and we have the best looking toe nails on the block!

Dad and Abby took an afternoon to enjoy a quiet lunch together and then have some fun at Dave+busters (arcade). She says it was super fun and came home with a few little prizes.

(one she gave to Shaun, AWWWW!)

School shopping starts on Monday! I am looking forward to her picking things out for herself. She also wants a new hair cut. This is a bit scary for me, but it will always grow back. When I asked her what she wants she pointed to her chin and said "to here".....YIKES! BUT, since then, she has changed her mind with a few different ideas. We'll just have to wait and see what she decides.

We are so proud of Abby Liz! She is the best daughter ( and big sis) in the whole world!

Our kids!

God gave us two beautiful, smart, happy children!

We could not be more proud:)

Yes, it is 5:30 am Wednesday morning. Daddy's last day off before our regular routine starts. I have been up since about 3 am listening to my little boy fight sleep. Watching a small child go through a time change is really pitiful. It breaks my heart.

We have had a rough few days adjusting with our new family. Grandma and Grandpa Connor were here until Tuesday morning and were a big help all around. Thank you! I feel bad that I never had the chance to cook them a good meal and promise I will make them one of my specialties next time they visit!

About Shaun!...

What a little stinker he is! This boy is smart, fast and know that he wants his Daddy! If He sees or hears Kevin, he wants no one else and will stand at Dads side just wining away. Dad is doing great with him and he is really starting to do better just around the house. If he steps away, his heart breaks, but we are dealing with it and talking to him while we are in other rooms so he can still hear us and is encouraged to explore his new home.
With Mom, he is getting better. Unlike much of last week, I can now be a Mom to him. We are starting to bond and it is just the most precious thing ever.
Changing his sleeping patterns have been hard with the 12 hour time change. We are seeing a positive change everyday and we think by the end of the week it will be more normal around here!
YES< Shaun has already climbed out of his crib! I have taken off the front rail to make it a day bed but this little guy seems to prefer the floor. :( I plan on disassembling the bed today and putting the mattress on the floor, soon we will get him a toddler bed.....small steps.
Shaun is eating and drinking well, but has a raspy voice due to crying so much. It is so sad :( Monday he sees the pediatrician with Daddy, we'll see how that goes........


About AbbyLiz...

What a GREAT big SIS! I had no doubt. She was mostly back to herself on Tuesday after visiting Caroline and attending her birthday party. Her and I (mom) took some special time together yesterday and had pedicures! She loved it and we plan on doing this together once a year in between our birthdays!
She had a great time with family in NY while we were in Thailand. Everyone said she was very good, never cried, never got hurt, very polite but DID miss us terribly.
She is doing very well with Shaun. She has played with him, fed him and helped comfort him. We are just so darn proud of her! Wednesday she is doing something special with Daddy, I am sure I will have pictures to share!

Mom and Dad....

Well, have you ever felt that if the world had nothing else for you..........it would be OK? We are just so blessed and thank god every chance we get. We have cried together since we have been home just watching our kids eat at the same table, play with the same toy, play in the same yard................in our arms! Our family sandwich now has the "bologna" and the "cheese" with our"Bread". We have never been happier and are so glad to be home.
We look forward to our days ahead watching our family grow closer together..... since we both agree, this is it! A family of four, forever!


Love to you all...........

I'll be adding more posts through out the week on Shuan and Abby's progress!

We're home!

Time with Dad at the palace

HI All, just a quick one to say we are HOME!!!! Words cannot describe how it feels to have my children in the same place! I promise to write more soon.....just way tooo exhausted from 27 straight hours of travel. I am still feeling movement.......so sleep is not happening. I am taking the first "shift" transitioning Shaun. It is 3 am and he has been asleep for about 2 hours...........Kev is asleep along with big sis Abby. WISH ME LUCK!