8 months

Tomorrow it will be 8 months that we've been home with Brakston. I reminded Boomer of that on Saturday (the 13th is our Gotcha Day, when he was placed into out arms forever) and he said, "why are you still counting, it's indefinite now." I guess he has a point, but I'm going to keep counting until we hit the year mark, and then we'll celebrate our Gotcha Day every April 13th. In just two weeks, he will have been home longer than he was in Guatemala. That seems amazing to me. I've found myself crying a lot lately, not out of sadness, out of sheer, overwhelming joy. I love Christmas and having Brakston home this year has been wonderful. He opened presents Saturday with Nana and Pops and he understood what to do and soon as he saw the box of trains, he was asking for us to open the box. He's a smart cookie!!

The two of us went shopping on Friday and had lunch at Chick-fil-A. It was fun just the two of us. On the way home, he would say "mama?" and I'd say "what?" and he'd just laugh and a few seconds later I would hear "mama?" We played until he fell asleep. I don't think there's anything I like hearing more than "mama", even if it is a hundred times a day!

I don't think I have words to express how thankful and grateful we both our this holiday season. Brakston has brought us so much love, joy, and sheer happiness. He amazes us with something new everyday. On Friday, while we were out, we were in the Target parking lot and he just started belly laughing (I had just driven over a speed bump) and I thought, surely that wasn't funny, but then I went over the next one, and he did it again, and then signed "more." Boomer went out with us later that night, and he took him back to the Target parking lot and he did it again. I think we have a future daredevil, roller coster loving, thrill seeker on our hands.

Brakston now signs more, eat, drink, please, thank you, and all done. He has added cookie, cracker, horse, quack, moo, cheese, nana, boppa and many other words to his vocabulary. Every time he sees me pick up the phone, he says "boppa?" I guess he thinks I talk to my dad all the time. He picks up his phone and says "hello" and yesterday he was playing with his phone and said "hello.........boppa?" It was just too cute. His favorite thing in the world is Thomas the Tank Engine and will only watch Thomas DVDs, nothing else. I think his favorite word is "hot." He doesn't tolerate anything hot in his mouth, he prefers his food luke warm at best. He's learned to apply hot to different situations and says "hot" when he gets too close to the space heater in my office. Brakston also loves to dance, I think his cousin Grant told him what to over Thanksgiving because he dances just like Grant.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Holiday Season,

Heidi

Random thoughts....

First, I still don't have pictures from the Gatlinburg trip. They are on Boomer's camera and we're in the process of switching computers so he hasn't uploaded anything, maybe after the holidays. Gatlinburg was a blast and my dad finally got to hold Brakston for the first time (Brakston had been scared of him). We had a lot of fun and tried many new restaurants and went to a petting zoo. Brakston loved the goats!!

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. We stayed in French Lick for two nights at the hotel and Brakston enjoyed swimming and spending time with all of his cousins in French Lick and Bedford.

We have been getting ready for Christmas around here. There's not a lot on the Christmas tree this year, Brakston likes to take off the ornaments he can reach, so we have a few up high. It makes for a funny looking tree.

We have started packing for Florida. We leave the day after Christmas and return on January 4th. We're going to Disney World, I can't wait. And, it's 70 degrees in Daytona right now, much nicer than here!!!

The pictures are from our latest photo session. Brakston did great!!

Happy Holidays

Gatlinburg bound!!

Well, we're leaving in a few minutes for a trip to Gatlinburg with my parents. I'm exhausted already from packing. Boomer came home last night and packed in like 10 minutes, are you kidding me??? I've been packing stuff for hours. It's funny, we flew to Florida in May, but Brakston was still a baby then so toys took up less room, and we shipped his baby food and diapers down. It's crazy how much crap we have to take.

