A New Party

I've finally started a FAMILY blog. I'll now be blogging at http://connerpartyoffour.blogspot.com

Getting Ready To Merge

Now that Drew's home, I'm finding it more and more difficult to keep up with 2 blogs. So...I'm going to start a new one for the family. I'll still keep both Ian and Drew's blogs live so families can look back at our journey. Now the difficult part...coming up with a name. I'm using all of my creative juices with a 13 month old and a 3 year old at present. So, please make a comment and give me some ideas for a new name for our blog.

Catching Up

It's been a pretty exciting week....actually the past couple of weeks have been pretty exciting.

First....congrats to the Haverty's!!! They received their referral of a beautiful baby girl from Korea. Woo, hoo!!! Ryan's new little sister, Evie, is adorable and we can't wait until she comes home.

Second....the family we traveled to India with, the Borski's, just received their referral of a precious little boy. Looking forward to hearing about Ahlyana's reaction to having a little brother. We are thrilled for them.

Last...but not least.....IAN'S BABY BROTHER IS COMING HOME. Yep...we received our approval on Monday night. We leave on July 26th for Vietnam and on July 31st, Drew will be ours forever.

We're going to the Kiddie Park in Bartlesville tomorrow evening. Saturday we have lots to do and then Sunday we're going over to Marcia & Bill's for pizza. This is weird...it'll be the last weekend as a family of three. Wow.

More news as it happens!!!

Another "nuggett"

One more little nugget from Ian that I don't want to forget.

Barrell Feet....a.k.a.....bare feet

Also, Ian experienced his first, real busted lip tonight. He was playing at church, tripped and fell on a ball and his busted his lip...and skinned his chin. It's kinda puffy and a little bloody....but the drama....oh the drama when he saw his mommy. We thought ice cream might make it better...but my child does not like ice cream. What? How can that be? So, we headed home and I cleaned it up a little, kissed it and all is fine now.

Fun-Filled Holiday Weekend

We had a GREAT weekend. Lots of fun! Ian loved the fireworks at the Hav's....had a blast swimming in Uncle Brad's pool....loved running around at the church picnic....decided the fireworks "scared" him. I'm pretty sure the fireworks "scaring him" at the church picnic was a result of a long, busy weekend. He didn't appear scared...just tired..."I'm ready to go home now mommy."

What a great kid! We love this rotten little guy so much. It's past midnight and I should be in bed snuggling with my little guy...and my big guy. But, I wanted to get these pictures up and I'm stalking my email hoping for some news from Vietnam.

Could It Be?

Maybe...just maybe....hopefully....we're potty trained. Well at least "pee-pee" potty trained. Last Tuesday evening, out of the blue, Ian said "I want to wear big boy underwear to school tomorrow, OK Daddy?" Woo, hoo!!! Well of course it was OK.

So Wednesday morning, he proudly put on his undies and off he went to school. He had a couple of accidents during the day, but for the first full day in underwear....I'm not complaining. Each day has gotten better. Yesterday he only had one accident and it was because we couldn't make it to the potty fast enough.

Today was a test for us. We decided to brave it and go to church like normal. We even stayed after for a pre-school work day. No accidents until late this afternoon...when he should have been napping...instead he was playing "peek-a-boo" in the hallway.

It's taken us a while to get here are we're very proud of his accomplishments. We're hoping that he doesn't regress much when Drew comes home.

Oh....one other cute thing that he does when he'd gone potty...he'll run to me and tell me and then say "does that make you happy Mommy?". You betcha little man...you betcha!!!

They Melt In Your Mouth...And Your Nose Too

Yep...M & M's! They melt in your mouth....and as of a couple of hours ago, we have discovered that they melt in your nose. After pee-peeing in the potty, Ian got 3 mini M & M's and a sticker. We were ready for bed and all of the sudden he said "where did the M & M go mommy?" I said, "In your tummy Ian." To which he followed with "no mommy it's in my nose." So, I tried getting it out with a carefully placed Q-Tip, but soon discovered that melting chocolate was coming out. I stopped. Then he blew his nose several times....lots of chocolate.

He's fine. Of course, the drama was huge. Afterwards we had a long talk about putting things in our nose. We'll see if he learned his lesson.

Precious and Frustrating

That describes Ian....precious and frustrating. He thinks he's the boss a lot of the time. He is trying to be so independent and it comes across as bossy much of the time. He tells us "NO" a lot..."go away" a lot...."I don't like you"....occasionally.....therefore spending LOTS of time in the Thinking Chair. I'm sure this will pass....but geesh it's frustrating.

He's also one of the sweetest little guys around. Yesterday in the car he said "hey Mommy, you know what".....I said "what Ian"....he said "I love you Mommy."

Recently we attended Vietnam Heritage Weekend that our adoption agency sponsors. I volunteered to be on the committee thinking we're certainly have Drew home. But...we didn't. So, it was a little painful, but we had a good time. I think Ian thought we were going to Vietnam Camp to get his baby brother. When he saw some of the babies come in on Friday evening, he said "is that my brother?" Just before we were ready to leave he said "mommy, when do we get Drew?" Bless his little heart...he's ready for his brother to come home (so are we).

Today on the way to the Zoo, Ian and Daddy were talking....I'm not exactly sure what about....but Ian said "What's that all about?" Now where did that come from? The words and phrases that come out of his mouth amaze and surprise us sometimes.