The Hamson Family

2011-07-18T09:11:00.002-04:00

Sammy

She is an amazing college student that I was introduced to by my best friend. I don't know her too well, but I do know that she is a wonderful big sister to her siblings, she has a kind and gentle spirit and she loves her Jesus with all her heart, soul and mind. I feel like out of all the pictures I took this one reflects that kind gentle spirit she has. Thanks Sammy for a fun shoot.

Check out this giveaway

2010-12-16T17:32:00.002-05:00

Hey all.

I have been really into visiting sites of fundraising families. Families raising money for adoption costs. I have even bough a handful of Christmas gifts from these sites this year. Anyway one of my favorite sites is doing a giveaway. You can check it out at the link below! I am entering to win one of her giveaways. I love her artwork!

http://pitterpatterart.wordpress.com/wp-comments-post.php

The Last Day of Summer

2010-08-30T22:51:00.011-04:00

On the last day of this wonderful summer we went to visit Brian at NorthBay. The sun was setting and the water reflected a perfect late summer sunset. We took the time to relax some, play in the sand, look for pirate ships on the bay (Bohdan found some), take some pictures and then ended the night by running in the grass bare foot.

Bohdan had a wonderful summer filled with his slip-n-slide, swimming, taking care of his baby brother and learning what it means to love and protect someone. A few highlights of his summer were going to the beach with Daddy and Grandaddy and wiping out on the tube with Uncle Dave, watching the 4th of July fireworks and of course he was thrilled to meet Thatcher.

Audrey turned 2 this summer and is more and more independent everyday. She is learning her colors and loves saying her ABCs and counting. She filled her summer taking care of her baby dolls and her "bear-bear." The highlights of her summer were meeting Thatcher, having Grammy and Grampy spend the week with her and Boh, dressing up for a fancy photoshoot, Uncle Dave visiting and riding the carousel at the fair. And lastly celebrating her 2nd birthday!

Thatcher. Our sweet baby boy. He is growing like a weed. I feel like he is more and more alert every day. He loves to smile and make baby noises. His big brother Bohdan can make him smile every time and although big sister Audrey loves him a little too hard, he loves her very much as well. The highlights of his summer were of course his birthday and also the day he came home after about a week in the hospital. He spent most of his awake time this summer staring and cooing at his toy turtle.

Here are all three of our sweet little pumpkins. We are so very blessed!

So the picture taking was really great that night...but I think I might have pushed it too far at this point. There is a fine line between loving each other and a choke hold. Poor little Thatcher.

We had a wonderful and unforgettable summer. The Lord blessed us so far beyond what we could have dreamed of by adding to our family through the birth of sweet Thatcher Andrew; he is our bright little star. We are ever blessed by the love and tenderness of our charming and big hearted Bohdan John. Our lives would be incomplete (and our days dull) without the whit, radiant smile and sweet spirit of our dear Audrey Rose. Yes this summer was wonderful.

The newest Hamson

2010-08-06T11:29:00.005-04:00

On June 5th 2010 Thatcher Andrew Hamson was born!

It all started at 5:32am. 37 weeks and 2 days. I woke up knowing that it was happening. Not totally sure why or how I knew. I felt...different. I laid their a few minutes wondering what to do. As I looked out the window at the morning sky I prayed. I thanked the Lord for that day, I asked for blessings, and then exclaimed (aloud, but quietly to myself as to not wake up my sleeping husband at this point) THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE, I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!

I finally woke Brian up and let him know that something was going on...he did not fully "get it" until I scooted to the side of the bed and then exclaimed ALOUD this time, "my water broke!" and broke and broke.

We called family and arranged child care. First from the neighbor across the street then from my sister Megan and her family. Within a half hour we were off on the planned route to Upper Chesapeake Family Birth Place (a wonderful place to have a baby!). And my did the contractions start on the drive there!

As we arrived we were quickly ushered back and it was established that due to how dilated I was, we would be having a planned c-section rather soon and were moved to the top of the list. So off we went to the OR...and soon...Thatcher Andrew was born.

The c-section was a little rough this time around, but hearing the sweet sound of Thatchers first cry was worth it all!

Soon enough it was over and I was in recovery with a rather large baby boy. He was 8 lbs. 12 oz at 37 weeks 2 days, BUT he was perfect!

We spent some time with him, just Brian and I and later that day big siblings Bohdan and Audrey came to meet their new baby brother. Thatcher also got to meet some cousins and Aunties, and Uncle Jay. Both grandparents were able to be there...which is really something else since one set lives in New England and the other was planned to be in China at the time. As it turns out...they were both there that day!

The day was just as it should have been and as it was planned since the beginning time. God brought Thatcher to us in His perfect timing. It was the day the Lord had made, I will FOREVER rejoice and be glad in it.

Starting Anew

2010-08-06T10:52:00.002-04:00

Well my sister Kelly who is an avid blogger and really quite good as sparked a new interest in blogging for me. In fact if you get a chance go to her blog, check it out. http://raudenbushfamily.blogspot.com/ You will be very impressed.

Anyway, so my sister gave me hard time with my lack of blogging. I admit she is right. I am very good with facebook but blogging seems to be a little harder for me to get to. So once again I will try to start this thing called blogging again. In all honesty I see the value in it and wish it came easier to me.

To be honest the reason why I am so interested in starting anew is due to my sister's new project. Again she is very talented and you will want to be apart of it when she is ready.

Kelly has recently (after a long wait) adopted a beautiful baby girl from China. She has found that as a believer it is difficult to express in full honesty and clarity personal adoption stories, orphan care issues, and other adoptions issues on the many adoption community websites she has been involved in personally.

THUS her newest endeavor. She and her husband are starting and moderating a website devoted to connecting, encouraging and learning together as adoptive families. A place were you can share from your heart about your journey of adoption and "caring for the orphan." Essentially the site is based on the bible verse Ephesians 1:5.

How will she do this?

After the final touches are made on the site and she is ready to launch, she plans to (with permission from the blogger) share quality blog posts and articles that fall into the following categories:

Adoption & Faith, Attachment, Celebrating Heritage, Family stories, Initial Adjustments, Orphan Care, Relationships, and Special needs.

Blog posts like this one could be used:

http://hamsons.blogspot.com/2009/05/logans-adoption-day-may-6th-2009.html

I will be sure to blog again with the link to the website when it is officially launched. In the mean time start getting your blog on like I will be doing. You will be able to submit blog posts and articles for the site to possibly use. Not sure how it all will work yet, but I will be sure to share with you as I know. Until then I think I might be playing a little blogging catch up.

With the King

2009-07-25T14:09:00.002-04:00

As a family in our church struggles with the anguish of losing their oldest daughter yesterday, we search for words of comfort, truth, understanding. We will never fully comprehend the mind of Christ this side of heaven, but we must trust Him all the same. A friend posted this in response to this tragedy and it was too good not to share...

With the King
Today at 9:27am
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-11)

Yesterday, friends from church were involved in a random boating accident that left their 11 year old daughter missing, somewhere in the river. As day turned into nightmare, she has been found to be with Jesus even as workers still look for her earthly body. Her mom posted just hours ago "I am not ready to let go of her yet!" and still "let go" is exactly what God has called this family to do.

Today will not be an easy day for our church, tomorrow will not be either. It feels like sorrow and sadness are more and more the norm for our congregation. Even the most scholarly and secure among us have no answers as to why God has ripped this little girl from her family at such a young age in such tragic fashion. Yet collectively we pray for this broken hearted family and collectively we beat on the chest of our Lord, confidently knowing that He is able to sustain our anger, rage, hurt, frustration and sorrow. Like a wise parent, He knows that we are incapable of comprehending what is happening and wraps us in His embrace as we are racked with grief.

God does not promise us that we will see tomorrow, that our children will see tomorrow, that tomorrow will even exist on this earth. He does promise, repeatedly, that when we know Christ, when we hold onto Him as our Savior from sin, that we will spend an eternity of tomorrows with Him. This little girl trusted in Christ and today she is not shedding tears nor is she filled with anguish. Today, tomorrow and for eternity she is joyfully worshipping her Lord and Savior. I pray that my children will share her faith and long for the day that we will worship together in a Kingdom that has no tears.

In memory of Mary

2009-06-14T19:18:00.005-04:00

A year ago one of my mother's dearest friends went home to be with her sweet Jesus. Although we miss her so much, we are so happy for her...we know that she is dancing at the feet of her Lord and savior. One day I know I will join her; what a wonderful day that will be. Until that day when I can see Mary again, I will hold on to the memory of this courageous woman. I will remember the things she taught me and try to emulate the things I admired so much about her. I told Mary many many years ago that I admired her ZEST for life...and that I wanted to be able to be like her in that way, little did I know that I would actually admire her ZEST in death even more. She truly turned her darkness and pain into PRAISE for the Jesus she loved so much. I'm not sure I could have had the same heart that she did while her life came to an end, but I pray as I grown in wisdom that I can become more like Christ and more like Mary, a woman who loved the Lord so much.

Here is a picture of Mary, my mom, and Bohdan...her godson. This picture is taken about a year ago.

wordless wednesday-posted on Thursday (pic from May 11th)

2009-06-11T10:46:00.002-04:00

wordless wednesday

2009-06-03T21:25:00.002-04:00

Dinner with Grammy and Grampy Hamson

2009-05-30T15:57:00.004-04:00

This week Bohdan and Audrey Rose got to eat dinner with Brian's parents...via SKYPE! Check it out! Bohdan showed off some school work and showed then how he can drink from a big boy cup, he even tried to give Grampy a bite of food. Audrey smiled and was as sweet as ever! Its not fun to live so far away from Brian's family, but skype makes a little easier to keep in touch and the kids love it.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-27T16:07:00.002-04:00

I'll join the many who are leaving Wednesday wordless...

