You are Your Mother's Son

Last night about 8:00 the doorbell rang and a package had been delivered to Zach from his Aunt Teri and Uncle Scott for his birthday(we lovingly joke Zach's Aunt Teri as it is very rare for a niece or nephew to get their birthday package before their birthday haha). Anyway, Zach pulled out a Little Tikes hammer and drill and yes, they make lots of noise-thanks Aunt Teri and Uncle Scott). I was always the good aunt who was considerate when I purchased birthday gifts for my nieces and nephews, trying not to get things that made too much noise or mess. I wish I had it to do all over again as Teri has already informed me his next present will be a craft project..can't wait..Anyway, the next thing I pulled out was something I will treasure forever and I am sure Zach will too. It was the most beautiful moving poem written by my sister in law Teri for Zach on his first birthday and with her permission I am posting it below. Needless to say, I was balling my eyes out when I called to thank her and I think I scared her a little as she told me I am never allowed to call crying when her nephew is sick(sorry Aunt Teri). Here is the poem(you might want to have some kleenex handy)

You are Your Mother's Son

Before your very being, before life had begun

In her heart she held the hope of you

You are your mother's son

When your world was far apart from hers, and so much to be done

She never tired as she sought you out

You are your mother's son

No matter what the problems were or trials to overcome

She knew she'd hold you close someday

You are your mother's son

As you waited for your mommy, at last the time did come

Nothing would keep her from getting to you

You are your mother's son

When at last you finally met her, did you know she was the one?

She was the mommy God made for you

You are your mother's son

Each day you learn together, discovering all the fun

She'll never tire of watching you

You are your mother's son

Today you stand, tomorrow you walk, eventually, you'll run

But never far from your mommy's heart

You are your mother's son

No matter where life take you and all that you'll become

In her heart she holds the hope of you

You are your mother's son

~Teri Miller

As I said before, Zach and I will treasure this gift always. I called my sister to read her the poem and only managed to get the first few lines out when I had to let my mom finish. I was so overcome with emotion. Thank you Teri. I love you so much as does Zach. On the homefront, Zach is feeling much better today. Still has slight fever but nothing like it was. I have a call in to the doctor just to ask about his cough he still has and congestion. I return to work on Feb 9 and am starting to feel really anxions about being away from him during the day although grateful I work from home and will be able to spend lunchtime and breaks with him. Below are a couple pics from today. As you can see, I am starting to get some smiles again which I greatly missed for those few days he was really sick.

playing peekaboo with mommy

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!-Happy New Year!

Today is the Vietnamese New Year. It is the year of the ox. Zachary was born in the year of the pig. If Zachary were still living in Vietnam, he would actually be 2 years old as everyone in Vietnam turns a year older on New Years Day instead of on their actual birthday. I am not sure if Zach and I will make it this year for the Tet festivities to celebrate the Vietnamese New Year. He went to the doctor this morning and had 102 fever. They swapped his nose(he screamed the entire time at the doctor office) and they told me later he tested positive for RSV which is a respiratory virus. Poor little guy has been so sick. I can't stand to see him like this. The only thing we did when we got back from the Doctor was to lay on the couch with him sleeping almost the entire afternoon and evening.We also read lots of books in between. Thank you Gloria, Beckie and Steph for the books for his birthday. I think we read each one about 20 times each(ok slight exaggeration but not by much). They came to deliver a breathing machine to my house late this afternoon and as soon as they left, we gave him another breathing treatment which seems to help. He fussed at first but eventually realized it was not going to hurt him and let the mask be on his face as he breathed in the vapors. Going to keep this short as need to get to bed as I know Zach will be up a couple times during the night. Say prayers for Zach please that he gets better soon. I need to see that sweet smile again soon.Zach taking a breathing treatment

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACHARY!

