Drew's First Passover...

Hi there...Drew had a busy weekend celebrating Passover...he's still wiped out!

We went to NJ on Saturday afternoon after having our last chumatz breakfast at the diner. We spent the first night at Grama's house with lots of people: Grama (of course - it was her house!), Aunt Lysee, Uncle Shawn, Aunt Sheri, Aunt Sheri's boyfriend Josh, Auntie Mar, Amy, Aunt Lois and Uncle Harold, Marcy, Mark, Zachary and Adam...it was very busy!! We really missed Uncle Steve, Aunt Lizzie and cousin David though - we hope they can come next year...

Drew had a great time playing with all of Zachary and Adam's toys and rolling Zachary's carrying case around - thanks cousin Zachary and Adam for sharing with Drew!! You guys have some cool stuff!!

Drew didn't really pay too much attention to the service part of the sedar, but he popped in and out of the kitchen to check on mommy and daddy and make sure we were doing OK :) He and Zachary also hid the afikomen together! They did a great job...

Then came the festive meal - now that Drew was into...We started with the salad course and Drew is probably the only nearly 22-month old that likes gefillte fish! He actually took the entire piece of fish and ate it like a piece of fruit - he was so funny. He also enjoyed the hard boiled egg. Then came Grama's soup - yum!!! Drew was into the soup, though the matzah balls were not his style. Yes, my son liked the fish and not the matzah ball - go figure? He had a little of the meal - some meatballs, etc...but by this time it was about 10:30 and it was bed time for Drew.

Drew missed the afikomen negotiations, but we started the first year of a three-year contract and every unmarried child gets $25!! Woo Hoo...that's going in the college fund!!

Sunday morning we all went to temple and Drew looked so adorable in his plaid shirt and sweater vest! A gift from Grama!! Now, I have waited YEARS to be able to bring a child to temple - I spent years fawning over everyone else's kids, so finally it was my turn and Drew was definitely the cutest - if I do say so myself!! Everyone commented on how cute he was. Drew enoyed playing with the siddurs and climbing back and forth between pews to see Grama, Aunt Lysee and Josh - then he got mad when I wouldn't let him go on the bima...I told him if Rabbi Rogoff was still there he could have gone, but not anymore - that was sad :( So, he ran around outside and did his thing...

He was so exhuasted from he night before that he missed he traditional aftr-shul lunch - oh well...Sunday was also Grama's birthday - Happy Birthday Grama!!!

For the second sedar we went to Uncle Lenny's and celebrated with Uncle Len, Angie, Great Bubbie, Opa, Gina, Samie and Marc and again, we had a great time. Drew was a little out of control wanting to climb all over everything and he really wanted to meet Hazel (the dog), but Hazel was a little freaked out by all the people. Drew did get to meet Squiggles the guinea pig and I think he liked her - he was a little hesitant to pet her at first...Drew loved playing outside and carrying Gina's tennis racket around with him! He had fun on the slide with Opa and the swings with Great Bubbie and Samie. He also enjoyed all the singing and liked playing the tamborine and marracas...A great second sedar for all!!

We drove home that night and got back around 12:15 a.m....we were all tired, but we had a great Passover. Drew is liking matzah and he even likes macaroons. Today we made some kosher for Passover pasta - it was pretty gross, but Drew thought it was OK...

So - that was Drew's first major Jewish holiday - he did really well!!!

In other Drew news...

He said "Uh Oh' for the first time today!! He's so cute!! :)

I think that's it...oh - we made our appt. with the urologist today for May 6 to discuss circumcison (did I spell that right?) We need to get that done so Drew can go through conversion - Mommy is not looking forward to it!! :( Oh well, we need to get it done so the sooner the better!!

OK - time to post some Passover pics...

PS - Margaret - Thanks for the message...i'd love to read your blog if I can :) If you have any dossier questions, feel free to e-mail me!!!

6 months ago today...

We met Drew for the first time!!

He's such a different little boy now than he was when we met him. I'll never forget that day - the fear in his eyes at meeting strangers, his mismatched orphanage clothes (all 5 layers of them!!), no talking at all, struggling to write down and digest all the information the orphanage director was giving us...what a difference six months make. His former caregivers wouldn't even recognize him now!!

Drew has been home for four months now - and he's doing so great. His vocabulary is really coming along. Just in the last week he's started saying "Daddy" instead of Dada and saying "no," while shaking his head. I have high hopes that someday he will say Mommy. Right now, when he says Daddy to me and I say, "No, mommy!" he just laughs and says "Daddy!" - it's a funny game to him. Of course he also will call me "Be" cause he hears Patrick call me Beth...Ha, ha...NOT!!

Drew is loving daycare - especially playing outside all day. In fact, at the end of the day he wants to stay and play. He's very whiny and tempermental by the end of the day and by 7:30 is pretty much ready for bed - at least Patrick and I are ready for him to go to bed. He's still sleeping great - though he cries out in his sleep a lot. He doesn't wake up though, so I don't know if it's nightmares or what?