Happy Adoption Day BOHDAN!

2009-05-07T15:58:00.002-04:00

A year ago today BOHDAN JOHN HAMSON was adopted into our family. Although he lived with us since he was 6 month old, it wasn't official until Judge Limmus said it was...and this happened May 7th 2008 at 9:30am in court room 2 at Cecil Co. MD Court House.

Here are some pictures from that day! Can you find Audrey?

Logan's Adoption day! May 6th 2009

2009-05-07T14:04:00.002-04:00

Blog written with the permission of Logan and his family.

Yesterday I was given the opportunity to sit and watch Logan offically be adopted into his FOREVER FAMILY! Oh what joy filled my heart as the judge said all was done...Logan was home...where he belongs, where he has always belonged.

For those of you who never met our Logan; he lived with us for a year of his life, the first year-basically. We first met Logan as a tiny little 4 month old. He quietly slept, all swaddled up in blankets and laid in a crib inside a dark room in Union hospital in Cecil Co. MD. When we met him, he was hardly able to drink from a bottle, barly able to hold up his head while on him tummy, with medical issues and deep routed pscological effect I thought might never change...but very slowly Logan started to become more and more like a normal baby. He went from not knowing how to let us hold him to never wanting to be put down. From not knowing what to do with a bottle, to eating, and eating and eating...thus he went from a baby WAY TOO SMALL...to just the right size. His health issues became less and less and today he is a totally healthy boy, and he is emotionally right on target!

He and Bohdan became like brothers, spending all their time together. Sharing a room, sharing toys, sippy cups, baths...you name it! Logan went with us to the beach, to Boston, Philly, and everywhere else we went. He was with us for holidays, including, Easter, his birthday (complete with a party!), holloween (he was a hersey kiss), Thanksgiving and Christmas...and all the ones in between. He became a part of our family! He was there when we found out that we were having our baby girl Audrey and as we welcomed in and said good-bye to other foster children.

During this time we went to MANY doctor visits. At our doctors office there was one very nice and kind CNA, with a spark in her eye...little did we know that that sparkel was the look of a mother smiling at her son. we might not have known...but the Lord did! he had SUCH A BIG PLAN! Vicky that CNA, who has become a dear friend of mine was able to get to know Logan through out the whole year he was at our house. We often talked about fostering and how she felt called to be apart of foster care...she often expressed how Logan and his siblings had such a special place in her heart...but why...Well the Lord was preparing her...and me.

About the same time we got pregnant we were also asked to adopt Logan ourselves. At first we said YES YES YES...but slowly, the Lord showed me that I was not Logan's mother, but Vicky was! And she was also the right mother for his older sliblings. So we made a hard call to DSS...and let them know, we would not be adopting Logan and that we would like Vicky to be the family to adopt all of them and DSS agreed. God blessed this and indeed the plan was made changed...all 3 children would go to Vicky and Tom.

We started a 2.5 month long transition for Logan moving from our house to theirs. It was hard on all of us...but it was SO right! At the same time, our dear friends and fellow foster parents, Pat and Rich were doing the same bitter sweet process with Jesse and Chelsey, Logans older brother and sister.

Then on a cold afternoon in mid January, 2008, we met Vicky and said good-bye to our Logy Bear for the last time. I cannot express to you how hard that was, but as hard as it was, it was one of the BEST moments of my LIFE. I was able to hand a mother her SON. A child a loved and cared for, for a year...a baby, that came to be after being so close to deaths door, and was now a vibrant little boy ready to take off. I would do it 100x over. It was worth every moment of the journey, good, hard, happy and sad moments...all worth it!

Now after a year and 4 months...of yes, ups and downs, after a handful of court hearings, FIMs, mediations, visits from workers, agreements...and more...Logan is FINALLY in his FOREVER family...oficially theirs...forever...no one can change it now. And although he will still see the special woman who gave him life, his FIRST mother (once a year), and he still will see Brian and I, who are still mom and dad by name only to him...he has finally found his MOMMY and DADDY! I love our Logy Bear So much, he will ALWAYS be my baby, he will always have a home here...but I love Vicky's SON LOGAN even better!

Yesterday was a GOOD DAY!

I hope you enjoyed the slide show (aboev) from yesterday of the court hearing. Below is a slide show of our year with Logan.

Audrey at 10 months

2009-05-06T00:19:00.003-04:00

Our little girl is SO smart…and is getting crafty!

Audrey Rose is now 10 months 3 weeks old. She has about 10 words,these words include…
Daddy, mama, meow, B, I, E, bible, ut-oh, wow, hi, bye, Boh, Audrey, and lots of sounds

And she repeats SO MANY words…

She loves to sing the song…B-I-B-L-E…you know the one…”yes that’s the book for me…I stand alone on the word of God, the B-I-B-L-E…BIBLE!” We started teaching the song to the 3 year olds, but low and behold out the words came…with a big BIBLE at the end of the song! For those of you reading this in a different country, this is a song we teach children. It is a song about the Bible, the book that teaches about Jesus. So yes Audrey sings this, It is SO cute! Now whenever she hears music, she starts going, “B I B I B….BIBLE!” SO CUTE!

The other day we were walking around the craft store the and she was saying “hi” or “bye” and waving to everyone we saw and singing her song the whole time. I’ve tried to tell her to learn a new song…but it’s the one she likes…

So that’s the smart side…heres the crafty side…

Today Audrey found the dog bowls-oh man. We have them under a desk. You can see this in the picture were Bohdan is feeding the dog (Cana)…one of his daily tasks. Anyway, she has been told many times today to stop playing with the dishes, which are filled with food, which she wants to eat and water that she wants to play in. Now Audrey totally understands the word NO…and will listen…most of the time… about half way through the day she started needing her hand slapped for not listening…so I’m sitting at the table working, thinking to myself…well look at that, she is being so obedient! I think she is crawling around the kitchen, playing with toys. I get up and find that she has gone around the side of the desk and was reaching under it to get to the bowl from that direction…where I couldn’t see her!
…once she saw me there…she smiled and stopped. You could just see her thinking…”what water bowl mom? Aren’t I so cute…?”
YEAH…too cute!

3's A Charm!

2009-04-20T20:26:00.002-04:00

Bohdan turned 3 years old on Saturday. We had a wonderful birthday picnic for him at the Perryville Park to celebrate. His aunties and their families came to help in the celebration as well as a few special friends. Aunt Kelly couldn’t talk very much…but she rallied and came as well.

Bohdan woke up in his toddler bed to find mommy and daddy singing to him…a bit much…maybe a little less next time. He also found his door all decorated with happy birthday streamers, which became more and more fun throughout the day!

Mommy did some running around then it was off to the park for the picnic party! The weather was AWESOME! Everyone played in the grass, with bats and ball, bubbles and lots of running around. We headed to the play ground for a little monkey bars and slide action.

After that it was back to the table to eat cake and open gifts. Bohdan loved every minute of the cake! The candles were a little hard to light with all the wind, but Bohdan was fine with blowing them out over and over. Boh ate his cake or at least the icing off his cake then we caught him going for more, which can be seen on the slide show.

When it was time for the gifts, Bohdan insisted in putting on every new piece of clothing he got…all at one time…so he was wearing 4 shirts, we cut him off when he got a pair of shorts. Finally he settled with Aunt Kelly’s new “3s a charm” shirt she got him.

Everyone stayed and played a long time since it was just such a nice day. Some people went down to the water for a while, me not being one of them , I’m not sure what they did there, but they were there a LONG time, so it MUST have been fun!
We had dinner and Bohdan got to eat off of the “you are special” plate!

When it was time to go we said good bye and went home (Aunt Megan came too to drop off a new train table for Bohdan!). Brian and I spent all night setting up Bohdan’s NEW BED! Which he loves! Check it out in the slide show! The kids were with us most of the time as we put it together…as the night got a little later we put a show on for them, but when the bed was ready we went down to get them…and Bohdan was plum tuckered out! Miss Audrey was awake OF COURSE, but not Boh-z boy! He did wake up to see his new super cool bed!

So when all is said in done…it was a super fun…super special day. Our sweet Bohdan turned 3 years old. He is getting to be SUCH a big boy. We remember seeing him for the first time…so little, so in need, and now here he is…OUR boy…our 3 year old boy…in his new big boy bed.

The first of many

2009-04-17T23:14:00.001-04:00

Here is Audrey's very first ponytail.

2009-04-17T18:29:00.002-04:00

We had a wonderful visit with Brian’s family for Easter this year. It was our first time hosting both all of Brian’s family and a holiday. It was fun for the kids to play with there cousin Brooke and play with all their aunties and uncles from New England… and of course to see Grampy and Grammy.

Most of the crew got here in Friday and we enjoyed a pizza dinner and fun. Before they got here Grammy went with me and the kids to Milborne Orchards for their Easter events. We had a ton of fun! The kids did an easter egg hunt, went on a hayride, fed some goats, and more fun stuff. Later that night we had Christmas and birthday gift catch up time. I was so excited to give our gifts and we got some goodies too!

Saturday we played and then let Bohdan have a birthday celebration with the Hamsons. He was so excited to eat his cake and open gifts…the best part is that he gets real BIRTHDAY party tomorrow!

Saturday night most of the gang went to the O’s game and although it was COOOLLLDDD they had a really fun time. Roy was super excited to meet Boog.

Sunday morning Bohdan, Brooke and Audrey all got up and had to find their semi-hidden Easter baskets. They LOVED getting their easter goodies…and Bohdan loved eating his Easter goodies. Brian, Bohdan, Audrey and I all went to a wonderful worship service Sunday morning. Then we headed back home to start cooking for the big Easter dinner. With a little help from everyone, it was a great meal and everyone had a full, happy tummy.

