A BROTHER FOR LLEYTON...and a sister too!

Cute or Scary?

2012-01-30T22:21:00.001-05:00

I would probably side with scary.

This is what Lleyton woke up to this morning...

That's one unique wake-up call.

Said wake-up call must have left a pretty big impression on our very impressionable young man, as tonight he decided to sleep in his doorway for the first time ever. Maybe he thought that Batman wouldn't be able to get in if he blocked the door. Can't wait to hear the reasoning behind the move from his bed to the floor tomorrow morning when he wakes up.

Camden lives where?

2012-01-18T22:42:00.000-05:00

A) Seoul, South Korea

B) My sister Emily's belly

If you have been reading this blog for any period of time you would know the correct answer is A. You might also think that Camden's future brothers and sister would know the same, but we aren't sure that is the case after the other night when Lleyton told Sara that he thought that Camden lived in Emily's belly.

No matter where he lives, there's no doubt he is a very handsome young man, which is quite evident from the pictures we received of young Camden this afternoon....

Working our way through a difficult time.

2012-01-12T21:19:00.002-05:00

My lack of blogging hasn’t been because nothing is happening around our house, after all since I last posted we have celebrated Christmas with both sides of the family, Santa and Grandfather Frost paid us a visit and a new year has been rung in.

My lack of blogging is because nothing that is very much fun to talk about is going on in our household as of late.

Adoption can be hard.

Adopting older children can be hard.

We have lived through it, especially during the first few months after Parker came home with us. Those were tough times, and during those times I wrote about it. So I figure there are some families out there that may be going through or have gone through what we are now, so why not share.

Parker has hit a rough patch (which is an understatement at times). To those outside of our house, Park couldn’t be much more thoughtful, polite, caring, intelligent, and sweet than he is. Parker is each of those, but sadly for him and us, we see a different side of him on occasion. Those occasions used to be pretty infrequent, but to our chagrin they have become much more prevalent over the past couple of months.

I don’t feel like getting into everything that is going on with him at this moment, but it would suffice to say that the last couple of months have been downright upsetting, frustrating, scary, unsettling, and confusing.

Way back when we were first experiencing all of our difficulties with Parker we could kind of rationalize what might be causing them, as we couldn’t communicate with him very well since we spoke different languages, he wasn’t used to living an environment like the one we provided for him, he was probably scared, and he probably missed everything that felt comfortable that he left behind in Ethiopia. As his language progressed and he got into school, his behavior improved and his outbursts became less frequent. Things from that point on have never been perfect, but we had gotten to a point where we hoped that any issues we had with him were just those common issues that any parent runs into with a 6, 7, or 8 year old boy.

Those feelings changed recently. Changed to the point where we realized that we can’t address this situation alone and we reached out for professional help. This past Tuesday evening Sara and I headed south to Lexington to meet with a family therapist that came highly recommended to us. It was something we knew we needed to do, but neither of us wanted to have to do (I hope that makes sense). We don’t want to be a position to seek counseling for one of our children, but we know it’s only fair to him, us, and Lleyton and Addy to do so. We needed help and hopefully this therapist will be able to provide that for us.

Over the past couple of months, whether it be during one of his outbursts or during a quiet moment, we have tried many times to gain and understanding regarding what is ailing our big guy and why he feels it’s necessary to react and behave the way he has. We have gotten a few different reasons, some troubling, some of which we doubt, and some of which break our hearts.

We didn’t go into adopting any of our children under the false pretense that is was going to be easy or perfect, but at the same time we didn’t go into any of the adoptions thinking it would be this hard.

We wouldn’t change anything about how we formed our family.

We love Parker.

We love Lleyton.

We love Addy.

That’s not going to change. The fact is that many times when kids grow up in hard places, they deal with difficult things and those things don’t go away when they are welcomed into loving homes. Sometimes they linger and present themselves at the strangest of times. To one extent we are happy that Parker has only acted out around us to this point. Yet, on the other hand that can make trying to explain what is going on at home more difficult b/c no one else has seen this side of our young man.

So if you’re reading this and have made it this far, that’s the explanation behind the blog absence. But now we’re back and hopefully very soon we can get back on track with fun stories about the kids…like the other day when Lleyton and his sidekick/shadow/best friend/cling-on/biggest fan joined forces and fended off bad guys while dressed in Batman masks.

20 minutes + 180 pictures + 1 potty training accident + 4 antlers = Christmas Card

2011-12-18T22:03:00.001-05:00

Last Monday night we set out to make our annual Christmas card. Not unlike last year's card, we got off to late start on putting together our annual mailing, but we were hopeful that the kids would come through with at least a few good pictures that we could send out to family and friends.

They didn't disappoint.

As the title of post would indicate, we took alot of pictures in a little bit of time. The majority of them were more comical than frame-worthy, but I was pleasantly surprised to see we did have a handful of gems.

Below are a few of the non-card worthy outtakes.

What the title might also indicate is that Addy is now potty training. Monday was her first full day of no diapers, and she had done remarkably well...that is until just after the picture taking was wrapped up and a major clean-up was called for. We were thankful that she at least waited until we got a few great pictures taken before rendering her Christmas card outfit unwearable.

Here's the finished product...

Parker questions the man himself...Santa Claus.

2011-12-15T20:49:00.004-05:00

Parker's inquisitive nature (aka obsession with asking questions) has been well documented on this blog. From the moment he could speak understandable English he has been busy asking questions.

Endless questions.

Some good, some bad, some funny, some hilarious.

With that being true I shouldn't have been too surprised when I got the chance to see the letter that he recently sent to Santa. To our delight, jolly old St. Nick responsded to Parker's letter and sent back Park's original letter so that he can hang onto it . In his letter to Parker, Santa even noted how many questions our ever-inquisitive son asked.

The following letter made my week.

As you will see, he had plenty of questions on his mind when he wrote this.

Some good, some bad, some funny, some hilarious.

Enjoy!

(For those not as adept at reading the handwriting of an 8 year old, I have provided an abridged version below the pictures)

Dear Santa,

Hi Santa. I have a ton of questions.

Is Rudolph real?

Are you real?

What's your reindeers' favorite food?

Do you ever die?

Is there an elf named Alison? If I know, do not fire her.

When I grow up can I be an elf?

Are you magic?

Can your reindeer fly?

How many elves do you have?

How do you make toys?

Did anybody shoot you before?

Has anybody seen you before?

How old are you?

Did you ever fall off a roof?

Is the North Pole cool?

Is it fun?

What's the elves favorite food?

How old is Mrs. Claus?

Is the workshop cool or fun?

How old do you have to be an elf?

Is there a guard at the North Pole?

Do you eat steak?

There you have it...22 thought provoking questions for Santa. I personally can't help but laugh each time I read them, especially the last one.

Hope you enjoyed!

6 months down.

2011-12-14T14:35:00.000-05:00

How many more to go?

Hopefully we are nearing the half way point of our wait.

Lleyton's day at the office.

2011-12-12T22:18:00.000-05:00

Last week our little guy had his annual check-up with his cardiologist, which meant he had to lay very still during the tests they run. If you have spent any time with Lleyton or just know him through this blog, you probably already know that sitting still isn't his strong suit. With that being true, Sara came up with the fantastic idea of promising him a very nice reward if he hung in there and made the doctors job easy during his appointment.

What was the reward you might ask?

A trip to the office to hang with me. The idea stemmed from Lleyton unearthing a suit in his closet that was handed down to him by his cousin Tanner. So after successfully completed the tasks required of him at the Children's Hospital, Sara and her mom brought the little man over so he could "work" with daddy. And work he did...

He closed a deal or two by wowing imaginary customers with his over the phone sales skills.

He helped out around the office, including making sure the copier made clear copies of hand.

He even got a chance to head upstairs and join Pop in his office.

He impressed everyone with his boyish good looks and sweet disposition. Thus, I'm pretty sure he's welcome back at the office anytime.

An afternoon to remember!

2011-12-10T15:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon Parker and my dad and I had a very unique opportunity to get up close and personal with the Cincinnati Bengals...and we took full advantage of it. With the Bengals being my all-time favorite team in any sport, it would suffice to say I was like a kid in a candy store.

We arrived at the stadium and were invited out to the practice field to watch the guys go through a practice preparing for what Marvin Lewis told us later in the day will be the biggest game he has coached in his 9 years as Bengals coach. We spent about an hour watching practice before heading into the stadium for lunch in the visitors locker room followed by a trip onto the field.

Here is Parker with Bengals running back Cedrick Benson. Right after this picture was taken, Parker looked down at Ced's arm in amazement and said to him, "Are those tattoos?!" Ced politely responded that yes, they are in fact tattoos.

Here's Park with his favorite player AJ Green in the background.

Parker spent much of the time we were on the practice field playing with a couple of boys that were also there and with one Bengal was took quite a bit of time to toss the ball around with them.

#46 on your roster, #1 in our hearts, Clark Harris.

Clark even gave Parker his gloves as we were leaving practice.

Here's Parker checking to make sure Rey is going to be good-to-go this Sunday.

Parker and Domata Peko.

Parker and Nate Clements.

Although we didn't get Parker's picture with him, Andy Dalton came in to talk with us as well.

Twas an unbelievable experience.

Who Dey!

Interview with Lleyton

2011-12-05T22:09:00.001-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I sat our little man down (after pausing Transformers, of course) for an interview...here's a look into Lleyton's world.

How old are you today? 5

What is your favorite food? Ummm…..(distracted by Transformers) Ummm…(distracted by golf) I can’t remember.

What is your favorite thing to do? Play with the choo choo train track (which happens to be exactly what he was doing when I called him over for the interview)

Who is your best friend? Landon Walker

If you could pick where we went on vacation, where would it be? The new museum (speaking of the museum we went to last week to see the train display)

What do you like most about Parker? I like playing with him.

What do you like most about Addy? I like to…play with her.

What is the first thing you would like to teach Camden? I would like to teach him how to go down the steps on the playhouse.

Where does Camden live right now? In Korea!

If you could meet one person in the whole world who would it be? Daddy and mommy.

If you could have one superpower what would it be? Optimus Prime.

Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible? I wish I could fly. Because it’s cool…you will land on the ground and fly forever and you can sleep in trees.

What is your favorite subject at school? I like playing with Legos.

Who is your hero? Superman and Batman and Spiderman

Where were you born? In Russia!

How old am I (meaning me, Dad)? 10 bucks

How old is mommy? 7, because 7 is older than 5.

What is your favorite color? Red and black and white.

What is one thing you would like everyone to know about you? I want them to know I am Lleyton George Ritzmann.

What is your favorite restaurant? Walmart.

What is your favorite place to eat? Beef O’Brady’s

Batman (Lleyton) turned 5!

2011-12-04T20:43:00.002-05:00

Lleyton is convinced he is Batman, which I have a difficult time disagreeing with sometimes, especially when he is donning the Batman cape that Sara made him for his birthday and flying through the house. Today was Batman's big day, that is unless you believed what he was telling everyone leading up to today, that he was already 5. I have a Russian birth certificate that says otherwise.

Our little guy woke up this morning and came down the stairs to find a new tradition, balloons hanging in his honor, each hiding a surprise inside.

After popping each balloon and feeding his piggy bank with what was inside, it was time to belly up the table for Sara's soon-to-be-famous birthday cake pancakes covered in a sugary glaze.

Along with the delicous pancakes, Sara also stepped up her game when it came to the little man's birthday cake(s). Being that Lleyton loves trucks of all kinds, we figured he would love nothing more than a birthday cake in a dumptruck, hence Sara put together this gem...

Although Lleyton was very excited to see the cake, to our surprise he said he didn't want to eat it because it was dirty. I guess the "dirt" cake came together a little too well.

Onto Plan B, I threw Lleyton and Addy into the car and headed off to the grocery store to pick up the makings for another fantastic cake. Lleyton's favorite candy cake...

That's a cake wrapped in Kit Kats and topped with M&Ms. Could there be anything better? Lleyton didn't think so.

Grandma Susie and Grammy and Pop joined us for dinner at Lleyton's favorite restaurant before we came back home for the cake and ice cream.