*fish cracker, check
*cheerios, check
*fruit snacks, check
*cereal bars, check
*bottle, check
*bottle brush and dish soap to clean the bottle (used only at night), check
*sippy cups, check
*diapers, and overnight diapers, check
*toys for the car, check
*toys for the room, check
*new portable DVD player that daddy just ordered, check
*new Thomas DVD, check
*clothes, lots of them in case of spills, check
*pajamas, two pairs, check
*pack n play, check
*sheets for pack n play, check
*glow seahorse, a must have if you want B to sleep, check
*new favorite stuffed dog, check
*jacket, sweatshirt, check, check
*Tylenol and motrin, just in case, check
*wipes, check
*batteries, check
*musical toy for car, check
*table toppers, check
*spoons, check
*puffs, check
*books, check

Anyone else tired from reading?? Now that he's a toddler, Brakston has quite the mind of his own, so his favorite things are a must to pack. For example, he's very into playing with cars, trucks, and trains, he's all boy!! Snacks are a must when we eat out so he has something to do until the food comes, he can sit at the dinner table for a long time, but, why chance it?

The picture of Brakston in one of two from Halloween. He just wasn't too into trick or treating on the square, maybe because there was like 1000 people there and it was crowded and hot. He did make the cutest lion. I'm glad we went to the zoo because it was so much fun.

Look for new pictures after we get back from the trip on Sunday. We hope to take my parents to our favorite petting zoo. B will love it.

Cutest Lion Ever!!!

OK, so I might be biased, but, I think Brakston is the cutest lion ever!! We met cousin Grant and his parents, Bret and Erin, at Zoo Boo yesterday. Gramma (Penny) came along too. We had so much fun. Brakston really enjoyed riding on the train. He insisted on walking towards the end and refused to hold my hand, Mr. Independent. There was such a difference then when we took him to the zoo on Labor Day. He paid a lot more attention to the animals and while looking at the penguins, he kept signing "more" because they would swim by us so fast. It was too cute. We're going trick or treating downtown in Greencastle early on Friday and then Boomer and I are going out to dinner for his birthday without the little guy.

Happy 6 months home Brakston!!

Today marks 6 months since we brought Brakston home, that doesn't even seem possible. I can't put into words how wonderful it's been and how blessed we are to have such a wonderful son. He has brought us so much joy and we love him so very much. The three of us spent the afternoon together at the Covered Bridge Festival. Brakston was great and enjoyed the nice day. When we were getting ready to leave, Boomer stopped to look at some cars and Brakston signed "please" and kept saying "please please please" and pointing to the cars and trucks so, he came home with three, two little trucks, and one monster truck. He's already got daddy wrapped around his finger.

My Babies.....

Aren't they the cutest things ever??? Harley and Brakston are best buddies, they have so much fun together.

Check out Brakston's hair!! It's going to be trimmed on Friday, it's getting out of control!!

What a wonderful day....

Before I begin, the first picture is proof that Brakston still makes the "crazy face" and the second picture is from his birthday party with Aunt Erin and Uncle Gordon back in July. (Boomer finally loaded his camera pics onto my computer)

Yesterday, Brakston and I went to Greenwood for his very first band contest. This was special to me, that's how I grew up, spending countless Saturdays going various places to contests, it was awesome as a child and I loved it. I didn't know how he would react, would he be scared, timid....no need to worry, he absolutely loved it and provided entertainment to everyone who was there. I took his walker with us, which used to be my nephew Aidan's (I bought it years ago at a garage sale for $2.00, Aidan loved it, and now we are using it until Noah is old enough) and he spent almost an hour chasing Aidan around the parking lot. Aidan was great with him, and tried to share the walker with him, but B would have none of that and when Aidan wouldn't let go, he growled at him (that's what happens when you spend a lot of time around dogs I guess). When it was close to the time of the performance, we went up in the stands. My mom was holding Brakston, who wouldn't stop dancing when the band started. I finally let him down to stand at the railing and the kid just went nuts. He danced and danced, making everyone around him laugh out loud. It look like a "booty" dance, as he held onto the railing and shook his butt for the whole world to see.

I cried, it was so perfect, which sounds a little silly to some I guess, but I loved seeing him be a part of something that defined who I am. Boomer calls me a "band geek" and I laugh. I loved every second of it, am proud of it, and miss it like crazy. It's forever a part of who I am and watching Brakston enjoy it was just the best feeling....He had so much fun yesterday and I loved watching him explore new things. I was reminded once again how God chose the perfect child for us.

