I gotta feeling

that I (hopefully) will begin to post more. I know I've been slack. You'll probably read this post in 2 weeks because you didn't think I was posting anymore. I understand, not a problem.

It's easy to say I'll post something new tomorrow, then tomorrow becomes 3 weeks and I get busy again. Lame excuse, I know. So, on to the random thoughts ......

Landon is really getting into the 'normal' 2-year old stuff. He is trying his luck in saying No or 'hitting' because he is not getting his way. He does actually try to hit us, but just like those other cute but bad tendencies, he knows he isn't supposed to hit. He likes to hit the air because he can't hit us. It is sort of cute, though. One of those things where you can't laugh or act like it is cute, but you really do. The other day, one of those moments, he was walking away from me as I sat on the couch. He turned back and turned his left arm to me in his fake hit gesture, his arm was pointed out but his fingers were still in his hand, looking like a superhero outstretched arm kind of thing. Hard to describe but just try to picture it.

It has been nice to get past the winter blues. We can actually go outside and have fun playing. Yay! It does bring out Landon's VA allergies, though. We actually took him to the doctor last week (he had strep throat) and the doc said we should try kid's zirtec on him for his allergies. It has helped some to get his runny nose to run less.

Well, he's just becoming a Virginian I guess. We get the whole pollen mess here, especially with all of the pine trees around the house.

Now a few pics to catch you up to where we are, until I get back to a better routine. Landon has really been a normal kid since we got him, acting and looking like whatever age he is. Just a normal little guy.

Easter 2010. Funny look on his face, not sure why it was like that. Maybe he just doesn't like showing how cute he can be.

It reminds me of this picture from last year. Almost a similar look on his face and his hair in the new picture doesn't look too bad. He does need a haircut but it's not so bad.

He does go through his phases like any kid. Certain toys go in or out of phase, like how he was sitting in the old diaper box. It's still sitting in the living room, he hasn't been in it in months. He then comes back to something that he hasn't played with in weeks, so not completely away from these things.

Anyway, more to come as I (hopefully) get into more of a routine. It was easier when we were in Russia and had daily things to talk about. Hopefully you haven't given completely up on us, but email or comment to let us know if there is something you want to know or hear about.

One year ago ...

Wow, it's been a whole year. Not since Landon got home, not since we started the process, the day we first saw his little face. One year ago today we were surprised with a referral. It was sort of surreal.

We had barely sent in the information to switch to a single child, I was driving home and my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number but it was from Maryland. Hmmm... coincidence or the agency? I answered and talked with the head social worker about an email with the referral waiting for me at home. She wanted to talk to me before I read it since this was going to be quite a change.

Heather got home while I was on the computer looking at the referral, not realizing what was about to happen. I gave her a funny look and told her that we got a referral. We had gotten a document of medical info and some bio and a picture of what would be our son. He was such a cutie, not just because he was cute but because we were finally able to put a face to this unknown child that we were on a journey to meet. It made it more real. To go from an idea of sorts, siblings to a single child, an fuzzy thought of some child, boy, girl, who knows. Now we had a face, an age, a name, a real child waiting for us. Things quickly came into focus as we saw the end of the journey, could see ourselves meeting him for the first time, all the hassle of paperwork and dreadful waiting swept away by this little boy looking at us, into us, into our hearts, latching on with his little chubby hands, pulling us to him, thousands of miles away, wanting to meet us, not knowing how big a deal it was, just pulling us along.

At that point, any thoughts we had of being in control or having a say went out the window. We knew we were just along for the ride - and what a ride it has been.

Here is a comparison of the picture we got in the referral and one from this evening. Landon was I think 10 months old in the referral photo. The referral got to us just before his first birthday, and we are preparing to celebrate his first one with us.

Quite a bit of a difference, eh? Even though the whole process has been going on longer, it has been one year since it really began for us. Here are some pictures from the past year.

A whole lotta buildup for 5 minutes of not much

In case you hadn't been watching the weather, we just got a whole bunch of snow (again). It was about 12-14 inches but was dry and light so not too bad. It had started late Friday night and snowed during the day on Saturday. I went out today to start the process of getting us out, working my ways towards my neighbor's driveway. He has a bobcat (think of a small vehicle with a bucket on front) so he (like last time) used it to clear out our road out to the front road. Maybe a half mile or a little less.

I was able to clear out our driveway enough to get the van out and see how the main road was. It had been plowed but was not bare, something that will be interesting to see in the morning. It is supposed to refreeze tonight and possibly tomorrow night.

We ended up getting out of the house and heading into the real world. We got a snack then got some groceries at 'mal mart' then went home.

So all this snow reminded me of our last batch of snow and taking Landon out in it. We had no real need for proper snow pants or boots for him so we weren't really prepared. We figured we would figure out something to put him in to take him outside and see the snow. We got the little blue 'tights' that we had gotten him over in Russia. We put some wind pants on him then wrapped his legs in plastic Walmart bags (trying for water protection). We put his heavy jacket on him and the hat we also got in Russia. It was a little bit of effort to get him into all that, plus getting our own outfits together. We went out the front door and played in the snow a little before heading back in. The snow was a bit too deep for him to walk in so playing outside wasn't much fun for him. He started to get snow in his 'pants' and he was ready to go in after 5 or 10 minutes.

