May 16, 2011

Dear Ehren,

Today you turn one year old and I'm not going to lie it kind of freaks your dad and I out a bit. Means you have been home six months and you decided this week it also means you are going to walk. You've been pulling yourself up for a month but it was almost like you knew you were turning one and that one year olds should walk so you just started letting go this week and trying to figure it out. I think Dad would like you to be using a spoon as well but let's not rush things, right?

We are so grateful that God chose you to be a part of our family. Your laughter fills this house and makes life so much more fun in a way we never knew was missing before. Your dad and I fight over who gets to wake you up from your nap because we both want to be the one that makes you squeal with excitement and jump up and down in your crib. Your joy is contagious and one of these days Austin the Dog is going to catch it too.

We pray this next year is just as exciting as the first and look forward to being with you through all the new things you get to discover. It's probably going to be another big year of changes and excitement but if we've learned anything in the last six months with you it's that you are going to be fine. You are resilient and strong and it's going to take a lot more than a few mistakes from your dad and I to do any serious damage. That being said, expect a few mistakes and if you want to use some of your college money for therapy we totally understand.

We love you!

Mommy

Almost Famous

We got a call from our adoption agency about a month ago telling us they had an opportunity to have an ad in Time Square and they wanted to use our picture in it. One of the many papers you sign gives them the right to use your images as they see fit so I was pretty impressed they even called to ask. Turns out they just needed a higher resolution file for the video than we send via email with our reports so that is why they called because we're also the front of their website and they mentioned NOTHING about that when we talked. We actually found out from a friend at church who was doing some research and found the site.

So this trip to NYC we'll actually go to Time Square and see our 10 seconds of fame on the side of a building and you can check out the website here. Too bad it didn't come with a check we could put in his college fund.

Anyone Still There?

You always hear about second and third kids getting the short end of the stick. They don't ever have childhood pictures and parent's can't remember anything about when they were a baby. We're just trying to make sure it is fair for all of our kids so we've decided we're not going to take pictures of our first child either. You know one less thing for the younger kids to complain about when they get older.

We took our first family roadtrip last week and can I just tell you how amazing Ehren is? That kid took the 10 hour trip (each way) like a champ. In total we had 30 minutes of crying and that is counting all 20 hours. He spent a lot more time like this than anything else.

We were visiting our friends that live out of the country but happened to be in Virginia for a few weeks. Since we saw them last year we have each added a stroller to our lives so it was fun to share that with each other. There was talks of us trying to get to Spain this year while they are living abroad but we'll have to see if work ever lets up for us. Spending a few days with them reminded us how much we miss having them around but just like all our great friendships we will take the time we get.

We jump on a plane in a couple weeks. Flying is totally old hat to this kid so we're not too worried. Rest assured we'll catch you up once we get home from NYC.