New Pictures!

Aiden feeding the turtles in Austin, TX

I found him sleeping in the chair on his  2nd night at home.

He just got his haircut by Mr. Steve!  We got done and he said,"mommy, I love my haircut!".

Showing off a new shirt from Dave's friend in CT.

I have been a "mommy" for a week!

It's hard to even describe everything that has happened in the last week.  Everything moved so quickly once the family signed the consents for Aiden.  Since we have arrived home I think Aiden has met most of our town or at least that may be how he is feeling.  On Tuesday he met my parents and all his aunts and uncles and he met Dave's mom.  We had a break on Wednesday, then on Thursday he met a few ladies at bible study and then a bunch of crazy teenagers that evening.  Aiden did great with the teenagers, if you are willing to engage him and play thumb war he is all yours! Friday we went to Dave's work and Saturday and Sunday we had church.  So, you can imagine that by Sunday afternoon he was done with all the new faces.  He was actually calling his preschool teacher at church "grandma" and I had to tell him not everyone is grandma....so funny!  Last night we went to my parent's house and Aiden had a great time playing with Aunt Andi and Uncle Tommy.  Aunt Lily is still adjusting to sharing the attention, which is totally normal....after all, she is the princess.

On the home front Aiden is still doing exceptionally well considering all the changes in the last year and a half.  We most certainly have more ups than we do downs.  He continues to push me away and then pulls me back in by telling me he loves me about 500 times in a row.  Last Wednesday was a difficult day; Dave was at work and Aiden wouldn't talk to me at all.  I must admit I felt quite overwhelmed and even closed my office door and cried for a moment, BUT that didn't last, I pushed through and relied on my Heavenly Father for His strength! 

I am still trying to get into a little bit of a routine.  I am working on getting Aiden into speech therapy and play therapy.  Everything else for his cleft will get done, but it will not be immediate.  We are focusing on just being with him. 

I know many of you who read my blog are praying for us and your prayers are powerful!!   .....Thank You!!

Making our way home to Florida!

Today we started making the journey home back to Florida.  We stopped at the Texas boarder to spend the night. We still have to wait until we hear from the Interstate in Texas that we have the go ahead to leave the state. Please be in agreement that we will hear something first thing tomorrow morning. 

When we left Austin this morning Aiden had a rough time and was mostly quiet for the entire ride.  I am thankful for the DVD player that Grandma and Grandpa let us borrow.  Aiden is still doing so much better than what is usual for this type of transition.  It is so Supernatural the way he is responding to Dave and I, despite the moments of rejection and being distant.  Right now Aiden is playing games with his daddy and they have so much fun together.  It is really very sweet! 

So, our goal is to be home very late Monday night and to visit family on Tuesday.  I do have more pictures to upload, but I lef the camera in the car.  We can't wait to see all our family and friends.  It has only been a week, but we MISS Florida! 

Thank you for all your prayers and love!

Day #2 of our transition with Aiden

Day #2 went so good!  We picked Aiden up at his Grandma's house around 11:00 AM and went to a park. Let me tell you...it is HOT in Austin, TX.  We had lunch by the river and then went to get some ice cream to cool off.   As we were dropping Aiden back off at his Grandma's house for a break in between visits (recommended by the social worker) he did not want to leave us, but we promised him that we would be back.  We picked him up again around 6 PM spent the evening together and he is now sound a sleep.  There are MANY positive things, but also some things that we have noticed that will take time to heal from.  Tomorrow the plan is to go visit grandma and say good-bye.  Although he was excited to be with us tonight, Dave and I think he doesn't truly understand that it is a forever thing, more like a fun night with fun people.  Please pray for us.  There are things that will be time issues, but for the most part the transition has been so supernatural.  We are able to stand and say,.....Look what the Lord has done!!

Enjoy the pictures!!

Day #2 of our transition with Aiden

We saw Aiden today!!

We saw our son today and it was a very good day!  Aiden came in with his Grandma and sister and definitely recognized us.  It was obvious that his Grandma Marilyn had been talking a lot about us.....such a blessing.  We spent nearly 2 hours together with the social worker and then another 30 minutes together after the social worker had left.  Aiden most certainly connected with Dave right away, but no so much to me.  Were my feelings a little hurt?  Sure.  However, we knew that this may happen due to the many "mommy" changes in his life, but we will persevere and through the power of God's presence and prayer this too will change quickly.  Aiden is very happy and very comfortable with us.

Tomorrow the three of us will go out by ourselves and then Aiden will spend the night with us.  If all goes well...and it will.....He will officially be united with us on Saturday.

Thank you for all the prayers!!

Tomorrow is the big day!!

Well, our travels yesterday were uneventful and it was actually very relaxing to drive.  We had one hang up when we were looking for a hotel room at 1 AM, but we found one and a had good nights sleep.   We went down for breakfast and I have never had such hospitality at breakfast as we did here in Louisiana.  I think we have about 5 hours left before we hit Austin, TX today.  We will be seeing Aiden tomorrow!

I will post pictures of our son tomorrow!!  Lots of love to you all!!

We are heading to Texas!!

We are about to leave in a few minutes to drive to Texas and get our son!!  I would say meet him, but we already did that during our life in China together.  We will keep you all update and hopefully will be posting pictures and video.  Aiden has lots of family and friends anxiously awaiting his arrival in Florida.  Please pray for a supernatural process through the interstate in TX.  Once they give us the clearance we can leave and come home. We are praying for clearance on Friday or the latest Monday.  Thank you for agreeing with us.

We are excited!!  

Practicing Photography

Two of my little sisters were the subject of a practice photo shoot. The sharpness of the colors don't come through to well on this blog.You can double click on a picture to enlarge it.  I still have much to learn.  I am more comfortable photographing anything that doesn't involve people.  Haha!   I have another photo shoot schedule on the 14th with my parents. Taking new shots for their website and media purposes.  Pray for me!

Interviews going on today in Texas

Well, our social worker is finally doing at least one interview we know of with the couple from Texas regarding Aiden. We hope she got the second interview scheduled, but we will know more by Monday.  We are waiting patiently, BUT truly hoping to have a game plan of when we can travel by Monday or Tuesday.

On a side note, we purchase Loving Your Kids on Purpose by Danny Silk.  Highly recommended by Aiden's foster mom and dad in China.  We have watched only the introduction session and we like it.  I'll let you know more as we go through the entire series.