15 Month Check Up

Today, we went for Drew's 15 month check up. He's such a little trooper. He loves Dr. Sood and loves his office. Well, so far he's loved everything. Today was a shot day, so he wasn't real happy for a few seconds. Those shots are a booger. I just hated the look on his little face that went from really happy to really mad in 0.2 seconds. He turned red as a beet and screamed until I could pick him up. Then he stuck that little bottom lip out and cried (for my benefit I'm sure) for about 10 seconds.

He's doing great. Growing and right on track developmentally (actually a little ahead in some areas). He weighs 22.4 pounds and is 30 1/4 inches tall. My big little boy. He's in the 20th percentile in weight and 30th in height. My "little" Vietnamese baby is not so little. However, his 12 month jeans were falling off of him. My kids and their little waists and butts.

He'll go back in a month for his flu shot booster and for an ear wax removal. His little ears have a lot of wax in them. I have to put drops in them twice a day to soften it up and then we'll have it taken out in a month. Charlie gets to take him to that appointment. :)

Looking forward to tomorrow. We're actually taking the boys to the Dillon office tomorrow afternoon in their Halloween costumes. AND we're doing our second post placement visit tomorrow. After all of that fun, we're heading to our church for the Fall Festival. Ian has loved it the past 2 years and I can't wait for Drew to experience it. Afterwards, we're going to Ian's school for their Fall Festival. My kids will never go to bed tomorrow night. Yikes.

I'll post Halloween pictures sometime this weekend.

School Pictures

Ian's school picture for this year. I know I'm a little biased, but he's just so handsome. He looks so grown up in this picture...and a little sleepy. Where did my baby go? What is it with boys and hair? His hair looked perfect when he left the house that morning. What happened I'll never know. Oh well...it's him though...crazy hair and all. Love my sweet and rotten Ian.

Jack Smirky

Ian "helping" Daddy carve the pumpkin

My cute boys

Ian with his pumpkin

The finished product....Jack Smirky

My Ian

For those of you that know me, you know how much I love my Ian. He can be a handful sometimes, but all in all, he's a pretty good boy. Some times he acts so big and so grown up. Other times....he acts like a baby younger than Drew. I guess that's to be expected.

He had a rough evening. He was on the "thinking chair" many times this evening. He just doesn't get the fact that he's bigger than Drew. He thinks he can sit on him and it's fine. Nope...not fine in my house. So, he goes to the thinking chair. Then he decides to hit or throw something....right back to the thinking chair.

It was nearing bedtime this evening. Drew was already in his pajamas and ready for his bottle. Drew is used to me giving him his bottle and rocking him for a little while. Then we say "it's time to go nite-nite"...he'll shake his head no...but we take him to his crib anyway. Give him a kiss and say good night. That's it. He's down. But....he's used to that little routine. Tonight, Ian was insisting on sitting on my lap where Drew usually sits for his bottle. I tried to explain to him that as soon as Drew was in his crib he could sit on my lap all by himself. Nothing worked so Charlie came over and picked him up and took him to the couch with him.

Ian, of course, was crying, crying, crying. Then he started coughing. Coughing....crying....guess what was next? Yep....throwing up. Poor little guy. He threw up on Charlie. Threw up on Charlie's shoes. Charlie got a towel for me and he threw up in it too. While we were waiting for Charlie to bring me another towel, poor little Ian said "Mommy, I'm sick. Why am I sick Mommy?....Mommy, I'm sick....I need to go to the hospital". I desperately tried not to laugh. I could hear Charlie chuckling in the hallway. I tried to reassure Ian that he was fine and he did not need to go to the hospital. After a bath he was fine.

My sweet Ian....never a dull moment.

No Pictures Today

We're all sick in the Conner home. Drew's still recovering from his ear infection, Ian now has a bad cough and runny nose, I'm coughing up stuff and Charlie is aching all over. Not a fun day. Hopefully we'll all get some rest tonight and tomorrow will be better.

Beautiful Fall Day

As close as it gets to both of them looking at the camera
Daddy & Ian being silly with their pumpkins on their heads
Boy on the move....all the time!


To enjoy our beautiful fall weather, Charlie, Brad and I took the boys to Pumpkin Town today in South Tulsa. It was actually a lot warmer than I expected it to be, but it was a beautiful day. The boys had fun playing and running around. Drew kept looking at the pumpkins and saying "ball". Charlie and Ian picked out the perfect pumpkin and they're going to carve it up tomorrow evening. That ought to be entertaining (I'll be there with my camera). We tried to get a picture of the family, but Ian was not cooperating. He took about a 20 minute nap on the way to Pumpkin Town and that was it. So, Mr. Cranky Pants made an appearance.

