Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Anybody out there??
I would not be surprised if this little blog has lost all of its readers. I honestly forgot about it. Tonight Pat and I were discussing friends who had just adopted two older children and were struggling. I thought that maybe reading my blogs would help as reading other people's blogs helped me. That made me think I have to get back into blogging about our amazing family. I won't do a full update until I know that there are still a few people reading. Meanwhile I have posted some pics. Update: we have a new dog and a horse.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Just a little note (almost 2 years since my last post) that all is well with the family. I stopped blogging mainly due to lack of time and lack of a good computer (difficult to upload pictures from iPad). Still have the computer issue but thought I'd try and blog again after following a friend's blog who is back in Vietnam right now adopting her little girl (second child). I'd really like to start blogging about my family again. We'll see how well this goes.
It's hard to update two years worth of information but I'll try:
2014: Van finished JK and started SK. He also started hockey and enjoyed the IP program. Van was diagnosed with ADHD which was difficult but much better than the original diagnosis of PDD NOS. Gerad tried skating and liked it. He continued to grow and mature.
2015: Big move! After much thought and deliberation we decided to return to Halifax. We wanted to be closer to family and friends. The boys did extremely well with the transition. Way better than I could have imagined. We found a great house in Dartmouth and Van was registered into what has turned out to be a fantastic school. Van has thrived with this move. He's in summer hockey, has made friends and is very happy. Gerad is in a great preschool and is very popular there. Always the jokester although his stubborn personality has caused the teachers a few headaches. All in all life is good! I'll try and keep this going as well as figure out how to get some pictures up (if anybody is still reading that is).
It's hard to update two years worth of information but I'll try:
2014: Van finished JK and started SK. He also started hockey and enjoyed the IP program. Van was diagnosed with ADHD which was difficult but much better than the original diagnosis of PDD NOS. Gerad tried skating and liked it. He continued to grow and mature.
2015: Big move! After much thought and deliberation we decided to return to Halifax. We wanted to be closer to family and friends. The boys did extremely well with the transition. Way better than I could have imagined. We found a great house in Dartmouth and Van was registered into what has turned out to be a fantastic school. Van has thrived with this move. He's in summer hockey, has made friends and is very happy. Gerad is in a great preschool and is very popular there. Always the jokester although his stubborn personality has caused the teachers a few headaches. All in all life is good! I'll try and keep this going as well as figure out how to get some pictures up (if anybody is still reading that is).
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Summer turns to fall
Okay so I seriously had no idea that I would struggle so much to keep this blog updated. A second child really does just make things that much more challenging in the time category. However I have figured out, just figured out actually, that the real issue is that it's not easy. And by not easy I mean right now I only have an iPad at home. While I love my iPad it is not friendly with respect to writing anything. Further, you can't upload pictures from iPad onto the blog so to get pictures uploaded they have to be placed onto our ancient computer that lives in our bedroom on the 3rd floor. Basically I want a MacBook. We can't afford one right now but it's on our "list" of wanted items. I think that if I had a MacBook I would be updating all the time. When you have 2 kids and a fuller than full time job, it's all about convenience!
Anyway, on to the update. Gerad has been with us for almost a year! Hard to believe. It will be a year this month. Of course I can't remember life before him. I think it may have been more peaceful?? Haha. He is almost 2 1/2. His language is still quite delayed but he's getting there. His tantrum phase has eased and he's generally an extremely happy and gregarious little guy. People LOVE him. He always has a smile, wave and hello for everybody. He's doing great in the small home daycare where we moved him. He's toilet training right now and is doing surprisingly well. We may be on the cusp of being able to get rid of our cloth diapers once and for all. Yippee!! I am just so happy he is with us. Our family is complete with him and I just can't imagine life without him.
Van started junior kindergarten in September. He's doing extremely well. They are very good with him. They have been been able to get funding for a TA due to his diagnosis. Speaking of which, everybody that has worked with him feel pretty sure that he is not on the spectrum which is fantastic news. The feeling is that it may be ADHD with some other possible yet managable diagnosis. We are going to have him reassessed in the new year. Hopefully we'll get a better idea of what's going on with him and figure out how we can best help him. I'd do anything for him. I love him so very much. Even though he drives me bananas sometimes!! Lol. Patience is the ultimate prize with parenting. Sometimes you have a ton of it at your fingers and other times it seems just out of reach.
The boys together are better than I could have imagined. Quite simply: they. adore. each. other! They have their little spats of course but man are they insepperable. They are always playing together,cuddling, or chatting with each other. They are tight! Adopting 2 children was the best decision we have ever made.