I read other adoption blogs and it just seems so crazy to think that some of these babies aren't even home yet. Our recovery nurse is traveling this week to pick up her second son from Guatemala and he's one day older that Brakston, a day older, and still not home....I often wonder why we got so lucky.....Brakston is the love of our lives and I can't remember life without him. Someone asked me yesterday "how motherhood was treating me?" and I just found that to be a really odd question. Did she think my answer was going to be something other than "it's wonderful?" Yes, life is good here and Boomer better watch out, I think we have a future musician in the making..........

Where did my baby go?

Oh my goodness, who took my baby and replaced him with this crazy toddler????

You would never know today that he had the "snip snip" surgery yesterday. This kid has been into everything today, it's 2:20 and I'm exhausted, good thing Grams (Penny) is coming tonight. He has taken a great interest in my keyboard and does everything in his power to get to it, moving everything that I use to block it out of his way. He walks with his walker everywhere and hardly ever crawls. Now, he just needs to let go. As you can see, he loves his Harley, that poor dog takes a lot of abuse from B. Today Brakston threw my books from my bookshelf all to the floor, everyone that he could reach. He loves cassette tapes. I found some that I forgot to put in the garage sale and he has great fun opening them and closing them...whew we just had a tug-of-war as he's trying to move a storage container away from the computer so that he can reach the keyboard.

He now says "Cassey" for both dogs, we're still working on Harley. He says "no," "mom," "dad," (with a huge emphasis on the final D), "fish," "please," and "yes." He signs "more please" when he wants something. Using two signs together is a huge step, I've very proud of him for moving on to two-word phrases so quickly. (On average, typical children start using two-word phrases between 20 and 24 months) He signs "more" and/or "please" every time he wants something now, we just don't always know what he wants.

We've now been home over 5 months, that doesn't seem possible. He's such a blessing, but boy, I need a nap!!

Oh, the lion picture is us practicing for Halloween. He loved his costume.

New Pictures

I finally got Brakston's one-year pictures taken. There was a 9.95 special at a place in Metropolis and I posted a few of the ones from the CD we received. The other pictures are from Brakston practicing his spoon skills at dinner last night. I guess I should have paid more attention to him, and less to cutting out my coupons.

For my wonderful husband....

These pictures are from our first family trip to the zoo on Labor Day. Don't my men look cute!!

I just wanted to take a minute and blog about my wonderful husband. I was talking to my grandma this week and she said that she thought that parenthood and really "changed" LT. I disagree, I don't think it's changed him, I just think he shows his softer side more now that Brakston's here.

The reason for this blog is because LT and I had a conversation this week that really made me think. It was about a couple we know and how it seemed like the husband wasn't thinking of his wife's needs, or safety and I said "there's never been a single time that you haven't taken care of me" and I think my poor husband was absolutely speechless (amazing, I know)......but it's true. LT has this tough exterior,but inside, he's a "fixer." He wants to make everything right. I remember when I had to testify in court a couple of years ago and LT didn't like how my car sounded so he rented me a car for the day because I had to drive all the way to Martin County to the courthouse. When Morgan, our beloved white boxer, died right before my birthday two years ago, he searched the Internet until he found a black boxer puppy because he knew that I had always wanted one, and he drove to Missouri to get him (he told me he was taking our friend to pick up his Harley, which was true, and that's how Harley got his name) and he surprised me when he got home. He put up with me during Brakston's adoption process, he probably deserves a medal for that. He arranged a babysitter on my birthday without me knowing and we had our first dinner date without Brakston since we had come home from Guatemala. He decided a Mini Cooper was just too small for the three of us, and too hard to lug a baby around in, and bought me a new car (He now drives my truck). Most of all, he always, always, keeps me, now us, safe.

It's funny, when my mom met my dad in highschool, she decided that he was it, she found who she was going to marry, and that was that. That's exactly what I decided after my first date with LT. He was it, I knew it immediately. He was what I wanted, and I'm stubborn and usually get what I want. We had a couple of breakups, but I just knew.

