Thursday, October 28, 2010

How Time Flies

I can't believe it's been so long since I sat down to the computer to blog! Time is flying by and I don't know where it has gone! Okay, well I do know where it has gone...but I'm enjoying all of it so it seems to have flown by! :)

Kiir's first week of school went really well. The soccer team embraced him and his teachers are very supportive! We could not ask for more. I have also learned that life as a mom is very busy as we try to attend all of the youth events at church and introduce Kiir to friends and family!

Last weekend went a little like this...Friday night we watched the Rangers beat the Yankees and get into the World Series (with Kelly cheering and Kiir booing). Then we went up to church for 5th Quarter and play games until around midnight. Kiir even won a gift card at 5th Quarter! Saturday morning I went to Tapestry's Adoption Conference while Kelly and Kiir played soccer and did chores around the house. After the conference was over, Kiir got to meet his Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Kendra. We went bowling and then came back to the house to play Apples to Apples. I love that game already, but Kiir has an incredible sense of humor and I was laughing so hard all night that my stomach hurt by the end! Sunday we had church, followed by lunch with friends, and a meeting with our caseworker to see how everything is going. After that, Kiir went to play football with some of the guys & workers in youth while Kelly and I went to our adoption support group. We got to share pictures and stories of our new son with others that have walked a version of our story before. I can't explain how rewarding it is to fellowship with them and gain wisdom from people that have been through this also! Monday night, we went to a youth Cowboys vs. Giants game watching party and you would know that Kiir is not only a NY Yankee's fan, but also a NY Giants fan! He insisted on making a sign, which meant cutting a piece of cardboard and handing it to me to make a sign for him in "pretty handwriting" saying "Go Giants, Beat the Cowboys". I guess his sign worked...lol. All in all, it was a very fun weekend, but I am ready for a slower-paced one!

This weekend, Kiir gets to meet his Nana, Papa, Uncle Shane, Meme & Pepaw. We're going to go fishing and celebrate Uncle Shane's birthday. Today we went shopping for his present and Kiir had to get something just from him. He is so incredibly thoughtful! Kiir, however, is most excited about the fishing because he hasn't been in a long time. I sure hope we catch something!

Well, today marked 2 weeks since Kiir officially moved in! It has been so much fun and I absolutely love being his mom! He makes me laugh, cry (while laughing) and makes me wish that I knew him his entire life. I cherish the time we have after school when he hangs out with me in my room and on the way home. I know it will end soon, with Kiir being a Senior and all, but I hope time slows down a little so I can soak it all in. I am so blessed to be his mom! Every day I thank God for him.

Monday, October 18, 2010

New Beginnings

This weekend was full of relaxing, hanging out and preparing for Kiir's first day of school. Friday night we all watched the Ranger/Yankee baseball game. Kiir is a Yankee's fan so he was excited with the result and gave Kelly a hard time the next day. Saturday we got to wake up and play soccer again. It was fun to go with them and take pictures of Kelly & Kiir playing soccer together. We got some great "frame-able" moments! Saturday afternoon was filled with nap time and watching the Rangers beat the Yankees, to which Kelly was able to give Kiir a hard time back! Saturday night we rented the movie "God Grew Tired of Us" which is about the Lost Boys of the Sudan. Kiir is from the same area and it was neat for him to understand what they were saying! It was also great to be able to mute some of it and hear his stories from the Sudan and Ethiopia. If you are interested in learning more about the civil war of Sudan, refugee camps or the Lost Boys, this is a great documentary about it all!

Sunday was a great day at church! Kiir got to meet more students and so many people came up to meet him after service. I have never felt more love flow from people than yesterday! We were invited to go play "American football" ;) with a group from church and Kiir was very excited about going. After a lazy Sunday afternoon, we all headed to the park. Kelly and Kiir were on opposite teams so they got to play against each other. It was quite humorous! They are both so athletic and competitive and I was the proud mom/wife! I also was incredibly proud of the church family we have surrounding us. I don't think they could have made Kiir feel more welcome/at home around them! On the way home he was excited about playing next week already (even though he had some bumps and bruises from rolling around on the ground) and going to a couple youth events this week.