That's my update for now. I will post pics in the next day or so!
Anyway, on to the update. Gerad has been with us for almost a year! Hard to believe. It will be a year this month. Of course I can't remember life before him. I think it may have been more peaceful?? Haha. He is almost 2 1/2. His language is still quite delayed but he's getting there. His tantrum phase has eased and he's generally an extremely happy and gregarious little guy. People LOVE him. He always has a smile, wave and hello for everybody. He's doing great in the small home daycare where we moved him. He's toilet training right now and is doing surprisingly well. We may be on the cusp of being able to get rid of our cloth diapers once and for all. Yippee!! I am just so happy he is with us. Our family is complete with him and I just can't imagine life without him.
Van started junior kindergarten in September. He's doing extremely well. They are very good with him. They have been been able to get funding for a TA due to his diagnosis. Speaking of which, everybody that has worked with him feel pretty sure that he is not on the spectrum which is fantastic news. The feeling is that it may be ADHD with some other possible yet managable diagnosis. We are going to have him reassessed in the new year. Hopefully we'll get a better idea of what's going on with him and figure out how we can best help him. I'd do anything for him. I love him so very much. Even though he drives me bananas sometimes!! Lol. Patience is the ultimate prize with parenting. Sometimes you have a ton of it at your fingers and other times it seems just out of reach.
The boys together are better than I could have imagined. Quite simply: they. adore. each. other! They have their little spats of course but man are they insepperable. They are always playing together,cuddling, or chatting with each other. They are tight! Adopting 2 children was the best decision we have ever made.
That's my update for now. I will post pics in the next day or so!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
An update in pictures
It seems clear my updates will be sporadic at best. I hope some people are still tuning in. We are having a great but busy summer. I thought I'd update this time with pictures.
Gerad's 2nd birthday party:
The boys:
Gerad in Cape Breton meeting his grandmother, uncles, aunts and cousins (plus another birthday cake!):
Van's 3rd Gotcha Day!:
At the playground:
The annual Vietnamese adoption community pool party:
Can you believe how big our kids are getting!!:
Van's 4th birthday:
A hug for Ba:
Canada Day:
The kids are doing great. I will update again soon....I promise!
Gerad's 2nd birthday party:
The boys:
Gerad in Cape Breton meeting his grandmother, uncles, aunts and cousins (plus another birthday cake!):
Van's 3rd Gotcha Day!:
At the playground:
The annual Vietnamese adoption community pool party:
Can you believe how big our kids are getting!!:
Van's 4th birthday:
A hug for Ba:
Canada Day:
The kids are doing great. I will update again soon....I promise!
Saturday, May 25, 2013
2 kids = little time for blogging
Hi all! Not sure if anybody is still checking in. I am so sorry for the lack of blogging. Having 2 kids under the age of 4 plus a full time job means little time left for blogging. A big part of the problem is the pictures. Our home computer had pretty much died and we can't upload pictures onto blogger from the iPad. This means that pictures have to be uploaded onto a memory stick and then I have to bring them to work, save them on the work computer and upload them from there. It always seems like such an undertaking and I just never get around to it. So on Thursday morning I broke my toe and am now pretty much house bound. Plenty of time to at the very least update the blog, albeit without pictures for now.
Pat is currently in Nova Scotia with Gerad so that his family can all meet him. We just couldn't afford the extra tickets for Van and I. So it was extra crappy when I broke my toe because I am alone with Van and can't really walk or drive. Thankfully people have come forward to help which has been great.
Okay so let's get to some updates:
Gerad: What can I say? Our house has been taken over by a whirling dervish lol. He's a big personality and wears his emotions on his sleeve. When he's happy he's really happy and when he's not....man you know it. As mentioned before he has a set of lungs on him. He's doing quite well with his language. Still delayed (which is to be expected) but coming along well. We brought him to an early words assessment just to be safe and they said that they have no long term concerns which is great. He has adjusted very well to all the changes. He has been with us for almost 7 months now! Crazy! He is very attached to Pat and Van. It is still a work in progress with me. That sucks sometimes but I have to be patient. I have also read old blog posts from the early months with Van. They remind me that early struggles do not necessarily reflect on future attachment as Van and I are as close as can be. I certainly have missed him a lot these past few days so that's a good sign lol. Sometimes separation makes you realize how much you care about someone. He's doing very well at daycare and they love him there. Unfortunately we are not in love with the daycare. We have decided to move him to Van's old home daycare provider. Whereas Van needed to move to a preschool setting and that was the best fit for him, we think Gerad will be better off in a small home daycare setting. We loved Van's old provider and she'll be perfect for Gerad. I was over the moon to discover she had an opening for August 1st so we'll move him then. He struggles with change so the move will likely be hard at first but ultimately we think he'll thrive there. He and Van really have fun together (when they are not fighting over toys! Gerad's latest word "mine" has caused a bit of tension lol). When they are enjoying each other's company the joy in the house is palpable. They shriek and laugh with delight and chase each other around. I can see they will have lots of fun with each other in the future. He turned 2 on May 7 and we had a little party for him. He was pretty excited when the cake came out. He really is a funny and happy little guy most of the time and we feel pretty damn lucky!