We celebrated Zachary's 1st birthday yesterday on Saturday the 24th. Zach was born on the 25th of January and I realized we actually were still celebrating on his actual birthday as Zachary was born in Vietnam which is 12 hours ahead of us. We had some close family and friends for his 1st party. We also did Skype with my brother and sister in law and niece Ashley and they were able to be part of the celebration as we sang Happy Birthday to Zach and even watched him open a few presents. I think that was one of the highlights for Zach. I am so upset though. I realized after the party that I had not even videotaped us singing Happy Birthday to him or anything with his party. I would have loved to have videotaped how he was talking to his Aunt Teri and Uncle Scott on Skype. I actually shed some tears about that after he went down for his nap after the party. I know that might sound silly to some, but those who really know me are aware of my obsession with documenting important things like that and to not even get video of my son's first birthday and him and his cake hit me like a ton of bricks afterwards. It was pretty chaotic during some parts and I guess my mind was on other things.I felt like a horrible mother. However all that did not seem important when he woke up after his nap(over 2 hours) and was burning up. I quickly took his temp and I am not lying, it said 107. Surely that was a misread..I saw that temp and looked at Zach and was sure he was going to start having a seizure or something with that temp. I instantly thought of my niece Melissa when she was a baby and had a seizure in her car seat from a high fever while my sister and I were bringing her back home from the emergency room. I was getting ready to bundle him up and take him to the emergency room but gave him some baby motrin as his fever seemed to be coming down a little each time I took his temp. I called my doctor who happened to be the doctor on call that night(thank you God) as I really like her. She took a lot of time with me over the phone and told me to of course take him to the ER if I felt I should but that a fever was normal(his temp was down to 102 by this time) with a cold and congestion and she would see him first thing Monday morning. Since he started babbling and playing while I was on the phone with her, we both felt like he would be ok and to bring him in MOnday. He slept pretty good last night other than waking up a few times . He had a small fever again when he woke up and gave him some baby Tylenol. Poor little guy probably was not feeling that great during his party but he didnt act like he was sick. I feel so bad. Anyway, we will be going to the doctor tomorrow on MOnday. Not to gross anyone out but he threw up so much this morning(the first time he as done this) and threw up so much flim so that was pretty good and he actually seemed to help with his congestion. Anyway, I included a couple pics of the party(at least I took some pics but not one with him in front of his cake with the candle lit-geez what kind of mother am I) and I will write him a long letter telling him all about his birthday and about other happenings since we have been home from Vietnam. I made him a birthday card and will be enclosing a letter to him for each of his birthdays.Tomorrow is New Years Day in Vietnam which is called Tet. Zach and I have been invited to a local Vietnamese Church this week to attend Tet festivities which I am looking forward to so hopefully we can get this little guy better soon.

Waiting for my guests to arrive

Some of my party guests

My first birthday cake
Digging in
What is this stuff sticking on my hand??

Opening presents

Thank you Grammie for my rocking horse

I have had a couple requests to add the video I made of Zachary shortly after receiving his referral so here it is. It is amazing to watch this video again and see how much he has changed from his pictures.

WE MADE IT

We made it, all the way to the end of church service that is, without getting paged. Last Sunday I did not even make it thru the end of the opening song before I was paged. I should check to see if we set a record-haha. Anyway, today was Communion Sunday and it was nice being able to make it all the way thru the service. I am feeling better and more relaxed at leaving him as I feel he knows now that I will be back for him. My sister in law's niece who works in the nursery was holding him when I went to get him and told me that he did cry some but that she took him to look at something in the lobby and he was ok after that. She also gave him his bottle which I am sure helped him also. Thank you Rachel for looking after my baby today. The important thing is that he was able to be calmed down enough for them not to have to page me. We will see what happens next Sunday. Of course I still would like to be paged if he is in dire distress. In other news, my mom's good friends from Roanoke,Va are staying in Destin until sometime in March and we went yesterday to their condo on the beach to visit and introduce them to Zachary. Zachary did great and even let them hold him for a little bit. I have them to thank for the Ergo babycarrier that Zach is always in. Friday I had to take Zach to the lab and get some blood drawn. I was so nervous about doing that and how he would react. His pediatrician wanted to test him for lead since he came from an orphanage in Vietnam and wanted him retested for other things as she was not sure of the reliability of the testing done in Vietnam. He did great even when they put the band on his arm and started poking his arm to get a vein. He was sitting on my lap. Then when they decided to lay him down and restrained him, he lost it. I was so thankful for those 2 women though as the blood started flowing immediately and it was over pretty quick(they had to get 3 vials). I was concerned they would not get it the first time and they would have to poke him again but that was not the case.