Right after dinner we had a back yard Easter egg hunt for Brooke and Bohdan then back inside for a little more play time and bubble time before it was time for bath and then to bed.

Kristen, Nathan and Brooke stayed here with us so Brooke was able to sleep better and it was a great chance to hang out with them at night. We had a great time talking and playing Wii.

Enjoy this slide show of some of the fun we had!

Here are SOME of the fun things that happened that we will remember…
-Roy's shoes falling apart and Brooke and Audrey eating the pieces
-Playing Wii and seeing how good Nathan was at the shooting game
-How much fun everyone had at the ball game and how shocking the “Oh” was (in the national anthem) for all the NORTHERN folk…
-Ode to Kerry photo shoot and Brooke and Audrey photo shoot
-Audrey learning to clap while the family was here

AND SO MUCH MORE! Hamson family feel free to add some more!
ALL IN ALL it was a wonderful Easter weekend!

The Sauce is Really Boss

2009-04-06T11:09:00.002-04:00

Last night we let Audrey have at it with her first meal of Spaghetti and meat sauce. Lets just say she loved it. Bohdan, Brian and I enjoyed our share too, but Audrey was in love! I gave her more then I thought she would even come close to eating, but she actually did really well getting most of it in...or in her lap.

After dinner was all over we took the left overs from her tray, which she was not was not to happy about...but it was okay because once we took off the tray there was some more right there in her lap and she helped herself to that too. She was like, "Oh look, there's more yummy...yummm..."

As we were looking at all the sauce damage Bohdan sat in her noddle filled seat and well you can see what happened in the pictures!

So then we were up stairs to a much needed bath for Auds. Then she was all clean and ready for bed. The last few pictures Brian added in here to show you what Audrey does every time he holds her and she sees me...Poor daddy!

SNAKES!!!! a Curly Sue story

2009-03-28T10:56:00.002-04:00

Our foster daughter is 3 years old and as cute as a button. She enjoys playing with all the new toys she has at our house and most of all she enjoyes trying to help be a mommy for baby Audrey. She walks all over the house with her dolly on her hip and my old cell phone on her ear "talking" it makes me think maybe I talk on the phone too much...lol. She also loves to play with Bohdan who is ALMOST 3 years old as well and so play time can get a little rough.

Curly Sue is all girl! She LOVES wearing pretty clothing and if it has sparkles or jems on it...all the better. She always wants to have a bow in her hair and play dress up. She can still play hard outside and is okay with getting a little dirty, but she HATES spiders, most bugs and snakes...A LOT!

Yesterday she and Boh played outside for most of the day. It was a little wet, but they were having a blast. At one point she tipped over the kids basketball net to find lots of little worms under it. At this point she has terror in her eyes, and I have never seen a child move so fast. Her goal was to get inside as quickly as she could, however she is also one of the most clumsy child I have ever met. So in the process on getting in the house she fell twice, and ran into a chair. As badly as i felt that she was so scared it was really very funny to watch...since all this time she is also SCREAMING, SNAKES! SNAKES! SNAKES!

it took me a while to have her show me where she THOUGHT a snake might be, which made me laugh since it was only at that point that I realized she was seeing worms. I tried to talk to her about worms and that those are what fish and birdies eat...yadda yadda...she was not too sure I was right. In fact for a while she ever did everything humanly possible to play outside as far away from the snake-worms as she could...I finally did hold her hand and make her get closer and check the little guys out, I still think she thinks I really don't know what I am talking about.

To add to the moment, Bohdan who is as much a boy as she is a girl, is checking out the worms and ALMOST touching them, as she is saying, "NO BOHDAN, NO, SNAKES!"

A few shots of March

2009-03-27T19:13:00.002-04:00

Here are a few snap shots of March. In the last month we had fun in the snow, and enjoyed sunny 68 degree weather in the back yard...All in the same month. As for a little update...

Bohdan-After his day of playing in the snow Bohdan has been a boot wear'in fool. He loves any and all boots. So in a few weeks he went from having no boots, to now having, 2 pairs of snow boots, a pair of yellow rain boots and to comeplete the collection a pair of brown cowboy boots from Nanma. Every night he has to pick a pair to wear to bed with his PJs. Right now, the boots of choice are Brians very large duck boots! too cute. Bohdan also loves riding his scooters and bikes outside with his helmate on.

Audrey-teeth 5 and 6 are in! She is now the proud owner of 4 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth. She still loves to watch the Wiggles and Praise Baby. She is now 9.5 months old and is ALMOST crawing. She can get all over the room, but not by crawing...yet, but any day now. Audrey also got a pair of PINK cowGIRL boots...she isn't into them as much as Bohdan is. Audrey loves bath time, if she can have a bath all to herself.

"Curly Sue"-Our foster daughter is doing well and enjoying getting to know new friends at church and loves playing with Audrey. She often pretends to be a mommy to her baby dolls. She is getting to know her new adoptive mother and sister and we hope to have her move in with them in the nezxt month or two.

Brian-working hard at NorthBay, like always. Bri has been given the task of running NorthBay family camp and is getting ready for summer camp already, not to mention all the weekend groups from now-the start of summer.

Me-I am teaching the fostering PRIDE class in Cecil county right now and enjoying it very much. Other then that I've filled the days in March with being a mommy of a 3 year old, 2 year old and a 9 month old...wow...lots of work!

My sister Kelly has asked me to be better about blogging and so to her I say I will do my best. She is really great about her blogging. You should check her bolg out sometime!

Audrey in the wee hours

2009-02-24T14:04:00.002-05:00

So the other morning Audrey woke up at 6:15 and was up for the day. So what else to do but have a early photo shoot. Bohdan got in there too. So enjoy the Audrey slide show.

Hamson's Visit Port Discovery

2009-02-20T13:43:00.002-05:00

For Christmas this year my grandmother “Gran” gave our family the “Family Delux” membership to Port Discovery in Baltimore. We have gone a few times and LOVE IT! There are a few exhibits that really stand out.
Water Works-Bohdan cannot get enough of this. It is a room full of water play areas. It is like a giant water play table. All the kids get rain coats and crocs…even Audrey gets a little bitty rain coat. They have a little booster seat for the babies to sit in so they can play too. You can build a damn, play drums with shooting water, build your own fountain and a lot more…Bohdan just lves it there! Before you leave, you get dried off with a blast of air from giant hoses and a warm light. This is also Brian’s favorite stop. He plays as much as the children there and I often find him playing with NO children around him…he gets really wet...haha!

Sensation Station-This is Audrey’s favorite! Lots of things for her to touch with different textures, things that light up, pillars of bubbles, books, baby toys, mirrors and a ball pit and play ground that Bohdan loves! This room is JUST for children 4 and under.

The Oasis-My favorite. JUST FOR PRESCHOOLERS (4 and under)! It is like a little class room. You can see Bohdan in the pictures painting a rock with water…he is in the Oasis.
there are a ton of books...like really a little library. There are stations all over the room. Activities for parents and chidlren to do together. There is a lot of pillows on teh floor for reading and there is circle time through out the day. NOT TO MENTION a little secret nook with a comfy couch that is the nursing station.

There are dress ups and imaginary play areas in lots of places, a huge playground (4 stories), a big pretend diner, you can visit the pharos’s tomb and much more …too much to write in this blog. You have to check out their web site.

Bottom line. WE LOVE IT! We get to go to the Please Touch Museum on Philly too. We haven’t been there yet but we hear it’s GREAT! What a wonderful gift from Gran!

The pictures were from our trip there with Grammy and Grampy! Grammy was a great sport the whole time, she went down the big slide, climbed the cargo net, even went down the little zip time with Brian…not sure her back enjoyed that trip. Grampy had fun too, despite feeling sick…he ate lots of food served to him in the dinner by chef Bohdan! We can’t wait for them to come back down and play with us there again.

Thanks Carolyn!

2009-02-20T12:00:00.002-05:00

My sister had this on her blog...if only everyone could read this. I have even lost some friends because they JUST DIDN'T GET IT. I know it is hard to understand, I do...until you are there...but maybe this will help some people that have had a hard time. I do have a lot of friends who ARE very understanding and to them I say THANKS!

I love my kids and I am SO GLAD I have so much going on!

Here is the link to the artical if it is hard to read above....
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uOSKVPTjOOQ/SZ3IbOFlxTI/AAAAAAAAAgs/pY_Fh7X6wqE/s1600-h/newspaper.jpg

Audrey Kisses and Nem-Nems

2009-02-19T19:57:00.002-05:00

Too cute to not tell everyone! Audrey is offically a kisser! She will grab either side of your face and you better watch out! Here it comes...the biggest, sloppies, wettest, sweetest kiss ever!

If ever you ask Bohdan if he wants dessert, the answer is ALWAYS YES!!!! He can even sign dessert...which is a lot like more...hummmm....Anyway, most of the time the next thing that comes out of his mouth is, "nem-nems?" which I am sure you all can guess is Bohdan-ese for M&Ms. It is SOOO cute I just HAVE to give him some.

Audrey Rose update

2009-02-06T22:42:00.004-05:00

Our sweet girl, here’s whats been going on!
Audrey has been growing like a weed! She has now surpassed the 20 lb. mark and is well on her way to 21 lbs.
She has 4 teeth now, which if you’re not careful you will feel on your fingers when giving her a little bite of some food. She often gives Bohdan a little bite when he feeds her snacks, which he loves doing. I can’t help but think of Charlie and his big brother. If you don’t know what or who I am talking about you can check it out here...