All-in-all, I think our little Batman had a great day, and his brother and sister seemed just as thrilled to celebrate it with him.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T22:58:00.002-05:00

A busy, yet enjoyable Thanksgiving Day is coming to an end. We had the pleasure of hosting Grandma Susie and Papa Don this year at our house, and everything came together quite well. If you need us during the dinner hour over the next week or so you can surely catch us at home eating scrumptious leftovers from today's feast.

The day started off quite early, as both boys were, for some unknown reason, awake prior to the clock striking 6am. Maybe they got Thanksgiving and Christmas confused, or maybe that's just what happens when they sleep in the same room when we have company stay the night.

We tuned into the the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this morning just in time for Lleyton to be awed by his best superhero friend, Spiderman.

We did our best to put together an extensive menu that featured many staples (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, green beans), but was also highlighted by a couple new items, not the least of which was Parker and Sara's apple crescent roll dessert that wowed each of us that had room enough left to give it try. Here is the big man getting his hands dirty a bit while assembling the dish.

How can I resist sharing a picture of our ever-growing little lady...

Today marks the four year anniversary of Sara and I arriving back in the United States after meeting Lleyton for the first time. Much has changed since then. Tha was our last Thanksgiving as just a couple (Thanksgiving dinner that year was burgers and fries and Friday's in Atlanta's airport, which hit the spot after a week of Russian cuisine), and now we get to celebrate with this cast of characters...

We are looking forward to adding this little guy to the mix before another Thanksgiving Day comes and goes.

To celebrating next year as a family of 6.

Cheers!

5 months down...

2011-11-15T20:52:00.000-05:00

5 months down...how many more remain?

Another care package on its way...almost

2011-11-15T20:48:00.000-05:00

We are relying on the care packages we have put together for Camden to help get him acquainted with who we are, as we have always included pictures the kids and Sara and I that Camden's foster mom is hopefully sharing with him. To our chagrin, we have yet to see any pictures of our little guy with our care packages, but we have been assured that they have been sent and they are given to him during his every other month visit to the agency's office.

Along with the package pictured above that is almost ready to make its way from Kentucky to Seoul, we will include the following the pictures...

Just in case Camden's foster mom can't speak English, Sara came up with the grand idea of writing "brother" and "sister" in Korean on each of the kids signs above their names.

These guys can't wait to have their little brother home...and neither can we.

Do you believe in miracles?

2011-11-06T16:44:00.011-05:00

To say that my recent efforts to teach Parker how to ride a bike weren't going as well as I had hoped would have been an understatement. With that being true, and having recently resigned myself to the fact that Park just wasn't meant to be on two wheels, you can imagine my amazement when we headed out this morning for another teaching session and this is what transpired...

Signed,

Proud Dad of a bike rider

Catching up

2011-11-03T21:55:00.000-04:00

The frequency with which I have been blogging as of late has certainly decreased. I guess that's what happens when fatigue catches up me many nights I hit the sack before 9:30, or when Sara is unable relinquish the computer thanks to her new found love for Pinterest (rightfully so, it's a great sight), or there are nights like tonight where Lleyton just refuses to want to go to sleep so as I lay here and type, my little guy is laying next to me counting out loud as he attempts to do what he calls "get his brain to go to sleep."

My lack of blogging can't be attributed to nothing going on around here, as the days continue to fly by at an unprecedented pace. After all it will be Thanksgiving in a few weeks and we all know that Christmas feels like it is just a day or so after that.

KID UPDATES

After a much needed season off from sports, Parker is getting back in the swing of things with basketball. The season starts in the coming weeks, but practice is well underway. The team name this season is the Pacers, so if any of you NBA lovers out there are in need of some weekend entertainment and can't get it from the real Pacers, Parker's game typically don't sell out. Although he seems to think he future is in professional sports, I think we disagree, as the big guy continues to wow us with his intellect. Many nights he comes home and tells us about things he learned in school that day that I have to nod and act like I know exactly what he is talking about, all the while knowing that I will be googling "waxing and waning crescents" or "deciduous and non-deciduous forests" moments after he retires for the night.

Lleyton is in preschool now at the same school as his big brother. We weren't quite sure how he was doing in school, as he is already acting like he is in high school and refusing to tell us about his days, but he knocked Sara's socks off the other day when she went into visit his class for the first time. She had a chance to observe him prior to him realizing she was there and the report I got from her was that he did fantastic. He was quietly sitting in his seat while listening to the teachers and once he realized his self-proclaimed best friend (his mommy) was there, he still waited until he asked the teacher for permission to give Sara a big hug and sit next to her. Needless to say, I was thrilled to hear how well he did. Immediately following his last week of casts, Lleyton began wearing leg braces that help keep him off of his toes. He has his good days and bad days with the braces, but all-in-all he is doing really well with them. In conjunction with the braces he sees a physical therapist every other week who is focusing on building some of the muscles that Lleyton really never used because he previously walked solely on his toes.

Onto Addy, she is right on Lleyton's tail when it comes to size. She is huge...both in size and personality. She continues to work with\a speech therapist once a week and that work is beginning to pay off. She is becoming more and more talkative each day. Last week Sara and her mom escorted the little princess to the Children's Hospital so she could get tubes in her ears. She handled it like a champ. We had previously had two hearing tests that found what may be some hearing loss, but the hope is that the tubes will clear up anything that was ailing her hearing and she won't have any longer terms issues.

Yesterday hopefully marked the day that Camden got two care packages from us. Our hope is that I as type this he is enjoying some of the toys and warm clothes we sent him, but most importantly we hope that he is getting to look through all of the pictures that we sent.

Onto a few pictures...

This past weekend, Parker was lucky enough to get to join Grammy and Pop on a trip to South Bend to watch one of my cousins play soccer. Eric plays for West Virginia and he and his fellow Mountaineer teammates were playing Notre Dame. Here is Parker and a number of his cousins with the famed Touchdown Jesus in the background.

Everyone, included the player they were all there to see, was all smiles after the game, as WVU prevailed 2-0.

While Park was living the High Life in northern IN, Lleyton and Addy had their share of fun here as well. Lleyton got to show Addy the in and outs of how to drive a car. Needless to say, Sissy (as Lleyton affectionately calls his sidekick) was thrilled to be hanging in the passenger seat with Lleyton behind the wheel.

From our crew to yours...

2011-10-31T20:50:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!

Channeling their inner artistry

2011-10-25T13:16:00.004-04:00

If this past weekend was any indication, fall ranks up there as our kids favorite season (summer might have something to say about that).

As we do most weekends, we tried to have a few activities planned to keep our little monsters occupied and relatively happy throughout the weekend, and this weekend those activities were centered around pumpkins and nice weather.

The previous weekend we had ventured to a pumpkin patch not far from our house and the kids picked (with the assistance of Sara and I and Grandpa Paul and Grandma Monica) their favorite gourds. It was those very finds that got the royal treatment this weekend as the kids got to try their hands at painting pumpkins. We erred on the side of caution this year, going with the painting technique rather than the carving, and you can imagine why (finger paint or sharp knives).

Our budding artists

Picasso

Monet

Van Gogh

We borrowed this particular painting idea from one of our favorite blogs. Our kids must be a little more heavy-handed than the ones featured on the other site, as the Ritzmann pumpkins ended up a dark shade of grey rather than the multicolored perfection that can been seen here.

In the midst of the pumpkin decorating madness, Sara, using her seemingly unlimited baking prowess and infinite creativity, whisked together this masterpiece "candycorn" cake. I failed to take a picture of the inside, which may or may not have had to do with the fact that I was too busy taste-testing various sections of this deliciousness. Trust me when I say that when we cut into it, its resemblance to a gargantuan piece of Sara's favorite fall treat was uncanny.

After all of the cake eating that took place on Saturday we decided to load the kids in the car on Sunday and burn off a few calories strolling through the Cincinnati Zoo. By the looks of this picture, we weren't the only ones enjoying some fall flavors on this unseasonably warm weekend.

Let the planning for next weekend begin...

4 months down...

2011-10-13T20:54:00.000-04:00

How many more to go?

It was four short months ago that our paperwork began its voyage from St. Paul, Minnesota to Seoul, South Korea. It's at that time that our official "wait" began. Our definition of when the wait began was quite awhile earlier, way back when we decided to add to onto our family, but now we are going by the clock set by our agency.

At the time of our acceptance of our little guy's referral, the agency estimated wait times for families to be up to 14 months from the time the paperwork is sent to Korea. Hence it looks like we have up to 10 more months of feeling like we are missing a member of our family.

Here's to hoping the next 10 months goes quickly and more importantly that our little guy gets the care that he needs while we wait ever so patiently to go get our boy.

Future babysitters? The jury is still out.

2011-10-10T21:41:00.000-04:00

More time than not over the past few weekends has been spent in the car driving to Indianapolis and points beyond. So it wouldn't have been a Saturday if we didn't pack the kids into the family mobile, put on an endless stream of Spongebob or Tom and Jerry for the kids enjoyment and put the vehicle on auto pilot en route to meeting the newest member of the family, Baby Nora.

We were a bit concerned about having the little ones around a two day old baby and here's why...

Hence, when it was time to hold Baby Nora these two were quickly skipped over in favor of this eager future babysitter.

The two little ones were able to jump up on the couch and observe how to properly hold their newest cousin, but that is about as close as they got.

That is until Addy got close enough to sneak a kiss.

On top of getting to meet their newest cousin, the kids also got to hang with a few of their other cousins as well. And as usual, they had a great time.

Baby Nora has arrived!

2011-10-06T09:37:00.002-04:00

I am very happy to report that my younger sister Emily and her husband Andy welcomed their first little one into the world this morning.

Emily and Nora Marie

The kids are super excited to meet their 8th cousin, so it looks like another trip to Indy is in order for this weekend!

Lleyton's big brown eyes were fixed on the heavens this morning, as he is pretty sure that babies fall from the sky. I could have taken a moment to teach him how babies really come about, but I chose not to and instead joined him in gazing upwards.

According to him, he spotted her amidst the clouds just before we arrived at school this morning.

The highs and lows of a trip to pick apples.

2011-10-02T15:21:00.000-04:00

We took a quick detour on the way to visit Grandma Rena in Kokomo yesterday afternoon. That detour took us to our favorite orchard, Tuttle's. The kids were quite excited about the chance to pick some apples. That excitement quickly evaporated when we told them that there wasn't going to be time to hang out in the children's play area after the apple picking was complete.

If you don't believe me, check out the pictures to prove it...

HAPPY KIDS

NOT-SO-HAPPY KIDS

Forgive me for thinking the not-so-happy kids picture is hilarious. One second they are thrilled to be hanging at the orchard, the next second they want no part of me or my camera.

Prior to the meltdown I was able to capture the little folks enjoying themselves...

Hopefully we'll make it back to the orchard in a few weeks to pick pumpkins, and you can be sure we will allot more time to play during that trip.

I am in love.

2011-09-27T21:25:00.000-04:00

As agonizing as the wait for Camden is (and will continue to be for the quite awhile), it's moments like this afternoon when we got new pictures of our little guy that keep us going.

How could you not fall in love with the little guy in this picture?

If you're wondering why we are not expecting to make our way to South Korea until at least next summer, allow me to briefly explain. Our agency is currently estimating the time between the date our referral acceptance paperwork is sent to Korea and the date we board a flight bound for Seoul at up to 14 months.

That date for us was June 14.

14 months from June 14 is August 14, 2012.

You would think we might be old pros at this wait thing after our previous three adoptions, but sadly that's not the case.

Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's 2!

2011-09-25T21:05:00.002-04:00

Today was the day Addy had been waiting for, her 2nd birthday. What a difference a year makes. Suffice to say that she had a tad bit sweeter disposition today than she had 365 days ago...

Her brothers were more than willing to shower their little sis with attention all day long, and she didn't mind that one bit. She kind of likes the spotlight.

