Easter 2010 - Reid's 2nd Easter

"Do not be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified. HE HAS RISEN!..."

We had a wonderful Easter - so thankful that we have a risen Savior who died on the cross to forgive our sins! Here are a few pics from our day:

Reid's Easter basket - he got new books, balls, candy, animal crackers, etc...

Checkin' out his loot... oh yes, he caught on to the fact that the Easter baskets were all for him... very quickly =)

Asking Dad to open his candy...

After church services at Keystone Church, mine and Ben's families all gathered at my parent's house for lunch. We were also joined my the Pedersen's (my sister's soon-to-be-in-laws), the Wildey's, and the DeLaPortes... so fun!

My family

Goofin' around...

Reider with Doc and KK

Ben's family (we missed Uncle Joe and Aunt Candice!)

Reider with Grandma and Grandpa

Uncle Jeff!

Reid laughing with Uncle Craig and Mom

Reid's First Visit to the Fort Worth Zoo

Reid is 14 months old now and is at such a fun age - we are having a complete blast with him! He is walking, starting to talk (newest word is "please"), and has such a little mind of his own. The Saturday before Easter we took a little family outing to the Fort Worth Zoo and it was a wonderful day... here are some pics...

Laughing at the gorillas...

Watching with his Dad...

Exploring everything...

Reid LOVED the reptile center... (ewwwww...)

Especially the snakes...

Giving the snake kisses (yes, I was that Mom whose kid had their mouth all over the glass)...

Reider got really excited that the turtle was looking at him...

This is my FAVORITE picture of the day! Look at the pure joy...

Not quite sure what to think of the apes...

Looking at the elephants with his Doc and KK

Hanging with Mom...

Feeding the birds...

I have a feeling the zoo will be a regular outing with our little guy... what a fun day!

We are TRUTH. Adoption Blogger Day.

While our immediate family has not been involved with international adoption (Reid's adoption was domestic), we have many friends who have been... and it has touched our lives on numerous occasions. This week a story has been plastered all over the news, and our adoption communities are standing up for the TRUTH. Here is an email I received today from an adoption group we are involved with that I thought worth sharing.

The outrageous treatment of Artyem by his adoptive family has rightfully resulted in outrage by the Governments of Russia and the United States and all who care about children. The tragedy has cast a light on intercountry adoption that says it is not safe, the system failed and adopted children cause insurmountable problems. The heartbreak of Artyem Saviliev's abandonment has once again elevated a singular incident to a level which may result in the suspension of intercountry adoption. Suspending adoption, even temporarily, will only cause thousands of children to suffer the debilitating effects of life in an orphanage.
You, the community of adoptees, adoptive parents, adoptive grandparents, child welfare professionals and child advocates know that the outrageous and indefensible actions of one parent are not indicative of how children are treated by adoptive families. You know that families who encounter difficulties do not simply abandon their child. You know that help is available, that solutions are found and that families can thrive. And you know that suspending adoption does not protect children but only subjects them to the depravity of an institution...and an entire life without a family.
You, the adoption community know the truth. You live the truth. You are the truth.

COMING SOON!

I have tons of things to share about our little adventures with Michael Reid...I just have to finish sorting through the many, many pictures. =)

COMING SOON: The Zoo, 14 months, and Easter!

Stay tuned!

Reid's 1st Birthday Party!

(Disclaimer: These pictures are way overdue - I'm just a bit behind in blogging. But there are so many more pics on Facebook, so make sure to take a look there as well.)

Hard to believe that Reid is already ONE... where has the year gone?!? We had his birthday party a few weeks ago and he had so much fun! It was crazy... LOUD... lots of pizza... even more cupcakes... 14 kids... and our house will never be the same! Kidding about that last part, of course... all of the mess was well worth it - we had a complete blast!

The cupcake cake

All of Reider's friends went home with a goodie bag filled with Reid's favorite things. The bag included hot wheels, crazy straws, stickers, bubbles, balls, sunglasses...

The happy birthday boy!

With his "Doc"

With Grandma and Grandpa

My sweet boy

Laughing with his Dad =)

With Aunt Neely and Uncle Craig

A little view of the party...

Reid didn't quite know what to think about everyone singing 'Happy Birthday' to him...