Today is his first day of school at MAC. Don't worry, I pulled the embarrassing mom thing and took a picture of him at the house before leaving! :D I know this might sound weird, but I don't have pictures of him on his first day of school growing up and since he's a senior, this was my last chance! So I had to take one! Then we took off for school to register for his classes. We found out that the soccer coach said to put him in soccer instead of PE so he could already start working out with the team! Praise God for taking care of the tiniest details yet again! As we were looking at the school map and highlighting where his classes were, I knew I was about to have to leave him to fend for himself. I then realized what every mom goes through the first day of school...although for most I'm sure it's their kindergarten year, not their child's senior year! I gave him a hug and told him to have a great day. Then I turned to leave him and tried to hold back my tears as I got in the car and drove away. I'm quite certain he is just fine as he has had many first days of school, but this is my first day leaving him! I'm sure he'll have a fantastic day and I hope to hear all about it when I pick him up. 3:45 cannot come quick enough today!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Moving In!

Yesterday, Kiir became our son! He moved in and we got to unpack all of his stuff into his new room. Then we sat down and went through all of CPS's paperwork, our agency's paperwork and signed off on everything. It was like buying a house, but better! :) When we were completely finished, we got to inventory everything he had, what he needed and decided we should go shopping! We had fun getting things at Target, Rack Room Shoes and Ross. We even ran into our friend Karen while shopping! We were able to introduce Kiir as our son for the first time. What a great feeling!

After shopping, we came back home and I cooked dinner. Kiir keeps telling us how much he loves orange chicken with noodles, so I made that for our dinner. Kelly insisted that I make him my bread pudding for dessert since that was Kelly's favorite. I don't know if orange chicken and bread pudding are the best match for dinner, but it was good nonetheless. While I was cooking, Kelly and Kiir washed the car and then played a game of 1 on 1 basketball and Kiir won! The best part of the day (besides signing all of the papers) was when Kiir told me stories about where he has lived in the Sudan and Ethiopia. He is so incredibly smart to remember everything he does and it was precious to hear about his childhood before we knew him.

Today we woke up and went to MAC to enroll him and go on a tour of the school. We were all very nervous about the transfer, TAKS, credits and classes working out so he could graduate on time. However, the counselor and other staff were able to work everything out so that he can take everything he wants and graduate on time (Spring 2011)! He was ecstatic! We also had the dreaded and anticipated visit to the orthopedic surgeon to release him officially to play sports from a surgery he had last year. After waiting for a long time, the doctor finally said okay! Kiir is very eager to try out for soccer in the next few weeks, and to workout in the meantime! I cannot express how exciting this day was and how much praise we gave our Lord for taking care of even the tiniest little details to make this school year perfect!

I never knew that the feeling of being a mom was so powerful. You hear that when mother's give birth it is an experience like no other and there is an instant bond. Well, I can tell you that when we signed papers (both Kelly and I, along with Kiir) I could feel my heart enlarge with an enormous and powerful love. My son might not look like I do, but he is my son and I love him more than I could even imagine was possible! It just reminded me how much our Lord and Savior loves us since we are His adopted sons and daughters!!! With a pot of chili simmering for dinner and the Rangers vs. Yankee's game on tonight, we are excited to spend a Friday night at home as a family!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Bonding Time

After eating some wonderful Ethiopian food and gelato Thursday night, we were excited to pick him up on Friday for the weekend! The soccer jersey we got him was a little big, so our first stop was back to the Soccer Premier store to exchange for a smaller size. When we were there, we found out that they could put any player's name & number on the back with the actual stuff they put on professional jerseys so we had that done with his favorite player. He was stoked! While they worked on pressing the jersey we were able to walk around the store and learn a lot more about his love: soccer.

We then we got to come back to our house and show him around. He was excited to see his room and bathroom, learn more about the renovations we did on the house, and our future plans for it. As soon as he saw the ping pong table, he asked Kelly if they could play. I think they played 4 or 5 matches (over an hour) and I had to pull them away to eat lunch. After lunch we decided to head to the Fort Work Museum of Science and History. We walked around, got to play in the inventor's studio and went to an IMAX film. Driving there and back also gave us some time to learn more about each other. On the way home we were able to go up to the school he would attend and at least drive around so he could see what it looks like. When we got home we decided to order a pizza and rent a movie. Overall, it was a fun and relaxing day!