Van: He'll be 4 in July and is looking forward to his birthday! He's currently very into superheroes and on any given day he's either Batman or Superman. He will tell you as well. If you call him Batman when he's Superman he'll be sure to correct you immediately..."No mama! I'm Superman!". He has a developing sense of humour which includes lots of references to poop, farts and smelliness in general. Funny how this type of humour develops in our young lol. To him there is nothing funnier than adding "smelly poopy bum" to any sentence. For example, the other day in the truck we were reciting "Brown bear brown bear what do you see?". I would say that line with the various animals and he would answer with the new animal but with his funny words added. "I see a blue horse poopy smelly bum looking at me".this was followed by much giggling and laughing. In fact the giggling would begin as he was trying get the humorous words out. Oh my little comedian. On Thursday we took a tour of the school he will be starting in September. As a child with diagnosed special needs they decided they wanted to meet him first to get a sense of his personality. They are considered an alternative school which I believe means they don't mind deviating from the normal school routine if deviation is in the best interests of the individual child. So far they have been wonderful and are keen to know Van as much as possible before he starts. He is definitely not just a number.
Anyway that's all for now. When Pat gets back from Nova Scotia I promise to add a bunch of pictures!
Pat is currently in Nova Scotia with Gerad so that his family can all meet him. We just couldn't afford the extra tickets for Van and I. So it was extra crappy when I broke my toe because I am alone with Van and can't really walk or drive. Thankfully people have come forward to help which has been great.
Okay so let's get to some updates:
Gerad: What can I say? Our house has been taken over by a whirling dervish lol. He's a big personality and wears his emotions on his sleeve. When he's happy he's really happy and when he's not....man you know it. As mentioned before he has a set of lungs on him. He's doing quite well with his language. Still delayed (which is to be expected) but coming along well. We brought him to an early words assessment just to be safe and they said that they have no long term concerns which is great. He has adjusted very well to all the changes. He has been with us for almost 7 months now! Crazy! He is very attached to Pat and Van. It is still a work in progress with me. That sucks sometimes but I have to be patient. I have also read old blog posts from the early months with Van. They remind me that early struggles do not necessarily reflect on future attachment as Van and I are as close as can be. I certainly have missed him a lot these past few days so that's a good sign lol. Sometimes separation makes you realize how much you care about someone. He's doing very well at daycare and they love him there. Unfortunately we are not in love with the daycare. We have decided to move him to Van's old home daycare provider. Whereas Van needed to move to a preschool setting and that was the best fit for him, we think Gerad will be better off in a small home daycare setting. We loved Van's old provider and she'll be perfect for Gerad. I was over the moon to discover she had an opening for August 1st so we'll move him then. He struggles with change so the move will likely be hard at first but ultimately we think he'll thrive there. He and Van really have fun together (when they are not fighting over toys! Gerad's latest word "mine" has caused a bit of tension lol). When they are enjoying each other's company the joy in the house is palpable. They shriek and laugh with delight and chase each other around. I can see they will have lots of fun with each other in the future. He turned 2 on May 7 and we had a little party for him. He was pretty excited when the cake came out. He really is a funny and happy little guy most of the time and we feel pretty damn lucky!