I love life right now. I love watching him with Brakston. I love being a family of three.

It's amazing to me that LT and I met 11 years ago and will soon be celebrating our 9th wedding anniversay. Time goes by so fast. So, this blog is for my beloved husband. I'm pretty sure Brakston thinks he's great too. This morning when he got up, he signed "more" and then said "dad." I thought maybe it was a fluke, but at lunch today when I went to take his plate away, he signed "more," so I gave it back and he continued eating so I think this morning he really wanted more of his dad (LT usually gets him up, but since he was sick, I was at home and LT was already at work.)

Sick again!!

We had a scary night last night. At 9:30 when I was putting a cranky Brakston to bed, I realized he was hot!! We took his temp and it was somewhere between 101 and 104 (those ear thermometers are worthless). I called out doctor at home, who's luckily a friend of ours, and after talking with him, Boomer went off to the store. I gave him Tylenol at 10:30 and then when I woke him up at 12:30 for the Motrin, the fever was gone and it stayed away, until this afternoon when it was back to 102. Ugh!! Brian told us to come in this morning at 9:00, which we did, and he has an upper resp. infection, but his ears looked good. Two weeks ago it was a double ear infection. It seems like as soon as the antibiotics were done, he was sick again. Oh the joys of daycare!! I hope when he wakes up the fever is back down. I made the mistake of not giving him any medicine after the doctor visit because his fever was back to normal. Guess that wasn't a good idea.

The pictures are from last weekend. We had dinner with Pops, Nana, and LT's stepsister Paula and her boyfriend Nick. Paula hadn't met Brakston yet. They got along very well as you can see from the photos. (Pops=Larry, Nana=Margie).

UPDATE: His temp is down again, thank goodness. Hopefully it stays that way.

One year ago today.........

One year ago today, the day before my birthday, we received our referral of Brakston. Our coordinator worked all day to get the paperwork ready so she could call us before my birthday (it was on Saturday last year and the office is closed on the weekend). There's a part of me that can't believe it's been a year, but there's another part of me that feels like the year took forever. I did not realize until this summer, and even now as school has started and I'm back to work, just how depressed and unhappy I was last year. When Guatemala changed the laws mid-stream, there were a lot of days that I really didn't think Brakston would ever come home. The stress level was unbelievable and there were many days when I didn't get out of bed. I asked our psychologist friend why she didn't say something, and she said I wouldn't have believed at the time just how bad I really was.....I know she's right. I tried to pretend that everything was just fine, but inside, I was a wreck, and the funny thing, I didn't even tell Boomer how many bad things I had read on the internet, I just kept them to myself....I didn't want to stress him out too.

What a difference a year makes......I'm not even on blood pressure medicine anymore, and when I went to the doctor last week, it was 120/72, and that's with the start of school, Amazing what a baby can do. Since we were gone on vacation over his birthday, I've really taken some time the last few days, as the referral date came closer, to think about his birthmother, and thank and praise God that she made such a difficult and courageous decision to let someone else raise her baby, someone she didn't even know and would never meet. Brakston is the most precious gift in the world. I can't believe how happy he makes us, how much both Boomer and I smile now, and how much we love him. It seems like I waited a lifetime to become a mom, but the wait was so worth it. Life is good at the Taylor household.

So when you read this, say a prayer for Silvia, who was brave enough, and strong enough, to give up her son because she wanted a better life for him than she could provide.....I can't even imagine, but we're forever grateful.

Heidi

Brakston's new toy???

Boomer wouldn't tell me where he was going yesterday. I knew he went to pick something up, but he wouldn't tell me what is was.....when I came home from school today, I saw two new arcarde games in the garage. The one the two of them are plaing is "Cruisin' USA.' Brakston and Boomer played it while on vacation and Brakston loved it. So, I don't know who the game is for, Boomer, or Brakston??? Either way, it's just too cute!! I have two such handsome men, I'm so lucky!!

We survived our first day of daycare!!