Audrey Rose starting sitting up Jan. 18th. She only sat with help before then, but all of a sudden she started sitting up with no help like she had done so her whole life. In fact it was while opening gifts with Grammy and Grampy. They were like, “hey when did she start sitting up?” And we were like, “kind of right now!” Now she is sitting up and playing with all her toys and loving her new view of Bohdan and Curly Sue.
On a sad note Audrey has been sick since the week after Christmas. We have gone to the doctor many times and still poor girl is so sick.

Here are a few of Audrey Rose’s favorite things…
Bath time and the warm towels we give her after, watching Bodhan and Curly Sue dance for her, watching the Wiggles, eating finger food, giving hugs-she is SUCH a cuttle bug, sucking her two middle fingers, her taggie blanket, babytime and family time at the Perryville library, trying to talk, giving daddy eyes, watching mommy dance and sing in front of her, playing peek-a-boo, reading books, playing with her tea set from Aunt Kelly...and there are a handful of more things she loves to do. She is a very happy baby most of the time, and is nice to everyone and very generous with her smiles…such sweet smiles!

Here are a few things she doesn’t like…
Baby food peaches (oh the faces), being cold after bath time, when she can’t see mommy, being hungry, to not be played with, the cold weather (totally with her on that one), When mommy stops singing and dancing, getting her nose wiped/sucked out, her eye medicine, when her toys are just out of her reach…crawl already! I know there are more things she doesn’t like…but she is such a good girl Brian and I are having trouble thinking about things she dislikes. That’s a good thing!

Bohdan Update

2009-01-28T11:10:00.003-05:00

Well Bohdan is every bit 2 years old...I am looking forward to 3...not sure if he will realize he is 3 years old and that the terrible 2s should be over, but one can hope. Most of the time Bohdan is a very highly energized child with a sweet little smile and ready to try everything on his own. The idea that he can do it all by himself is new and although it can be hard on ALL of us...we also welcome the chance to give Boh a chance to grow up some and learn to do things for himself.

He is still learning to use the potty and the process is slowly moving forward but we are getting there...I think.

He LOVES going to Port Discovery were we now have a family membership to. I will write more about PD soon.

Bohdan's new love is ... get this...flags...any and all...he can spot them ANYWHERE and he wants you to spot them too, and he can tell if you are faking it! he even sleeps with a flag!

Bohdan is doing well learning to sign. He can say a lot of things with sign, but some of the more frequently used words are...hurt, food, snack, home, thank you, shoe, sock, bath, milk, juice, more, all done, leaf, and a lot more...we are learning emotions right now. Curly Sue and Audrey are learning right long side of him!

Bohdan's speech is also moving forward...slowly but surly. He is now in speech 3 days a week and Pt and OT every other week. He will be going to school for speech in April.

A few other things Bohdan enjoys...playing with and loving on Audrey! Who equally loves it. He enjoys chocolate milk ANYTIME, watching Bunnytown on the Disney channel, dancing, his favorite time of day is when Brian gets home from work, feeding Audrey and teaching her sign, church nursery is super fun for him, bath time and looking for flags as we drive are also a favorite pass time. Favorite toys are his new race car track, his tools, and remote control police car and his fire truck too.

Okay...so its been a long time!

2009-01-28T10:56:00.002-05:00

I realize it has been a VERY LONG TIME since I blogged. I promise to get going again now that I have gotten back on here. Here is a quick little update on a few things that have happened in the month that you have not heard from us...
1-Christmas was AWESOME! We were blessed with many gifts from people who love us...and the time with family was great! We had an enjoyable Christmas eve and day. The day after christmas was so fun with a huge game of BINGO with some rounds being played as greed bingo...I won a lot...and even got the coveted backing dish at the end. And yes I even won the fake pastry but oddly enough Maddie wanted it so I gave it to her...not really going to miss it.
2-We welcomed 2 new foster children in our home soon after the new years. We can call them "curly sue" and "jabber jaw". Curly Sue is 3 years old and as of yesterday Jabber Jaw turned 4 years old. So for a time I had a 7 month old...and a 2.5 yr. old, 3 yr. old and a nearly 4 yr. old....I was going nuts! It wasn't too bad as compared to some homes I know with the same ages...but it was work to say the least. Jabber Jaw and Curly Sue will be adopted into different homes soon (both within the same family) so DSS was fine with having them in different homes now. So I am currently just caring for our two little ones and Curly Sue.
3-Audrey has some new things going on with her so does Bohdan, but I will send out a update blog on each of them later.
4-I am now a "floor superviser" for our churched nursery...which is actually a lot of work once a month though. I have really enjoyed it and have even made a handful of new friends through doing it!
5-My parents went to china again for a little while...and Brian's parents came here for a visit. I will also blog more about that later too!
So that is the last month in a nut shell. I will do MUCH better I promise!

Sorry for the Delay

2008-12-23T00:07:00.002-05:00

Okay, I realize that I have been SO BAD about posting so I have posted many new posts tonight to catch up. I kept writing them, but I got very behind with getting the pictures on the computer. So now I am back in action. Not that You all want or need to know what the issue was but...I added the picture to help you understand the level of tiredness I feel...SO MUCH TO DO...SO MUCH GOING ON...Do I look like I have extra time? clearly...no...haha. I will look better by Christmas.

Deck the dinning halls

2008-12-23T00:02:00.000-05:00

This past Friday night Brian took me and the kids to NorthBays big staff Christmas party. Brian got home late from work from no fault of his own. So we rushed off to get there but no harm, the apps were still out and we ate well…only to eat well again over dinner. To be honest they had a great desserts too but I had no room left. Not sure about Brian…I think he passed on them too. Brian spent most of his time dancing with our little party animal, aka, Bohdan. He is just a dancing machine! He even got to get down with some of the pretty ladies of NorthBay…which we knew all of them, so mom was okay with it. He enjoyed dancing with Brian and some of our friends kids too…and the girls. There was a live band there, actually it was NorthBay’s house band. They did a great job and there was a full dance floor far past the time the Hamson’s called it a night. Audrey fell asleep despite the VERY loud music, which amazed everyone, even me. People kept peeking at her to see if she was really sleeping through everything, and indeed she was. But that wasn’t before she made all the boys swoon over her in her fancy outfit! She was a hit, and she even tried her first little nibble of bread…and LOVED it!

I spent a lot of my night mingling with people and talking to my friend Karen R. Her husband was in the band (the blond-Kris “Raser”), and since Brian was cutt’in a rug, I spent most of my time with her.

It was a fun night seeing lots of people for the holidays. The fun was mixed with some sadness though, there were a few friends that should have been there, and were not, as well as two sad good-byes to Phil and Leah. Phil is moving on to pastor a church in Baltimore, and Leah is moving closer to her home sweet home (TX).

Brian was given his holiday gift, a sweatshirt, but he didn’t get in the room to pick it up soon enough and they were all out of his size in the guys colors, so, I got a nice new sweatshirt…maybe.

Days 19-22

2008-12-22T23:19:00.001-05:00

Day 19- Today Bohdan opened up a Fun yellow toy are and cool beaded bracelet. He enjoyed the car and added it to his ever growing car collection and the bracelet was fun too, until he played with it a little too hard and well, lets just say we had to use the vacuum.

Day 20-Boh opened what we thought would be another huge hit…it was…a toy panda that is able to walk, or waddle, after winding it up. Well either user error, or somewhere between here and China, things went wrong. So it is now a non-waddling panda toy. Still fun to open!

Day 21-Bohdan can now wet his whistle with a small rubber made sippy cup.

Day 22- OKAY…really this might be the best gift of all. It is actually Olympic memorabilia. If you recall the games you might remember the trained fans in the bleachers. The wore yellow shirts and excitedly cheered with red blow up tubes. Well now Bohdan is the proud and VERY happy owner of two of those tubes. He has found many more uses for them, including, swords, hammers, clapping them together, throwing them…just to name a few. And oh the laughter! We had to web cam my parents just to have them see him enjoy the gift so much! Super cute!

peek-a-boo I see you

2008-12-22T22:49:00.003-05:00

Audrey has officially made it to the peek-a-boo stage. She is so sweet when she wants to play. The other day she was holding it blanket up and waiting until she heard me say, “Where’s Audrey?” Sometimes she pulls the blanket down as soon as she hears, “wh…” and just smiles SO BIG and giggles…oh my gosh, does it get any cuter then that. I thought not…until today when in the car I looked back and she was playing peek-a-boo with her own reflection in the infant mirror. There she was with her favorite blankie holding it up in front of herself then, dropping it down…oh and that smile.

Yesterday Audrey went to the doctor for her 6 month well baby check. She is a growing girl, weighing in at 18lb.s 5oz. She is in the 90% for weight, height, and head circumference. She has a strawberry something or other on her back right shoulder, but they say it’s nothing big. Her eye is still bad, poor girl, but we see the eye doctor again in January. She will most likely have to have the minor to open her tear duct up.

Other news on the Audrey front…she is almost ready to sit up. She still HATES tummy time, and she is learning to eat read food. She has had rice cereal, peas, squash, and carrots. She HAS to hold one spoon while the feeder uses another to feed her. What a kook!

Days 15-18

2008-12-22T22:31:00.003-05:00

Days 15-18

On day 15 Bohdan opened…a brand new pair of sunglasses and a cross necklace. Okay okay, so he already opened that once before, but in defense of my mother, she has to find 24 gifts for 7 children…not an easy task. Not to mention, that I fit into kid glasses and have already worn one of Bohdan’s glasses.

On Day 16 Bohdan opened a small magnetic bear toy. Okay this was a fun one! For some reason Bohdan came up with his, “trick” which is him holding the bear in his hand where we can see it then very quickly throwing it behind him…it might be more of a flicking it behind him, then showing you his empty hand…then laughing VERY hard, until you laugh with him. We have also discovered that Bohdan clearly has a fake laugh, which in itself is very funny.