We're going to go to Bixby to the Pumpkin Patch on the 23rd. Ian's class is going on a field trip, so I'm going to tag along. That should be fun. We probably should have gone there today, but we thought we'd try the one a little closer to home.

All in all....a good day.

BTW....my condolences to all of the Sooner fans out there. BUT.....GO POKES!!!! We're really Marshall University fans, but living in Oklahoma you have to have a team to cheer for. We just can't bring ourselves to root for OU....so we are fans of the Orange and Black....who are now undefeated. I LOVE football...college, high school, pro....any kind of football. My favorite sport in my favorite time of year. Nothing better than a Friday or Saturday night football game when you have to have a blanket to keep you warm....or a special someone :)

More from the Conner gang tomorrow......

15 Months Old AND We've Been Home 2 Months

Today, little man Drew is 15 months old....and it's been 2 months since we landed in Tulsa with our newest addition. He's just a stinker beyond belief. I'm amazed at how far he's come in just 2 short months.

It's been so different with Drew. He's been a more difficult child in a lot of ways. He was and is so much more independent than Ian. I found it was much harder to gain his trust. Maybe it's the additional 2 months he spent in the orphanage (Ian came home at 11 months old)...and maybe it's just his personality. Haven't quite figured that one out yet. There's no doubt that he's attaching, but being the worrier that I am, I still fret over possible attachment issues. He still prefers mommy at this point but if I'm not around (or if he doesn't see me)....daddy is just fine too. I think he has me pegged. He knows that his little cry / whine can get to me and he uses that to his advantage. Oh well, I keep telling myself they're only little once.

Anyway....a little over a year ago we saw his face for the first time and 10 weeks ago, our lives were forever changed by this adorable little guy. We love you little man Drew!!!

Stupid Teeth Plus Stupid Weather Equals.....

An ear infection. Yay!

Drew has his first (that we know of) ear infection. He's been cranky because of his teeth. He's been drooling because of his teeth. His nose has been running because of....oh heck...who knows what. Today he was tugging at his little right ear, fussing, not napping and not eating. So I thought I'd better check in with the doctor since the weekend is almost upon us. They, of course, needed to see him. So off we go. He acts completely fine at the doctors office. Running, laughing, babbling, giggling.....just being full of his normal cuteness. When they checked his little right ear...all clear. Hmmm? Checked the left ear....yep....infected. I had to giggle because he has not touched his little left ear one time. Now he on antibiotics for 10 days, yippee. He's coughing quite a bit, but Ms. Jodi (our nurse practitioner) said his lungs were clear. I think it's just the crazy, stupid Oklahoma weather. Oh well...this too shall pass.

Puzzles and shapes...one of Ian's favorite things. Look how sweet they are. Just warms my heart :)
Building a "huge big" house (look at the concentration and those eye lashes)

OK, so it's nearly 3am in the morning. Why in the world am I posting on the blog. Well, I have a raging sinus headache. Got up to take some medicine and thought I'd download the pictures I took earlier this evening. Then, of course, I had to post a couple. Now I'm going back to bed.

Crazy Weather

It's official....I'm not going to be Mother of the Year. How in the world do you know how to dress your kids during the season change? It's finally Fall here in Tulsa....my favorite time of year. But, I'm clueless what the little ones should wear. It's chilly in the morning and by late afternoon it's pretty hot. So, do I dress them in pants or shorts? Today, Drew is in pants and Ian is in shorts. Not only is Ian in shorts...I didn't send a jacket with him. Nor did I send a jacket with Drew. Geesh. It's not way cold here by any stretch, but it's chilly and overcast.

One Year Ago.....

At approximately 11:25am my phone rang in my office. It was Charlie. He said "how's your day going?"....It was the end of an exhausting week so I replied with "um, OK."....He said "it's going to get better"....Still not getting it I responded with "yeah, OK."....He promptly replied "yes, IT IS going to be a whole lot better....want to have lunch with me at Dillon?"......I finally got it.....yep, he was talking about our referral. It took FOREVER for Charlie to drive across town and pick me up and then took even longer to drive 5 miles to the Dillon office. All in all, it was probably only 20 minutes total....but it seemed like hours.