(Please forgive Parker for the UK basketball shirt below, he must have either got dressed in the dark or meant to grab the IU or Butler shirt and inadvertently picked the Kentucky blue one instead)

Sara came up huge yet again and created not only this very fine looking ice cream cake, but since our two little one's taste buds are a bit fickle at times, she also whipped together a batch of unbelievably decadent and pleasing to the eye cupcakes. Would you believe that Lleyton chose not to eat either option? Kid is weird.

The Addster certainly didn't mind wearing her princess party hat during this evening's festivities.

Nor did she mind opening up her presents.

Our little lady got a number of presents, but it wasn't too difficult to tell which one ranked the highest on her list. I think the boys would vote for this being their favorite present as well, as they are hoping that she will turn to bossing her new babies around instead of bossing them around. They can dream.

In honor of her big day, allow me to share a little known fact about our not-so-little girl...

She enjoys reading books while sitting in the refrigerator with nothing on but a diaper on.

She really does.

ETHIOPIA CALENDAR FUNDRAISER...you can sell them too!

2011-09-20T16:26:00.003-04:00

Need a gift for the person that has everything...or would you just like to learn about a beautiful country while enjoying some fantastic photography?

How about picking up a unique 2012 wall calendar featuring fantastic photography and plenty of interesting facts and information about one of the countries our family has come to love, Ethiopia. (The calendars measure 9.5" x 12.25")

Thanks to the success we had during our Superman was Adopted fundraiser we decided to take on another one. Each month of our 13 month calendar includes not only a snapshot taken by one of two very talented photographers (Nina from Nina Mullins Photography, and Jessie from Speckled Bird Art) while in Ethiopia, but it also has either a tidbit of info about the country or an explanation of the one of the Ethiopian holidays for that month.

Take a sneak peak…

If you’re anything like Sara and I, you want to make sure to embrace the heritage and culture from the countries your children were born. For us that means integrating Russian, Ethiopian, and Korean customs into our daily lives. Sometimes it can be tough to keep track of the holidays and anniversaries celebrated in the other countries. This calendar will help you not overlook or forget about those important days in Ethiopia.

Not unlike our last fundraiser, we will accumulate all of the orders and make one large order from the printer. Thus, our sale will begin today and run through November 1. That will give us ample time to accumulate orders and get the calendars printed and sent out prior to the holidays.

You can either choose to pay via the PayPal button on our site or if you would rather, you can send us a check in the mail. If you would rather pay by check, just email me with your order and we will go from there.

If you are an adoptive family interested in fundraising (or know of one), feel free to contact us. We are more than happy to share this fundraiser with families like ours by allowing those folks to sell these calendars and raise money for their own cause. If you’re anything like us, any dollar that you can earn through a fundraiser takes a little bit of the stress away that comes with the financial aspect of adoption.

Plus, we think these calendars are fantastic, so the more families that can enjoy them, the better!

Feel free to email me at abrotherforlleyton@yahoo.com if you're interested.

Thank you so much for you continued support.

Matt and Sara

Thank you Martha Stewart.

2011-09-17T15:52:00.001-04:00

Kids aren't supposed to write on walls. That is unless one could turn said wall into a chalkboard, and thanks to Martha Stewart that is just what we did.

Sara recently found a recipe online for making your own chalkboard paint and was instantly smitten. So smitten, in fact, that we took on the first part or a two part chalkboard wall project this week. The kids didn't know about it, so you can imagine their delight this morning when I pulled them into the laundry room and actually encouraged them to write on the wall...and write on the wall they did.

They had quite a time. Lleyton was busy drawing seahorses while Parker perfected his shark scene, and after that masterpiece was complete, they erased and started over with...

Self portraits!

Parker did his own and I helped with Lleyton's. Now I don't want to sound like I am tooting my own horn, but I am pretty sure that if banking doesn't work out I could have a future in art.

You be the judge.

Picking up the pieces.

2011-09-14T21:37:00.000-04:00

At first glance, this picture our boys teaming up to take on Club Penguin online is rather benign.

That is until you notice the tiny hand in the background. That's our little princess' hand. Prior to me snapping this photo because I thought the young fellas looked cute working on the computer together, Addy was right there with them. She was cheering them on, eager to be a part of the action. It was that eagerness that led our little man to kindly ask his shadow to back off.

Well, back off she did.

While Sara and I were busy trying to put something decent on the table for dinner, Addy obviously found her way to our other computer and decided to dismantle it. If they weren't going let her play with them, she was determined to make sure that they weren't going to play on the other computer.

Succeed she did, but little did she know that the boys rarely play on that computer.

If you need me I will be busy trying to locate any of the keys that she may have chucked across the room after I realized what she was doing and tried to corral her.

New week...New casts

2011-09-13T20:53:00.000-04:00

The little guy was back in the therapist's office with bells on today. We decided to switch it up this week and go with two different colors casts, and I think he looks smashing.

It never fails...his biggest fan does everything that he does. He can run, but he can't hide from his little shadow.

How much can you fit in a 1 gallon bag?

2011-09-12T22:10:00.001-04:00

The wait for Camden has been/will be a difficult one. Knowing our little guy is in Seoul and we can't go get him for quite awhile is really tough. One thing we are able to do during our wait is send our littlest man care packages. I feel bad that I didn't capture an image of the first package we sent over, but I didn't let that happen twice. Above is a picture of everything that Sara was able to systematically place into our allotted one gallon plastic bag that is now on its way to Minnesota en route to South Korea.

I hope he enjoys his new clothes and toys, but I am most excited about him getting his photo album.

Here's hoping that it reaches him happy and healthy.

TRANSFORMER update

2011-09-10T20:39:00.003-04:00

Our little man is hanging in there. Most of time he doesn't seem to mind the casts too much, but as of late he has been really wanting them off. I just walked downstairs from his room after listening to him lobby for me to take them off right now. I wish I could.

It's tough to see him struggle.

He did spend some time outside this afternoon demonstrating that although his foot speed isn't quite where it is sans casts, his hand/eye coordination hasn't suffered since getting his moon boots.

This is one of the two faces we see when he is complaining about wanting the casts off. This is actually the better of the two, as the other one involves a similarly pathetic looking face but it is also accompanied by plenty of free flowing tears.

The good news for Lleyton is that we do get to take his casts off on Monday night and get him in the shower, but he will only be without his very fashionable leg decorations for about 16 hours, as it's back to the therapist's office on Tuesday afternoon.

Lenny Kravitz sighting

2011-09-08T21:12:00.000-04:00

Our little TRANSFORMER.

2011-09-06T20:32:00.002-04:00

Our little guy was a champ today at his appointment. I am not sure the therapists had ever had such an easy patient.

He just laid there and honed his Angry Bird skills during the hour or so that it took for his legs to be transformed from tiny sticks to dangerous weapons that will undoubtedly help him catch bad guys.

The happiest little guy ever after just getting casts on each leg...

Catch 'em while you can.

2011-09-05T17:48:00.000-04:00

Take your last look at our little man's lower legs for awhile.

Tomorrow afternoon Lleyton will be visiting his physical therapist at the Children's Hospital to get casts on each of his legs. Thanks to his sensory issues that have caused him to walk solely on this toes he will be starting a month long friendship with serial casting. The casts will be changed once per week, increasing his range of motion with each new cast. Following that month, you will see our guy wearing leg braces for up to a year. Should be interesting. We have been trying to convince him that casts are cool, but as of late he isn't buying it.

With a difficult month ahead of him we set out today to do whatever he wanted. Aside from the brief pit stop at buybuy Baby I think we succeeded. This morning we were up and at 'em early as usual. Knowing that our little man had lost some weight during his illness over the last week we were quick to jump in the van and hit up Dunkin Donuts. Later in the morning we took off to do some bouncing. We hadn't been to this particular bounce house, but it didn't disappoint. The kids has a great time.

This this afternoon he decided he wanted to play some indoor golf. His wish was our command.

The next pictures of our little guy you will see will be with a Spiderman decoration below each knee...hopefully he's smiling.

Cousins, bowling, and a future nightmare.

2011-09-01T14:43:00.001-04:00

Just prior to our little man coming down sick (... and thanks to all who have inquired about him, he is doing much better now) we were in Indianapolis to celebrate the birthday of two of his best friends, cousins Nick and Drew.

As you can probably tell from the pictures, I call him "little man" for a reason. His cousins, who beat him to the age of 5 by a mere couple of months, tower over our slightly built fella.

The twins' party was at a cool venue in Carmel that offered plenty for the little partiers to do to keep them occupied. One of the events was bowling. Here is Lleyton demonstrating to his sister/biggest fan how one should not bowl. Sorry to Snapperz management, our little guy gets carried away sometimes...this being one of those times. We are working with him on rolling the bowling ball, rather than attempting to shot put it all the way down the lane.

One great thing about having little ones with strong imaginations is that when you go to an arcade you don't have to spend any money. They just jump on the games and pretend they are playing. Hopefully this picture is them just pretending to want to ride a motorcycle together. I haven't yet had a nightmare about this picture, but I know it's coming. These two are going to be out of control when they get older. What am I talking about...they are borderline out of control right now.

Maybe out of control.

Definitely ridiculously cute.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE ADOPTION TAX RELIEF GUARANTEE ACT OF 2011

2011-08-31T15:12:00.002-04:00

Do you support adoption and happen to have a few minutes to spare? If so, please consider writing to your congressmen and asking that they support the Adoption Tax Guarantee Act of 2011.

Adoptions are very expensive. Expensive to the point where I’m not certain we would be lucky enough to have any of our three (soon to be four) children if it weren’t for the government’s help via the Adoption Tax Credit. The tax credit is available to adoptive families to assist in easing the financial burden that comes along with adopting a child. The current credit came about thanks to a bill enacted in 2001. The problem with that bill is that it has a sunset date. By sunset date I mean there has always been date where the would credit revert back to the pre-2001 amounts, which are significantly less that the credit amount allowed in the current and proposed bill.

The sunset date right now is December 31, 2012.

The bill that was introduced to Congress in January of this year would repeal that sunset date, thus eliminating the worry for many adoptive families like ours about the credit not being available when it is needed.

The bills that I am asking you to consider writing your congressman about are…

H.R. 184: Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2011
To write to your representative, go to http://www.house.gov/.

S. 82: Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act
To write to you senator, go to http://www.senate.gov/.

On behalf of moms and dads like Sara and I that have relied on this tax credit to fulfill the dream of becoming parents, thank you for supporting this issue.

BROTHERLY LOVE: In sickness and In health

2011-08-29T18:40:00.002-04:00

Starting Saturday night and lasting through today, Lleyton has been under the weather. Under the weather to the point where we ended up at the Children's Hospital with him this morning (hence the nice looking gown in the picture above).

The little fella has been pretty miserable.

At one point yesterday morning, as Parker and Addy looked on, our little man threw up on the couch. Obviously concerned about how his illness was affecting his older brother, he turned to Parker and in his most pathetic little voice said, "Parker...Do you still love me?"

I couldn't make this stuff up.

I love these kids...especially when they say things that make me laugh.

PRAYER REQUEST...UPDATE

2011-08-24T12:53:00.000-04:00

I am sure I have written it before on this blog, but it's worth saying again, although I can't proclaim that I am the most religious person around, I do know that I have never been part of a more faith based group than the adoption community. Hence, I am asking for your prayers again.

Ella, our friends' beautiful five year old daughter that I briefly wrote about last week, has been diagnosed with having a malignant brain tumor that has also spread to her spinal cord.

In the midst of this devastating news, the family has remained steadfast and positive about meeting this challenge head on and getting her the treatment she needs no matter what.

Young Ella will be beginning her quest to defeat this disease very soon.

If you're so inclined, please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Smart, Brave, and Tough

2011-08-22T21:18:00.000-04:00

Today was a HUGE day in our world. This afternoon Lleyton walked through the doors of his big boy school for the first time as he entered Pre-School.

Our little guy is growing up.

Very shortly after Lleyton was diagnosed with FASD, Sara and I sprung into action doing everything in our power to get our little man enrolled in the developmental preschool offered at the same elementary school where he will attend Kindergarten. The application and enrollment process was a lengthy one, but we are thrilled that it worked out.

