Since when does an 18 month old not need any sleep? We cut out a the second nap, put him to bed later and still for months he gets up at 2-3am and stays up until 5-6am. Once in a while he will throw us a bone and sleep all night...maybe 1 night a week if we are super lucky. He doesn't cry at night. Just screams in delight, claps his hands, jibber jabbers, yells mommy and daddy. You name it...at 3am he is doing it. We try to take turns getting up but really he will not let anyone sleep. Mystery. Today he had zero nap time. No nap. You would have thought that he would just fall over somewhere asleep..nope. He will not go to sleep unless I have adequately rocked, hummed, shook, juiced...ahhh. Sweet sleep...I miss it.

HOLY TOLEDO!!!

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! January 27th is hopefully the day our sweet girl will officially become a Clevinger.

when cousins come to visit

plenty of creative play
two tired boys

Cheese!

Twas the night before Christmas...

This weekend was wonderful. My sister came to visit, we did Christmas shopping (I am finished!!), got Ian's picture taken at the mall with Santa (not so fun for him), and ate at the Ethiopian restaurant with the Breedlove family.

I got a chance to reflect on how wonderful my life is this weekend. I am so blessed with amazing family and friends.

Pretty Pictures

My little cutie in his sissy's room! Reading the paper...

Relaxing

Future scholar

Court date, you ask? "No", I say. Irked, you ask? "Yes", I say. Still no court date and as far as we know at this point we are no closer now than we were when our dossier arrived on 7-7-08.

We are looking forward to spending our first Thanksgiving with Ian. He is truly an amazing little spirit. I know that I am supposed to say those things because he is mine but honestly...amazing. He is saying everything. He will try to say anything at least once. He woke us up this morning standing in the bed singing the theme song to Sponge Bob Squarepants. He isn't allowed to watch that show but apparently it has a nice enough ring to it that he remembered the melody of the song from the few times he's heard it! He loves football...calls it buttball! Anything pertaining to football catches his attention and gets a loud buttball screamed out! Too cute for words. He says crazy things like doctor and Pacey and out, up, down, in, shoes,...you get the point. His personality is captivating and I guess I never expected him to be his own little person this early. He makes up songs where momma is the only word in the song and it melts my heart. This was the parenthood I was so ready and waiting for. I love this...every moment...even the nights when Ian thinks that morning has come at 2am and we don't go back to sleep until 30 minutes before I have to get up for work!!! Fun times.

Enjoy the pictures and have a blessed and wonderful holiday season.

a weekend of fun

This weekend was packed with fun! Ian went trick-or-treating for the first time ever and he was a little pro! He didn't seem to understand why we didn't go in all of the houses. Eventually he got the hang of grabbing some candy and leaving! He also got to go to his very first UK basketball game!! He really enjoyed it but again didn't understand why he couldn't play with the ball too!

I wish I had an adoption update to give but even thinking about it at this point is too difficult. Soon, I will talk about the events that have transpired...for now know that we are waiting impatiently for our sweet love to be with us.

From the beginning

One year ago today I was working on a busy Monday and a single phone call changed my life..past, present, and future. With a single sentence a voice on the other end of a phone dubbed us as...parents. Parents to an amazing little adventerous, Ian Parker Surafel. A little boy who was lying on a mattress in front of a foster center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia the first day I ever laid eyes on him. A perfect little face with big brown eyes who looked up at me for the very first time and fell asleep in my arms minutes later. All of these events stem from this day one year ago when I first heard of this 5 month old, 10lbs, baby boy named Surafel meaning seraphin and cheribum from the bible.

If you read our blog you know how much our lives have changed over the past year. Ian has blossomed from this tiny, little, fraile being to a strong-willed, smart, inquisitive, assertive little boy. He steals my heart with every look and re-confirms the power of love with each action. One year of knowing him has brought our family more joy than we could've ever imagined.

Inability to blog

You may have noticed that I haven't updated you on our adoption or shared any cutsie pictures of my precious baby boy. There is a reason. I have resigned from blog stalking, "FBI" watching, sharing, catching up, and anything to do with timelines, time tables, courtdates, etc. I become physically ill at the thought of court being open and our file being out in Never Never Land. My daughter's room is finished, her picture is plastered on every wall of the house, my heart is prepared and we are ready for her arrival. I NEVER wanted to feel this feeling again. My heart racing, pounding, the anticipation of waiting on a phone call and a date that she will officially become ours. I set out to focus on Ian and not think so much about the wait. But Monday, the switch flipped and my ability to wait patiently diminished. So long voice of reason...hello full on panic mode. Pray it ends...soon.