Bethany is 19 months

Bethany turned 19 months this past Sunday (same day Austin turned 8) and there have been a lot of new things to report.

• She is 21lbs and 32 inches.
• She has tiny feet and still wears 6-12 month shoes. They fit perfect with socks on but loose without.
• She is mostly wearing 18-24 months but can still get away with some 12 month clothes.
• She has a full set of teeth which comes in handy with her big appetite.
• Food makes her happy. She loves to eat anything and everything. Most of her peers have outgrown bland baby snacks, but bland or not, Bethany will eat it. That's why she's been getting "hand me down" or reject snacks as I like to call it from her friends and enjoying every bit of it. :)
• Her favorite song is "Head and Shoulders" in Korean and she can do some of the motions to it.
• She is very playful, giggly and affectionate.
• She is not as shy around strangers as she used to be and will actually return a smile and be playful.
• She is for the most part gentle, but for whatever reason thinks it's funny to pull on Austin's hair and poke our eyes. Ouch!
• She sleeps about 11-12 hours a night and takes one nap a day. I know she could probably take a second nap, but unfortunately, it just doesn't fit into our schedule with Austin's school pick up and afterschool activities.
• She can be stubborn and willful and will repeatedly do things we've instructed her not to do. Even after being reprimanded, she will go right back and do it over and over again.
• She can hold her own with her brother. She may be little, but she sure doesn't seem to know it.
• She is finally walking! She was taking a few steps here and there, but it wasn't until this past Sunday that she really started walking. 

One final and important update is that I took Bethany to the audiologist today. Our pediatrician thought it would be a good idea to get her hearing checked because she wasn't talking at all. Bethany and I went inside a testing booth and the audiologist triggered noises from three directions using different toys. Bethany sat on my lap and I stayed still and watched as Bethany responded to varying degrees of sound coming from the toys . I thought she was doing quite well, but once the test was over, the audiologist informed me that she believed Bethany might have minor hearing loss. She said we needed to come back in 3-6 months to get a more accurate assessment of her.

I asked her if there was anything we could do in the meantime, and she suggested that I just make sure Bethany knew her body parts so that she could use those as verbal directions for her next hearing assessment. I left the office sad at the possibility of my little girl having hearing loss, but I also left confused by the audiologist. Why did we have to wait another 3-6 months to get her accurately assessed when I'm sure there are other tests we could do? Isn't it ideal and beneficial to diagnose and treat hearing loss as early as possible? What exactly does minor hearing loss mean? Of course I thought of these questions after I left the office, but shouldn't the audiologist have addressed these questions and concerns in the first place? I will definitely be calling our pediatrician tomorrow!

I really do hope and pray Bethany doesn't have any hearing loss, but in the meantime, I am loving on this dear little girl God has given me and thanking Him everyday for such a precious gift.

Happy 8th Birthday Austin!

It's hard to believe this little peanut

turned 8 years old today.

I know parents are supposed to love their children, but can I just tell you? 

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this kid! 

It is my absolute joy and privilege to be Austin's mom and I thank God for him every single day. When I try to think of one word to describe him, this is what always comes to mind.

SUNSHINE!

Austin literally warms my heart and brightens up my day.

Happy 8th birthday to my little buddy!
I love you so much.

Now onto the festivites...

On Friday, we took homemade cupcakes to share with Austin's classmates. He's been really into Bakugan and was very specific about how he wanted them to look.

We had decided ahead of time to do a birthday lunch for Austin at church, but since we had just finalized Bethany's adoption, we thought it would be nice to combine the two. Fortunately, Austin was happy to share his big day with his little sister.

The orginal plan was to make a Bakugan cake for Austin. As usual, he was very specific about what he wanted and even drew me some sketches. But now that we were having a joint celebration, it couldn't just be a Bakugan cake. After a lot of unnecessary anxiety (yes, I do stress over birthday cakes!), we made a last minute decision to throw a couple of Austin and Bethany's favorite things on the cake. It took mere minutes verses the several hours it would've taken me to complete the original design. Cake decorating doesn't get much easier than this. :)

Bakugan / Sesame Street cake
Austin loved it and I'm pretty sure Bethanay didn't even notice. :)

Happy birthday Austin!

Happy finalization Bethany!

Mommy and Daddy love you both so much.

It's Official!

Bethany's adoption is finalized!

Prior to finalization, Bethany was under the legal guardianship of our adoption agency, and we were essentially her foster parents for the past 8 months 2 weeks and 3 days. As of this afternoon, all that changed within mere minutes inside the judge's chambers.

Being sworn in.

 

As soon as Judge Henning signed the adoption order for Bethany, we were not only granted permanent and legal custody of her, but she also became a citizen of the United States, gained an American name and took on our family name. Talk about the power of the pen!

 We also left bearing two gifts from the courthouse. No pun intended. :)

It was definitely a day to celebrate, so we had a mini-celebration back at home.

We've been really conservative about giving her sweets, but I figured I'd let her go to town on this very special day.

Surprisingly, she just daintily picked at the frosting and decorations, so big brother had to step in and show her how it was done.

It would be an understatement to say that she enjoyed it.

Happy finalization day Bethany!

You have been my daughter from the very moment I saw your referral picture, and now it feels good to know the courts acknowledge it too. :)

November is National Adoption Month

A fellow adoptive Mom put this video together in celebration of National Adoption Month, and our family is priviledged to have been included. Please take a few moments to see some of the families that have been brought together by adoption.

You are welcome to pass this video along and visit http://nationaladoptionmonth.blogspot.com/ for a daily feature on an adoptive family all through the month of November.