Zach is getting around really well and geting into things alot more. We really have to be on our toes. Since he plays in his room now, I told my mom that we would need to move the bucket out from under the change table that held the baby powder and lotions, etc. She said not to worry that he would not mess with that....well, you can see the pics below about that. This is what I found when it got too quite in his room.

I am taking Zach to get pics taken tomorrow for his first birthday. I am going to get pics taken of him in one of his Vietnamese outfits I purchased while in Ho Chi Minh. Hopefully he will be just as cooperative as he was the last time.

I was so excited the other day. One of the things I wanted to get him for his birthday was $70 and when I went to my favorite store Target, they had it 50% off. I hit paydirt as most of the toys were 75% off. I also bought him a kitchen that was $100 for $25 and saving it for Christmas next year. He has Christmas and birthday for next year and probably for the year after that as well. I went a little crazy but it was hard not too when it was all 75%. I also bought him a $80 train table for $19. I posted a couple pics of some of our loot.

The other great news is that I finally received a social security number for Zach. Unfortunately it was only after I had to request to speak with a supervisor and had already been down to the SS office several times. Now I need to go downtown to the courthouse and see what I need to do to start the readoption process here in Florida in order that Zach can receive a US birth certificate. I seem to still have just as much paperwork to do after bringing Zach home as I did beforehand. Hopefully I can get this taken care of also before I return to work in a couple weeks. Below are some other random pics. Enjoy.

ON THE MOVE

Zach playing in his room

Peek A Boo mommy-pulling myself up for first time

Pulling himself up and standing

Zach and our social worker Nancy

I can't believe it. Just a few short days ago I posted that Zach was trying to stand and then before I knew it, I was sitting on the couch and looked up and there was Zachary peeking at me from over the coffee table. He had pulled himself up all by himself and was standing while holding on to his dinosaur toy. He also was having a hard time pulling himself up the step from the sunken living room into the foyer and now that is just a piece of cake to him. My little boy is on the move. I had to get a gate to put across the kitchen but he has the run of the hallway and his room and living room. He even goes into his room every now and then to play whereas before he always played with his toys that were out in the living room. We also had to say goodbye to Mr. Duck(the bathtub). He was getting frustrated as there was not enough room for him and his bath toys. I was actually a little sad when we said goodbye to Mr Duck. My baby is growing up so fast. He was a little frightened of the big tub at first as he was holding on to me with a deathgrip but as soon as his toys went in, all was well.

Our social worker Nancy also came for our first post placement review and she seemed to be very pleased with his progress and how he is adjusting. She had only seen him for a few minutes previously when she came to the airport to meet us when we first came home from Vietnam. He even sat on her lap for a few minutes. Zach seems to warm up a lot faster now to people he has not seen before. Of course, he always has to study you at first for a few minutes trying to decide if you are ok and if he should smile at you or not. People are always coming up to us whenever we are out to say what a beautiful baby he is. I was at Target on one side of town the other morning and then the other Target on the other side of town that afternoon. I was in the bathroom changing Zach when a woman came up to me asking me if I was at the other Target that morning. I said yes and she said that she recognized the baby as she was admiring him that morning at the other Target. People are constantly coming up and talking to him. There was also a sweet older man at Target(can you tell I go to Target all the time) who kept waving to Zachary and then asked if he could "see the little rascal" as he called him. Zach is always in the carrier whenever we go out so people who come up to us do not hold him, they just talk to him and sometimes he smiles at them and sometimes just stares them down. It is pretty funny sometimes. You can tell as people are talking to him or telling me what a beautiful child he is that they are trying to figure it out but of all the comments we receive, the only times people have actually asked if he was adopted have only come from people who have adopted themselves. I was at Kohls(again changing Zach in the bathroom) when an older woman asked me if he was from "an Asian country". She told me her son and daughter in law had adopted from China 13 years ago and we talked quite a bit. I was at Sams Club yesterday when a man came up to me and asked if he was adopted from China. I told him Vietnam and his wife came up and they showed me pics of their 3 children adopted from China. He just thought Zach was so cute and kept going on about what beautiful features he had. We kept running into him and he asked questions about his transition and if he had been in an orphanage over there. It is really nice to talk to people who have also adopted internationally. I have heard from other people that have adopted internationally that they have encountered negative comments from people sometime but I have never had any of that and people have always been very nice that have come up to us.

