Jon and Rachel

Has it Really Been Three Years?

jonandrachel — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:50:29 +0000

In October we celebrated Sam’s third birthday. November is National Adoption Month and Thanksgiving. These three events are so closely tied and related in our family. Sam is such a sweet boy. He is full of energy and life. He told his friend the other day that he isn’t potty trained because “my mommy likes to change my diaper.” Oh boy! We love the front row seat we have as he grows and develops. He keeps us running and laughing. Here’s to our little Sam-O!!!

What have we been up to lately?

jonandrachel — Thu, 19 May 2011 03:10:05 +0000

Daddy on the left, Mommy on the right.

1. Stomping in puddles

2. Playing with cousins

3. Sculpting with playdough

4. Singing songs

5. Coloring

6. Cleaning the walls (see #5)

7. Sidewalk chalk

8. Playing trains

9. Visiting Grandma and Grandpa

10. Watching Sam grow up way too fast!

Waiting…

jonandrachel — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:02:04 +0000

Some days adoption is hard. Some days waiting is hard. Every day is worth it.

Every. Single. Day. (Even the day my ipod was dropped in the toilet)

So grateful to be going through this journey with my Jon-O. Isn’t he foxy? (btw-it takes a REAL man to pose with a pink umbrella!)

Join Us!!!

jonandrachel — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 03:20:38 +0000

Tomorrow we’ll be walking for adoption. We’ll be walking in honor of Sam’s birthparents. We’ll be walking in celebration of our family. We’ll be walking in gratitude for the HOPE that adoption brings.

Rumor has it that a certain boy will be wearing a superman costume as his way of celebrating the day. Jon and I will be wearing orange. It is the adoption color…which is my favorite color.

Hope to see you there!

Heroes!

jonandrachel — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 01:59:19 +0000

National Adoption Month!

jonandrachel — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 03:17:43 +0000

November is National Adoption Month! This picture was taken seconds after I met Sam and his beautiful birthmom for the first time. Pure joy, pure love, pure delicious curly-haired sweet-smelling heaven. We were lucky to spend a lot of time with Sam’s birthmom in the hospital. She is the one who taught me to change a diaper. She taught me how to feed Sam. She taught me how to take care of her sweet baby. Most of all, she taught me so much about love.

Love you Holly & Greg! You are loved, appreciated and remembered every single day. XOXOX!

Rachel

My Water Babies

jonandrachel — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 02:20:46 +0000

This summer we attended a family reunion with Rachel’s parents & siblings. Sam had a great time and spent his time exploring nature, discovering stars, and trying to blow on the fire because it was “hot.” It was great spending some time away with the family playing games, laughing and simply enjoying each other’s company. Sam took his first hike (nature walk) and lasted for 30 minutes. What a trooper! We played on the lake in a paddle boat. Sam was in absolute heaven. So was Rachel. They both are water babies at heart…

Love this little family of mine!

And we fell in love all over again….

jonandrachel — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:04:13 +0000

Although parenthood definitely has its moments of being loud and messy, and louder and messier, and even louder, and did I mention the messes….we find ourselves having moments that remind us what life is all about.

Sam points to the moon in the sky and asks daddy to get it for him so he can play ball. Jon lifts Sam on his shoulder and tells him to reach high and they’ll try to get it together.

Mommy is buckling Sam into his car seat and after giving a kiss, Sam says “love you.” The first time without being coached. This mommy heart melted. I love that kid.

Holding hands on date night and hearing my sweet (and foxy!) husband say how much he loves our life together.

I love it too.

Nothin’ Like It!

jonandrachel — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 02:31:08 +0000

I love watching Jon and Sam together. They are best buds. I adore how Sam runs to the front door when Jon gets home. The way he hops on our bed and “wakes” up his Daddy on Saturday morning. The way they both like the same cereal. The way Sam imitates everything Jon does. The way they play on the floor together. The way Sam lays his head on Jon’s shoulder at the end of the night. There isn’t anything like watching the bond between a dad and his boy. These two boys have my heart forever.

I love you, Jon! Happy Father’s Day!!!

XOXOXO!
Rachel

Memories and Nachos

jonandrachel — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:58:02 +0000

We just got back from a trip to the midwest to help our friends move. The highlight of our trip was being able to stop and see Sam’s birthparents. Oh how we adore them. It was great being back in Sam’s birthtown. So many tender emotions surfaced as we remembered our journey there less than two years ago. Memories of getting on an airplane nervous with anticipation, meeting Sam’s beautiful birthmom, meeting Sam, falling in love with curly-haired perfection, learning from Sam’s birthmom how to take care of her tiny baby, soaking up every word she said, savoring every moment we had together, being new parents….it all come flooding back.

What a joy it was to see Sam’s birthparents again! They love Sam so much. We love them so much! I hope they see how much he is loved and adored. It was great to be able to ask them about some of Sam’s traits. He is left-handed (maybe) like his birthmom. He get his love of animals from them. He gets his curiosity about how things work from his birthdad. They both share Sam’s love of music.

We stayed in the same hotel we “lived” in for the first week of Sam’s life until we were cleared by ICPC to return home. This time we took Sam swimming. He LOVED the pool….somewhere we did not venture the first time around. We saw our favorite waitress who served us nearly nightly right after Sam was born. We had the nachos again and they were every bit as tasty as we remembered.

So many reminders. So many memories. Such fabulous nachos.

Truly a reminder that we have been living our miracle for the past 19 months and three weeks (but who is counting, right?).