Van: He'll be 4 in July and is looking forward to his birthday! He's currently very into superheroes and on any given day he's either Batman or Superman. He will tell you as well. If you call him Batman when he's Superman he'll be sure to correct you immediately..."No mama! I'm Superman!". He has a developing sense of humour which includes lots of references to poop, farts and smelliness in general. Funny how this type of humour develops in our young lol. To him there is nothing funnier than adding "smelly poopy bum" to any sentence. For example, the other day in the truck we were reciting "Brown bear brown bear what do you see?". I would say that line with the various animals and he would answer with the new animal but with his funny words added. "I see a blue horse poopy smelly bum looking at me".this was followed by much giggling and laughing. In fact the giggling would begin as he was trying get the humorous words out. Oh my little comedian. On Thursday we took a tour of the school he will be starting in September. As a child with diagnosed special needs they decided they wanted to meet him first to get a sense of his personality. They are considered an alternative school which I believe means they don't mind deviating from the normal school routine if deviation is in the best interests of the individual child. So far they have been wonderful and are keen to know Van as much as possible before he starts. He is definitely not just a number.
Anyway that's all for now. When Pat gets back from Nova Scotia I promise to add a bunch of pictures!
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Gerad's adoption video
We did one for Van and Pat has finally completed Gerad's. Without further ado (I hope it works!):
Gerad's adoption video
Gerad's adoption video
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Update in pictures
Hello faithful readers. I am so sorry for the length between posts. It goes without saying that 2 kids and a full time job cause challenges for time management. The other issue is that our home internet is slow and it takes forever to load pictures It's just easier for me to do the updates at work. Of course then the time management issues come into play again. I will keep this post brief so I can focus on pics.
I must apologize to my blogging friend Elizabeth as I had ever intention of completing the Liebster award obligations but I do not "follow" that many small blogs. I did ask a couple of people but they didn't want to participate. I am more of a blog troller to be honest. I am sorry Elizabeth!
The pics are from Tet and winter in general. We attempted to go to a Korean New Year celebration but when we arrived we quickly realized is was more of an adult event. If we did not have two young kids we would have loved it I'm sure but a few hundred well dressed adults, a formal banquet and two kids under the age of four do not mix! We high tailed it out of there. The kids got to dress up though lol. For Tet (Vietnamese New Year) we met a bunch of adoptive family friends at one of Ottawa's many Vietnamese restaurants for dinner. Then Sam, Woody, Max and Vanh held a year of the snake party replete with large snake cake. We also checked out Winterlude this year as the theme was Korea! There was a big display brought over from Korea, including beautiful lanterns.
Things are generally going well at home although we are beginning to see more and more of Gerad's...ahem...toddler personality. He is a stubborn and strong willed little guy that's for sure! When he decides he doesn't like something he lets you know. His tantrums are a spectacle to behold! It's hard to believe that so much anger can exist in such a tiny frame! There are days that we feel a little shell shocked I'm not going to lie. There have been tough moments. But he is generally a happy go lucky little guy and we know that once he fully adjusts we will be able to more successfully parent his challenging behaviour. Right now he just doesn't really want to listen to us lol. His struggles with language are I'm sure adding to his frustration levels. While his understanding is quite good now he is still really struggling with verbalizing English. However it has only been four months. He'll get there and when he does I expect much of his frustration will die down.
Anyway, here are some pics:
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I must apologize to my blogging friend Elizabeth as I had ever intention of completing the Liebster award obligations but I do not "follow" that many small blogs. I did ask a couple of people but they didn't want to participate. I am more of a blog troller to be honest. I am sorry Elizabeth!
The pics are from Tet and winter in general. We attempted to go to a Korean New Year celebration but when we arrived we quickly realized is was more of an adult event. If we did not have two young kids we would have loved it I'm sure but a few hundred well dressed adults, a formal banquet and two kids under the age of four do not mix! We high tailed it out of there. The kids got to dress up though lol. For Tet (Vietnamese New Year) we met a bunch of adoptive family friends at one of Ottawa's many Vietnamese restaurants for dinner. Then Sam, Woody, Max and Vanh held a year of the snake party replete with large snake cake. We also checked out Winterlude this year as the theme was Korea! There was a big display brought over from Korea, including beautiful lanterns.
Things are generally going well at home although we are beginning to see more and more of Gerad's...ahem...toddler personality. He is a stubborn and strong willed little guy that's for sure! When he decides he doesn't like something he lets you know. His tantrums are a spectacle to behold! It's hard to believe that so much anger can exist in such a tiny frame! There are days that we feel a little shell shocked I'm not going to lie. There have been tough moments. But he is generally a happy go lucky little guy and we know that once he fully adjusts we will be able to more successfully parent his challenging behaviour. Right now he just doesn't really want to listen to us lol. His struggles with language are I'm sure adding to his frustration levels. While his understanding is quite good now he is still really struggling with verbalizing English. However it has only been four months. He'll get there and when he does I expect much of his frustration will die down.
Anyway, here are some pics:
d
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