My Cup Runneth Over

Life is good. Life is really, really good. A sweet woman, Brenna, who I actually met through my 15 year old daughter shared that her grandmother would use the expression "my cup runneth over" when there was simply too many wonderful things going on to describe. The last week and a half have been better than we could have imagined. To be fair, I honestly went into this with no, I repeat, no expectations. We all know that if you have expectations then there is a chance you will be let down. Yes, I did dream of Liam sitting next to me at the table, and I could visualize looking in my rear view mirror to see him but that is as far as I would allow my mind to go. Now I feel like someone needs to pinch me because he is here, in my house, sitting next to me at the table and in view of my rear view mirror. Even if I would have allowed myself to dream, I couldn't have imagined just how wonderful it would be. Through this experience, I cannot help but continually be in awe of just how great our God is. Faith is a word that I will never use lightly again.

The first week was plagued by jet lag that is as bad as everyone had said. Our adoption ministry at Calvary church has it set up that families who have just adopted have meals delivered for the first week. This was such a God send. We enjoyed some wonderful cooking and appreciated one less thing to worry about. My family had taken the second week shift of watching our 3 homegrown kiddos and were sweet enough to have the fridge stocked and many of those not so fun chores taken care of. Everyone's kindness gave us the chance to just keep getting to know Liam and for him to get to know his brother and sisters.

Liam has taken to his siblings just beautifully. He initially didn't want me or Steve out of his sight but now he will happily play with the kids while we make dinner or tend to some other household tasks. His words are limited to mama and dada but he has a way of letting us all know what he wants. It was clear that Liam wanted everyone to stay at the kitchen table for the entire dining experience. It was pretty funny as one of the kid's would try to leave the table and he would squabble until they (happily) came back.

Some of his favorite things:
1) Bath time-any time he is in our bathroom he is making efforts to get into his tub. When he is in the bath, he attempts to hold the sides to avoid getting out. He is now smart enough that when you pull the plug, he attempts to plug it back up. His little tushy was buoyant enough that our friends, the Squires, bought him a little tub just his size.
2) Sensory box-OMG can I just tell you how much he LOVES this. Our dear friend, Mary Ellen made this for her own granddaughter and also one for Liam. It is a giant rubbermade like container filled partially with a variety of dried beans and a few shovels and buckets. Not kidding; he is spending hours in there each day. We keep it covered, but he makes his way over to it numerous times a day and then does his squabbling again to get him all set up.
3) His scooter car-a friend from our bible study and adoption ministry, Laura (and her daughter Bella) got this for Liam. We helped him climb on not really expecting too much. Boy, were we wrong. This boy can ride. He can go forward and backward and can steer around obstacles. We had put off childproofing as he isn't too mobile. That little stinker rode up to the cabinet, grabbed the door and then backed up to reveal all the contents. Of course, he picked the cabinet with all my breakable serving dishes. Guess we know what Steve will be doing very soon!

Some of his not so favorite things:
1) Initially it was getting into his carseat. Each and every time he would get that bottom lip out and then open his mouth. Only no sound came out so you knew it was mounting and oh did he cry. So, so sad. Our dilemma was that there some things we HAD to do and he wanted both of us with him so that was our last option. Fortunately, we have only had to be in the car for 5-10 minutes here and there and now he seems to realize that wherever we are going he will be okay
2) Meeting new people. We had been oh so pleased at how well Liam attached to both Steve and me in China and then to all 3 of the kids once we were home. We incorrectly assumed it might just be smooth sailing. The good news is that the fact he likes us best is the best thing for the best attachment. I know a lot of people don't believe that someone as young as 29 months can/will remember their past. However, there is a fair amount of research to dispute that. Liam has had two previous families. His birth family for which he spent a significant amount of time and then his foster family for which he spent almost two years. No, he might not be able to verbalize his memories today or any day but I am sure those memories have left an indelible mark on his heart. So as far as the concern he has meeting new people, we have learned that is normal and to be expected for the time being. We have quickly figured out that he likes meeting only a few people at any one time. He seems to prefer it to be in our home and really likes to keep his personal space well preserved. To be honest, it is a little sad that no one outside of our family has really gotten too much of a glimpse of his sweet and tender personality but we are hopeful that it will happen in Liam's time.

Physically, he continues to demonstrate improvement in mostly his gross motor skills at this time. He has developed some improved upper body strength and can support himself in a modified quadruped position. We call it his froggy crawl. However, if he combines it with a flop and a few rolls it proves productive enough to get him where he wants to go. He is making all kinds of sounds but not too many words just yet. Heck, we were in China 15 days and I only learned a few words in Mandarin. The girls say they can't wait until he talks so they can hear what his voice will sound like. He still favors his right hand but if there are too many great options, he will get his left hand involved so he doesn't miss out on anything. Liam has his big therapy evaluation this Friday. They will evaluate 5 different areas and then meet with us to let us know their recommendations.

Lastly, and most importantly, is that we returned home to the most incredible news! Two more families from our church have decided to adopt. And what is even crazier is that they are both adopting 11 year old girls from the Phillipines. The families both have their own mountains of paperwork and beauracratic hoops to jump through but we are soooooooo happy for them. Steve and I talked many times about our desire to pay it forward and show support to someone else going through this process. I guess we will get our chance sooner than later.

Life with a two year old has proven busier than I had remembered. I am going to try to post a brief update with a couple pictures 1-2 times each week. Until I can get my own tush (not so tiny) organized with all my pictures, this will help us to keep our memories organized.

Good night from good ole' St. Louis,
Paige, Steve, Lauren, Jenna, Ryan and Liam




Liam's first time in his $5 pool. Jenna showed him how to blow bubbles and the boy went to town. He probably blew bubbles 25 times that afternoon.



The infamous sensory box. This was his first introduction. It was only moments later until he was in it. He now spends over an hour in it every day.