It's Been A While...

It's been about two weeks or so since I was last able to blog. It feels like an eternity and like a bazillion things have happened! It's already after ten (my bedtime is like 9ish these days), so I'm going to update via pics.

What have we been doing, you ask???

SOCCER.

Lots of soccer! Gus absolutely loves going and it's fun to watch him and Steve on the field together. His last class is next Saturday, but we signed him up for another twelve weeks. This next session will be a transition session for him because he'll be turning three on May 11th. Once he's three, he can move to the 3-4 year old class, but that is a no parent class (no adults on the field with the kids). He's not quite ready for that yet, so until he is, the current class will work just fine.

 

 

The little guy on the left kept getting into Gus's "personal space" and he was giving him shoves and lots of looks. Gus looks like a giant next to the kid doesn't he??

MOMS Club Events.

We've had a variety of events to attend and Gus and Hugh have enjoyed them all. We have been to the park a few times, and even did a tour of our local Chick-fil-A! That one was a big hit!

 

Saying hello to the people in the drive thru!

ENJOYING SPRING BREAK.

Gus had spring break last week and he had a great time while out of school! We went to visit Steve at work and had lunch with him, we watched movies and had popcorn, and we worked on some school stuff!

 

Tracing shapes, letters, and numbers

 

Counting

 

Retelling/Sequencing a story (Five Little Monkeys)

 

Arranging monkeys by size

 

 

Coloring

 

Working on a maze

 

Reading his Thomas and Friends magazine

 

 

Lunch with Daddy

 

Shooting hoops with PB

 

Gus cried at the part when Mufassa died.  :-(

TUMMY TIME. 

Lots and lots of tummy time for Hugh. And lots and lots of looking cute.

 

Almost rolling over... but not yet.

 

Hugh has discovered the joys of Purry Como.

 

Watching me cook dinner

 

SITTING UP (for a second or two) AND AMAZING US!!

HAIR CUTS.

Both Gus and I got our hair cut for our family pictures!

FAMILY PICTURES.

For the first time EVER we went and got our family pictures taken by someone not connected to us. I usually take all of our pictures, but then I'm not in any of them. To celebrate Double Adoption Day (there will be a post about this), we went and had pictures taken. We go tomorrow to pick our the pictures that we want to keep and I can't wait. This is our sneak peek that Jeff (our photographer) posted on his FB page.

FAMILY TIME.

We've been enjoying spending time together. We had mulch delivered last week and so we went on a brief walk and looked at the mulch from the street. Gus and I spent some time outside today (it was GORGEOUS) and he rode his big wheel while Ned and I watched.

REARRANGED ROOMS.

We are getting a new mattress (YAY) and so we decided that we'd add a king sized bed up in the room that was Gus's room. That room was nice and big, but the closet is not finished, so all his clothes were still in the nursery. 

We decided to move the crib and rocking chair into the middle room (was my photography room and library), and then we moved Gus totally into the nursery (his original room). His clothes are all in there anyway, and it's a smaller room (which will keep it fair when Hugh is older and will wonder why Gus's room is bigger). We are working on moving things around, but for now it works. Gus is totally set in his room and is quite pleased.

 

Hugh enjoying Gus's dino bed

 Gus tucking Hugh in  :-)

 

 

Hugh did NOT want to share the bed!

READY FOR THREE.

We are preparing for Gus's third birthday. The party is all set and it should be a great time. As soon as he turns three, he'll begin the Fisher Kids Responsibility System. It's such a great system to teach kids how to be responsible and independent. He'll get commission for doing one chore a day, that he'll pick from his chore bucket. He also will have things that he's expected to do each day (tidy his room, pick up toys when finished, and clean his spot at the table). I'm eager to see how he does with this!!

HUGH'S BAPTISM.

He's getting baptized tomorrow morning at the 8:45 service. I'm really excited and can't wait for him to be welcomed by the whole church. We're joining CTK next month, but it's going to be a great day. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow of Hugh in his outfit and him with his god mother. Here's a picture of him with her tonight taken at dinner.

We also finalized Hugh's adoption, but I'm going to do a separate post about that. Sorry it's been so long... no one told me how crazy it'd be with two kids and I just don't have time to sit at the computer and blog anymore!!!

Siblings

I have two brothers. One is my twin and the other is five and a half years older than me. Being that I have an older brother, I've never known a day of my life without having a sibling. Until becoming the mother of two, I didn't realize how much I took for granted by having siblings in my life.

When we adopted Gus, it was the happiest day of our lives. He was the answer to so many prayers and was loved and adored before he even arrived on this Earth. He made my life change the minute I held him, and at that moment, I knew I'd never be the same again.

Fast-forward to July of 2012. When the opportunity to possibly adopt again came our way, I was excited. I had been looking at agencies and had had a few phone calls getting information from some. We weren't financially ready to start the process yet, as we still had our house in NC on the market. However, I definitely wanted a sibling for Gus and wanted them to be close enough in age that they could play and enjoy each other, but not too close or far to be a problem.

As fate would have it, we received an offer on our house in NC just before finding out that we had a match with Hugh's birth mom. Our family of three was soon to become a family of four.

We didn't tell Gus about a baby coming. We didn't know it was 100% going to happen, and until there was a baby to introduce to him, we didn't think it was appropriate to even bring it up. We knew he would be excited for a baby, and we were eager to see how he'd interact with a sibling.

 

The last picture of our family of three

As soon as Hugh arrived, our family dynamic changed again. We had a beautiful baby boy and a 2 year, 7 month and eight day old toddler. :-) 

Gus has loved having a baby brother. For the first two weeks we were in NC waiting on ICPC clearance, and we were in tight quarters. Gus liked to see what Hugh was doing, only to be disappointed that he was sleeping (AGAIN).