He has been quite excited ever since we told him that he was going to be starting school, and that excitement only grew as today grew closer. According to him, he was most looking forward to teaching his classmates how to stomp, and trust me when I say he can stomp very well (and loud) in his fancy new back-to-school shoes. At this point his class only consists of him and one other little boy. Considering there is one teacher and two aids in the room with them I think he is likely to learn quite a bit (can't beat a 1.5:1 teacher to student ratio).

As I was driving the kids to school this morning we were talking about Lleyton's first day and how exciting it was going to be for Lleyton and Parker to be in the same school. I asked the little guy if he was looking forward to school and meeting his new teacher and friend and he quickly responded in his most confident voice...

"Daddy, I'm going to be smart, brave, and tough."

That says it all. Our little guy is growing before our eyes and I would be lying if I said it didn't make me the least bit sad.

I'm not quite ready yet for him to grow up.

Parker's first day of school...

2011-08-18T09:33:00.001-04:00

No wonder I refrain from calling him "little guy" any longer.

Our young man is really growing up.

Kindergarten

1st Grade

2nd Grade

Join with me in hoping this big fella never loses the enjoyment he gets from being in school. He was excited this morning because today was the first day of the year that he was going to be learning in school, as yesterday was more of a get back into the routine type of day without much instruction.

Speaking of senses...

2011-08-16T13:09:00.009-04:00

Parker's sense of taste is really unlike anyone else's that I know. The kid's love for spicy food is legendary.

One perfect example: Most people dress up their spaghetti with some Parmesan cheese and marinara, or maybe a little butter.

Not our Parker.

What did he want chopped up on his pasta?

Jalapenos.

Lucky for him there is a farmer's market outside of my office once a week and I spotted what looked like some delicious (if you like that sort of thing) jalapenos that I knew he would love. I just didn't realize he would want to put them on whatever we were having for dinner that night.

After spending a lot of quality time in Ethiopia and falling love with their food, it should have come as no surprise to me that Parker tastes bud perform as they do. A staple in many Ethiopian dishes is a mixture of delicious, albeit quite hot, spices called berbere. Parker's favorite food of all, doro wot, is chock full of this very unique tasting spice. So after spending as many years as he did growing up in Ethiopia, his taste buds were trained well to handle whatever spicy food is thrown their way.

Look out Adam Richman, this little guy could be the next star of Man vs. Food.

PRAYER REQUEST

2011-08-15T09:07:00.001-04:00

If you're so inclined, please keep our friends' daughter in your thoughts and prayers. Five year old Ella has been in and out of (mostly in) the Children's Hospital since August 1st and today will be undergoing a difficult procedue to hopefully help her team of doctors pinpoint what is ailing her.

Ella, along with her mom and dad and three brothers could use any and all prayers you are able to send their way.

Thank you.

Sensory Seeking Sunday

2011-08-14T22:05:00.000-04:00

As is the case with most Sundays, Lleyton started off the day struggling. It was one of those times where we could tell he was sensory seeking. He was literally bouncing off walls, hitting himself with a racket, running through the house sliding like he was stealing 2nd base. We tried the trick where we have him drag something heavy through the house. That didn't work. We tried to settle him down by putting a show he likes. He wasn't having it. So Sara came up with the idea of blowing the bounce house up inside. It was wet outside after the overnight storms, so outside wasn't and option, and low and behold the kids' playroom is the perfect size for a little sensory seeking fun...

Since Parker was away for the majority of the weekend with Grammy and Pop, it was just Addy and Lleyton in the bounce house. Max would have like to join the fray, but we didn't allow that. The kids jumped around for for quite awhile burning off some steam in a fairly contained environment.

Once the novelty of the home made Jump Zone wore off (more accurately, once my nerves couldn't take the constant worry that one of them was going to get hurt) we moved onto the next hands on activity of the day. Sara's favorite blogger clued her in the other day on a way to make some very cool cupcakes, and knowing how much the kids love helping around the kitchen, it seemed to be the perfect project.

These aren't kids that just like to act like they are helping, they won't accept no for an answer when it comes to getting in and getting their hands dirty.

Lleyton mixing the batter.

Who amongst us doesn't love taking care of the left over batter?

The beauty of our little ones is that they don't just do the fun work, they were both pretty excited about taking on the dirty dishes as well.

Once all of the dishes were done, it was time to take on the "cupcakes".

The finished products!

Touch-a-Truck

2011-08-13T22:23:00.002-04:00

What little boy doesn't love trucks?

Ours certainly do, so we were quite excited to take them this morning to the annual Touch-a-Truck event near our house. The little guys got to sit it and even honk the horns of trucks of all shapes and sizes.

Which was their favorite? The semi. They were so were so jealous that the nice truck driver actually gets to sleep in his truck.

Misery loves company.

2011-08-13T09:26:00.000-04:00

For some unknown reason I want my boys to love the Bengals like I do. Sara doesn't understand it, and most of the time I don't understand it either. Is it because I would hate for the boys root for another team and then the Bengals become perennial winners? Probably not, since that doesn't look like it is going to happen in my lifetime. Subconsciously, it's probably because I want someone to suffer with after each subsequent loss. Sounds like some sort of abuse to me.

But hey, I can't help it if they love the Bengals. Last night was the Bengals first preseason game and the boys were eager to put on their gear, so excited to be wearing the Bengals gear that they even chose to sleep in it.

If you have another team that maybe I can introduce the boys to, let me know. I can only imagine how easy it would be for them to jump ship at this young age and root for a good organization. Colts? Patriots? Dare I say Steelers? (That pains me to write.)

One day they will most likely make the decision that they would look better in something other than stripes, but until then I think they look pretty handsome, and might I say comfortable, in the orange and black.

Who Dey!

Meet our friend Zhenya.

2011-08-11T21:01:00.000-04:00

Zhenya is a 14 year old young man living in an orphanage is Kirov, Russia. He has lived in the Sovietsk Orphanage since his 8th birthday.

Not unlike most other boys his age in Russia, Zhenya loves soccer, being outside with his friends, and from what we hear he is growing into quite a nice leader. I was introduced to Zhenya through our former case worker at the agency we used when adopting Lleyton. Her and her husband have an organization dedicated to giving back to the children living in Zhenya’s orphanage. Part of their efforts to raise the spirits of the young people living there is a pen pal/letter writing campaign. Sara and I often talk about how we can give back or reach out to children like our own that have yet to find the loving home that ours have found and one way I have chosen to do that is through writing to my new buddy in Russia.

Our little ones love seeing pictures of our friend in Russia and have all sorts of questions for him. Hopefully one day he will feel comfortable enough to write back to us.

As I was talking with Lleyton the other day about Zhenya I reminded him that he lives in Russia. Lleyton’s eyes immediately lit up as he exclaimed, “He lives in Russia! He is so lucky!”

Hopefully our teenage friend feels the same way. As I tell him each time I write, Sara and I love his homeland, we enjoyed our time there immensely and look forward to educating Lleyton and the rest of the kids about Russia, and hope to one day visit there with all of our children in tow (I can just promise that it won’t be during the winter months).

Do you have a few minutes every so often to write to a child in Russia? If so, jump over to Sarah and Ben's blog and let them know. Life can be very challenging for young people like Zhenya, but hopefully the occasional letter and picture he gets from our family helps him keep his chin up.

Lleyton's newest pet?

2011-08-09T13:47:00.000-04:00

While Parker looks thrilled to be getting his picture standing next to the steer that I just purchased on behalf of the bank I work for, Lleyton on the other hand seems to be racking his brain trying to figure out how we are going to get this cow in the van for the ride home. Sadly for our little guy, the bovine wasn't able to make it home with us, as I am pretty certain there is some kind of by-law in our neighborhood prohibiting livestock from living in folks backyards.

Growing up fast.

2011-08-04T09:28:00.001-04:00

This little beauty is growing like a weed. Not just in size, but remarkably her personality is getting bigger as well (and we didn't think that was possible).

Things Addy loves...

Shoes
Clothes
Milk
Shoes
Ice Cream
Her brothers
Dancing
Her new life jacket for the pool
Pacifiers
Attention

DIY Network watch out...

2011-08-03T09:52:00.001-04:00

The past couple of weeks has been quite hectic around our house, as we decided to take on quite a large DIY home improvement project. Good thing we had this little guy around to help. We wouldn't be nearly as far along today as we are if it wasn't for his hard work and excellent supervisory skills...

For those out there that may have aspirations of taking on a kitchen remodel, make sure that you have enough help. Along with Lleyton's expertise, I also leaned on Sara's dad for the majority of the work. It's always good have a Bob Vila type of father-in-law. Allow me to let you in on a little secret, although I tell Lleyton and Parker that I taught Grandpa Paul everything he knows about home improvements, that's not necessarily true. I would know very little about how to rip boards, or cut granite, or operate heavy tools, or really anything else home improvement related if it weren't for Grandpa Paul...but my boys think it's cool that I have bestowed my expertise on him, so I will just let them keep believing that. Thanks to Sara's dad for going along with my story.

Back to the project. Before we got underway, I envisioned wrapping everything up in two days. Twelve days later we are nearing the finish line. Although it has taken quite a bit longer than we had expected, the end result is going to be better than we could have imagined.

Soon, it will be onto the next project...anything to keep us busy while we wait for our chance to go get our little guy from Korea.

The Not-So-Scary Mongolian Spot

2011-07-26T14:58:00.000-04:00

Not surprisingly, Sara and I hang on every word of the updates we receive regarding our favorite little Korean fella. The updates come every couple of months with the most recent one being shortly after his first birthday. By all accounts our little guy is doing very well. He is walking, saying “momma”, enjoying his porridge and cooked rice, sleeping well, and Addy’s favorite part…displaying frequent tantrum behaviors. We may have to soundproof our walls so as not to concern the neighbors if his tantrums come anywhere near the decibel levels of our little princess’.

One thing we have been anxiously awaiting is pictures of our little guy from his birthday celebration. We were told they were supposed to have come with his last update, but they did not show up. So this past Friday I called our agency and asked our case worker ever-so-nicely if she had any idea when the pictures may arrive. To my delight, she said she had received them the day before BUT she wasn’t comfortable sending them to us. I didn’t wreck my car when she said that but I probably didn’t stay between the lines. I couldn’t imagine what she might say next. What happened was our agency received the pictures but they were very concerned about a large bump on one of his arms and weren’t comfortable sending us the pictures until they received definitive word as to what the issue causing the bump was.

Her exact words were, “I would never send pictures like this to a family without first being able to explain what was in the pictures.”

I calmly told her that I understood and appreciated all of her efforts while my imagination began to race.

When I hung up I quickly dialed Sara to give her the news. What could this bump be? What did it look like to cause such concern? We instantly envisioned something huge. Something resembling a third arm. Something warranting it’s own name. Something hairy. Something scary. You name it, we envisioned it. So after a long weekend of waiting, our concerns were put to rest yesterday once the pictures arrived and the bump was revealed. It turns out it is a Mongolian Spot. What is a Mongolian Spot? Your guess is as good as mine, but I understand it’s nothing to be concerned about, so I didn’t even bother to Google it.

I have to send a big thank you out to our agency for doing such a bang up job getting our questions answered before we asked them. Undoubtedly, if we would have received the pictures before knowing about the spot, we would have asked what it was and if we should be concerned. They took care of that before we could ask. Good job CHSFS…and thank you so much for the great pictures of our very handsome little boy.

He’s a good looking little guy… Wouldn’t you agree?

Monster Jam 2011

2011-07-24T15:44:00.001-04:00

Sara and I were joined by her dad and step mom this evening as we made our way to Paul Brown Stadium for Monster Jam. We were quite skeptical of how the evening might go, as Lleyton has very sensitive ears that we feared wouldn't get along with the loud engines of the monster trucks.

But to our surprise and delight, everyone did great and loved the action. If you haven't been to an event like Monster Jam, I highly recommend it.

These smiles are prime examples of the look that both boys had during most of the show...

When Parker wasn't smiling at the action on the dirt, he was devouring a bag full of peanuts. Parker and peanuts are hard to separate. You give the kid a bag and he acts like it is his last meal. At one point I looked over at him only to see that he has somehow gotten peanuts in his ear.

