Warning: This blog was inspired out of boredom during one of Josiah's naps.
Since we've brought Josiah home, it feels like our world has been filled with so many firsts. Watching him explore his world, all the while rapidly developing new skills has been amazing. Not only is Josiah learning new things, but so have Jon and I. I've become pretty good at doing things one handed with a 26lb squirming toddler on my hip. I'm also getting skilled at rocking. I actually caught myself rocking my own body when I was reading the other morning. I've even found out that getting dressed and going to the bathroom with an audience can sometimes give you some added excitement to your day. Jon and I have had some pretty funny nights, one which included a sleepy Jon waking me up to tell me that Josiah was in bed with us, only to find out a few seconds later it was actually a pillow. Sometimes I wish someone snuck a recorder in our house just so Jon and I could hear all the crazy babbling and songs that's we've been doing since becoming parents. Just like any first time parents, we also find ourselves taking pictures or video of almost everything. Add our cute little guy into even the most mundane of situations and suddenly I'm running for our camera or ipad.
So, at the end of this uneventful week, I decided to glaze back through what I had taken and come up with a post. Enjoy!
Can you believe I get to start off my mornings with this face? I snapped a shot of him this morning because it turns out oatmeal and peek-a-boo don't mix.
Josiah after getting shots. I rewarded him for doing so well by letting him play with his Tylenol syringe for a bit. His other reward? Brushing his teeth...he loves it!
Josiah has been learning to wave over these past few weeks. After asking him to demonstrate for me, here he is showing off his fine ability.
When I leave the room I like to let Josiah know so he doesn't cry or he can come along with me. Sometimes he forgets I left and starts crawling rapidly around the house. I heard the crawling pitter patter while in the kitchen one morning and decided to grab my camera and give Josiah some clues about where I was.
Had to take a picture of the book that we read over and over. By far, Josiah's favorite.
Turns out that Josiah loves to watch the Olympics just as much as Jon and I.
This past week Josiah has learned how to crawl onto the fireplace, so it's become quite a hotspot. On Sunday night I left all his birthday gifts on the fireplace and chair instead of putting them away. Rookie move. Monday morning Josiah excitedly threw everything on the floor. Unfortunately for him he doesn't know how to get down from the fireplace so it quickly got boring. It was cracking me up so I whipped out my i-pad. You can see him give himself a little clap and luckily he finds an envelope to play with. A very boring video, but it made for a good memory for momma!
One would think that after being home much of July and taking as many pictures that I have, I would have blogged more. But Jon and I are still trying to figure out time management with a toddler, and keeping up with it all wasn't happening. So for those of you who visited us, brought meals, and even drove hours to meet Josiah, know that it wasn't because you weren't post-worthy! I'll try to get the pics posted or emailed eventually. This past weekend was jam packed full of fun and excitement for our family. I have to admit I felt pretty stressed on how Josiah would do with it all. Thankfully it went much better than expected and it was a really special weekend. Joel and Amber stopped by with Liam and Aiden after the Gateway Sale. Power outages and storms didn't stop us from having lots of fun with the Virkler family!
Liam, Josiah, and Aiden enjoying the pool.
Getting ready for bath-time!
Josiah and Aiden are only a week apart in age.
Wakey wakey! One of Josiah's awesome sleeping positions.
Josiah went to a church service with Daddy.
Birthday spread! (FYI Josiah is actually 14 months today).
It's hard to believe that exactly 1 month ago we were flying into the United States with Josiah. Isn't it crazy how fast time can pass, yet you find yourself already forgetting what life was like "before?"
I've literally been putting off this post because there are a million things to say about this day/trip/adoption process, but yet I don't know how to express everything in words. I do know if I really start getting into everything right now, I'll end up sobbing my way through the post, so maybe I'll share more another time. By the way, for those of you who aren't part of the adoption world, "Gotcha Day" was a term coined for the day a family takes custody of their child. This day for us was Tuesday, June 26th (a day before our Embassy/VISA interview, which is when we became "official"). Tuesday morning we went to the care center to spend time with Josiah Yosen. My heart was pounding just about as hard this time around as the first time we met him. I was so anxious to hold him again! A nanny brought him out from his crib and he quietly sat in my arms and looked around. One of the nannies wanted him to show off his crawling skills for us so we put him on the ground and she got him to do a few scoots for us:~) Over time he started to relax and play and we got to see some of those adorable smiles we had seen the first time around. We weren't actually positive until we got to the care center that he was for sure coming back with us that afternoon. Thankfully they had prepared information for me about his sleep and eating schedules which helped relieve some of the anxiety I was starting to feel when they said "Yes! He's going home with you today!"
Josiah Yosen is back in my arms, and not sure what to think about it all!
Watching and wondering. What in the world is going on?
Daddy gets a turn.
Doesn't he look like an angel under the mosquito net?
After lunch, all the babies went down for a nap, so we left the care center to go eat.
Enjoying lunch at the Culture House with Jeremy and Erin.
When we got back to the care center we found that the kids had all been changed into traditional Ethiopian clothing and we received a beautiful outfit to put on Josiah as a gift. After some chaos, the party began. I wish I could post the videos of the songs the kids sang for us, as well as pictures of the festivities, but for privacy reasons I can't.
The dishes for the party.
Josiah digging into his cake at the party.
When it was time to go, we got hit with a wave of emotion, that THIS IS REAL! After giving hugs and thanks to the kids and an emotional staff, with tears streaming down our faces, we walked out the gate with Josiah in our arms!
We squished into a taxi and rode back to the guesthouse together.
Welcome to our family Josiah Yosen! We love you so much!
For those of you who never got to see pictures, here is a look back...
February 17th, 2012-Referral pictures
I'll never forget the moment I first saw pictures of our son! (click here to read about the referral)
We received these updated pictures right before our first trip and it made me cry because Josiah was growing so fast.
First trip-April 22nd-May 1st
The first time we held Josiah (April 24th)
Josiah was more interested in the camera than mommy.
We flew out of Fort Wayne Friday, June 23rd on a very short flight to Chicago for an overnight lay-over. Thanks to Amit and Kyann who met us in Chicago Friday night for dinner!
Getting read to fly out of Fort Wayne. Lots of butterflies!
We flew out of Chicago early Saturday morning and arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Sunday morning. Tsegaw, our driver, met us at the airport and took us for a two day road trip to Shashemene and Ziway. A few pictures of the trip...
Trying to capture the beauty we were seeing.
In Ethiopia, there are many transportation options!
We saw lots of cows...
...and camels!
Acacia trees!
Shashemene
Shashemene was looking lush. The lighter fields in the background are teff fields, which is what injera (Ethiopian bread) is made of.
Great views of Lake Ziway
Plowing
Another beautiful shot of the views we enjoyed!
I love this picture. These girls were posing for Jon and giggled the whole time!
Breakfast in Shashemene with our driver Tsegaw
Ziway Staff at one of the schools we visited.
Samuel's House.
Jon playing soccer with the kids at the Ziway school
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