Here is Landon while getting ready with his plastic bag pants.

Outside in the snow

As a point of comparison of our odd weather here, just last Thursday the weather around here was nice (in the 60s) and Heather took Landon outside for some fun. It quickly got cold around here on Friday, though.

Hopefully next week won't be as cold as it is supposed to. We might get some snow on Wednesday and possibly more next weekend. Yikes, not too much fun. Maybe I should go out tomorrow and get a proper snow shovel.

I like big (trucks) and I cannot lie ...

A few more weeks and a few more things going on. Landon has continued to do well other than a little sickness here and there. The 'usual' cold type stuff in the winter, though it does seem that he recently got a stomach virus thing. He seemed to be feeling pretty much OK and was active, but his diapers were a little different and more frequent. Anyway, we are a little surprised that he hasn't (knock on wood) had more issues between daycare and being this time of year.

It has been almost 1 year since we got his referral, which was not too long after we switched from siblings to a single child. I think that this Wednesday would be 1 year since we switched to a single child. Wow. It's funny how back when we were waiting, it didn't seem 'real' since we were just waiting. The trips over there seem like they were quick, and afterwards it still didn't sink in. Now that we are here so many months later, we are just in such a good routine that those events seem like a distant memory.

My parents got Landon a little backpack for him to use. Heather put some things in it for daycare use during church and he certainly liked wearing it around. A few times he has been playing in the living room with it on, making sure that you don't take it from him.

Here he is on his first day going to church with it on. He looks like such a big boy here.

The other week I got him a little outfit that was 75% off at Target. It was so cute I had to get it and it only cost a few dollars. Not an everyday outfit but worth every penny. There is a little black jacket that goes with it but he wasn't wearing it at the time. Landon likes to briefly stand still for a picture and then starts to move towards you before you take it. He wants to see the picture that you took.

On a different subject, last week marked my first week as a student at VCU. I had orientation the week before and then classes, not that there was much going on since it was just the first week. It is very odd for me to be back in a large school. The community college I had been going to had a small campus and I did most of the classes online. Very different feel to it. It is also much different than Virginia Tech, where I had started my college life so many years ago. Large rural campus to large urban campus.

It was funny at orientation seeing the kids that were there with their mothers or both parents. I remember doing that. It's a nice campus and easy to walk around to the buildings near me. I am a junior so pretty much all of my remaining classes will be in the single building for the school of business. There is a parking deck across the street that I will use so I won't be going across campus much if I don't want to. I look forward to trying to keep my grades like they were at the community college, something that I think I can do as long as I put the effort in.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

I came across the pictures that I mentioned a long time ago I would post, regarding our 'bear-y' unwelcome guest a few springs ago.

Heather and I were sitting in the living room watching t.v. one afternoon. I thought that I heard something but didn't really think about it. We had the bird feeders and sometimes the birds make noise or fly into a window. I got up to go into the kitchen to put away a plate and looked into the back yard. Imagine my surprise when I see a bear outside, sitting on his/her rump eating away at the bird food in the feeders.

I called her over since it isn't something we normally see. We started watching it and I got my camera. I took after my father a little, I guess at first I just opened one of the windows in the morning room to get some good shots with. The bear didn't seem to mind us, though. I then proceeded to go out to the screened porch, open the door there, and take some more. I had a telephoto lens so didn't need to get close, but the bear was still only about 15 feet away.

The bear kept working on the food in the feeders, but later on made it's way back into the woods. I was annoyed that the bear bent the main pole in the feeder system, meaning I would have to buy a new one. I bent the pole back up and hung the clear plastic feeder in the above photo. I put a little seed in it, as I felt bad that the birds wouldn't have any. Heather and I were heading out to hockey, I think. It seems that the bear came back later in the evening, as the dome feeder was missing. Not just off the feeder setup, but I couldn't see it around the yard or in the woods.

The next day I ventured into the woods down my trail, looking for the feeder. I found it about a hundred yards in the woods, close to my trail. It had been licked clean and had some big claw marks in it, but was still good. Earlier that day I had gone to the bird store to get a new feeder pole and dome feeder, but now I could take that replacement dome feeder back.

So, kind of exciting but fortunately the only bear we have seen here. We still get the deer, turkey and sometimes a fox. I actually saw a funny thing last week. There were some hunting dogs in the woods somewhere (hunting dogs can be used during deer hunting season) and I saw a single turkey running in the opposite direction about 10 feet into the trees. Kind of funny watching a turkey run fast like that.

Happy New Year! (oooopst!)

Ok, Landon was off by a day when he wanted to name this blog post. Dates and years aren't his big things right now, so we'll give him a break.

Heather is sleeping off a long set of music in Rock Band 2, so I thought I would make a blog post since one is overdue. So much going on, where to start ....

We've had a few holidays since the last one. Thanksgiving was fun but just a build-up to Christmas. We had 16 inches of snow that unfortunately messed up our plans of visiting family in North Carolina, but hopefully we will see them soon. I think that Landon enjoyed Christmas, seeing everyone, opening presents and 'Tanta'.