I can't believe he's going to be 2 soon. It makes me sad that we missed his first birthday - 2 just doesn't seem to be the milestone that 1 is, ya know? Oh well...

This weekend will be Drew's first Passover - I hope he likes sedar. We'll be at Grama's for the first night and Uncle Lenny's for the second night. I have to teach Drew how to bargain for Afikomen money! LOL...we have a college fund to build up after all...

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On another note - I'm going to be writing an article on adoption for my sorority magazine - The Quill. I'm so excited!! I've been wanting to write on the subject for a while and this is such a good forum for that. Gotta think there are lots of A Xi D's out there interested in adoptiopn of some sort??

Today also happens to be AXiD's Founder's Day - April 17, 1893 in Galesburg, Ill. - I hope my pledge mom Auntie Kelly is proud of me for remembering that...

"I love the Rose of Alpha Xi...."

Funny thing is - Auntie Kelly and I always used to talk about having daughters and watching them get initiated into our sorority...and now we both have little boys!!

New pictures...

Check out the new pictures from today's visit to the park...and from Aunt Stephie's visit this weekend!!!

Patrick is in NYC for work so it's me and the boys right now...Drew had so much fun tonight on the slides with his big brothers...he was not happy when he had to leave to take a bath and they got to stay and play ball - it's not easy being the little guy!

One year ago today....

...we sent in our dossier and officially became "paper pregnant!"

I can't believe it's been a year. I will never forget going to the post office that day, in the pouring rain, clutching the most important package I had ever sent. I insured it, got tracking on it, etc...I was freaking out until our agency e-mailed the next day to say they received it and the process that led us to Drew began...

At that time, I couldn't even fathom Drew. The thought of an actual little boy in our house was just beyond comprehension. It's almost impossible to explain to anyone who hasn't gone through infertility, but the idea of actually having a child was just a concept I couldn't imagine.

But mailing that package was the begining of actually making our dreams come true. It was, finally, a positive step toward having a child, rather than the endless disappointments we'd faced for years...amazing what one piece of mail can mean, huh?? :)

I often wonder, when I'm feeling particularly introspective, what if we'd sent in our dossier two weeks earlier, or two weeks later - would Drew be our son? What if we hadn't fought to get our dossier pulled from Almaty and had just gone there instead of fighting it and ending up in Taraz? What if we had arrived in Taraz two days earlier, before all the Belgian families arrived? What if we'd requested a child of a specific gender or race, rather than leaving it to fate?

So many what ifs...

When I started this process everyone told me you end up with the child meant to be yours - I didn't believe them. But I do now...there's no doubt Drew was meant to be our child.

It's amazing what can happen in a year isn't it????

Not even a whimper....

Today at daycare drop off, Drew did not even make one little peep - he just blew a kiss good bye (he's so cute when he does this, he puts his hand to his mouth and says, "mmmmaaaa"), a wave and then he was off to play - what a big boy!!

Drew had a good weekend - Saturday morning he met his Aunt Stephanie and they had fun playing all day. We even went to the park where Drew helped a little boy chase after his dog that had run away. Drew was so funny running all around the place pointing and yelling at the dog! He also had fun going down the slides!

Saturday night, Drew's big brothers Chris and Ben came over and they will be here for a week - he loves his big brothers!! Drew's been having fun reading with them and playing video games (he doesn't realize his controller isn't attached - shhhhh!)It's a lot of fun having all three boys in the house!

In general, Drew has been doing great. I noticed that he's trying to imitate me more when I say things. For example, the other day he fell on the ground and his hands got dirty, and when I was brushing them off I said, "dirty, dirty, dirty." He then started saying it too. He also will point to his bubble bath and saying "Bu Bu" at bath time - so he's definitely improving his vocabulary...

Drew also loves singing...he likes me to sing to him the whole way home from daycare - that's a long time!! But he is the only person, I think, that actually likes my singing! His favorite songs are those we used to sing to his aunts Lysee and Sheri when they were little, so it's fun to do that with him now.

And that's about it from Drew's world right now..Mommy needs to get back to work!


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Just wanted to add:

Kazakhstan is apparently open again to adoptions, BUT any agencies that go through the DC Enmbassy, rather than the US Consulate in NY are having problems with dossiers being rejected!! Our dossier did go through the DC Embassy...It was actually a year ago this week that we submitted our dossier - scary how quickly things change....

Now, people are having dossiers rejected for saying they want to adopt a child as healthy as possible (we said that in our homsetudy) - apparently now you have to say you want to adopt any child, even those with health issues, or something to that affect. And apparently people who have had dossiers rejected are having a hard time resubmitting them or even getting answers as to why they were rejected...

It's such a terrible situation...

Please say a little prayer for those stuck in the process and for all the children in Kazakhstan orphanages waiting for their forever families...