On Day 17 Bohdan opened up the best gift so far…even better then the jumping frog…I mean, really, can you believe it…better then the jumping frog????? What ever can it be???? Well it is a wide-up rollie pollie bug that, get this, flips over. Bohdan just about flipped over when he saw it! It was so fun to watch and he was so cute laughing SO HARD at it that we HAD to call my mom, who in turn HAD to get my dad on the phone. We did it over and over and he laughed and laughed…SO FUN!

On day 18 Bohdan opened a “nerf like” rocket. It has a rubber band type thing inside it and is meant to stretch it and send it flying, but it is a little hard to get going so Bohdan found other fun ways to play with it

6 more gifts to open, Oh boy.

New school and Santa in one day!

2008-12-19T11:19:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we visited Bohdan’s preschool he will attend in April and then were visited by Santa at home.
Bohdan will attend Bainbridge Elem. 3 year old pre-school starting April 18th 2009. So we went and had our first of a handful of meetings to develop an IEP from our current IFSP.
The school is cute with a train theme throughout the whole school. There is even a real model train in the cafeteria, and a ticket window in the front hall. We visited his new room and met the teacher and some of the am class. Bohdan was a little taken back at first but didn’t want to leave when it was time, which I think is a good sign.
Brian and I had a good laugh before going into the school. As we waited in the parking lot for it to be time to go to the meeting, many parents were bringing their young’ins to the ol’school yard, and well one feller walk’in in was wearing his coon skin cap, complete with a face and a tail. No really it was just like that. The funny thing was, right before we got there I said to Brian, after seeing the neighborhood the school was in, which is not ours, but the next one over, “wow, we are entering the deep south here.” Now I was joking at the time, but then here was ol’Davy Crocket! I am not sure it turned me off, or added to the charm of the school. I think it added to the charm.
THEN…
last night at dinner time…we heard the sirens, heard the Christmas music, saw the lights…and then there he was, SANTA! Every year sometime the week before Christmas Santa and the Perryville fire dept. and a fleet of emergency personal and vehicles comes visiting down our street greeting every child and giving out candy canes. Not sure what would happen if an emergency call came in while they were doing this. Sorry kids Santa's gotta run, Merry Christmas.
Bohdan had such a fun time. Even waiting to see Santa was fun for him as he danced to the music the police car played over the loud speaker. Santa came up to our house riding the front of the engine, although in the picture it kind of looks like he got hit by the fire truck! It was finally our turn to visit with the old guy and Boh enjoyed shaking his hand and getting the candy. Audrey did too. We watched him and the emergency vehicles for a while before we went inside. Boh didn’t want to go inside so he stood at the window until he couldn’t see the lights flashing or hear the music anymore. After it was all over Bohdan returned to his grilled cheese and milk.

because she is SO DARN cute!

2008-12-14T23:36:00.005-05:00

Lets not forget how cute Audrey is. Bohdan is getting a lot of face time this month with reporting all the Advent gifts, but lets remember behind every big brother is a super cute little sister!

Days 12-14

2008-12-14T23:21:00.003-05:00

Day 12-a brightly colored toy boat, which will be SO fun in the bath!

Day13-a cute little monkey or is it a bear???? Either way, cute and little and Bohdan had a BALL with it, doing his, "magic trick" then laughing SO HARD! We put down the camera and took video of it instead...so fun!

Day 14-a cute elephant magnet for frig, that holds papers like Bohdans art work of the day since he LOVES coloring and drawing. Also a Chinese flag patch, which I think I will put on a shirt or bag or something like that.

We went to Rainforest Cafe yesterday with Maddie, Abby, my mom and dad...it was a lot of fun and it was great to see the girls. We saw Santa at the mall, but we just waved to him.

Church today was great and you should check out the lasted sermons on Mary. Go to grpc.org if you want to hear what PB has to say, I have enjoyed it so far.

day 11 slide show attempt #2

2008-12-12T00:00:00.003-05:00

Day 11-the best so far!

2008-12-11T23:34:00.006-05:00

Day 11 WAS A HIT! You gotta love those silly Chinese toys! We all loved it actually. The family played with it for a long time. It was this metal wind up toy frog. After you wind it up it hops all over. Cana thought it might be real at first and had to check it out AND get this, Bohdan saw it start to jump and said "NEAT!" He rarely says words like that. He laughed and laughed, which made Brian and I laugh and laugh, which in turn made Audrey's day that we all were...laughing and laughing. We had the frog jump on the floor, on the coffee table, on the chair, on our hands. We finally put it away and went in the other room and when I came back into the living room there it was again! I couldn't go without a quick kiss to see if it would turn into a price, there was no prince. I have decided even if every other toy in the advent calendar was a flop, which has not been the case, but IF IT WAS...this gift made the whole thing worth my mom's effort.

On another note...for the 3rd day in a row, Audrey has been quite the night owl...tonight she finally faded at about 11pm...man oh man, were we ready for her to fall asleep. At least she is a happy baby until 11pm, if we are in sight that is.

also, I am trying a new way to show a slide show, so if it doesn't work, sorry and I will work on it tomorrow.

Day 8 pictures

2008-12-10T18:32:00.000-05:00

Day 9 and 10

2008-12-10T18:28:00.004-05:00

Okay I missed yesterday, but I am back today.

Day 9-Bohdan greatly enjoyed opening up his new...LIGHTING MC-QUEEN light up key chain! He liked it right away, but when he saw the headlights worked it was even more exciting!

Day 10-Today Bohdan wanted to open up his gift all by himself, so we let him go over to his table to open it all alone. He did let his baby sister in to watch and I had to stay behind him to take pictures...but he did open and enjoy his wooden people. He liked showing his daddy where the eyes and nose and mouth...you get where I am going...where all those things were on the little people...by that I do not mean the PC way to say midget, I just for some reason do not want to write wooden doll...but you know what...IT IS A DOLL...and I like'em and Bohdan likes'em, heck we all like'em. So today he got 2 wooden dolls. Brian asked him if they were "grammy and grampy" which is what he calls Brian's parents, and he said yes. How cute is that! Well, I look forward to letting you see what we open tomorrow.

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-08T22:31:00.004-05:00

Tonight we decorated our Christmas tree...Audrey's very first tree trimming. Bohdan did great. He was really into putting on the ornaments and putting them exactly where he wanted them. Of course he is a little particular and if it failed to be just where he wanted it, much stressed ensued. BUT with a little help from mom and dad they found their perfect spot. Of course we found another perfect spot for a few of them after Boh was finished. We left a lot where he put them, but there was a few perfect spots that were so perfect that there were about 3 ornaments on one little spot. HAHA so cute. Well when all the perfect spots were taken it was time for the star atop the tree. Bohdan tried at first but dropped the star, then we realized the top needed some actual trimming to fit the star on it, so after two tries, it went well the 3rd time. Enjoy the video of putting the star on the tree take 3.

Also tonight's events included opening up DAY 8 on the advent calendar. Well they can't all be winners, right? Tonight was a Rudolph red blinky nose. I am not sure why but Bohdan who has LOVED every gift so far, was not too into the nose. He thought it was kind of funny to see it on mommy and daddy...even Cana...much to her dismay. So we got out the light up ball from yesterday and it was all good and there was fun to be had! I will add a few pictures of us trying to make the nose fun...which was well worth the effort because it was fun to see. So I will keep you up to date with day 9.

Day 7 - Boh's in heaven!

2008-12-07T22:21:00.001-05:00

Today, Bohdan received the seventh gift on his advent calendar. He got a ball... with eyeballs! Boh was happy enough to get this ball. As soon as he opened it, he even told us what he had gotten, "Ball, ball, ball!" You see he repeats words until you say it back to him. I guess that's his way of confirming you know what he's talking about.

So inevitably he threw the ball (as he does with most things) and we realized that the ball lights up when it bounces. Bohdan really loved that! So he spent the next 5-10 minutes just throwing it around and laughing as it blinked and changed colors with every bounce. He is really loving his advent calendar. Today he just sat down at his play table pointing at his calendar over and over saying, “pra…” which we gathered to be boh-ese for present.

Okay a little more----geez

2008-12-07T00:13:00.005-05:00

Okay so I forgot to add the picture of Logan in the last post. I could have just added them, but this is easier right now, and since it is SO LATE and I have to get to church SO early, this is the way I am doing it...enjoy sweet little Logan. Also see Bohdan and Log dancing and see Logan's awesome new family!

It's Party time!

2008-12-06T23:52:00.003-05:00

The Cecil Co. foster families all decked the halls tonight as we visited with each other and SANTA HIMSELF! It was great to see many of the families and their kids. But we were most excited to see our little Logan baby! Well OUR Logan baby is now my good friend Vicki's Logan boy...he is SO big now! He is talking and doing so much. As much as I miss him, I am OVERJOYED to see him with his new family. He has such a great new mommy and daddy, and loved his big brother and 2 big sisters. Bohdan and him are the best of friends. The two of them started dancing tonight, it was so cute. Bohdan and Audrey both got to sit on Santa's lap and each got a toy from him. Bohdan was not too into the big guy, but Audrey seemed to be okay with the whole idea. She was so cute. She had the sweetest little red dress on. Everyone wanted to talk to her and hold her, but she is starting to have a lot of stranger anxiety, so mommy had to stay close. Enjoy the pics.