I say "we" survived because it was hard on me too. I didn't want to leave him today. Since he didn't know what was going on, he didn't cry when we snuck out, but when I returned with his shoes 15 mintues later (who knew......it's a state regulation that they have to wear shoes over the age of 1), he was really crying, and he didn't even see me. He was SO excited when I picked him up at 3:00. I don't start work until Wednesday, but I have to move my office and I didn't want us both to start on the same day, so that's why he started today. I know tomorrow is going to be bad, he'll know what's going to happen. It's harder than I imagined. I just hope he'll understand that we're not leaving him too. He's been thru a lot, first he lost his birth mother, and then his foster family. I know he had to be scared today, and that just eats at me......but, I have to work, at least a little.

Here's a couple of pictures from his birthday party in French Lick last weekend, he had a good time, he's still scared of my dad, which is so awful, but I hope that if we make an effort to get down there more, he'll get used to him.

A day of firsts....

Well, today Brakston made his first attempt at finger painting and I made my first attempt at a cake. I've posted pictures. As soon as I get Boomer to upload his pictures, I'll post pictures from vacation and Brakston's first birthday in Virginia Beach. He really, really loved his giant cupcake from Aunt Erin and Uncle Gordon. He did a really good job eating almost all of it!!

Happy 3 month anniversay Brakston!!

Well, today marks 3 months since we've been home with Brakston, that's just unbelievable!! I posted some pictures of him "reading." (of course, the book is upside down) To celebrate, I got out one of my Language Scales that measures the abilities of children under the age of three. I'm happy to report that Brakston falls in the 15-18 month age range for Language Comprehension and Language Expression, not bad for someone that's getting ready to turn 1 and heard a completely different language the first 8 months of his lift. I guess our all day speech sessions are working (just kidding, but I do feel sorry for him, it seems like I'm always asking him to do something.)

Brakston now dances on command (a must see, it's just too cute) and signs "more" when he wants something, spontaneously. The other day I was getting him up from a nap, and he's signing more like crazy, turns out, he wanted a snack. He imitates every animal sound known to man and is starting to say them when I ask him "How does a ________ go." When he hears the dogs bark, he says "dog," or "woof." He can also sign "ball" now, but it looks a lot like "more."

It's been a wonderful 3 months, and I'm so happy that I've gotten to stay home this summer. I'm already dreading going back to school, but, at least it's only 3 days a week. The joy Brakston brings to our lives is amazing, I don't think I've ever seen Boomer smile so much. We are truly blessed beyond measure.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, we've been busy the last week. We went out to my aunt's campground on the 4th of July and had dinner with KK, Joyce, Nona, and Joe. Brakston slept on the way home and then stayed up for the fireworks, which he watched for 30 minutes. He got scared twice, but otherwise, really enjoyed it. Of course, we did the redneck version of fireworks and pulled down the tailgate of the truck and watched them from our driveway. I took my camera to the campground, but forgot to take pictures. On Saturday the 5th, we went to a birthday party/reunion for Uncle Vick in Bedford. Brakston's cousin Grant really enjoyed Brakston's book (i.e., he kept trying to steal it away and Brakston would yell, it was quite funny). I again took my camera, and didn't take any pictures. I have to get better with the camera! On Monday this week, we went to a Lion's Club meeting at the fairgrounds, and I did take pictures this time. Brakston looks thrilled, doesn't he? Today during lunch, I asked Brakston if he wanted more tomato soup, and he immediately signed more with no assistance from me. I asked him later what a cat said, and he said, "meow." I was shocked. He probably gets really tired of having speech therapy all day long!! He even signed more for daddy at dinner, which is huge since he does all of this stuff with me and then refuses to do it in front of others. I think LT thought I was making it all up. I forgot to mention that on Sunday the 6th, we ate lunch out at LT's new store with Aunt Pammie. Brakston truly enjoys french fries.

Now we're trying to get ready for a garage sale on Saturday and then the fair starts on the 18th, and we leave for Virginia on the 26th. Brakston will be celebrating his first birthday with Aunt Erin and Uncle Gordon in Norfolk. We're looking forward to it.

First Hair Cut Pictures

This is the crazy face (left side)!!

Melissa gave him a sucker for being so good!!

Here are the pictures of Brakston getting his hair cut today.