We walked into the Dillon office trembling (or at least I was). We were about to hear the information about a little baby that would become our son. We were taken into the conference room while Katie gathered the information. Then we started looking at all of his information, what little there was. We knew this was our son. We verbally accepted his referral and then the moment came when we saw his face for the very first time. No words can describe how you feel when you see your child's face for the first time. I don't ever want to discount how a mother feels as she's giving birth to a child and actually seeing them for the first time, but as an adoptive mom it's different. What we have is a small 4 x 6 picture of this little baby...no coos, no crying, no little eyes opening and closing...but a small picture that totally opens your heart and you realize that this is the child you will do your best to parent. It's totally overwhelming and exhilarating. We knew from the moment we looked at his medical information and then gazed at his little picture that this little baby boy was OUR SON. God had blessed us yet again with another son. How great is our God?

Later that evening, we showed Ian the picture of his new baby brother. He looked at it intently and said "that's my brother". Then he kissed his little picture. I'm not sure he understood what all of this excitement actually meant, but it was a sweet moment.

The next 9 months were excruciating. What was supposed to be a 3-6 month wait before we traveled to Vietnam, turned into over 9 months. Lots of ups and downs.....a lot of downs...but we still knew that waiting on the other side of the world was our son....our baby Drew.

One year ago today we saw a glimpse of God's love for us....we saw the face of an angel. And...Charlie was right....my day one year ago...October 5th, 2007....got a whole lot better. :)

Just A Few Pictures

Drew and I had the privilege of attending Natasha's shower for Nehemiah today. We had a great time. The girls that were there were so much fun and we even did a sweet little art project for Nehemiah's room. All of us "non-creative" types had fun laughing at our masterpieces. Natasha loved all of them. We painted scenes from Vietnam onto wooden rice spoons. Cute and clever idea. Mine didn't look like a scene from Vietnam....not quite sure what it looked like. Drew had a great time too. He loved playing with the toys at Rhonda's house, eating all of the yummy food and all of the attention from the other mommies and little girls there. He was asleep in the car before we got to the end of Rhonda's road. Too much partying I suppose.

Natasha....if you read this....I'm honored to have been part of this special day. Nehemiah is so loved already and I can't wait until he's home. Also can't wait until you join the ranks of being a parent of 2. You are an amazing woman and mother and I am blessed to call you my friend. Love you girl.

Cuteness

Brothers sitting still....what's up with that?
Not as sweet as it looks...Ian just didn't like Drew being on his bike :)
Bath time fun
Our handsome Indian Prince
OK....I've had enough of pictures for today :)


These boys are amazing. They both LOVE being outside and this evening was a perfect evening for it. It's fall and we love this time of year.

Ian is adjusting to his new pre-school beautifully. We get glowing reports every day. He's quite the little charmer. He also loves going to Mission Friends at church on Wednesday evenings. This past Wednesday, during chapel time, they were talking about Missionaries who are in Utah. They asked the kids "are they in Mexico"....."no"...."are they in India?"....Ian promptly stands up and says "I'm from India". He's very proud of the fact that he's from India. He has started saying, "I'm Ian Everett Kushal Conner. I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma City" (ok, close enough)." At his new pre-school (Southpark Christian School), they have chapel time each week. They have a bible memory verse....yes for 3 year olds...to learn each month. This month it's Psalm 18:30...As for God, His way is perfect. Tonight after dinner Charlie said, let's practice your memory verse. Ian said "I do it, I do it....As for God, His way is perfect....Psalm 18:30". WOW...double WOW. He's only been working on it this week. Very proud of my little man.

Drew is doing better. Still teething and still somewhat miserable...but it's better than it was. He's becoming quite vocal. Jabbering a lot more. Saying a few words. He listens very well right now. He's a great eater. His bed time routine is getting better and better. He wakes up one time for a bottle and then goes back to sleep. Of course, if he's having a bad teething night....it's nuts. He is attaching beautifully to both Charlie and I. He still prefers mommy if he's upset, but he will let Charlie comfort him too. If I'm not around...he settles down with Charlie. But if he sees or hears me....all bets are off. He wants his mommy! While it's wonderful, there are times when I need to attend to Ian.

OK...it's getting late. Ian has Soccer tomorrow and Drew and I are going to Natasha's baby shower. Sunday is a special day for our family....so stay tuned for pictures!

As for God, His way is perfect. Psalm 18:30

We Hate Teeth

Teeth are not our friends. Poor little man Drew is just miserable. I think his final one year molar is just about in. At least I hope so. He's been running a low grade fever, drooling like crazy and having diarrhea off and on for the past couple of days. Not sleeping well...which means mommy's not sleeping well either. Teething Tablets....they're our friends....very GOOD friends. I keep reminding myself...this too shall pass. When he's not in excruciating pain, he's a very happy little guy. Still a stinker though :)