I Love a Parade

2008-12-06T23:22:00.003-05:00

Today the Hamson family froze our patooties off sitting on Main Street in North East, Maryland for the annual North East Christmas parade. It was so much fun. Bohdan LOVED every minute of it. He said hi to everyone that passed...the cars, the band members, the fire trucks, the dogs...EVERYTHING! Even people passing by...saying hi, and givin'em a wave. Bohdan's favorite thing was all the motorcycles that the Nur Shrinners drove (that is what they're called right?), Brian's favorite was one in particular with a BIG FAT back wheel. Look for it in the slide show. It was cool, but my fav was this teeny tiny dog dressed like Santa, you can see it in one of the pictures on the left hand side. Audrey didn't have a favorite since unlike all of us, she was toasty warm and slept most the time. The parade really was great. We even had a friend Zack in it. You can see him too. He is playing the drums. The Parade ended with jolly ol'Saint Nick on his sleigh. So fun...so cold...but so fun!

day 6, whats added to the mix?

2008-12-06T22:46:00.004-05:00

As Bohdan opened up his wooden doll house dolls he looks at the first one and says Mama, then he openes it up a little more and sees the boy doll and says, Daddy. It was so cute! We were like, yes Bohdan it is a daddy and a mommy! He is loving every advent gift. Mom I know you will read this at some point, so...THANKS!

Day 5

2008-12-05T22:45:00.003-05:00

It's a shoe, a very small shoe with a even smaller clock on it. This is a great gift for Bohdan since "SHOE" is one of the only words Bohdan can say, however, since he is still only 2 1/2 years old his spacial orientation is still a little off and a single shoe of such a small scale was somewhat confusing for him. His responce was to go get his real shoes. Once he saw the little clock he was very impressed. After advent it was time to go get a christmas tree and now the house smells great!

Day 4, and there's 20 more

2008-12-04T23:56:00.002-05:00

Today Bohdan opened up day 4. It was sunglasses and a cool guy cross necklace. Bohdan liked the glasses but wouldn't put them on, he did enjoy everyone else wearing them, even Cana got in the mix. He liked the necklace but it was a lot more fun to whirl around then to wear. Well, enjoy the advent pictures.

Also we went to our friends Blake and Annie's house for a bible study with other foster parents. It was a great night and we cannot wait until our Jan. meeting.

Day 3, what could it be?

2008-12-03T22:47:00.003-05:00

It's a...a...bouncy cat! Really, it's a bouncy cat...it is a wooden toy cat on a LONG spring so it bounces up and down. I took pictures of him playing with the toy in full spring action, check it out. He had so much fun, and loved the toy...Okay okay, I realize that he is in the dorkiest outfits in these pictures, but we are still potty training. Oh and I HAD to add a picture of the cutest little sister ever watching the fun!

Advent Day 2

2008-12-02T23:04:00.002-05:00

Today Bohdan opened day 2's gift. It was some colorful jingle bells, and of course we just had to break out in a rousing rendition of Jingle Bells. Bohdan loved opening up the gift and he was ready to open the next one...let's hope they all stay wrapped until their day comes. He already took a gift out and started to open it (not getting far), when I told him to put it back...he threw it...then laid on the ground. I guess he likes this whole advent thing.

So those are the pictures of the last two days. Look how much fun he is having! I am glad he is liking it as much as I am! I do still have my calendar, not sure what I am going to do with it, but I have to keep it.

a little more Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T23:00:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I know I moved onto Christmas now, but I had these fun pictures of Thanksgiving and wanted to show off how much fun we had. Enjoy!

Advent Advent the little candle burns...

2008-12-01T23:37:00.003-05:00

After a fun filled Thanksgiving spent at my sister Kelly's house we were ready to start the CHRISTMAS season. First I guess I should tell you a little about Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful day with lots of good things to eat. You can see pictures and read more about it at www.raudenbushfamily.blogspot.com which is my sister's blog. Anyway, we went to her house since my family was scattered around the world this year and Brian's family lives so far from us :(. So for the first time ever my sister hosted and we were the oldest generation there. It was sad to not be with our families and not to see my parents or grandmother, or Brian's family, but it was also fun to do the cooking and have Kelly host too. So check out her blog for more about the day...now...Christmas...from almost as early as I can remember the Christmas holiday was started as I received my bag of 24 small gifts from my grandmother "Gran" . The gifts were then taken home and put into my bright red with green pockets (numbered 1-24) advent calendar, which was about 5ftx2.5ft. It even had my name printed in big letters over the top. Every morning I would open a gift until Christmas day, where my grandmother would SHOWER us with gifts...oh that magical day! Well now that our little Bohdan is 2 years old, the tradition starts a-new. So today Bohdan opened his FIRST advent gift from my mother, from his 5 ft. bright green with red pockets and his name printed on top. I will show you pictures tomorrow. Today's picture is just a sweet throw back.

Today's gift...a sweet little Chinese panda bear.

Our Princess and the Pea

2008-11-26T13:56:00.003-05:00

I've searched for a pea under Audrey's mattress but I cannot find it...it must be there, I can't think of anything else. It's has been almost 2 hours since Audrey went down for a nap and the sweet girl is still fighting falling to sleep. Can she be more tired, I think NOT! She has nursed for about half of this time and does fall asleep during that time. After I notice she is done I put her in her pack-n-play (since Bohdan is resting in their room) and the eyes open and the crying starts. Dry diaper, full belly, a little Tylenol, a cozy bed, yet still fighting it hard. She is right now finally starting to settle. Thank goodness...poor baby girl! But I can't complain, I was able to make it to the grocery with two kids and get all my food to cook for tomorrow, and last night I had dinner with some friends at Denny's (kids eat free night)...both times Audrey was the best baby EVER! No crying at all...she stored it all up for nap time. Well since I have started writing this entry she has been cry free, so alas, I will leave my post by her and contend that there is no pea in the mattress Audrey just needed to find that perfect spot to fall asleep. Now her big brother better not wake her up! grrr...so far he is being a really good boy.

picture is a little old, but I don't take too many of her crying...guess who's stirring...there's gotta be a pea!

oh where oh where has my little dog gone-Cana's big Adventure

2008-11-20T23:24:00.003-05:00

Yesterday morning I woke up from a not so full night's sleep. Audrey was sleeping in after waking up 4 times to nurse, however Bohdan who ironically slept like a baby all night was up and at'em (say it right), in the morning, thus, as was I...Cana was up and down the stairs many times and finally asked to go outside at about 10:30. Audrey was starting to stir, Bohdan was needing me every 2 minutes for anything and everything. I was trying to clean up the house or as I like to say, read it up. Bohdan had Speech and OT coming by 12:30. Audrey did wake up around 11am and was ready to eat again, in fact we didn't make it back down until 11:30. At this time it dawned on me, all this time and I never heard Cana ask to come back inside. Which is odd because it was so cold and she normally only likes to out there a few minutes. So I went out there...called her name...no cana...went inside...I thought to myself, self, did you let her in already? I called and called inside...looked in every room. Bodhan who mind you is in a t-shirt, sweat shirt, and socks...thats it, is following me everywhere (even outside :/) also calling, "A-NAH", but, NO CANA...I went outside again, not sure why, but I did. Still I couldn't find her. I inspected the fence, it all looked normal, and the front door had never been open since Brian left for work earlier that morning. I call Brian, as if he can do anything from NorthBay. He tells me to get in the car and drive around looking for her, mind you time is getting tight before speech and OT. I go to get Bohdan's lunch packed up and I hear the neighbor's dog barking and I think...maybe...so I go out and there's Cana there on the outside of the fence...how in the world...I got her in but now have NO time before Bohdan's Therapists and OF COURSE Cana had rolled in, well, you know what...WHY DO DOGS DO THAT!!!!!! so I put her in the bathroom (which was fitting given what she smelled like). We move on with the day.

Later that night Brian takes Cana outside and is out there with her to make sure she stays in the fence...and wouldn't you know it, she sees a dog and off she goes...just like a Tom and Jerry show...through a loose post in the fence. She pushes it out of the way and it fell right back into place afterwards as if nothing happened. Brian took off after her and after getting to the END of the road, she FINALLY came back to him. Brian did fix the fence and then it was in the tub for Cana. Now she is clean and bound to the back yard again...I think.

So there's Cana in the picture, and do you see her little friend Lady Bug on the other side of the fence? Good grief!

Rome wasn't Potty Trained in a Day

2008-11-19T22:36:00.003-05:00

Well we are on week two of potty training, and it is not going too badly. A few accidents here and there, some missing the...should I say target...lots of m&m's given out for even trying.

Bohdan is getting smart...you see he knows that if he says, "paaaaa" we stop everything and run him to the the potty to go. So now when he gets in trouble or gets put into timeout he starts saying "paaa paaa paaa" which worked for him the first few times...but not anymore. The problem is he still does go while he is in timeout, whether or not he is on the potty...not sure what that's about. Of course each time I change a wet (or dry) pull up, he says, "uh-oh...oh Boh." Which is so cute...I realized after he kept saying that, it is what we were saying everytime it was wet.

Bottom line is this...he is doing well. We are not laying it on thick, just taking it day by day. Some days are good some are...not. He is getting better. This week is better then last.

FYI-the picture is from Tara and Dave's wedding. I know, it is a really nice picture for a post about potty training, but I love it...he is so handsome!

So You Think You Can Dance

2008-11-12T12:28:00.002-05:00

Monday night my sister Kelly and I got to go see So You Think You Can Dance Tour. The Show was great, but let me start from the begining.

My sister and I were born 3 years and 363 days apart, thus we celebrate our birthdays together on Oct. 2nd (yours truly) and Oct. 4th. For the past two years our dear ol' husbands have gotten us tickets to one of favortite dance shows while they are on tour. Thats right, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!!!!! And although my favorite dancer didn't win this year (Will), I still loved the show til the very end, AND I got to see Will in the tour show, so alls well.