On Saturday, he and Kelly got up to go play soccer with some friends from church. After lunch, we decided to try and have a somewhat "normal" day and go grocery shopping. Of course, grocery shopping for us is a little different from most people. We ran by Walmart for basic items, another store for my face wash, and then to Costco for our monthly supply of staples. It was fun to see what kinds of food he likes to eat and to try some of the samples. We also ran into an old caseworker of his and got to meet him! That was really neat! At dinner that evening, we were able to share with him our story and why we wanted to become his parents. It was a really nice moment we will forever cherish. After dinner, we played rock band as a family for a couple of hours. It was his first time to play and by the end he was getting the hang of the drums. We had a lot of fun!

Sunday we went to church as a family and introduced him to some of the youth. After lunch, he and Kelly got ready for the Cowboy's game. Kelly's parents gave us their season tickets for Sunday's game so they could go together. They got some great pictures of the two of them at the stadium together and with a Ferrari they passed by. It was great father-son bonding time! :)

When they returned, we hopped in the car to take him back to his current home. On the way, however, my car started making a ticking sound. About halfway there on I-35 in Dallas, my car started humming and I lost the ability to accelerate. I pulled off the road and my check engine light came on, followed by the entire car shutting down. We pushed it into a gas station and it started smoking like crazy! We called his foster dad to come and pick him up since we obviously were not going to be able to take him home. Then we called our insurance to get us a tow. I am so thankful that God took care of us and let us end up in a well-lit, safe area while we waited. It also gave us an opportunity to show him how Kelly and I handle stress and that no matter what, everything will always be okay and taken care of as we trust in our ultimate Provider!

Even though it was an interesting end to our weekend together, it was a wonderful weekend nonetheless! When everything is more final I will post the pictures you have all been asking me to see! :) He wanted to take lots of pictures throughout the weekend so we have some great ones of us all! We are excited about later this week as he gets to move in and we start our journey now living together as a family!

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Introductions

Today was the ever anticipated day that we got to finally meet him! We got to learn more about his interests, taste in food, and soccer! I was so glad that he shares our interest in the many kinds of food we like. If you know Kelly and I, we love everything from Indian, to Mexican, to Sushi...and he loves all of them and more! Tomorrow night we are going to a new cultural restaurant that we are all excited about. And of course afterward, we're taking him to our favorite place for dessert (gelato): Paciugo!

There were so many things that we talked about and it was just fun. I can't explain how I felt except to say that God designed this exact moment before we knew it would ever exist because it was so perfect! We brought him a gift because we knew he loved soccer (a jersey from a popular premier league in England) and it happen to be his favorite team! He was so shocked to see it and it was just the icing on the cake. Although the hugs he gave us before we left might have topped the jersey to us! I can't wait to spend tomorrow night and the weekend together as a family!

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

The Night Before...

Today is such an exciting day! His adoption case worker was able to tell him about us, show him the book and video we made, and give him the letter we wrote. Apparently one of his first questions was "When do I get to meet them?" She said he was really excited needless to say! Later this evening we got to call and talk with him. It was so fun to hear his personality and some of the questions he had for us. Tomorrow we get to meet him for the first time!!! I cannot explain the emotions regarding that meeting...let's just say I think we're all nervously excited!

It has now been over a year since we started this journey and I am amazed at everything God has done every step of the way! I know our life might not seem "normal", but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sunday, October 03, 2010

All Hands on Deck

Friday's meeting went really well! We got to ask lots of questions to everyone involved (10 people were there!) and not once did I feel an inkling of anxiety or hesitation. Praise Him! Sometimes it's hard to believe that this is our life...that God trusted us to do something so extraordinary for His glory!

At the end of the meeting, we got to watch a video he made about himself and why he wants to be adopted. I had so many emotions during that time, but the strongest one was just a desire to finally get to meet him in person! It's amazing how God has guided and directed us throughout this entire situation that it is now so easy just to continue to follow and trust Him every step of the way.

As this week unfolds, we are looking forward to the next step in this exciting adventure!