And it took a minute for him to figure out what all of the blue icing was on his cupcake...

...But he dove in...

...and I'd say that he LOVED it!

This kiddo isn't spoiled at all... wink, wink. Just a few gifts to open...

Like I said, there are many more pics on Facebook so please take a look there. But... a HUGE thank you to all of our friends and family who came out to celebrate with Reid! You each hold such a special place in our hearts. We love you all, and we love this precious child - God's gift to us one year ago.

One-Year Well Check

I really can't believe Michael Reid is already ONE - where has the year gone?!? It has been such a whirlwind of blessings...Ben and I are so grateful for this amazing little boy! Next Saturday (Feb 27th) we're having his 1st Birthday Party...I'm so excited! Be looking for lots of pictures...=)

This past Wednesday morning, we had Reid's one-year well check with Dr. Dalton, and I'm happy to report that he's doing great and really "thriving"! Although he was VERY overdramatic with his shots this round...but I always enjoy the cuddle time afterwards. =) Currently he's 22 pounds and 29 inches long... still hanging out in the 40th-50th percentile. I was concerned that his growth had slowed down, but Dr. Dalton said that that is to be expected at this stage. He's hitting the toddler plateau then will spurt again in several months.

Big changes now that he's hit the one-year mark:

- We are weaning off the bottle... yesterday he only had one bottle. What a big boy! (But makes mommy a little sad...)

- Reid started drinking whole milk this past week and LOVED it. Drained his cup then asked for more =)

- He is still a GREAT eater, but getting a little more picky... His current favorites are blueberry muffins, cinnamon raisin toast, cheese, cheese puffs, chicken nuggets, and cereal bars. (We really work to get those veggies in there!) And he LOVES Jill's homemade banana pudding. Every time he takes a bite of it he claps his little hands and says "MMMMM!".

- Reid is also becoming extremely mobile... he's not walking on his own just yet, but it will be any day. He climbs EVERYTHING... cruises everywhere... and is standing on his own.

- He is also really trying to communicate with us. He points to things he wants and understands just about everything we say. He's also starting to repeat some words after us, but still isn't too interested in doing it on a consistent basis.

This is such a fun age! We can't wait to see what the next several months hold!

And now for a few pics....

We got back from Australia last Wednesday - just in time for 12.5 inches of snow... holy cow! We made it in late Wednesday night then lost power on Thursday for the next several days, so Doc and KK were kind enough to take us in! Here's a shot of Reider in the snow...what a cutie!

Reid also went shoe shopping this past week... he LOVES his big boy shoes. He is constantly bringing them to me and wanting to put them on. =) KK couldn't decide which pair she liked better (the blue or the brown), so Reid got them both!

Here's a typical scene in the mornings at our house... sweet guy is like his Mom and takes a little bit to really wake up. Reid LOVES his cartoons in the mornings...

I love this pic because he looks like such a little boy rather than a baby! Here he is with Doc on his actual birthday (and it even looks like he holding up one finger to show you how old he is!).

And finally... bath time is still his very favorite! (And yes, I still let him sit in the duck bathtub even though he's getting too big for it... he loves it!)

Mom and Dad love you so much Reider - we can't wait for your birthday party next weekend!

BIG WEEK AHEAD!

This is a HUGE week for our little family - so many blessings and so many things to be excited about!

Today - we leave for VACATION... two weeks of no stress and worries - just fun!

Tomorrow - Ben and I celebrate 8 years of marriage...(02/02/02)

Wednesday (Feb 3) - Reider turns 1 - how quickly this year has gone!!

Friday (Feb 5) - Marks the day we held our precious baby boy for the first time!

We are going to be so busy with travel over the next few days, that I will most likely get behind on blogging. But rest assured, I will definitely write a 1-year post for Reid. And... we can't wait to celebrate his special day with all of our family and his little friends at the end of the month. We'll be having is birthday party on Feb 27th - I'll upload a pic of his invitation later...they turned out so cute!

For now, just a few pics...

This is one of my favorites...the first few moments as a family of three. I can't even describe the emotion... our lives were forever changed.

So hard to believe that our baby boy looked like this one short year ago...

And today, we have an active, thriving, hilarious, few-days-short of a one-year old little boy!

We love you, Reid!