So...Monday was the night of the show. Kelly was due to meet me by 5:30pm for our 7:30pm show in Baltimore. I got a call earlier that day asking to show the house at 5:30 so we changed plans and met for a quick dinner at Subworks. Keep in mind that this is all a week after Kelly's surgery. Now she has been on total vocal rest all week long with our uttering a single word, but has now been liberated to speeking for 1 min. every ten min.s. You can do the math. So we meet for dinner then left by 6pm, for a 52 min. drive to the parking garage. Smooth sailing all the way there and I kid you not, with 3 min.s left in our trip we hit a traffic jam. It takes us a good 40 min.s to get what should have taken 3. Did I mention oh funny it is to see someone who cannot talk get frustrated? She made up a very expressive sign for "go go go" Nothing volger mind you.

We finally make it to the garage and we had to have been in the last 20 or so cars able to get into the place...we went all the way to the 7th (top) floor before we managed to get one a the last spots. We parked, got Audrey (yes Audrey who is still breast feeding) out, then DASHED to the arena...only to find we were up 2 flights of stairs...also Kelly is unable to lift more then 10 lb.s so Audrey was with me 100% of the time (since she weighted 10lb.s at like 2-4weeks old). We found our section and went another flight up to our seats. We only missed one dance...after I cought my breath and let my heart return to a normal resting beat it was awesome...and even before that it was great.

The dancers were so good and if you look past the corny humor it was all in all a terrific show! Most of our favortite dances were performed and they each did a solo dance. Audrey did super, no crying, a little whine hear or there and even slept for the last 30-40 min.s dispite the music getting up to 120 desables (same as a jet engine).

Kelly and I left during the last dance so we could "beat the crowds" Which we did for the most part, until we got to the elavator in the garage. Remember we are on the 7th floor, so it was worth the wait to ride it up there. We finally got in and wouldn't you know it at the 6th floor it went back down...the the 2nd floor...and stayed there! We got out and went to the 7th floor by foot...up 5 flights of stairs...with a 17 1/2 lb. baby on board! We get to the car only to THEN be stuck in there for a good 40 min.s waiting our turn to get out. So I nursed Audrey and talked and talked and talked, since Kelly could only talk a min. here and there (or write on her board). Actually I talked so much on the ride there, waiting and the ride back...I was horse when I got home.

Bottom line...I did love the night AND between last year and this year this is what we have learned about the night and will be keep in mind for next year...
1-Invite Megan to come...not as much fun without her.
2-Wear good walking shoes even if they do not look as cute with the trendy outfit one MUST wear to a show like this (am I getting old?)
3-give yourself A LOT more time then needed to get there, as it might take you 40 min.s to get 4 blocks.
4-if at all possible leave all babies at home, although they are very cute, it would be more fun to have a girls night without drool running down your arm.

Hope Brian keeps it coming, What a great birthday gift, THANKS BRIAN!!!!

beep once if you feel bad for me

2008-11-08T14:42:00.002-05:00

So Audrey has been on the brink of rolling over for a few days. Today she woke up ready to take this step (or roll)toward becoming a...a...an older and wiser baby, one who can see the world from two angles...her back and her tummy. Anyway, so I could just tell it was going to be today...I just new it! So I had my digital camera ready all day. I even had it in hand recording to catch this moment forever. BUT no...she would get right to the brink of the roll, then...no go. She started to get tired and I laid her down. A few hours later I heard her whine so i got up to get her...and what did I find...an older and wiser baby! SHE DID IT! No camera, no mommy, no daddy or Bohdan, just little Audrey.

I tried to call Brian to tell him but he is drving a boat all day for NorthBay and doesn't bring his cell on with him. Then I called my mother and father, who didn't answer, THEN I tried my sister Megan, who I was remembering, was going to be out all day today, but I thought well I will give it a shot, to no avail...I settled for calling my sister Kelly who currently can't utter a word! Now I say settled like I wouldn't have wanted to call her which is NOT the case, but it was very anti-climatic when I told the story then had to follow it up with a, "beep once if you feel bad for me." She did beep once. I could hear her snicker as she did...I have called her a few times this week and spoken through code like that, or through her husband Mark as she writes on a board and he reads it...of course he thinks it is really funny to add lines into what she is trying to say. I am not sure she thinks it is as funny as he does. ANYWAY, so I would have called Brian's family to tell all them about it, but I think he will want to do that. So Brian's family if you are reading this first ask suprised! jk!

So since the time that Audrey woke up and now, which has been roughly an hour, she has rolled over 2x. Still not while I have the camera on her. Now she needs to learn to enjoy life on her tummy. I have had to rescue her each time. She is now rocking back and forth on the ground and playing with her feet. She is making raspberry sounds and cracking herself up,then looking at me as if to say, "mama, is't this so fun!" Life is great with a baby and a toddler!

Tara and Dave's wedding and a little more fall fun

2008-11-07T23:26:00.002-05:00

Tara, one of Brian's sisters and Dave Schott got married last week on a wonderful New England fall day. The wedding was outside but not too cold. The sun was setting and everything looked so pretty, most of all the bride! So although the wedding got off to a little bit of a late start...due to us...it was awesome.

So what I didn't know until last week is that we have a party animal living in our house. BOHDAN WAS A DANCING MACHINE! I never planned on dancing as much as I did, but we had a BLAST, and Bohdan cut a rug all night long. He was the life of the party and might have had more fun then anyone else there. For a kid who doesn't talk yet, he made the social rounds just fine. There were people taking pictures of him that I never met. Is that werid? Well Tara and Dave knew them.

Audrey had a good time too after she took a little cat nap during the live band's dinner music. She looked so sweet in her little dress, I sware like a little doll baby. It was the first time she met lots of people from the up there who have been WAITING to meet her, and I loved showing off my baby girl. I love her so much! So although the Bride was the prettiest there, Audrey was the darling of the night. Lots of people held and hugged her. She danced with her daddy, and smiled at everyone. Also that morning before we left, we had some more fun outside in the leaves and this time Ausrey was there.

The next morning we all had a brunch together and we got in our car and headed home. The car ride was long but not too bad. We were blessed with a wonderful time!

Trick-or-treating with the Taylors

2008-11-07T22:51:00.003-05:00

We were still in New England for halloween and got to trick-or-treat with Brooke. She was a lady bug, Bohdan was Dumbo and little Audrey was a duckling. We also met up with Brooke's other cousin for a little while, he was a lion. We had a FUN FILLED and SWEET night. Bohdan LOVED trick-or-treating. He even would say, "tic-a-tic" at each house, then would pick out a candy for himself, then Audrey who was behind in a stroller, then sign thank you, then of course close the deal with a, "ba-bye." As he would get back to me and Audrey he would sign and say more, or "mor" then tell us to "common." this happened at most houses. He was so cute. Brooke had a good time too. She even practiced her walking some, which now, a week later she is perfecting!

After a long night we went back to Nate and Kristen's (Brian's sister) house and let the kids check out all their lute...and let Bohdan have a few pieces. Not enough if you ask him though. Audrey loved playing with the candy and even got some in her mouth, wrapper and all, but Daddy got it out right away. Bohdan had such a great time and played so hard he even fell asleep before he could finish his book. If you look closing at the last couple pictures you can see he is actually asleep.

A Fun Fall Morning

2008-10-31T13:56:00.002-04:00

After a restful night sleep in the Taylor's cozy house in the woods we all woke up to a beautiful, crisp fall morning. The sun was bright and the sky was blue. The leaves are bright orange and yellow...a wonderful morning to play outside. So Bohdan, Brian, Nate and Brooke took a wagon ride to a park where they spent time throwing rocks into the lake. After they returned, Bohdan and "mommy and daddy" all played outside. Bohdan loved getting showered with leaves and had a ball running around crunching the leaves beneath him, then in for some hot chocolate. After a lunch of ham and cheese melt and a little play time it is time for a nap to rest up for TRICK OR TREATING!!!!! I hope you enjoy the slide show!

Audrey meets the Taylors

2008-10-31T12:15:00.004-04:00

Check out this slideshow from yesterday.

Yesterday we had our first full day in New Hampshire. This was Audrey's first introduction to the Taylor family...Auntie Kristen, Uncle Nate and baby Brooke. It was a great day! Very cold, it even snowed a very little bit but we had a wonderful day. After a lazy morning with the kids we bundled up and went to the science center. It is not like our science center in Maryland, it is all outside and has all kinds of animals from this area...plus places to play. We even saw a bear right up close. We played and had a fun fall day.

Audrey and a friend

2008-10-28T15:59:00.002-04:00

Audrey and her friend hang out at Herr's Chip Factory, during

Halloween Happenings 2008!

"Herrs" Bohdan!

2008-10-28T15:39:00.003-04:00

Last night we went to the Herr's Chip factory.

They had a Halloween party there for children 12 and under. So Audrey and Bohdan got dressed in their costumes, which were Dumbo and a duckling, and off we went.

The factory is in Nottingham PA which is about 30 min.s from our house and of course it started to rain as we were packing up to leave, but the event took place mainly inside so although we were cold and wet some of the time it was no big deal. So we all got in the family van for a night of pre-Halloween fun

We arrived and found that many other families had planned the same outting we had, but the more the merrier. I have never been on the tour of the factory before so I really enjoyed myself. Honestly it was the first time Bohdan, Brian and I all enjoyed the same thing. Bohdan was as excited as we were to look at all the machines and belts and whatnots you find in a factory.

Along the tour there were people handing out snack bags for the kids (like trick or treating), by the pretzels we were given pretzels, by the BBQ chips...BBQ chips...etc. At one point they gave everyone WARM potatoe chips! Ummmmm...so good! It was so much fun. They played Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin and had coloring contests, and candy count guess, you know to win the candy if you get the # right. We even got to say hello to "Chipper" and get our picture taken with him. Bohdan was very intersted in looking and smiling at him, but was not too excited to shake his hand. So although we passed on the wet, cold hayride, and got a little rained on during part of the tour, it was a great night and we will go again next year!

alls well that ends well

2008-10-26T23:08:00.002-04:00

so after a long week caring for a new born baby ("baby boy") and having a not so great start to the day...although sleep deprived, I will say that in the end, the day was a good one. I even got to have a Chipotle for dinner.