If you need us next year around this time, come on down to PBS during Monster Jam. We will hopefully be introducing Camden to our new favorite event.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-20T22:29:00.002-04:00

Look who's 8!

2011-07-17T20:49:00.000-04:00

Our big man turned 8 years old today, and he was pretty happy about it.

The birthday celebration was all weekend long thanks to yesterday's visit from Grandma Susie and Papa Don. Included in the festivities was some backyard fun...

Although the water slide was certainly a hit, the highlight of the day was revealing Parker's very special birthday cake. Upon seeing the cake for the first time, he said, "It looks like me!"

Mission accomplished. Nice work Sara!

With today being his official birthday, we couldn't go without another cake, so Sara and Parker set out this afternoon to make some delicious cupcakes that we all could enjoy this evening when Grammy and Pop came over. Mission accomplished again...the cupcakes were fantastic.

Hopefully next year this picture will be complete with Camden here celebrating his big brother's 9th birthday.

Things we learned on vacation...

2011-07-14T13:29:00.000-04:00

Lleyton has NO qualms or reservations about blatantly staring at cute teenage coeds. We are going to work with him on this, but watching him longingly gaze at one young lady in particular was possibly the funniest moment of the trip.

Parker could live on peanut butter and chicken fingers.

Minivans with DVD players and wireless headphones are God's gift to families on long drives. 27 hours in the car and not one unplanned bathroom stop thanks to the endless supply of DVDs we brought with us to entertain the boys, and distract them from having to stop every 30 minutes to go to the bathroom.

I prefer a nice pool over a nice beach.

Sara yearns (understatement) to live close to a large body of water, preferably an ocean (I already knew this, but it became even more clear on this trip).

Addy bites hard, screams loud, and believes it’s her way or the highway (we already knew this as well...except the biting part, but it also became much more clear on this trip).

Parker smiles every time cap comes off of the camera.

Lleyton and Addy do not.

There is NO easy way to get to the Rosemary Beach/Seacrest Beach/Alys Beach/Seaside area of Florida. We sat in traffic for hours on the way home trying to find our way to an interstate...ANY interstate.

We love Nashville, TN (more specifically the Franklin/Brentwood area of Nashville)

Each kid loves having his/her own backpack full of fun things to occupy them in the car. As you can tell, Addy was pretty pleased with her Dora bag.

My new favorite restaurant is Sharky's in Panama City Beach. Cold beer, delicious fruity drinks for Sara, overlooking a beach that includes a playground for the kids to play on while mom and dad enjoy the aforementioned cold drinks. What's not to love?

If you're in or around Montgomery, AL stop at Sweet P's, you won't regret it. Their sign piqued our interest while making our way to Florida, so we decided to give it a try, and we were happy we did.

A look back at our vacation...

2011-07-12T22:41:00.000-04:00

We took off last Tuesday afternoon for a family vacation to Florida. We decided to break the approximately 12 hour long drive into 2 legs on the way down and the way back. Our good friends Kevin and Sandi graciously stayed up late for our arrival on Tuesday night, offering us a place to stay on the way down.

We were up and at 'em early on Wednesday so that we could arrive at our destination (Seacrest Beach) at a reasonable hour. Our plan worked as we rolled into our condo complex mid afternoon.

We checked in and the festivities began...

First trip to the pool...Parker was nice enough to carry Addy's lifejacket.

First trip to the beach.

Lleyton getting in a brief workout with a Shakeweight before dinner.

Our models.

The little ones trying to strategize a way to get me to stop taking pictures of them (it didn't work).

This young man never turns down the chance to have his picture taken.

Striking a pose.

I can only imagine this being a very clear glimpse into the future.

I have a new favorite restaurant, Sharkys. This is the playground for the kids while we waited for a table.

Best friends. Sara actually overheard Lleyton asking Addy, "Sissy, are you my best friend ever?".

Pretty excited about the thought of eating chicken fingers and fries overlooking the beach.

Lleyton showing off his powers.

Future Spiderman.

Addy had a blast cheering on Parker as he attempted to surf.

What better way to finish up a great trip than by stopping at one of our favorite restuarants for lunch on the way home. If you are passing through Louisville, it's worth your time to stop at Queen of Sheba and enjoy some delicious Ethiopian food.

Happy Anniversary St. Basils!

2011-07-12T15:31:00.000-04:00

In honor of St. Basil's Cathedral's 450th anniversary I thought I would share my favorite picture of all time.

We miss Russia.

Happy Birthday America!

2011-07-04T18:02:00.004-04:00

We loaded the kids into the car yesterday evening and headed over to Grammy and Pop's house for the annual 4th of July fireworks on the lake (the powers that be opted to have the fireworks on the 3rd, which I think was a very good decision).

We decided to tiptoe our way into the world of personal fireworks by allowing the boys to play around with Sparklers for a bit. To our delight, there were no instances of the boys sword fighting with the mini-pyrotechnics, hence our first experience was a success.

By the looks of these faces, the boys will be expecting Sparklers for years to come...

Before the main event started, the little men entertained Sara and I with an impromptu dance (turned belly dance) routine on the dock.

Who knew that the boys dance-off could be topped? Only by the spectacular firewords display that followed. If the past is any indicator of the future, we expected to see quite a bit more of this out of Lleyton than we did...

But we ended up being very surprised and even more delighted that his sat on Pop's lap for the majority of the show and he loved every second of it. Who wouldn't with fireworks like this...

And as the boys learned on Friday night at the parade we went to, it's never a bad time to thank the men and women that make the United States the great place that it is.

What a difference a year makes...

2011-07-03T23:29:00.000-04:00

One year ago today we arrived home with our little girl. She was a sight for sore eyes when we picked her up in Ethiopia, having recently been very sick her head had been shaved and she wasn't much more than skin and bones. That has all changed.

She also wasn't a very big fan of her brothers upon the first meeting, but that has changed as well...

July 3, 2010

July 3, 2011

In honor of her big day we made her a very special Ethiopia themed cake.

Happy Birthday Camden!

2011-07-02T15:33:00.007-04:00

Hopefully our little guy is sleeping soundly right now after what we hope was a very enjoyable day for him. In Korean culture a child's first birthday is met with much fanfare. Long ago in Korea, the mortality rate of infants was quite high due to a number of circumstances. According to my research, if a child made it to his/her first birthday the likelihood of him/her living a long life greatly increased, thus the first birthday was a very joyous day for Korean families. Although the same issues of infant mortality do not exist today, the first birthday (or Tol as they call it across the pond) remains a very important day and cause for quite a celebration.

Our hearts ache that we weren't able to be with our guy today, but we were assured by our agency that his foster family and the adoption agency both will celebrate his big day.

Him not being here doesn't mean we aren't celebrating, because we are. The kids are going to be making cards for Camden and we have a delicious cake that we are anxiously waiting to cut into after dinner. If he were here, we would have pulled out all of the stops and celebrated in traditional fashion.

Take a look at what a traditional Tol celebration looks like in Korea...

The table the child is seated in front traditionally houses up to 12 different kinds of rice cakes, accompanied by a bowl of rice, various fruits, and sea mustard soup.

The traditions don't end there. Along with the food on the table, there are also a number of other items that the child will be able to pick from. The tradition of picking from the items is called Toljabee. This is the tradition I would have liked to experience with all of our kids, as Koreans believe the order that the child picks the items will predict his or her future based on the meaning behind each item (and who doesn't want to see into the future?).

The items include:

Bow and arrow: the child will become a warrior

Needle and thread: the child will live long

Jujube: the child will have many descendants

Book, pencil, or related items: the child will become a successful scholar

Rice or rice cake: the child will become rich
Ruler, needle, scissors: the child will be talented with his/her hands

Knife: the child will be a good cook

Since I haven't had the pleasure of meeting our little Camden yet, I will be very interested to hear how he picked. Although our other little ones never got to experience Toljabee, I have a pretty good feeling I know what their first pick would have been...

Parker - Book or pencil...the kid is smart

Lleyton - Bow and arrow...we could have this event every single day and Lleyton would pick the bow and arrow every single day

Addy - Rice or rice cake...Not sure how she is going to get rich but if I had to guess I would say I like her chances for ending up on the arm of a wealthy athlete or musician

We miss our little guy (if it's possible to miss someone you have never met) but we are excited to celebrate his birthday without him while taking plenty of pictures to share with him later on down the road.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMDEN!

_____________________________________________________________________________

Pictures from today's festivities...

Family pictures are in!

2011-06-29T20:53:00.001-04:00

What better way to reveal our newest little addition to the family's face than through some really fantastic pictures that we had taken a couple of months ago.

All images by Lizzie Loo Photography, http://www.lizzieloo.com/

You see a pretty little girl...I see TROUBLE

2011-06-27T22:06:00.002-04:00

Can't forget about the boys...our hands are pretty much guaranteed to be full with them as well.

Busy week...in a good way.

2011-06-27T22:02:00.001-04:00

The first week of July used to only be significant thanks to Independence Day. That has changed for us over the last calendar year. Now, the 4th of July has taken a backseat to two other very important days that we are looking forward to celebrating this week. Coming up on Saturday (July 2nd) our little guy half a world away will be turning 1. First birthdays are a very big deal in Korea, so we are hopeful that his foster mom will have a traditional celebration for his big day. We will be having our own celebration here, with a delicious cake and we may even take a stab at making some Korean food. Should be fun.

The following day (July 3rd) will mark Addy's one year anniversary of being home...which would also be the one year anniversary of Sara and I swearing that 3 kids was it (we obviously changed our minds. we blame that decision on the jet lag, Addy screaming in our ears for 16 hours straight, and Emirates Air not giving us bulkhead seats from Dubai to New York).

Then there will be the 4th of July...

Then we are off on vacation for the rest of that week as we make our way to Florida. Who doesn't love last minute decisions to take the family to the beach. Thank goodness we got into a minivan last weekend (which for the record is the best decision we have made in a long time). We LOVE our new ride.

Hope everyone else enjoys their upcoming week as much as we plan to enjoy ours.

Future Major Leaguer

2011-06-20T20:59:00.000-04:00

Lleyton made his baseball debut last week during his first tee ball practice. We were pleasantly surprised to hear that one of his best little buddies is on the same team, yet at the same time we really felt for the teams coaches. Having to corral these boys at daycare is a tall task for the teachers, but they have the benefit of having four walls around these two. The coaches don't have those walls to rely on.

I wish I knew what these two were scheming about when I snapped this instant classic.

This little guy is looking to shine this coming weekend during his first real game action. Should be nothing short of very interesting.

Help find Lauren Spierer (www.findlauren.com)

2011-06-20T15:32:00.000-04:00

For a number of reasons I can’t seem to get my mind off of a family I have never met before in Bloomington, IN.

The family of Lauren Spierer has been on my mind for a couple of weeks now. In case you don’t know, Lauren is a 20 year old sophomore at IU who disappeared in the early morning hours of Friday, June 3. I have been following along on Twitter ever since (@NewsOnLaurenS) in hopes that the next time I check she will have been found safely. That news has yet to come.

I have spent countless enjoyable nights out on the town in Bloomington over the years. Not one of those nights did I feel unsafe. That’s one of the reasons the story of this disappearance has captured my attention as it has.

Another undeniable reason this story has affected me is that I know someday Addy is going to grow up and likely head off to college (she may even follow in dad’s footsteps and head to Bloomington). Probably not much unlike the feelings Lauren's parents had when she left for college, I feel that when I am with Addy I can protect her, but when she takes off to school it will be hard not to be concerned about her safety.

Sadly, the Spierer's concerns have become a reality.

A request was made today via Twitter asking for help continuing to spread the word about Lauren. When you have a minute, jump over to www.findlauren.com or follow @NewsOnLaurenS.

Somewhere someone knows something that can help in this search.

The thoughts and prayers of our family are with the Spierer family.

SUPERMAN is back!

2011-06-07T09:55:00.003-04:00

Thanks to the many folks that have requested we sell the shirts again, we are opening our sale back up for the next two weeks. This sale will work just as the last one did, you can order via this site or if you would rather email your order to me and send a check through the mail that could work too. The email address is abrotherforlleyton@yahoo.com.

