Lazy 5 Ranch

Yesterday Matt, Solomon, my dad, niece, and the little girl I watch went to the Lazy 5 Ranch. It has lots of exotic animals (lamas, ostrich, emu, lemurs, buffalo, yaks, cows, pigs, birds) that you can pet and feed. You can also go through a wagon ride to feed the animals or drive your own car through--we opted for the wagon ride. We had never been before and Solomon had so much fun. No fear whatsoever of feeding these giant animals. 

Right when we got to the park

 With Daddy and the Lemurs

 Ally, matt, Solomon, Emma, Dad

 Umm no Solomon we don't need to kiss the animals only pet them!!!

 Having fun with the goats

 About to start our wagon ride safari

 Trying to feed zebras even though we weren't supposed to feed them

 See no fear of feeding a buffalo

 This huge cow was in the movie Last of the Mohicans

 The only animal I fed

 Solomon was so tired by the end of the ride.

Together for Adoption Regional Conference

Our church, Calvary West, is holding a regional Together for Adoption Conference and I am so excited! The event will be held on April 28th, in Advance, North Carolina. Registration is now open. For more information click here.  Can't wait to see you there.

Adopting Again

So we are adopting again!! This time we decided to adopt from Uganda and are hoping to get a girl. We are working with a local agency to help us and they work together with the Sanyu Babies home . We get to use the same social worker that we had for Solomon's adoption to complete our homestudy. We had our first homestudy visit last week and will have our last visit on Saturday. Then it is on to working on our dossier.

Christmas Time

Christmas was a lot of fun this year with Solomon. He is understanding a little bit more about what it is all about. 

 Picking out our Christmas Tree

 Solomon played toddler Jesus in our church's Christmas play.

My Two Year Old

Solomon turned 2 on November 22. He loves Elmo so we had a Sesame Street themed party and invited some of his friends and family. Can't believe he is two. We also celebrated being home for one year on November 25. 

At two years old he loves Elmo and Spider Man who he affectionately calls Milk Man.   He got a tricycle for his birthday and frequently asks to ride his bike. He loves to dance and tries to sing the alphabet song, happy birthday and Jesus loves me. He puts lots of phrases together such as I want __ or where ___ go. We are starting to hear more and more yes instead of always no. When asking a question he tilts his head to the side. He always lets you know what belongs to who.."that's daddy's bike". If you ask him his name he says Solly. Almost daily he tells us about how a doll fell on his cousin Emma on Halloween by saying doll fall emma ok.  He tells us when he is scared of something...like the gark (dark). He loves to steal my phone and chap stick. Knows how to operate an iphone and find his games on it. Loves bubble baths. He sleeps like a champ 11 hours at night and usually a 2-3 hour nap during the day. He currently has two of his two year molars in. He worries about other's booboos. He prefers to read books on his own instead of having you read it to him. Loves his milk. Sometimes he pretends that he has a baby in his hands and will rock it or kiss it. He also likes to pretend he is a dog. He has some temper tantrums now but they aren't too bad. Still working on his hitting. I can't believe he is 2....it has flown by.

Halloween

My little puppy with his cousin.

Our gotcha day anniversary

Last week we celebrated Solomon's gotcha day. I couldn't write this any better so I copied it from my husband's blog..

One year ago today Laura and I pulled up to our adoption agency’s foster home on the side of a hill in Ethiopia. We had come to receive a baby boy named Selamu into our family. I will never forget it. We stood outside the gate of the home while a worker for our agency went inside to bring him out.

So, we just stood there and waited in the street.

I can still hear the sounds of the children playing and talking on the other side of the wall. I can still hear the sound of the women saying goodbye to Selamu. These were the women who had cared for him since he arrived.

When the gate opened our worker stepped out holding Selamu, walked over and handed us our son.

Solomon had nothing with him but the clothing he was wearing. But that was all he needed.

When we got back into the van to leave the orphanage Solomon started crying. He was scared. He did not know where we were going. He did not know who we were. But in his fear, he did one of the most moving things I have ever witnessed.

He reached his little arms around his forever mommy’s neck, placed his head on her chest, stopped crying and held on.

In that moment he experienced the love and assurance of adoption. He was our son, and we became his mommy and daddy. We are so thankful for what God has done. Solly is truly a gift of God. A blessing.

- Happy Gotcha Day