Anniversary of our Court Date

Today marks a year since we entered the courthouse in Kaluga to appear before the Judge in regard to our petition to adopt Evan. Our court hearing was at 2pm. We were able to spend a couple of hours with Evan the day before court and that morning. It was nerve wracking to appear before the Judge. It seems like such a blur now and I can’t even remember all the questions she asked. I do remember that Kevin had to answer most of the questions and when it was my turn, I got tongue tied. Right after court, we had to head directly back to Moscow. It would be 10 days before the court decree was final and he was officially ours. It was so difficult to leave him behind after our petition for adoption had been granted.

Evan--This Past Weekend

Evan--Day Before Court

Courthouse in Kaluga

More Pictures

As you can tell from the pictures, I am usually the one behind the camera.

Hanging out with his cousins

Riding his 4-wheeler

I love my Daddy

Evan and Daddy--matching outfits

Kevin running to keep up with Evan as he cruises in his Cadillac Escalade that Granna bought. That car will fly and he loves it.

Riding his tractor at Granna's

Check out the shades

Mother's Day

I can’t begin to explain how excited I am to be celebrating my First Mother’s Day. This day of celebration has been a long wait but Evan has made the wait so worthwhile. That hole in my heart has been completely filled by my love for him. I am so thankful to God for this precious little boy. While we didn’t always know the reason for our struggles, God did and he had a plan in mind for us and what a wonderful plan it has been.

Drinking Water

Evan has discovered drinking out of a water bottle much more acceptable. As you will be able to see from the pictures below there is a precise way that he drinks the water.

Step 1. Take the cap off the water bottle

Step 2. Take a swallow of water. Say "aaahhhh"

Step 3: Put the cap back on the bottle

Step 4. The process starts all over

Evanisms

I have been advised by my Aunt that I need to journal and keep up with all the neat and amazing things that Evan does. I just can’t seem to find the time. I don’t see how my cousin, who has three children, manages to do this daily for each of her children. So, I am going to try and blog a little more about these things and try to keep up. There is a website I can go to and have my blog made into a book. I plan to do that once Evan has been home for a year to cover the adoption process and his first year home.

So the next few paragraphs may not flow very well as I try to cover some of these things.

Kevin and I are constantly amazed at the concepts Evan is learning such as open/close, on/off, yes/no and up/down just to name a few. Of course, he has “No Mommy” and “No Daddy” down to a science. One of my recent favorites is that when he wants you to hold him, he holds up his arms and says “Hold You”.

Evan loves to jump on our bed and watch TV. He will jump around and say “Dance”. He also wants to have his clothes off when he is on the bed so he will start with “Pants Off” and then “Shirt Off”. He is putting more and more words together. Kevin’s truck had to be towed the other day and when I took Evan to daycare, he looked out where the truck usually sits and told me “Daddy, big truck gone”. Amazing to us, a sentence and we know what he is saying.

A recent funny with Evan. Mom was keeping him last Thursday and was fixing Evan some juice. We have been watering his juice down. Mom got the water bottle out to add water to his juice. He told her “No Water” and took the bottle back from her and put it in the refrigerator. I have since purchased Motts for Totts which is already mixed with purified water, so it will still be watered down. So far he hasn’t noticed. He just thinks we are no longer adding water.

Spending time at Granna's

Daddy and Granna will be glad when Evan is old enough to mow!

Leading Granna on to the next adventure

Happy Easter

What a special day as we celebrate the fact that Our Savior is Risen! We have had a great day so far. We had a special Easter Cantata at Church and then had lunch with family at Kevin's Dad's.

Easter Bunny Treasures

Heading for Church


Evan and Cousin Yancy (Adele was still napping so we missed her in the photos)


Checking things out at Papaw's with Daddy

Helping Uncle Edwin play the guitar

Hunting Easter Eggs