Any and all money raised from our sale, and any other fundraisers we do in the future, will go directly towards bringing our little guy home.

Buy them quickly. We will only be selling them for two weeks. We will take all of our orders after the two weeks and get all of the shirts printed at that time. We should receive them within about 7-10 days and we will then send them onto you as soon as we get them...and shipping is FREE!

From our experience and what we have heard from others that have already purchased from us, the shirts may run a tad bit small, so you may want to keep that in mind while ordering.

Our models will be happy to see themselves sporting their good looking shirts on the internet again...

Interview with Parker

2011-06-06T14:36:00.000-04:00

I took the day off today to get some things done around the house and decided to pick Parker up from daycare and take him wherever he wanted to eat lunch. My guess was he was going to pick McDonald, BW3's, or Beef O'Bradys. I was correct. After surprising my initially and picking Chipotle, he quickly changed his mind and decided on Beef O'Brady's. Over a delicious lunch I asked him a range of questions. The transcript follows:

Me: What is your favorite thing about being in America?
Parker: Having a mom and dad, grandmas and grandpas, and a brother and sister.

Me: What is your favorite possession?
Parker: My mom and dad and brother and sister...and my basketball goal.

Me: What is your favorite memory over the last two years?
Parker: Playing sports.

Me: What is your favorite memory of Ethiopia?
Parker: Eating injera.

Me; What is your favorite time of year?
Parker: Summer

Me: What is your favorite thing about school?
Parker: Recess

Me: Who is your favorite singer?
Parker: Nobody....wait, wait, wait...it's the people that sing that song Lleyton like so much, Stuck Like Glue. (For all of you non-country listeners, he is referring to Sugarland)

Me: What is your favorite movie?
Parker: Megamind

Me: What is your favorite holiday?
Parker: Christmas

Me: What is your favorite food?
Parker: Injera

Me: What is your favorite American food?
Parker: Chicken nuggets and fries...and Doritos...and Cheetos...and chips.

Me: Who is your best friend?
Parker: Nathan

Me: What is your favorite sports team?
Parker: In baseball it is the Reds. Football it is the Steelers. Basketball it is the Lakers.

Me: What is the one thing you would like people to know about you?
Parker: I love baseball. I love basketball. I love my mom and dad.

2 years home for our big guy.

2011-06-06T14:19:00.000-04:00

Two years ago today we landed at CVG with our newly minted soon-to-be six year old son. He was a very small, meek, scared little boy that was about to go through a very difficult and challenging transition from life in Ethiopia to life in a family here. The adjustment process with Parker unbelievably hard. Sara and I went through countless days wondering how we were going to make through each day. As time went on he learned how to speak our language, he learned what was expected of him, he learned to respect us, and he learned how to love us.

We are so proud of our ever-growing little guy and can look back on the past two years with smiles knowing that we made it through the tough part.

We made sure that most of this past weekend was about Parker. We did some of his favorite things, ate some of his favorite foods, and celebrated the fact that we have a really incredible little guy that we get to call our son.

We love you Parker!

Slip and Slide with Lleyton

The boy loves all things cake and candy, so I combined those for him through this delicious Reese's Cup cake.

The horses are back, so we made a quick stop to say hello (well, the rest of us said hello while Lleyton proceeded to kiss the baby horse). Addy wasn't a big fan at first, so it was very cute watching her grab onto Parker for dear life.

The kids and I were excited to get over to Grammy and Pop's house to see cousins Nick and Drew and take a spin on the new boat. Maybe I was a bit too excited, as I got a speeding ticket on the way...ces la vie. We missed Sara during the trip to Grammy and Pop's as she had to again jet set her way across the country for work.

What was Lleyton's favorite part of the new boat? The rearview mirror.

Our navigator.

Let the waiting begin.

2011-06-03T16:37:00.003-04:00

What’s the toughest part about international adoption? If you ask me, it’s the waiting. There are plenty of tough parts…the unknown, the finances, the adjustment, the paperwork, did I mention the finances?

Waiting is the toughest.

With our previous adoptions, the waiting has been full of unknowns…when will our paperwork be done…when will we get a referral….when will we be submitted to court…when will we travel…etc. etc. etc.

This wait will be different. We know going in that there is quite a bit of time between now and our trip to Seoul (which we are already planning…looks like a stop in Hong Kong for a few days could be in our future!). All of our paperwork should arrive at our adoption agency on Monday. At which time they will turn around and send it on its way to Seoul. Upon our paperwork arriving in South Korea, our spot in line will be secured and the wait shall officially begin. Due to the large backlog of cases submitted before ours that have yet to travel, we have been told the wait will be anywhere between 12 – 14 months. That means it will be at least one year before we can welcome our little guy into our family.

Knowing he is over there and we can’t go get him is tough. Realizing with each passing day a stronger bond will be forming between he and his faster mother is daunting (don’t get me wrong, we are happy he is with a foster mother rather than in an institution). Thinking about bringing a 2 year old that isn’t used to living with young siblings into our sometimes crazy household is difficult. Not getting to celebrate his first and most likely second birthday with him is saddening.

Even with all of that being true, we are so excited to be moving forward with the process. Getting the paperwork and our fees sent out in the mail is a big, positive step.

After all, we have three ever-growing little ones at home right now that won’t let us dwell too much on how long the wait is going to be.

Superman shirts are on the way!

2011-05-31T21:29:00.000-04:00

We spent quite awhile last night packing all of the shirts and I helped the nice lady at the post office meet her quota for items shipped in a day today.

Hope everyone that is expecting a shirt loves it.

Thank you again!

More baseball related pictures...

2011-05-31T20:50:00.000-04:00

This Spring has definitely featured a lot of baseball, most of which has involved us hanging out watching Parker gobble up grounders out of the corner of one eye while trying to monitor Lleyton out of the remainder of our eyes. On top of that type of baseball we also took the boys to watch the pros in action a couple of weeks back. We joined a number of Parker's teammates and their families for a night out at Great American Ballpark. And of course we have pictures to prove it...

(Lleyton has recently become more opinionated regarding what he wears to school, hence the Carson Palmer jersey and cowboy boots.)

Win, Lose, or Draw

2011-05-30T16:15:00.004-04:00

No matter the outcome of the game, these kids are always smiling.

They gave their best all weekend and didn't come out on the smiling side on the scoreboard this morning in the championship game, but you wouldn't know it looking at this picture.

I'll admit, I was dreading spending the lion's share of our long weekend at the park watching 7 year old baseball, but these guys made it very enjoyable (the fact that frothy adult beverages were offered for sale didn't hurt either).

Addy and Lleyton were troopers throughout all of the games as well.

Here are a few pictures from our weekend of baseball...

Future Star? At least he looks the part.

Yankee cheerleaders.

I hope he never wants one of these. One good thing is that he knows he can't have one just yet, because he was adament about toys like this one being for men, not boys.

Looking the part again.

Rally cap time late in the Championship Game.

Strange kid.

2011-05-28T13:44:00.000-04:00

Notice anything amiss about this laundry basket?

Security System...Lleyton style

2011-05-22T19:40:00.000-04:00

We live in what most would consider a very safe area, but Lleyton must have decided we needed a bit of extra security, as we came up to our room yesterday evening and were greeted by Batman, Robin, and Spiderman all lined up at attention guarding our window.

Thank you to Lleyton for making us feel even more comfortable.

Best buds - Part 2

2011-05-20T20:28:00.000-04:00

Thank you!

2011-05-11T14:03:00.001-04:00

For those that may not know, allow me to tell you something about a group of people that we are grateful to be associated with. I'm talking about people in and around the adoption community (adoptive families, adoptees, birthmothers, adoption/orphan advocates). It never ceases to amaze me how kind, genuine, supportive, generous and caring people in this group are. Prior to jumping into our first adoption, we had never been a part of such an incredible dynamic, and it just keeps getting better.

To everyone out there that has helped us spread the word, whether via your blog, or facebook, or twitter, or whatever means you have, and those that have purchased shirts, Sara and I say THANK YOU over and over again.

We set out on this first fundraiser not sure what to anticipate, and thanks to your willingness to help and willingness to buy we have exceeded any of our expectations (and we still have almost a week left!).

It will be fun to look back down the road and tell Camden how much support we received to help bring him home from many people we are close to and even more that we have never met.

If you're up to it, we would love for you to keep spreading the word. The shirts will be available until next Tuesday.

THANK YOU!

Matt, Sara, Parker, Lleyton, Addy, and Camden

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T23:59:00.003-04:00

To my mom and my wife,

Happy Mother's Day!

I feel extremely fortunate to have grown up under the tutelage and care of such a fantastic mom, and I am confident my children will share the same sentiment.

Speaking of my children, here is Lleyton executing on our plan that Sara wasn't supposed to raise as much as a finger today, while he watered her flowers on the front porch.

In an unrelated matter, nothing brings brothers and sisters together in perfect harmony better than Spongebob Square Pants.

Birthmother's Day

2011-05-07T21:57:00.005-04:00

Today is Birthmother's Day.

On the eve of the day we have always known as a time to celebrate moms and all they do for us throughout our lives, we celebrate a day meant to acknowledge, commend, and thank those women who have made the decision to give their children up for adoption.

In our case, that means taking time to think about four different women. The path that each of our kids took to ultimately end up in our house is unique. That being true, they all started the same way, with a mother's decision to give up their child. Whether that decision was made at birth, or years after, the decision was the same. A decision most likely based on a belief that there could be a better life for this child elsewhere.

Each of our kids' stories is just that, their story to share as they see fit. As they grow up we will fill them in on all of the details that we know of.

In Lleyton's case, we have communicated with his mother. We have pictures of her and her family. We have her story, and we know her reasoning for giving him up. I'll be the first to admit that at times, while I watch Lleyton battle some of the issues that he has to deal with, I get upset with his birthmother. When those feeling come about, I quickly remind myself (or more often than not Sara quickly reminds me) to be thankful that Lleyton is with us. The truth of the matter is that we are so grateful to his birthmother for carrying him throughout her pregnancy and ultimately giving birth to him. Sara and I realize that she didn't have to do that, but she did, and because of that we have our little man here with us.

In Addy's case, we had prepared ourselves for the possibility that we may have been able to meet her birthmother during our trip to Ethiopia to bring her home. We were very saddened to learn that she had passed away before that meeting could take place. Oh how we wish we could have met her. Looking at our little girl, I am certain her birthmother was beautiful, and we would have loved to have been able to meet the woman that gave her that personality of hers (she can be a bit of a spitfire).

We recently made an effort to find out a bit more about Parker's story and his path to where he is now. Not surprisingly, we weren't able to find out very much. We wish we could reach his birthmother. We would love for her to see the young man her son has become.

While he isn't technically a part of our family yet, we don't see it that way when we think of our little guy in South Korea. So on this day we also think about the young lady half a world away that relinquished her rights to the baby boy that will one day become our fourth child. She, just like the birthmother of each of our other kids, made the very difficult decision to give him up, and we feel very fortunate to be the people that will be welcoming him into our family.

So as I sit here tonight and think about each of these women, I wish I could personally tell each one of them how much their decisions have meant to us .

From Sara and I to each of them, thank you so much! The children that you gave birth to are in good hands and we look forward to sharing their stories with them as they grow older.

We have a winner!

2011-05-07T20:27:00.000-04:00

Thank you so much to those of you that have helped spread the word about our Superman was Adopted shirts. The response to our fundraiser has been fantastic.

Onto the good stuff...

We have a winner of our first ever blog giveway. Earlier this evening Lleyton reaching his little hand deep into a hat pulled out this name...

So there you have it. Congratulations to Emmy! You are the winner of a $25 gift card from Amazon and the title "1st Ever A Brother for Lleyton Blog Giveaway Winner".

Thanks again to everyone that is now following the blog, tweeted about our sale, wrote about Superman was Adopted shirts on Facebook, and anything else you may have done. We truly appreciate your support.

SUPERMAN WAS ADOPTED shirts...and a GIVEAWAY!

