gift

On Tuesday Damon and I celebrated eight years of marriage...
On Tuesday we also received an incredible offer from this amazing friend

Our dear friend Michelle offered to come over with her kids on Saturday (today) to babysit these guys

i love when Drew sports my IU hat!

leo ON.THE.MOVE

We said

please!

Since this was our first time both being away from Leo at the same time, we wanted to keep our date close by and simple...just in case, you know, we were needed.  By Tuesday night Damon had already thought of the perfect date activity and refused to share the surprise all week (he's an excellent surprise keeper...i on the other-hand, am not).  Michelle and her two wonderful kids came over just after nap time. And, after just a little warming up time for Leo we were off to

 

where we grabbed some drinks and some snacks and then got to work on a little project

Yep, we spent our date working on the newspaper crossword puzzle!  And, it was the most romantic and lovely surprise.  You see, twelve years ago I moved here from Michigan for a job without knowing a soul.  And it was at that job that I met my wonderful husband...and during the day at that job we would work on the daily crossword together - passing it back and forth from cube to cube throughout the day.  Since the "days of kids", we've had less and less time to take the time to sit down and work on a crossword together.  Until today.  It was just awesome to be able to sit and think and figure things (non-kid related things) out with the man I love with all my heart.

After about an hour, we continued our date at a bit less romantic location

We were out of some essentials (namely bananas, yogurt, and nutty bars if you really want to know) and thought it would be fun to act like some newlyweds (kinda) leisurely roaming the grocery aisles.  That was fun...but the absolute best part of our quick shopping adventure was when we were checking out.  We heard a long whine followed by a loud cry...and I cannot even describe the feeling we had knowing that it was NOT one of our boys making those sounds; that we did not have to discipline or sympathize or run back into the store for another bottle of

 or  

And, want to know just how great

really is? Not only did we get this text message from her just as we sat down at the coffee shop (probably just a mere 15 minutes from when we left the house):

"All is well! Leo went right 2 M. (daughter) & gave her a hug. he is happy...so is drew...have fun!"

but when we got home there were flowers, an anniversary card, and a freshly baked chocolate cake awaiting us! And it did not stop there...Michelle cooked us an amazing meal of

 

It was delicious beef stroganoff that was enjoyed by all (even & especially Leo)...and the cake was awesome too.

We had an amazing time on our date.  

The kids had an amazing time playing together.

We had an amazing time catching up with Michelle.

It was an AMAZING gift.

감사합니다

extra time

As this amazing October comes to an end, I'm realizing that summer really is over and winter will be quickly approaching (moan!).  It has been an absolute blessing to have had this month off of work...the weather has been perfect for taking family walks, playing at the new neighborhood park, going to the zoo, playing any-and-every-sport-imaginable with Drew, taking tractor rides and picking out pumpkins...and just being outside before we all end up hibernating through the long winter months.

Unfortunately, all the outside play has left me a bit "stressy" about all the things inside that aren't getting done...cleaning remains uncrossed off any To Do list written; laundry seems to only happen when absolutely necessary; there's emails and letters that need to be written without a toddler or pre-schooler present in order for them to be coherent and not messed up with crayon or pen marks or random letters & punctuation typed throughout; pictures remain on the camera and not uploaded to the computer; and blog posts remain in my head and not written and shared like I really want them to be.

But...I have all winter for those sorts of things, right?  For now...I just wish for things to remain "summer-like" where I can be completely care-free and enjoy all three of my handsome boys.  Thank you October 2010 for allowing me to do just that!

leo is such a good helper

leo was just too excited for the water to get his swim suit on

drew showing leo how to get a drink

leo totally mastered the technique

watch out leo...here comes drew!

my boys...in MN...in OCTOBER!

Until next time...make the most of the extra time you find you have!

EIGHT

eight wonderful years as husband & wife

and yet, I am quite certain our best years together still lie ahead

lookin' our best

A few weeks back...when most leaves still said summer but the air insisted it really was fall (unlike the past two weeks when it has been the complete opposite)...we received a wonderful homecoming gift from our friend Beverly - having our happiness of being all accounted four captured in photographs.  There was hardly a bad picture in the big, huge bunch...which has made selecting "our favorites" kinda tricky...and causing this post delay.  No more...here we are...all accounted four! (thank you Bev ~ you rock!)

leo loves leaves...& trees...& birds that sit in trees

pre-four-teeth-on-the-bottom-smile

pure happiness

doing what big brothers do

jumping for joy

taking a break to play the sax

first family walk through the tree tunnel

big kisses for our boys

Until next time...we're counting our blessings and making memories ~ hope you are too

fourteen and one

Today Leo turned fourteen months old...finally a milestone we could celebrate with him!!  And, I LOVE how this milestone coincided with another important one...ONE MONTH HOME.  Yep, it's hard for even me to believe, but we've been All Accounted Four for a whole month.  We celebrated with cake.  Leo blew out his candle...and then after one bite, preferred mashing up the cake and throwing it all over in complete excitement...which was fine, because the cake was so yummy we hardly noticed the mess being made.

Drew often asks "how many days has Leo been with us?"  Today I was happy to report in months [one] and not in days.  Funny how that changes.  During the whole waiting & waiting & waiting part of the adoption journey there's nothing better than to be able to say that you are DAYS away from EP Approval or DAYS aways from a Travel Call or DAYS away from getting on a big beautiful blue plane.  But then you see your child...and bring that child home...and all you want to do is think about are the MONTHS, YEARS, AND LIFETIME that await you with this child.  If our first month with Leo is any indication of how life for All Accounted Four will be going forward - it is going to be incredibly crazy & fun & just downright awesome.

Tonight I asked Drew what he remembers from Korea.  [Usually I ask what his favorite part of Korea was - always the same answer...breakfast at the hotel.]  But tonight, as the question was different...his answer was different.  He answered "seeing Leo the first three times and bringing him home".  That's why we brought him with us.  To be a part of something incredibly special to our family.  Forget the towers, museums, palaces, trains, crazy markets, and big huge dumplings...all that really mattered in Korea for us at that time was Leo.  And, even at just barely 4 years old...Drew gets it...and he'll remember.  And, because he'll remember...Leo will always know that he was the most important thing to us in Korea.  Forever.  For Aways.

So...happy ONE MONTH Leo!  We are so happy you're home with us.  We are looking forward to a LIFETIME with you.

Until next time...paperwork - Social Worker visit on Thursday and I have yet to start. (why do I do this to myslef?!)