Legacy of an Adopted Child

"Once there were two women, who barely knew each other. One is in your heart forever, the other you'll call mother. Two different lives, shaped to make yours one. One became your guiding star, the other became your sun. The first gave you life, and the second taught you how to live it. The first gave you a need for love, and the second was there to give it. One gave you nationality, the other gave you a name. One gave you the seed of talent, the other gave you an aim. One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears. One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried your tears. One gave you a family, it was what God intended for her to do. The other prayed for a child, and God led her straight to you. And now you ask me, through your tears, the age old question through the years. Heredity or environment....which are you a product of? Neither my darling...neither, just two different kinds of love". - Unknown

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Quality Family Time

We have been enjoying the weather and some quality family time, lately. The snow has finally melted, the sun has come out a few days here and there and we have had some warmer days that we have enjoyed. But, it seems as if the cold is back this week, along with rain! But, that hasn't stopped us from enjoying every minute. We celebrated Dennis' birthday on Wednesday (having Logan here made it EXTRA special). We are grateful for Dennis' parents who came down to babysit Logan on Tuesday, while our usual babysitter had an appointment and we are both running low on leave from work. Logan had a blast spending the day with his MomMom and PopPop - and I know they enjoyed every minute of it, as well. Dennis and I had our first "date night" since we have been home with Logan. It was nice to go out, just the two of us, but at the same time we both missed having Logan with us and couldn't wait to get home to him. Here are some pics of the fun we have been having lately.....

Logan enjoying some of Daddy's birthday cake - can you tell he liked it?!!?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!!

The Candygram birthday card that Mommy and Logan made for Daddy

On the trail at the aquarium - this has to be one of my favorite pictures of Logan - he is just too darn cute!!!!

SHARK ATTACK!!!

Daddy and Logan amazed by the fish - love this picture!!!

Mommy and Logan having fun at the aquarium

Logan touching a horseshoe crab

Exhausted from a fun-filled day of sea creatures :)

This is Logan's yucky face - he mainly does it when we tell him not to touch the trash can - YUCK!!!

Enjoying the nice weather and learning some golf tips from Daddy

This child LOVES to be outside - he cries whenever we bring him in

One of his favorite things to do - take the food off of the pantry shelf, line it up on the floor and then put it back...

Our weekend trip to NOVA to visit our family who had been snowed in for over 1 week. The amount of snow they had is hard to even imagine...

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Celebrating Love




Happy Valentine's Day (a little late) to all of you! We spent the weekend in Northern Virginia with our family, who we love dearly. Logan is loved more than he will ever know. The love for a child is something that you can't describe - you just have to experience it for yourself and that was something that we were so happy to celebrate this Valentine's. Logan is the best gift of love that we could ever ask for!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Home 4 months

Today marks our 4 month anniversary of being home with Logan. It's funny all of the days we now celebrate or remember now that we have a child. Logan also turned 16 months yesterday. I have posted a "month-by-month" photo review since we first saw Logan...

8 months old - first day we met Logan (June 18, 2009)

11 months old - Court Day (September 15, 2009)

12 months old - Moscow, Russia (October 8, 2009)

13 months old - playing with his toys

14 months old - at home with Daddy

15 months old - bringing in 2010

16 months old - getting SO big

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!!!

Well, we are down here digging ourselves out of the biggest snow storm that the Hampton Roads has seen in a decade!!! We got hit with the snow on Saturday, followed by sleet, then more snow on Sunday. It closed the schools down for 3 1/2 days (which Nicole didn't mind because she got to stay home with Logan). But, just as everything is beginning to melt away, they are calling for more this weekend. So, maybe the groundhog is right - 6 more weeks of winter!!! We will wait and see....

Logan is continuing to grow and blossom every single day. If he could be outside all day, running around he would. When we took him out to play in the snow this weekend and he just wanted to run around - he didn't care much about the snow itself. So, we would bundle up and go outside for a little bit each day for some fresh air and exercise. He has finally learned to go down the stair safely and not just continue walking off the top step! He still loves to spin the toilet paper roll, so all bathroom doors are closed at our house. He is also learning how fun it is to flush the toilet (maybe this will help when it comes time to potty train). Logan is completely off formula now and our next step is to move from the bottle to the sippy cup. He can stack 4-5 blocks himself (and of course loves to knock them down). He loves emptying out his drawer in the kitchen (with his bowls, cups, etc) and lining them up in the doorway - it's rather funny to watch. He is great at helping us clean up his toys. His communication is still a challenge - he still only says dada and then yells for everything else he wants. We are waiting to see if he qualifies for speech therapy through the city's Early Intervention Program. During our initial meeting we had with them, Logan is above average in all areas except communication (he is right on the border line of below average and average). So, we were pleased to see his development and progress since we have been home with him. Logan also loves to dance to music. His dancing isn't a lot of moving around though - it mainly consists of him waving his arm back and forth, with an occasional head bob and maybe some swaying in there. You'll have to ask him to show you his moves next time you are with him. We are still waiting for his molars to come through - it would be so much easier if they would all just come in at once, right?!?

I think we mentioned that Dennis is getting transferred back to Northern Virginia this summer, so we will be renting out our house until it is better for us to sell. Work is going well for both of us. Nicole is starting a new semester - which means the year is 1/2 way over and Dennis is holding everything down at the training center. We are enjoying the month of February where we have nowhere to travel and can have some good quality family time.

We hope all is well with you and your family. Check out http://adaywithlogan.shutterfly.com for some new pictures (and older pics I forgot to post from Christmas. Love you all!