Drumroll please....

I have now cooked 3 dinners in a row that my new, finicky child enjoys. After trying chicken and pork, both grilled, it was taco salad, followed by chicken parmesan (although tomato sauce was not a hit), and meatloaf which won me the prize!! Tomorrow will be lamb stew...we'll see. We are Americanizing him just a bit with good ole PB & J as well as Chef Boy-r-dee spaghetti! He loves multi-gran cheerios, any fruit we can throw at him, and ice cream - chocolate please ;)

We can now recognize letters through L although some are more solid than others. Tomorrow is review day so no new material. Through Google translate we have found out that he likes all of us, his room, our house, and the dog. For those who may not know, we have BIG dogs. Our inside beauty is a German Shep. who goes by Ginger. Outside we have two Great Pyrs, Bo and Belle. Bo weighs in at 125lbs by far our largest child :) Simon has taken to all of the animals. Today he even chose to walk Ginger on his own. I followed of course. Due to her advanced age, I have little fear of her taking off with him and I think she knows he's new to all of this. He is slowly improving his English vocabulary adding chickens, sheep, dog, and cat which are must use words.

Yesterday, we had a wee bit of a scare when the boys were out playing basketball. Simon's ball started heading toward the road but Simon wasn't paying any attention to where the road was. After yelling "no" multiple times with no response while walking swiftly behind him, I finally had to do the mommy grab followed by the very stern and loud "NO" and then several examples of where you could and could not go which was then followed by a 5 minute quiz of me moving around and asking him "yes" or "no". I think he got the picture.

So far things are going well. Thankfully he slept all night without incident so I am finally able to begin catching up on all of the sleep I have lost. I truly hope the pattern continues. We asked him today if he wanted to start school and he emphatically said yes. So, an LL Bean backpack has been ordered with his name on it, or at least his initials. Seriously, these things are worth the money as Samuel is on year two with his and it's not showing any signs of wear yet. And, let me tell you, my eldest is rough so if it can survive him, it can survive anything.

The boys also had a little adventure today and trekked to the back of the property (only 6 acres but it's a long way for little people :) They each had their weapon of choice in case there was the occasion to save the world. Boy habits are universal I guess. Oh, also "huh", rock, paper, scissors, whiping hands on clothes, and other things I will be sure to inform you of as I remember them.

Tomorrow is Friday...right?

Much anticipated update

So, after multiple facebook pokes and comments here about wanting updates - here goes.

First, my apologies, but the cameras have not seen the light of day since we got home. Sunday was spent sleeping until 11am, breakfast - he loves scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, biscuits, and mom's homemade strawberry jam. Dinner was not a hit - grill chicken simply seasoned, mac n cheese, and sugar snap peas. Oh well...

Monday - Scott had to go back to work and - God love him - he had to teach which meant he had to be at work by 6:30am. Samuel also had school and had absolutely no desire to leave his brother. Translation for mom meant two boys awaking at 3:30am both taking turns crying about different things until 6:30am when I completely gave up and began getting Samuel ready for school. Simon and I went to a very dead Wal-mart for a few can't-do-without groceries and a few more clearance clothes for him (still in a size 6 b/c a 5 is too short - we have a tall little Chinese boy:) learned to say and write A, B, and C and then spent most of the day disagreeing with one another about appropriate behavior. Jet lag and lack of sleep reared its ugly head this day more than I could care to imagine.

Dinner was pork tenderloin, scalloped potatoes, and sweet peas; again two thumbs down on this one :) Samuel had basketball practice and, although I am sure some people will disagree with this, we decided to take Simon. Samuel plays Upward so it is Christian based and laid back. The coach introduced himself to Simon and offered to let him practice. We tried to explain the situation but he advised he was aware and he was here to teach children basketball and God's word. He saw no reason why Simon could not participate if he wanted to. Scott and I gave each other the "look" that says "your call on this one ;)". We decided to allow him the opportunity to play if he wanted. We asked him and he said yes and ran straight to Samuel. First, let me say the young boys on this team are an amazing example of good Christian young men. They applauded despite the fact that he had no skill whatsoever. If he hit the ball once with his hand they high fived him and said good job. They were gentle with his feelings and accepted him as he was. We both got teary eyed when the director, someone I choose to call friend, came up and handed us the permission slip to sign for Simon to play and told us to "just sign". They were ordering Simon a uniform and wanted him to participate as much as he felt comfortable. No strings, no charge. God has surrounded us with amazing people and friends who add to our journey in so many ways. I thought he would be pooped, but alas, nope. He woke at 1:30am crying loudly, I hesitate to say screaming. I tried to calm him down but the language barrier makes it diffcult for us. So, it was another night up for mom. He finally fell asleep about 4am but I had no such luck. Samuel did sleep through the night, however, which was a blessing.

Home

We are home! We are tired, exhausted really, but we are all home safe. More to come later.

Leaving tomorrow!! Woohoo!!

Tomorrow begins our trek toward the EAST. We will fly to Newark, NJ, spend the night and will fly on a direct flight to Beijing which will land Saturday at 3:15pm. Gotcha day is slated for Sunday!!!

We will be posting to the following blog during our journey:


http://www.adoptionjournals.org/visit/mckeehanfamily2009

password: family

Thanks

Sunday Snapshot

On this, our last Sunday as a family of three, I wanted to take a moment to pay a special tribute to the most wonderful gift God has ever given me. Our Samuel was so long in coming. Three years of fertility treatments, stress, and heartache almost tore us apart. We struggled with who to blame and the "why me" questions that are so hard to answer. When we gave it to God, however, he gave Samuel to us.



I know mom's say this, but from the moment I saw this amazing creature - I knew- here was a young man who could change the world. He came out like a shot...literally. My OB said it was her first football catch ever. My husband was just happy she didn't drop him. Samuel has the best laugh and the sweetest smile. He loves life and loves our Lord. My son, who will be 9 in March has taught me so much about faith and how to live my life. He is now more than happy to share his life with his new brother, who he believes has been waiting on us all of this time. Although Simon is 7, Samuel is ready to be the "older brother" in all that it entails. He wants to teach him about the Lord, life, and all of it's possibilities. Mind you, my son is not perfect, but I beleive God gives us the children who need us, but also the children we need.

He is stubborn, but he knows when to bend.



He loves his "stuff", but is just as happy enjoying catching snowflakes in his mouth or playing on our farm.

He is silly...ohhh...is he silly and he has the best laugh. You can't help but laugh with him.

He is competitive, even when the competition is head and shoulders above him, he gives it his all.

He loves God's creatures, big and small. He has an intuition with animals that is uncanny and uncommon in one so young. They love him and he takes pride in the fact that he helps to take care of them.

So, on our last Sunday together, my son, I want you to know how much I love you. You will always be my first born, my first miracle, God's lesson to me on the true meaning of love. I love you pumpkin!

Mom