Happy Birthday to our little guy :)

Tomorrow our sweet boy in China turns two.  And if I'm being honest with you, it is hard to think about.  It's hard because I really really wish that we could be with him to give him balloons and gifts and hugs.  Don't get me wrong- I know there are many people in the adoption process waiting to even be matched with their sweet boy or girl, and with that being said I am SO thankful that we have pictures to see and a little boy to even be excited about meeting.  And next year at this time we will get to hug him and kiss him and buy him a dairy queen birthday cake with lots of balloons and we can tell him we are celebrating his third birthday and the other ones we missed.  And I'm so thankful for that.  It helps to think about all the memories we will get to create with him instead of the ones we are missing out on, because Lord willing, we have many to make together :) In the meantime during the day here I pray he is getting a good sleep and at night I pray he has a wonderful day with friends and his nannies.  I pray that he stays healthy and feels loved and safe and that God is already preparing him to meet us soon.

In terms of the basics of the process, China is reviewing our Dossier and we have a couple more steps to go until we are LOA or we receive our Letter of Acceptance.  When we get that we are about 2 to 3 months away from bringing him home :) :)  Which is very exciting!  We for sure will keep you all updated on the next steps. Thanks again for all of your continued prayers for us!  We are so so close and so ready to meet our little boy.

Here are some updated photos we got of him the other week!

ONE YEAR {Cole William}

ONE.  We now officially have a one year old.  And he is the 99% percentile/ going off the chart for height, so he definitely does not even look like a baby.  The other day someone asked me if he was TWO! I can't even handle that.  Today he fell asleep in the car and even just holding his little body as I was walking into the house was just the sweetest.  And to be honest with you, I love the teeny babies and all the cuteness that is involved with the first couple months, but I also LOVE this stage.  We officially stopped nursing and even though it wasn't initiated by me I'm ok with it.  He was definitely ready and so was I and it for sure makes me heading out for photo sessions and other things much easier!  He sleeps through the night (except when traveling lol), takes two naps, eats everything in sight, and loves his push toy :)  Here's a couple other fun things at this stage!

• He is making so many connections.  He is starting to imitate what I do by putting blocks on top of each other. He always grabs his little brush and starts "brushing" his hair; he takes Jake's toothbrush and tries to put toothpaste on it; he is starting to put all the toy phones to his ear (which I posted on instagram the other day that I think he's doing because Jake has been talking to his imaginary friend Josh on the phone recently lol)- the list goes on and on.  I completely forgot how quickly they pick up on all of these things!  It's a blast to watch.
• Probably his cutest thing right now is when we put a blanket over his head and say "where's Cole?"  He always comes out with a big smile and has started to put the blanket over his head himself! Jake always like to find the biggest blanket to throw on top of him and sometimes Cole can't get out.. that never ends well lol
• He also has just recently started walking!  I guess we can officially say around a year he took his first steps but here we are a couple weeks into his first year and he is walking all over the place.  Today he definitely walked way more than crawled and he is loving having little races with Jake pushing his grocery cart and Cole pushing his little push toy.  I know they get each other's nerves, but they really do play so well together right now so I'm trying to soak it all in :)
• He is starting to make Jake's crazy face.  It's really hard to explain and I hope to get it on camera soon but he puts his lamb in his mouth and then clenches his teeth and starts laughing because we all do it too when he does it.  He's already got such a personality :)
• He still sleeps with his lamb and sucks his thumb which makes sleeping super easy and nice right now :)
• His favorite things right now are balloons, balls, opening and closing doors and drawers, and he loves putting things in and out of anything.  

We love our little guy :)

Halloween Baseball edition and a Thank You

As you guys know from my last post, things have been hard and different around here lately.  We have been missing Berta a lot and the holidays aren't the same without her.  It is a blessing that the holidays are coming up because we get to be with family, however it brings to reality even more that she isn't here.  I think this is the first holiday for me where there is a deep sadness surrounding it.  I've always heard people talk about the holidays being hard but now I truly get it.  We are entering many firsts.   First Thanksgiving without her, first Christmas without her, even first trip back to Ohio without seeing her.  There are so many feelings and emotions and it can be hard and overwhelming to even process it all.  And it is so sad to me that she will never meet our little boy that we will soon bring home from China.  We know God is good.  We know that Berta is experiencing pure joy in heaven right now, but we still miss her here. She will never be forgotten and her spirit is forever present in all we do.  I can't thank you enough for all of your prayers, texts, and phone calls we have gotten this past month.  It means the world to us and we are so thankful for all of you helping us get through this difficult time. 

We were in Ohio for Halloween this year and Jake definitely picked a good costume as an Indians player.  He got a lot of "Go Tribe!" as he (and Cole for about 15 minutes) went trick or treating.  It was a lot of fun for him to get dressed up and this year he definitely got the concept of saying trick or treat and getting candy and actually got quite a lot!  We still have a lot more to eat!  Looking back it would have been fun to dress Cole up in a Cubs outfit because of the World Series but it all worked out :)  It definitely was a fun time for Jake to be so into the Indians with the world series and he had a blast dressing up!

11 months {Cole William}

So I figured I should post an 11 month update before  three hours from now Cole turns ONE.  It's been a long month, and I'm sad I didn't get these pictures posted earlier (because they are so cute!) but better late than never :)

It's hard to remember 11 months specifically since we are at 12 months- we are doing the basics around here- pulling up on everything and cruising along furniture, playing more and more with Jake (and taking his toys :) ), still loving food more than anything, starting to fall into a two nap schedule, and he took his first plan ride to California this month!  He did awesome :)  MUCH better than the car.  I really think he just doesn't like being strapped in.

We love this guy more and more.  I definitely love the baby phase, but I have to be honest, starting to see his little personality is so fun :)  I really forgot how fun it was!  Just the other day Dan told me that this is when he starts to take over, aka dad becomes the favorite, but I'm still holding on to his little snuggles and the clinging that he does to me- because if he's anything like Jake, Dad's going to be the hero soon.  But honestly, I'm ok with that and there isn't anyone else I'd rather them look up to! We are so so blessed- I can't help but look at these little guys and feel so incredibly thankful for them.