2011-05-02T18:47:00.009-04:00

Who doesn’t love a very cool t-shirt? We certainly do, and hopefully you feel the same.

Sara and I are very excited to have the chance to do some fundraising for our adoption by selling a fantastic looking shirt. As we made the decision to move forward with our 4th adoption over the course of the last 4 years, we both knew that in order for this to be possible we were going to have to rely on some fundraising efforts.

Any and all money raised from our sale, and any other fundraisers we do in the future, will go directly towards bringing our little guy home.

Buy them quickly. We will only be selling them for two weeks. We will take all of our orders after the two weeks and get all of the shirts printed at that time. We should receive them within about 7-10 days and we will then send them onto you as soon as we get them...and shipping is FREE!

Take a look at these shirts and tell me you or your little ones wouldn’t look fantastic in one…

From our experience, the shirts may run a tad bit small, so you may want to keep that in mind while ordering.

You can order a couple of different ways. You can order right here on our blog and pay with PayPal or credit card, or you can email me (abrotherforlleyton@yahoo.com) what size(s) and color(s) you would like and then send a check through the mail. Either way works for us.

Along with the shirt sale we are also going to be doing our first BLOG GIVEAWAY!

Here is how you can help us spread the word…

Become a follower of our blog, then leave a comment on this post letting me know you are following (for those of you already following, leave a comment telling me that). Each follower that leaves a comment on this post will get one entry into our drawing. If you really like what you see, link back to our blog, grab our button from the sidebar, and/or post about our t-shirt sale on Facebook or Twitter. Let me know via your comment if you did any of these things and you will be given another chance(s) to win.

This coming Saturday night (May 7) we will put all of the names in a hat and have one of the little ones draw out the big winner.

What’s the big prize?

$25 Amazon.com Gift Certificate

and

The esteemed title: First Ever A BROTHER FOR LLEYTON Blog Giveaway Winner

Thank you for your help bringing little Camden home!

Our very special guest.

2011-05-01T21:31:00.004-04:00

We always enjoy having family over to the house to visit, and today was no different. What set today apart was our extra special guest. Along with looking forward to seeing Sara's mom and step dad, we were also very excited to see her Grandma. For as long as I have known her, Grandma Rena has not ventured out of town other than to visit Grandpa Bob in the hospital in Indianapolis. So we were honored that she would want to make the long drive to visit us. The visit was awesome. Grandma Rena was such a good sport with all of the kids. I am sure she is going to get a very good night sleep tonight after the little ones put her through their version of the Olympics. I hope she enjoyed the visit half as much as we did.

Shortly after her arrival, Addy came to the conclusion that Grandma Rena and her were fast friends. They hit it off while drawing pictures.

Highlights from the Olympics...

Flawless form.

Flawless form, Part 2.

Staring down the sign before delivering a perfect strike.

After retiring Lleyton on 3 pitches, she made quick work of Parker.

4 generations.

The boys are always so excited to see Grandpa Don. When Don is in the house, fun abounds. Here is Lleyton waiting anxiously for his arrival.

We've moved...kind of.

2011-04-27T19:23:00.001-04:00

You can now find our blog at...

http://www.abrotherforlleyton.com/

If you just really prefer typing in the old address, knock yourself out, you will be redirected to the new address.

Thanks again for following along with us. We are excited for an eventful year as we move towards bringing our newest little guy home.

Easter around our house.

2011-04-26T22:00:00.000-04:00

The Easter Bunny made a stop at our house on Sunday and I think the kids were pretty happy with what they found in their baskets.

Amongst Lleyton's basket full of goodness was a pair of work gloves and binoculars. He put those to good use while protecting Addy from bad guys.

During a very brief break from the seemingly constant rain this past Saturday, we took the kids to an Easter egg hunt in our neighborhood.

The kids were all smiles prior to the event, with visions of finding dozens of eggs and claiming their prizes.

The smiles for Lleyton only last so long, as he was pretty disappointed with his haul from the egg hunt. This is the face of little guy that only found three eggs.

After seeing this pitiful face, we reminded our little guy that we would be hunting for eggs at our house as well, so he could find more during that search. He said he wanted to find 100 eggs. His wish is our command. We stuffed upwards of 200 eggs, almost ensuring that we wouldn't have to see the same sad face from Lleyton after our event.

Friday Night Fun

2011-04-22T21:43:00.005-04:00

As we have become accustomed to this week, the weather was awful this evening, so we set out to keep the kids entertained with coloring Easter eggs and eating Easter themed s'mores. While the little ones decorated the eggs, it was Parker's job to assemble the delicious looking Peep s'mores.

By the looks of these pictures, he was happy to take on his task.

The little ones worked together to turn a dozen hard boiled eggs into works of art (by worked together I mean they stood next to each other).

If I haven't told you before, Addy is a bit of a diva. She really likes having things her way and if she deems things are going that way, she isn't afraid to tell you. This was quite evident during this evening's fun.

She didn't really dig the idea of sharing the egg spinner with Lleyton, so while it was his turn to decorate and egg or two, this is what we saw...

A slightly different side of her came out when it was her turn...

Never a dull moment around here.

_______________________________________________________________________

Oh, I almost forgot to share with you how Addy likes to tell us she is finished with her dinner.

Does she politely push her bowl to the side and wait for us to grab her?

Does she say "All done"?

Does she offer her brothers whatever may be left over?

No.

She dumps her bowl on her head.

Thank you Rainbowkids.com.

2011-04-21T22:56:00.004-04:00

Upon making the decision to consider another adoption, Sara began spending more and more time on Rainbowkids.com. Rainbowkids is a website that not only houses a plethora of information regarding adoption, but it is also home to lists of waiting children with special needs throughout the world. On one of those lists is where we found our little guy.

Our first three adoptions were borne from Sara and I's desire to form and expand our family. This one is a bit different. This one we set out to hopefully find a child with special needs that we were comfortable that we could address. Our family could have been complete with three kids, but we have chosen to open up our hearts and home to one more because we feel that we have what it takes to offer the same loving family to another needy little person that Lleyton, Parker and Addy enjoy.

The little guy that that we can't wait to meet and welcome into our family has a heart defect that will need to addressed with surgery. He has been diagnosed with moderate to severe ASD/VSD and heart failure. Long term prognosis for him should be good after the surgery that will be required to fix what is ailing him. One good thing that has come from our recognizing, diagnosing, understanding, and dealing with Lleyton's special needs (I have yet to write about what Lleyton is dealing with, but I will at some point soon) is that we have come to know more than our fair share of really talented doctors and therapists at the Children's Hospital in Cincinnati. One of which is a cardiologist. After discussing our little guy in Korea's issues with her, she seemed confident that the surgery can be done with very high success rate and no long term affects on his health.

Unlike Lleyton and Addy, who spent their infancy in an orphanage, this little guy (whom I should come up with a blog name for so that I don't have to keep writing "this little guy") is living with a foster mother. She lives in Seoul, which is where we will travel to pick him up when that time comes. From the looks of the video we received of him last week, the conditions he lives in far exceed our expectations.

More details to come as we move forward. As of now we are gathering necessary paperwork kick this process into gear.

Please keep our little guy in your thoughts and prayers.

Book Buddies

2011-04-19T20:40:00.000-04:00

Springtime has arrived.

2011-04-13T22:44:00.001-04:00

Both Sara and I took the day off today to spend some quality time with the kids since this week in Parker's spring break.

On tap for today was a morning visit to the zoo..

Thank goodness we took our camera with us on our adventure, because the tulips were out in full force and I took advantage of that and took plenty of pics.

Before we get to the tulip pictures, Lleyton ran into Dora right when we entered the zoo, and how could he resist having his picture taken with one of his favorite characters ever.

One of the highlights of the day, albeit a brief highlight, was the boys getting to feed a giraffe.

What the kids think.

2011-04-12T21:31:00.002-04:00

By far the biggest part of our decision making process was the determining the effect adding another little one to our roster may have on Parker, Lleyton, and Addy. Sara and I debated for days (if not weeks) before coming to the conclusion that we were prepared to move forward with this adoption.

The decision wasn't made without consulting the little ones, and here's what they thought...

Parker - He was really campaigning for an older sister (he must not have remembered how difficult our adjustment was with him). Once we brought him back to reality he was very excited about the possibility of a baby brother and he has been lobbying to share his room.

Addy - She seemed to be in favor of becoming a big sister, that is as long as we could guarantee her that the new little brother wouldn't try to drink any of her milk. Don't get between our little girl and her milk.

Lleyton - He was our wildcard. When asked if he would like a little brother, his response was, "No...I want to keep Addy." After she was able to curtail her laughter, Sara assured him that we weren't trading Addy in for a little brother. Upon understanding that Addy was still going to be around, most likely imitating his every move, Lleyton came to the conclusion that he was in favor of the new addition.

Our little guy in Korea has a few very excited older siblings waiting for him to join the party.

Hope he's ready to be showered with kisses upon arriving at the airport. The kids are already smooching him through the computer screen.

Last stop...South Korea!

2011-04-11T21:39:00.000-04:00

It is with great excitement and anticipation that I announce that Sara and I have made the decision to add onto our family one more time.

The little person that is going to have the pleasure of having Parker, Lleyton, and Addy as siblings is a very handsome little boy from South Korea. He was born July 2, 2010 and will probably have about another year of his low key lifestyle in Seoul before we are able to bring him home and introduce him to the daily excitement that exists in our household.

The journey we have taken over the last 4 years since deciding to form our family through adoption has been nothing short of incredible. The places that we have been, the people that we have met, the countries we have fallen in love with have changed our lives for the better, and I am planning on this experience being no different.

I vividly remember a conversation Sara and I had as we ascended an escalator at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport on the afternoon of July 3rd last summer. We had just finished the 3rd of 4 legs of our trip home with Addy as she screamed in our ears. Fatigue was at an all time high when we looked at each other and agreed that three children would be enough.

Who knew that just the day prior, half way around the world, the boy that will become our 4th child was born.

Our feelings changed after getting home and settling in and getting used to life with three very vibrant and energetic little ones. We decided that if the right situation presented itself we would be willing to jump back in and adopt again...and here we are. The adoption process never seems to be easy, but we are ready to take it on once again.

There’s a little guy 6,800 miles away that we are very eager to meet and bring home.

Wish us luck.

Stay tuned for what will hopefully be a few really cool fundraising ideas that we are very excited about.

Quote that confims being a dad is the coollest thing ever...

2011-04-03T22:38:00.006-04:00

It's 10:28pm and Lleyton is having trouble sleeping because of the high winds, so he is hanging with me on the couch watching the news.

Our kids are on a pretty strict schedule. Each night they are in bed by 8 o'clock and Sara and I enjoy the quiet time after they are resting peacefully. But Lleyton being awakened by wind and being up late has been well worth it on this night because this is what he just told me...

"Daddy...you're my best buddy, but Mommy is my best friend."

How lucky are we to have such great kids.

__________________________

UPDATE

It's now 10:38pm and Lleyton just switched gears on me and came up with this quote on an entirely unrelated topic:

"Daddy...if I eat dog poop, I'll throw up."

Here's to hoping that he chooses not to put that theory to the test and that he does decide he needs to get a little shut eye tonight.

Lleyton's Soccer Debut...Take 2

2011-04-03T21:07:00.007-04:00

In the NFL, many times when a player is injured and is unable to finish the season he will be put on the PUP list. PUP stands for physically unable to perform. I have determined that if youth soccer has such a list it may be called the MUP list...mentally unable to perform.

If that list existed, Lleyton would have been put on it before the his first game last season. He had all of the skills to potentially run circles around his comrades, but he lacked a bit on the other side of the game. What he had in dribbling skills was outweighed by his lack of attention span. What he had in speed was countered by the impulsively that drove him to dart off of the field in warm ups straight into a busy parking lot. He wasn't unable to focus enough to sit on the sidelines and cheer his teammates, choosing rather to stay right by our side.

With all of that being true and with those memories from a year ago fresh in our minds, we set out this afternoon to give soccer another try...and our little guy far exceeded our expectations.

He did great!

