My awesome boy.

I find myself constantly in awe of Noah Tamirat. Each new thing he learns to do, how he just does things that we didn't know he could do I just watch in amazement as this little boy learns and grows and does new things everyday. When Noah came home my parents bought him a ring stacking toy but all he wanted to do was bang the rings on things and throw them around the room so along with some other toys the ring stacker got put away after several attempts to teach him the right way to use it. At 10 months old he didn't know how to "play" with toys. Today after a diaper change he grabbed the ring stacker off the shelf in his bedroom and carried it to the living room. I sat with him on the floor and dumped all the rings off and handed him the 1st one intending to reshow him what to do with them..well my son taught me something. For the next half hour he sat there and put the rings on and took them back off without needing any help from me. As if he has always known how to do this or had been doing it for months. He didn't always put them on in the proper order but thats ok. In the last couple months he has really started to "play" with toys in the way they were intended and I couldn't be more proud.
Other new tricks including wiping his face, helping put toys away, putting his dirty clothes in the hamper and helping turn lights off and on. My little boy is getting more independent and becoming my little helper. I'm so blessed to have this awesome little boy that calls me mommom.

Adoption is on peoples radar..

So Saturday night Sean and I went out to do some Christmas shopping with Noah. We stopped at 5 guys for dinner and while Sean was getting the food I got us a table and put little man in a high chair. Not surprisingly the strap on the chair was broken and Noah was getting hungry (momma ran out of puffs in the diaper bag ..a big nono) so he was a little fussy and squirming around. An older lady that worked there was out cleaning tables and came over to talk to him . She was asking if he was unhappy in the chair at which point I explained that no he was just hungry and not patient about waiting for food. She asked how old he was to which i replied 16 months old At this point she asked if he had been with us since birth? I wasn't sure I heard her correctly so I asked her what and she came around to the side of the table I was on and asked if he had been with us long. To which I replied no he has only been with us 6 months he came home from Ethiopia at 10 months old. At this point she got a huge smile on her face and asked if we had gone over there to get him. I explained that we did indeed go to bring him home and stayed for 4 days and that it was a wonderful experience. She asked how he was doing since coming home and said that she loves to watch "Adoption Story" and see families traveling over seas and bring their little ones home.
I'm going to admit here that I just naturally thought people seeing me with Noah would assume that my husband must be black..how AWESOME that this woman's first thought went to adoption. How cool that shows like "adoption story" can bring a greater understanding and awareness to people. Not to mention that show is what put us in touch with AGCI ( the agency we used to bring Noah home).
November is National Adoption month so spread the word and do your part to help the worlds orphans.

A playdate.

You may remember back in the summer Noah would have playdates at the baseball games with his "buddy" Jake. Well yesterday we got these two cuties togeather again. Jake and his mom came over to visit and see how the boys did togeather with actual toys involved. With two only children the sharing takes some work and Jake needs to prepare for daycare. Here are some pictures of the "fun" Hey Noah that chair looks comfy.

What do you see outside Noah?

Two little cuties.

Poor Jake. Noah didn't want to share his chair.

Overall I think it went ok. The typical toy snatching happened but everyone survived. We hope Jake will come and play again soon.

Our little Giraffe

Our precious little Noah Tamirat on Halloween. I have waited along time for this and I got tears in my eyes when i saw him in his costume. We went trick or treating at a near by mall on Saturday afternoon so we didn't have to worry about the weather, being out after bedtime and the chance of bad candy. Not sure what he thought of trick or treating but he didn't seem to mind being a giraffe.

Wordless Wednesday & does anyone read this anymore?

Pumpkin patch pictures.

Finally the pumpkin patch pictures.

Heading for the fun.The toddler hay maze. Momma's lil punkin.

Saying hi to the bunnies. The Corn cave.

Chickens.

Noah thinks its great when the cow is licking him.

Driving the tractor.

Not ready for school yet.

The hay tunnel. Noah would have played in here all day.

The first hayride on our way out to the pumpkin patch.

I've got my pumpkin i'm ready to go.

6 months-Half a year.

Wow is all I can say today. Noah Tamirat has been with us for 6months..half of a year. Its that magical time in the adoption world where they say everything should have fallen in place. I think for us things didn't just turn on like a switch overnight but they have been slowly progressing and right now I think we work well as a family. Noah knows the rules and takes great delight in breaking them and then smiling at you. Yeah we need to work on finding a method of discipline that will work for him. He's just to darn cute and he knows it.
Today also marks the day that our boy has been with us for as long as he was with his birth mom. She is never far from our minds and always in our hearts. I often wonder as I watch Noah Tamirat play or discover something new what would his birthmom think if she could see him now? Would she be happy and proud of the job we are doing raising him? I look at his precious face and see his birth mom reflected back at me its awesome that he will be able to grow up knowing who he looks like. How painful would it be for me if I had to let Noah go tomorrow? There are no words to describe how broken she must have been yet she had the strength to do what she must for her son. We know he was loved and wanted long before his birth not only by us but by his birth mom. What greater show of love then to give him a name that means "miracle"? He is definitely that to his daddy and both of his mommies. Saying goodnight and blowing kisses to a picture of his birth mom is part of his nightly routine and we will continue to tell him as he grows how much he was loved during his time with her.