Once we got home, Gus had other toys to play with and things to keep him busy, he hasn't been on top of Hugh like he was when Hugh was first born. That's not to say that he doesn't like him though... he loves "chew" as he calls him. LOL

What's even cuter for me is to watch Hugh react to Gus. He absolutely LOVES his big brother. He watches Gus all the time and loves it when Gus talks to him and interacts with him. It's really sweet.

 

I'm really looking forward to watching them grow as siblings and hope that they become good friends. I don't have any sisters, so I don't know what it's like to have a sibling of the same gender, but I'm certain it's different from having one of the opposite gender. I hope they always remember that their relationship matters. I know while they're little, they won't always be friends, but I hope that as they grow up they learn how to relate to each other and they develop a deep love for one another that lasts them well into their adulthood.

Soccer Star!

This morning we headed to Suwanee for Gus to have his first ever soccer lesson. We weren't sure how it was going to go, but I had a feeling that he'd really love it. I was right.

When we arrived, I had to fill out a form so that we could have our first free session. Then we headed to the middle field and Gus and Steve headed out while I stayed on the bleachers with Hugh. From the get go, Gus was happy. He loved running on the field and chasing the soccer ball.

The coach had everyone sit in a semi-circle and did a name game activity. Steve said it was obvious during this activity, how delayed Gus's speech is. The kids had to say their name and favorite superhero and Gus couldn't say either. :-/

After a quick diaper change, Gus and Steve were back on the field for some fun. I liked that the coach gave the kids a task, but they were free to do it at their own pace. They had to go get a ball and kick it back to the goal. Simple task, but it was a lot of fun to watch.

Then they lined all the kids up and had them race across the field. Gus was one of the top three fastest kids. The mom next to me commented on how fast Gus was. :-)  There were A TON of kids in this class and it varies from 18 months to 3.5 years old. A large age span and amongst them, a lot of differences in ability. I am proud that Gus held his own... though when the coach tried playing "Red means stop!!!" Gus wanted nothing to do with that nonsense. He and about five others kept running while everyone else was stopped where the coach had yelled "RED!!"

 

Coach Sebastian yelling "RED!!!"

 

Racing across the field

The class was 50 minutes, which was AWESOME. At 10:30 Coach Michael came out and grabbed 1/2 the kids and took them to the other field and Gus was included in this group. On the other field, in smaller groups, they worked on foot skills. They practiced kicking over cones with their feet, and then stacking the cone and kicking the ball. Gus loved it!

 

Helping put the cones out

 

Sitting with Steve and listening to Coach Michael

Overall, it was awesome. The mom next to me was complaining about how big the group is and how her son isn't challenged and he's bored and blah blah blah. The other mom behind me, she was complaining about the size of the group and how her daughter used to get individual attention but now that there are so many kids, they don't pay any attention to her.

I think it'll be a great place for Gus to get the basic skills of soccer. I want him to be able to listen to another adult, and it's awesome that it's a man for him to listen to. So far, he's exposed to Ms. Joanie at preschool, and now he's got two coaches to listen to. I think it's great.

At the end of class, they had the parents leave the field and are doing a transition so that the kids can participate without parents on the field. Not every parent left (Steve obviously didn't), but most did. There are four more classes in this session and then a new one begins. The last class for this session is April 27th... not sure when the next one starts, but Gus will be turning 3 in the next session, and there is a 3-4 year old class. That class is a no-parent class. Hopefully Gus will be able to participate without Steve by the end of this session, so he can start in the 3-4 class in May.

After everyone was done, we talked about it and decided to definitely sign him up. When we paid, Coach Michael left and came back with a uniform for Gus! It's SO CUTE!!! It's a pair of black shorts and then a red and black shirt (the kids in the picture above are wearing the uniform). I'm excited to take some pictures of Gus in his uniform this week!!! :-)

It was a great Saturday for our little soccer star!! I can't wait to see what next week brings!

The Best Day Yet!

Today was the best day at preschool thus far. 

When we pulled into the parking lot of the church, Gus didn't cry or fuss at all. When I unloaded him, he eagerly grabbed his backpack and lunch box (he usually makes me carry them) and put on his coat. We walked into the church and he held the door for me.

We got down the hall to his classroom and this is always the place where he starts crying or fussing. Today, he ran right into see Ms. Joanie and gave her a hug. It was SO AWESOME!!! She was working with another child, so I had him put his lunch and backpack into his cubby, and then take off his coat. By the time he was done, she was also done and ready for him.

He puckered up and gave me a kiss goodbye and gave me a hug and said, "See you." Then he wanted to close the door, so she helped him with the door. It was tremendous!! No tears!!

When I picked him up, he was so happy to see me! He ran into my arms for a hug and then went back to where everyone was sitting. He then grabbed his backpack and lunchbox, and grabbed his coat and said goodbye to Ms. Joanie. 

She told me that it was a sensational day for Gus. Not only did he have a wonderful day without any problems, but for the first time ever, he held hands with another child as they walked through the halls. Usually he holds her hand, but today he was willing to hold another student's hand!!

Ms. Joanie said that her goals for him have been reached and it's time to think of some new ones! She said she is so proud of him and that she's amazed at how much progress he's made in such a short period of time!! It'll be two months on Friday. 

Gus's language has continued to improve and it's been great to let him be around other adults and learn that they care for him too. I love my time with him even more, but I'm so glad that we decided to put him in preschool. It's been a great thing for Gustafer.

To celebrate such a tremendous day, we went to Baskin Robbins for some ice cream!

Tomorrow we'll see Mary (his OT) and I can't wait to tell her about his progress!! I know she'll be as proud of him as I am!