First day at Church

Today was Zachary's first day in the nursery while mommy went to church. The only other time Zach has been away from me was when he stayed at home with my mom and niece while I went to the Social Security office. The church just finished building an addition that houses the nursery room where Zachary would be. I have to admit, it helped leaving him knowing that my sister in laws 2 nieces also worked in the same room where Zachary would be. I stayed in the room for a few minutes with him while I filled out paperwork. They give you a pager which also made me feel a lot better.There were a couple other babies in the room and lots of neat toys. Zachary loves watching other children. He was down on the mat and I quietly slipped out of the room. I went into the sanctuary, sitting in the last pew by the door, knowing I would get paged any minute. . Church started and I kept glancing at the pager. I will be honest, I probably did not pay as much attention during church as I should have for glancing at the pager every few seconds and worrying about Zachary. After halfway thru the service and I still had not been paged, I just knew my pager was broken. After all, this was also Zachary naptime every morning. Should I go peek in on him? I decided in the end not to as I was afraid he might see me and if he was ok, then that would be the end of that. Then at the very end, with church service just about over with, it happened. I got the page. The nursery worker who was holding him(sorry, I forgot her name) said he did very well and they even got a few smiles out of him but then he was holding a ball in each hand and they got away from him and he lost it. Apparently he was screaming pretty bad as the nursery worker had him outside of the wing waiting for me(yikes). My poor little guy was pretty upset but I was so proud of him for making it that long. The nursery worker kept apologizing for paging me but I was very relieved to know that they will page me if he is in distress. So, we will try it again next Sunday and see how it goes. He was so worn out when we got to the car that he fell sound asleep. In other news, I am awaiting word from my social worker who will probably be coming to the house sometime this week for our first post placement report. It is due in Vietnam by Feb 4. I also have to have the social come out for another post placement at 6 months and 1 year and then I have to submit report myself every 6 months for 2nd and 3rd year and then once yearly until he turns 18. Along with the reports, I need to send 3 sets of 5 different pics(2 of them showing Zach and I together). I think that is wonderful that the Vietnamese people are so concerned with how well the children are doing. Below are some more pics of Zach.












Zachary waiting to go to
first day of nursery at
church










morning hairdo







Zachary and cousin John at Pensacola Ale House



I love my Aunt Steph's beef stew

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year everyone. I know, I have not been a very good blogger as the last post was when we were leaving Hanoi to come home. My sister in law actually inspired me to do better with keeping up with this blog as she has now started her own blog http://www.tuesdaywithteri.wordpress.com/ . Teri was one of the main contributors of this blog while we were in Vietnam as I was so busy with Zachary, there was not much time for blogging. Zachary is doing fantastic. I am so blessed to have been able to spend his first Thanksgiving and Christmas with him and will be spending his first birthday later this month on the 25th. Zachary has adjusted very well except for some sleep issues we are dealing with but that also is getting better. I can't believe it has been a month and a half already since we have been home. Zachary has such an amazing little personality already and has such a wonderful little smile. I love him so much and honestly cannot imagine my life now without him. He started crawling a couple weeks ago and trying to pull himself up and can stand if holding on to something but not quite sure what to do about those legs and feet but I feel it will not be long. He still will not hold his own bottle but I sure don't mind as that makes for extra snuggle time. Zach loves to be held and is so loving and good natured. He still loves his baths but hates bubble baths. I thought I was going to do something special for him and made him a nice bubble bath. When I put him in it, he screamed bloody murder. He did not want the bubbles touching him or his bath toys. So, had to get him out of his ducky tub(I will miss that when he outgrows it which will be pretty soon) and redo his bath water. We already took a trip to Virginia the middle of December to see his Uncle Scott(my brother) and Aunt Teri and to meet for the first time his cousins Steven and Ashley. We all had a great time and he did wonderful on his first road trip. We went to see the National Christmas tree in Washington D.C and he sat in Santa Claus lap for the first time. He didn't cry, but he didn't smile either. I am posting some pics for now and will try my best to keep up this blog as often as possible. Zachary keeps me pretty busy but I love it and I love being his mom. Keep checking for future updates. I promise I will try to update as often as possible.