We took him to see Santa and were surprised at how well he did. He went right up to Santa to take some pictures. We weren't expecting that. The picture we got makes it look like he wasn't as happy around Santa as he was, but we were shocked.

We also got some holiday photos at a local place. They had two rooms set up, one with a tree for a Christmas setting and the other more generic. Landon wanted to run around the tree and check out the ornaments, so it was hard to get him to sit in a little chair for some pictures. He was cute, though, especially considering the time spent there. We got some better ones there, including family ones and one with his doggy. Heather thought it would be good to bring it along and it paid off.

Christmas itself was busy, first our gifts, then at Heather's parents for her family stuff. Back to the house for a nap, then my family came over for gifts and food. Landon first was opening gifts by ripping of a little piece of wrapping paper. He then got a second piece in his other hand. He would put them both down to get a third piece, though we got him using the trash bag. He got to the point where he was taking larger and larger pieces of paper. He was already at the point where when he got a gift of clothes, he put it aside and went for the next gift.

His favorite is Santa, though. He sees Santa everywhere and wants to point it out. He got some good gifts and lots of things for him to play with (thank you everyone!).

As a whole things are still going well. He's enjoying things and growing up a little. He has started trying to put phrases together instead of just words. He still points to things and wants to know what they are, but he understands more and more each day. My brother gave him some letter blocks to help him with his letters. He has worked on saying the alphabet but the blocks will help him put the letter with what it looks like.

Some pics now, can't get away without those ...

Landon showing his friend Elmo to mommy.

Landon offering to carry my hockey bag out to the car. (He didn't quite make it)

Landon helping mommy to make some cookies for Santa.

We were at Heathers sister's (Tracey) Christmas Eve and wanted to get a picture with Landon and Tracey's daughter, but Landon sat on her when we asked him to sit next to her. Ooopst!

Landon being given an ornament from Santa. This is the best shot from him squirming in the chair.

Landon and his doggy when we took pictures. We thought that this one came out so good. He does love his little animals.

I am going to try to be better about posting in the new year. If you want me to post about something, or just want to complain that I haven't posted anything recently, send me an email. I sometimes lose track of time and might be busy soon, so be obvious about it. I will transfer to Virginia Commonwealth University this spring so might have a cray schedule. I finished up at community college and will transfer to continue things at VCU. I don't know yet what my schedule will be but hopefully will be ok.

Check back relatively soon for (hopefully) a new post. It has been a crazy year, but has gone by fast and ended up being a pretty darn good year. That's pretty cool. I'm a dad. Heather is a mom. We are parents. Wow ..... yay!!!

There's no place like home

For those of you still checking the blog, sorry for long absence (sound familiar?). One day becomes one week and then I feel like nothing has changed to write about. I forget that we see the little changes each day so it seems like not much happens, but for those who don't see him every day you would notice the changes. I need to get back to posting more, so email me if it seem like a post is needed in case I forget.

So, we are getting to the holidays and we did a little Trick-or-Treat-ing. Landon seemed to have fun and liked his costume. He didn't mind wearing it and would even continue playing around the house if we tried it on him or were getting him ready.

The outfit is a two-piece outfit, so when putting him in the van we had to take off the jacket so he would fit into his car seat (and seatbelt). He didn't like that. I was surprised that he liked it but he did get warm in it. He likes his stuffed monkeys plus his bathroom is done that way, so it seemed appropriate. He also looked cute in it, and no it doesn't have wings.

He is doing much more with the words and understanding us and when to say certain things. He is using 'no' in the correct way now, when we ask him if he is done eating or wants to go to bed. He is working on 'please', but at the moment comes out like 'pup' when he says it. We had been trying to get him to say something so started with the 'p' and he hasn't gone much further with the word. He points to lots of things in his books or out in the world to find out what the word for it is. It gets repetitive but it is his way of really understanding the word so he can say it. Sometimes you can almost see the wheels in his head turning trying to remember the word and then he tries to say it. He's doing very good with it.

Unfortunately he didn't care about the time change, getting up this morning at 6 am. He then didn't take much of a nap so was tired this evening and got punchy. He normally gets that way when he is tired. He might stumble around or be even sillier than normal. Tonight he was playing in an empty diaper box. He had put in a few of his stuffed animals and was sitting in it with them. He then tried to go into the box head first and you could only see his legs sticking out. I got some video and pics of it, I need to download them and see how they are.

On a quick side note, for those that knew or remember from my previous post, I have been working on an Associates Degree at a community college to get back into school. Well, last week I got my official acceptance letter from Virginia Commonwealth University to start in the spring. Very cool but very odd. It will be fun and I'll be there at the same time as my cousin Morgan. We most likely won't have any classes together, though. He is in the art school while I'll be in the business school.

A few quick pics for now. I'll go through more and post again soon.

Here he is falling off of the changing table in his room into Heather's arms while getting ready for bed.

Here he is outside with a push mower that spits out bubbles. He was having fun with it, stopping now and then to go pop some bubbles.

Looking back at the camera while mowing.

More soon...