…He shall let go my captives…Isaiah 45:13

2008-10-26T15:16:00.002-04:00

Today had a rocky start…

I woke up when Brian got up and turned off the alarm and though I would feed Audrey. She was playing so well next to me in bed that I just dozed for a while. I knew I still had plenty of time to make it to church by 10:45. Church is about 25 min.s away. You see I had infant nursery duty today. I am a room leader. Actually Brian and I are both the room leaders, but he had to work today and I thought I would just do this on my own. To be honest Brian working today is the first step to my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad morning.
So, I woke up and realized I dozed slightly longer then I wanted but no biggie, I still had enough time. I was now in a little bit of a rush but I knew it was still do-able.

It was Bohdan who actually woke me up. He was very upset that he was awake and I had not come to get him. He normally wakes up and plays in his room, until Brian or I open his door and start the day, which is typically between 8-9am-ish.

So I go to get Bohdan out of his room, and I am thinking about what I was going to dress both kids in today, what will I wear, is it really cold out today… I got to the door, put my hand on the handle and nothing moved. Now Bohdan hears me on the other side of the door and is ticked off that I am up and not opening the door. Little does he know I am trying…hard…I am confused because we have a knob cover on the other side of the door but somehow that little boy managed to LOCK THE DOOR, remember Brian is at work. So I go down stairs to Brian’s tools. To make a long story not too long, after about 10 tools and 30 mins. Bohdan was out, my captive free. He poor kid had been sobbing, red face, swollen eyes, the whole sad looking deal…I open the door and he comes out to get a hug…still crying. While getting his hug he spots all the tools, stops crying immediately and wants to try to fix things. All this in a matter of 15-30 seconds.

So this is good, however we were ALL still in PJs, Audrey who had played the whole time had fallen asleep for her am nap, and we were now very late. I rushed and got everyone dressed and in the car, which in its self was crazy. No breakfast for Bohdan and I, but we were getting to church. I had Brian call church to let them know I would be late to nursery duty, and off we went. As I got into the car I realized 1-I had grease all over my hands from the inside of the handle, 2-I forgot to put poor Audrey’s socks on 3-I didn’t have my wallet and 4-I realized that I had not brushed my hair OR my teeth. I did get D.O. on.

So…
I get to church and actually got a WONDERFUL spot. I was planning on parking on the reserved for elderly spots since they are never filled, and I have 2 kids (sometimes more) with me and I am all alone. But someone was pulling out and I got a normal person spot.

I went upstairs quickly, which with a 16lb. baby in a 10lb. carrier and a 2.5 year old is hard to do and leaves one quite out of breath. I made it to the infants room only to find out that I was on the schedule for the FIRST SERVICE!!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!!

As it turns out the first service had only one baby in the infants room, so it was fine that I came during the second service where there were 5 babies. There was another lady who was in there today so it was fine that Brian was working. Bohdan went right into his toddler nursery and they changed him and fed him for me (since he had gotten neither fed nor changed at home).

In the end, Audrey fell asleep in the car seat before we even got in the car to go home, Bohdan had a tootsie roll and was very pleased with that, and I took a deep breath and got us all home, where Bohdan and I ate lunch and Audrey slept.

So a hard start to what I hope will be a good day.

Sweet Little Audrey Rose

2008-10-24T22:04:00.002-04:00

Just a sweet picture of our little Audrey Rose. I am totally convinced that NO ONE can be sad when Audrey is around. She makes us so happy, and she LOVES her big brother. They laugh and laugh together each day. Life is great!

Baby Boy finds a home

2008-10-24T21:52:00.003-04:00

This our little baby boy we have had here this week. He is so little. Only a little over 5lb.s. He is going home with a new foster family tomorrow. They came to meet him tonight and it was a sweet time. They did great with him. So little baby boy found a home.

Bohdan's Funny

2008-04-23T21:21:00.003-04:00

Today I got home from work to Erin and Boh playing in the front yard. The weather is getting nicer and Bohdan is LOVING the outdoors. Basically he wants to be outside every moment he's awake. Here's one example of this...

I noticed that Bohdan needed his diaper changed so I said, "Come on Bohdan, let's go change your diaper." When I turned around to see if he was following me inside, I saw him slowly lay down onto the sidewalk and put his legs up in the air. He was like Daddy, come change me here! I don't want to come in, I'm having fun out here!

Picture of Audrey

2008-04-14T17:57:00.004-04:00

Here's Audrey at 28 weeks. We were fortunate enough to get this 4D picture during Erin's ultrasound. It will be fun to compare the pictures with the upcoming ultrasounds and after she's born. God has really blessed us. We have a shower for her this Sunday, so that should be fun as well!

Transitions

2008-01-25T22:13:00.000-05:00

Well... yesterday we said goodbye to Logan. He is getting adopted, along with his older brother and sister, to a loving family. There was a chance that they would be split up to give them a permanent home in a reasonable amount of time, but then this awesome family stepped up and wanted to adopt all three kids. What a blessing!

Meanwhile their biological mother had another one on the way and gave birth 2 days ago to a little girl. Unfortunately she had to come into the foster care system, and Erin and I have decided to take her in. She is a beautiful little girl, and the plan is... we are going to care for her this week, then she will be in respite care while we are in Disney World. Then we'll reassess whether we feel like we can continue to care for her with our baby on the way.

Who would have thought that the day after we give Logan away, we take in his newborn sister. We will just have to see what the Lord has in store for us.

IT'S A GIRL!!!

2008-01-25T21:52:00.000-05:00

On Monday we found out we're having a girl! How awesome is that! She weighs 8oz. (crazy that they can figure that out) and is healthy! The ultrasound tech, and the doctor both said that everything looked great! Erin and I were so excited that we stopped by Kohl's on the way home and bought her a few outfits allready! We decided on a name together on Sunday night and her name is Audrey Rose. God is so great and we are rejoicing in this little miracle!

Boh's Growing Up!

2008-01-23T11:19:00.000-05:00

The other day, I was doing the dishes while Boh was playing behind me in the kitchen and I turned around to see Bohdan in a highchair with his bib pinned between his chin and his chest. He had climbed up in the seat, onto the tray, slipped himself under the tray into the seat, grabbed his bib and put it under his chin. I guess he was hungry so I gave him a snack! It's funny how well he gets his point across even though he doesn't know any words to say.

Logan's sick

2007-09-17T22:40:00.000-04:00

We had to bring Logan to the hospital today because it sounded like he was having a hard time breathing. It turned out to be croup. It is so sad to hear him with a barking cough and see him wince because it hurts him. We do, however, have meds for him and the humidifier running tonight, so hopefully he will be feeling better tomorrow. Tomorrow is his 1st birthday, I hope he is able to enjoy it!

Family Update

2007-09-10T20:52:00.000-04:00

We have had the exiting opportunity to take on another foster child last month. She is a 5 year old girl named Aylin. Since she's been here she's had her first day of school, lost her first tooth and has had her fair share of string cheese. She is into the colors pink and purple, princesses, learning how to read, and helping out around the house. Yesterday we washed the car together. When she grows up she wants to be a cheerleader. That's it for now!

Bohdan's first tooth!

2007-03-29T20:40:00.000-04:00

Bohdy got his first tooth last week. It wasn't any of the front teeth, though. Randomly it was like the third spot over on the right side. It's kinda funny looking, but another sign that he's growing up! Whenever I give him solid foods like an apple, I try to get him to chomp down on that tooth, but he's just as fine using his gums. In his spare time, he enjoys crawling around and pulling himself up to a standing position. He had his first Rita's Water Ice yesterday too. A lot of firsts for this kid!

Being sick

2007-03-13T22:25:00.000-04:00

Last week was one of the worst weeks for the Hamsons. Erin, Bohdan, Logan & I were all sick. I'm pretty sure that we all got sick from one of the kids. At work today, Jen the nurse told me that the average child gets sick 10 times a year, and the average adult gets sick 4 times a year. So assuming that all parents get their kids' illnesses, parents can expect to be sick 14 times a year. Between the 4 of us, we got 6 perscriptions. Erin was the last one to go to the doctor and she had early stages of pneumonia. yikes! All I know is that my head had so much pressure it felt like it was going to explode at any given time. And then when I would sneeze or cough, it would make something that already felt terrible, feel worse. And something that we quickly learned was that parents don't really get time just to relax and get better, cause there's a couple little ones that can't really take care of themselves. But luckily we are better now and the weather is getting warmer which is a wonderful thing. Can't wait to get the flip flops out of the closet once again.

MacBook

2007-02-19T15:49:00.000-05:00

I am officially in love with the MacBook. Erin and I are taking a lot of digital pictures of the kids, we are pretty into music, and will most likely get a digital camcorder pretty soon to record stuff the kids are doing. I would love to turn that into a dvd, or something special with a slide show to give to family, or just to watch every now & again. The problem is, it is $1500. I currently don't have that in my back pocket.

New Website

2007-02-13T12:40:00.000-05:00

Erin and I created this website to jot down what's going on in our lives. It will be for friends & family to check out, but also an outlet for Erin and I to write about things that are happening in our life. I have always thought that although you may not be able to see what the Lord is doing in with specific situations in your immediate life, but if you look back and see the big picture, you can always see what God was up to and what he was teaching you. So hopefully these blogs will be an outlet for Erin and I to see that.

Check back for updates! I hope to post often.

Brian