We have clearly come along way in the last year (with the biggest strides coming in the last few weeks).

Does this look like a kid that lacks focus?

How about this one, taken while our little soccer player stared down the competition during pregame warm ups.

Lleyton is usually asked to hang on the sidelines with Addy and cheer on Parker while watching him play, so he was delighted that the tables were turned and Parker and Addy were the ones cheering him on.

He was very assertive and aggressive on the field (maybe too aggressive at times...sorry to those little guys that he ran over). Here is taking Bob the Bobcat for a little ride down the field. Bob the Bobcat is the name of the ball in the league he plays in.

Sara and I beamed with pride while watching our little guy play this afternoon. He has really made progress recently and we are thrilled about that. Our biggest point of pride wasn't his passing skills, his ability to control the ball while dribbling, and certainly not his slide-tackling, but rather we were most proud of our little guy for this...

Sitting on the sidelines rooting on his teammates.

Onto next week. He is excited about getting back on the field, and we are equally as excited to watch.

RUN FOR CONGO - Raising money for a great cause

2011-03-28T10:30:00.001-04:00

If you're anything like me, you grew up with a great family, plenty of food, a closet full of clothes, and a warm bed to sleep in. That isn't the case throughout the world, and from what I have experienced in Ethiopia and read about from the Congo, a life like that there may be the exception rather than the norm.

I am running in a 5K on Saturday in Indianapolis that is raising money for women and children of the Congo. What a fantastic cause that I am excited to support. If you feel so inclined, please visit this website and donate. Just a few dollars can go a very long way to towards improving lives of those living in the Congo.

Thank you!

UNBELIEVABLE!

2011-03-26T20:20:00.000-04:00

Future Butler Bulldogs

2011-03-26T16:30:00.001-04:00

What better way to prepare for the big game that is about to tipoff than by breaking in the new goal.

Parker's best Matt Howard impersonation...

Lleyton showing off his Shelvin Mack-like form....

Addy getting into the act flying high above the rim...

Cheap labor.

2011-03-20T21:34:00.000-04:00

We decided to invest in a basketball goal for the kids and the boys asked if they could help me dig the hole where the goal will go.

Who am I to say no?

While they wanted to get outside and help me pour the concrete this morning, Sara convinced them that it would be more fun to stay inside where it was dry and turn themselves into dogs. From the perspective of the person that was outside mixing and pouring all of the concrete, I agree with Sara.

Here are our little dogs.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T22:29:00.002-04:00

We hope you had as nice of a St. Patrick's Day as these kids did.

On the way to school this morning Parker told me that today was the best day of his life. Why? Because the leprechaun that he tried to trap last night in our house left him gold chocolate coins and green necklaces (all of which he graciously shared with his siblings).

Details on how to attempt to trap a leprechaun to come...

Bracketology (through the mind of a 4 year old)

2011-03-17T12:12:00.000-04:00

With March always comes such great anticipation around our house (at least it used to before Duke potentially ruined Sara’s future enjoyment of this annual extravaganza by narrowly beating her alma mater last year in an epic championship game…I digress).

That being said, the excitement may be a tad bit tapered this year, but there is excitement nonetheless.

I have filled out a bracket for as many years as I can remember. I vividly recall begging and pleading my parents to take us out of school so we could go watch the opening rounds wherever they may be. Our attempts were mostly for not, but we were successful a couple of times and for that I am grateful to mom and dad. I’m looking forward to the day I can do the same for our little ones.

I also look forward to the time when I get to talk the kids out of making silly/dumb/ridiculous decisions like the one I made in the early 90’s. That is when I passed up the opportunity to go with my dad and brother to the Final Four in Minneapolis. Why would I do something so unthinkable? Because I couldn’t bear the thought of missing my class’ overnight field trip to the Cincinnati Zoo (I was young and stupid).

Ladies and gentlemen, that wasn’t just any Final Four, that was the 1992 version which featured my two favorite teams, the Calbert Cheaney led Indiana Hoosiers and a much more svelte Bob Huggins’ led Cincinnati Bearcats (the other two teams weren’t bad either as Duke ended up prevailing over the Fab 5 for Coach K’s second consecutive national championship…not that I remember and am still upset with myself). Oh well, I have been to a few Final Fours since then so that makes up for a little bit.

Back to the topic at hand…

Along with filling out my own bracket each year, I get a real kick out of the kids getting into the action as well. Parker’s bracket this year is pretty legit. Although I would have bet $100 he would have picked UK to win it all, instead he went away from his heart and picked Ohio State.

Lleyton, on the other hand, picked solely with his heart. Who might you think that a 4 year that is less interested in watching sports on TV than his mommy would pick? If you guessed San Diego State you would be correct. Not out of respect for Steve Fisher’s tournament resume. Not because he really enjoyed watching them play this year and is uber-impressed with their 32-2 record. Rather, he picked them because that is where he thinks Diego lives. If you think that is funny, would you believe that his cousin and fellow budding bi-lingual cartoon lover Nick picked the exact same thing…for the same reason. Hilarious.

If there could be National Championship game featuring San Diego State vs. San Dora State, these two wouldn’t know how to contain their excitement. I’m pretty sure Lleyton would pick Dora b/c she has Swiper, who could be a lock down defender.

Let the madness begin!

New favorite website!

2011-03-16T21:25:00.001-04:00

http://rivers-of-living-water.org/Projects.htm

I recieved this great email from a family that is trying to make a huge difference in the lives of children in Kamashi, Ethiopia, which is where Parker grew up.

Dear Friends of Kamashi,

As you may have heard by now, our family is starting a Non-Profit Organization called Rivers of Living Water ~ Helping Orphans and Widows in Need ~ James 1:27. It is our desire to be used by God to bring a hope and a future to orphans and widows in Ethiopia. It is the deep desire of our hearts to bring clean water to orphans that have none, but more than that, to bring Living Water to empty and hopeless hearts.

Our first project is the Kamashi Orphanage. We have been in contact with the director via his son and we are working together to help them install a clean water well for the orphanage. As you may know, there are 168 boys, ages 10-20 who live at the orphanage. Most of them, unless adopted, will live out their entire childhood there. There is no clean water available. There was a shallow well put in at one time, but it has run dry. The boys go down to the river to collect dirty water in jugs, then transfer it to large barrels and bring that back to the orphanage. This is their drinking water.

Some have said in unbelief, that this is an impossible dream, but with God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.

We are asking for your help.

We know that you have a special place in your hearts for the children and people of Kamashi.

Can you commit to PRAY for this project? Pray that no weapon formed against us will prosper.

Right now partnerships are being formed in order to get this job done.

Pray for the Lord to continue to open doors that can not be shut.

We are starting an online campaign to raise awareness and the funds needed to install the well. We have a website and a page on Facebook. If you get a chance, please visit them. Our pre-bid estimate for the well is between US $5000 – $10,000. All monies raised will go into a project fund. As a safeguard, no money will be paid to the orphanage, but will be used to pay the well engineers directly.

Our hope is to organize a mission trip. We would LOVE to have the families of children adopted from Kamashi and those who have served there in the past, to join us in returning to bless the remaining children and people from the village. They are also in need of shoes and clothes. We are hoping to organize a trip at the same time the well will be installed, or shortly after it is completed. This way we can check up on the project and share in the joy of clean water for the children! At that time we would be bringing donated items, shoes, clothes, blankets etc. and hopefully a copy of “The Jesus Movie” in their language. We want to have a church worship service where we worship the Lord, watch the film, and pray for the sick.

Can you please help us?

Can you pray? Pray? Pray? Pray? We need this the most.

Can you help us spread the word? Share our website and LIKE our Facebook page.

Can you help us financially? A tax deductible fund will be available shortly to send donations to on our website.

Can you pray about doing a fundraiser in your area? A 5K run, yard sale, benefit dinner, concert, silent auction?

Can you pray about coming with us to Kamashi later in the year or the beginning of next year?

If you know of other families that have adopted from Kamashi, please SPREAD THE WORD!!!

Thanks so much for your time. I am looking forward to hearing your responses.

Are you in?
We are.

Parker in Kamashi

5K

2011-03-12T20:09:00.001-05:00

With the help of quite a cheering section, I completed my first 5K this morning. After nine weeks of training through subzero temperatures, more than my fair share of snow and ice and very few nice days, wouldn't you know that today was beautiful. The perfect weather for my first go round with a 3.1 mile race.

Pre-race pictures...

Part of the cheering section.

C25K squad (Beckey, Caitlin and myself)

Post-race picture...

C25K squad back together again.

Next up: Run for Congo in Indianapolis on April 2. Dare I say that I am looking forward to it.

World's Best Cake

2011-03-11T20:41:00.000-05:00

Today is my 32nd birthday. We celebrated with dinner at a local pizza place and then we dug into the most delicious cake I have ever eaten. Sara made an unbelievably decadent chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting (all from scratch).

If there is cake in heaven, this is the cake.

Sara and the kids gave me some new running gear which I can't wait to put to good use tomorrow morning during my first 5K. Wish me luck.

PLEASE READ AND HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE

2011-03-10T11:28:00.000-05:00

The millions of kids just like Addy and Parker in Ethiopia need your help.

If you haven't heard, beginning today, Ethiopia is planning on reducing foreign adoptions by 90%.

Please take a moment to click on this link and help to hopefully give other children just like Parker and Addy a chance be welcomed into loving families.

THANK YOU

C25K Graduate.

2011-03-05T19:56:00.000-05:00

I ran 3.16 miles today!

It was a fight with myself for the approximately 34 minutes it took, but I did it. Just like all of the other workouts over the past nine weeks, I didn't cheat for a second, I followed the plan, and low and behold I am now able to run 5 kilometers.

I would be remiss if I didn't again thank Sara's friend/coworker Beckey for motivating me to do this.

Thank you Beckey.

I am proud to say that C25K is now behind me, but that doesn't mean I am stopping now. I am pondering which program to tackle next. I am leaning towards the Bridge to 10K plan, or what the heck, maybe I'll just start a marathon training program (not going to happen...at this point).

I am a runner.

Sayonara "Februany"

2011-03-01T10:41:00.007-05:00

I am happy to report that Matt 2.0 is still going strong, and I don’t expect that change. I am starting to enjoy this exercising thing. Do I enjoy the act of running? No...not yet. I think that day will come.

I have completed 8 weeks of the C25K program and Week 9 should start tonight. When I began this journey two months ago, I struggled through running for 90 seconds. This past week called for three 28 minute runs, and I made it through each one. It wasn’t easy by any stretch, but I made it nonetheless.

What a difference 8 weeks makes.

My weight loss has slowed quite a bit over the last month. I lost 17 pounds in January and 3 in February…or should I say “Februany”. In January I was very disciplined when it came to what I ate for lunch. The same can’t be said for February. Thanks to my boss’ son-in-law (Jared from Subway) and his employer's month long special where every sub was $5, I found myself eating at Subway far too much. Now you might think based on Jared’s extreme weight loss from eating the sometimes delicious, most of the time not-so-satisfying subs, that Subway would have been a good option for me (much better than the Taco Bell I had eaten most of the time prior to my decision to change my habits a couple of months ago). That may be true if I had been disciplined enough to stick to the 6” subs, but I wasn’t. The foot long buffalo chicken all but reached out and grabbed me each time I walked into the restaurant.

I worked out just as much in February as the month before, but that didn’t translate on the scale (the delicious strawberry cake the kids and I made for Sara probably didn't help either). I guess I could be in the position where I gained weight, so I am happy that 3 more pounds came off last month.

But now March is here. And you know what that brings, my first 5K. As a matter of full disclosure, I do not-so-vividly remember running a 5k when I was a teenager, but that was a long time ago, so please allow me to consider this to be my first.

I haven’t registered for the race yet. I am having a hard to getting myself to pay someone so that I can run 3.1 miles. That is unheard of. But I am going to do it.

If you happen to be around downtown Cincinnati or Newport on the Levee on the morning of March 12, don’t blink or you might miss me as my blazing speed is carrying me across the Purple People Bridge towards the finish line. Joking of course, as I am just looking to finish, worrying about time will come later.