X Marks the Spot!

Need I say more??? He likes to kick back and relax when he has his bath! Tonight has been a rough one for us. Ian has a cold or something and has cried the biggest part of the evening. Not at all like him but right now he has decided that he will not sleep, eat, be held, lie down, sit, play, stand, or be happy in any way form or fashion. It is pretty funny how something so small and precious can get us performing like puppets! We have exhausted every game/toy/dance/song that we have in our arsenal and now we are defeated. He wins, we lose. But look at that face...in 10 minutes when it is my turn again (Daddy's turn right now) I will re-load and see if I can keep his tears at bay as sleep for us all becomes but a distant memory=) I love every moment.



Have you seen a bigger smile??

He is singing into his toy! My little superstar!

A MUST SEE!!!

Here are the pictures of Ian that we had done a few weeks ago! Enjoy!!!
http://www.imagesbyjohnmichael.com/index2.php?ver=v1

Ian's First Valentines Day

This has been a super fun week for us! I am so thankful that the Atwood family grew by one this week and they will see their sweet son in just a couple of weeks! The Breedloves and Jocelyn have their sweet angels and will all be home soon! My sister and I were talking about how all of the original families that we were in the process with will soon be all home with their babies! It is so amazing to watch everyone's story and the joy of finally being united with those precious little ones!!
Next Friday is our first post placement visit! I can't believe we are already doing those. It will be homestudy house cleaning all over again! It is always fun to bring someone into your home who actually will be judging you!!! We have changed social workers because our original worker left the agency. Hopefully she is as sweet and wonderful as our original worker!!
Ian is getting so much bigger and jabbering all the time now. He talks and looks at me like I should understand what he is saying! My living room looks like a Babies-R-Us showroom! We have anything a small child could ever want but his favorite activity continues to be licking the floor!!! He has a whole blanket full of very engaging toys but will roll off every side to grab a lick of the floor!
Below are some pictures of the big bear that Ganny and Poppy brought for Ian. He likes the big red bow!!!

Updates..

Last week Ian and I tried to make the local version of "Mommy & Me" but we were running late and missed our time slot. I stayed a few minutes for the older kids time and he was more excited about this little girl's big hair bow than the 3 stories that were read!!! Anyway we had fun singing a couple of songs and chatting with other mommies. I wanted to try something fun with him because I think he gets bored with me. I sing the same songs and play the same games! I'm sure he is wishing I would switch it up for him but honestly I don't know any others!!!

I am proud to report that he is sitting up very well on his own now. He can reach for things on all sides and manage to come back to sitting without toppling over. I don't think he will ever crawl because he hates being on his tummy! I put him there and he stays seconds then flips over. I have tried everything to get him to stay on his tummy but nothing works for that little strong willed boy! He gets very ill with me when I don't behave!!! I'm learning that you just let the child lead!

We are still attempting to navigate our social life with a baby. I don't know how anyone does it! Ian goes to bed between 9 and 10 and if we don't go too, sleep isn't going to happen for us that night! How do you go out to dinner and have friends over but be home by 8:30 for the bath/winding down routine? So far sleep has trumped all social activities!!! Ahh, sweet sleep, a commodity that I didn't know I could have so little of!!

Enjoy the pictures of my growing precious boy! I hate to boast but I do believe he is a momma's boy!!

My sweet baby!

Ok, so I feel really uplifted by all the positive comments I got from my back to work post! Thank you working moms everywhere for making me feel okay about leaving Ian. It is getting easier I think but I still have mornings that I weep around and cry when I look at him. It is so great to have my family keeping him while I work and it is nice knowing that they are as crazy about him as I am!
I can't believe how much he is growing and when I put something on him that didn't fit but now does...I get a little sad. I don't want my little sweetie to grow up on me!! Still no teeth, no crawling, and no sign of saying ma ma! He loves to play the repeat game though where he makes a sound and I repeat it. I have tried to slip a ma ma in there when he starts repeating me but he says..."Da". Oh well...at least I know he has a sense of humor!!!
We have tried to pin him down to a sleep schedule but he changes things up on us quite often. When we first got home he would sleep about 11 hours straight. Now we go to bed at 10ish and wake at 4am for a bottle. Sometimes the 4am bottle turns into when mommy gets up if I have to go to work that day!!! He is a load of fun when he wakes up so I am still taking it in stride! Daddy isn't so much fun at 4am so most of the time we don't invite him to play!! As you can see in the video he has noticed what a beautiful baby he is. He loves to kiss himself in the mirror. That toy has a mirror on one side and he enjoys admiring himself in it and then giving the occasional kiss! He has started giving me kisses too lately! There is nothing like that big open mouth, slobbery kiss while he has both hands twisted in my hair!!
We decided to put the baby in the bed with us early on and I am wondering at what point he will go into the pack and play. While in Ethiopia we didn't have a crib in the room so we just let him sleep between us. When we got home, we stayed with my parents so he just slept between us. Then we moved into our new house and the nursery is all the way upstairs and the house seems so big when I am that far away from him. Either way, he is in the bed with us for now and moving him to the pack and play beside the bed is going to be our first step. I'm just not sure when we will be ready to take that step=)
Off to bed I go, 4am comes early and my playmate doesn't like it when I fall over asleep on him!!!