ONE YEAR AGO TODAY......

One year ago today I received my referral for my beautiful son Zachary and saw his face for the very first time. I can't believe it has been a whole year already. Although I would receive many pictures of Zachary while I waited to get him, this is the picture that got me through the long wait as it was my very first glimpse of him. I can't believe how much he has changed since this picture. The time is going by way too fast. Sometimes I look at him and wonder how I ever lived my life without him. He is so precious to me and I truly thank God for him everyday. I love you so much Zachary. You are such a joy to me and the rest of the family.

Referral picture 6/23/08

Zachary and mommy 6/23/09

First Professional Haircut

Zachary did great getting his first professional haircut. He did not shed a single tear. He even allowed Yen to use the clippers which is the point I thought he would get upset. She had him touch everything before she used it on him which I think helped(the lollipop she gave him also helped I think, haha). Yen is also from Vietnam and has a very moving story of how she escaped and spent several months in the jungle. She eventually made it to a refugee camp where she spent several years before finally coming to the United States. She had known of my plans to adopt from the very beginning and had always said she wanted to cut the baby's hair . Well my sister gave Zach his first couple of haircuts as I just didnt think Zach would go for a stranger cutting his hair plus his Aunt Steph gives great haircuts. I went in to cut my hair and she still wanted to cut his hair so I thought we would give it a try. She refused to let me pay for his haircut and said she will always cut his hair for free.
She is going to return to Vietnam next year to visit her family. She is from Ho Chi Minh(the same place where Zach was born and lived for the first nine months of his life).





Notice the lollipop in his right hand.

BLESSING IN DISGUISE

If you happened to read my last post, I had mentioned that since Zachary was walking now, he was going to have to switch rooms at nursery at Church. Well his first time was the week before last in his new room(Zach missed last week due to a really bad cold). Anyway, he made it about halfway thru and they had to come get me(for some reason I have bad luck with pagers not working). So we tried it again this past Sunday. I went in to the room with him for a little bit and then left. I watched on the monitor outside and he was doing ok. About 15 minutes after the service started, the pastor brought a couple up on stage and announced they would be going to China next Saturday to adopt a 5 yr old boy. As soon as they showed the little boys picture on the monitor, my pager went off. I hurried to the nursery dept and I heard him before I even went into the hallway. His teacher had him out in the hall and he calmed down pretty quick when I took him. Anyway, the teacher was telling me he seems to be fine until other children start getting upset and crying and then he starts. I was telling his teacher(who I really like by the way) about Vietnam and the orphanage where Zachary lived and she asked me if I knew this particular couple who also just brought home a little boy about a month ago. I told her I would love to meet them and she said she would introduce me and then almost as soon as she said that, here they come down the hallway with their little boy. Adoptions ceased Sept 1, 2008 but because of something that happened with their referral which I will not go into on this blog, they were able to get another referral after the shutdown. I believe they said he was a year old or maybe a little over a year. Anyway, come to find out, their little boy also was from Ho Chi Minh(Go Vap Orphanage) . She and I were so excited. She said she thought she was the only one in this area to have adopted from Vietnam. I knew of only one other person who adopted a little girl about 6 years ago). Anyway, she was telling me about the adoption support group the church has that will start back up again after the summer and that there is family in Mobile, Al and family in Destin , Fl who also adopted little boys from Vietnam. They are all going to try to get together and she invited me to attend. I had always hoped I would meet someone else that lived nearby that maybe we could attend Tet festivities and other Vietnamese festivities. I would love to be able to start a Families with Children from Vietnam chapter in this area. She had said she had noticed Zach in the hallways but for some reason, thought he was from China. So Zach being upset and me having to come and get him actually turned out to be a blessing. It will take time, but Zach will eventually get use to his new classroom just like he did the other one. Zach had a checkup at the Dr and had to get 3 more shots-ouch. He seems to realize now when we go into the Dr office and hates to lay on the table. Anyway, the Dr said he was at 50th percentile for height on the US charts but only 10th percentile for weight on the US charts. She assured me that she was extremely pleased with his progress and reminded me that it was based on US charts. I have an Asian growth chart I need to find and chart it on that. He is running now and is starting to eat on his own with a fork(however tonight he found it was easier to ditch the fork and just use his fingers). He just amazes me everyday at the changes in him. My little guy is growing up. I have to admit, it is a little sad at how fast it is happening.

We have been working with Zachary on sign language and signing thank you and please. Well sometimes he does it and sometimes just randomly goes around signing it so we weren't sure if he actually knew exactly what he was signing. Anyway, tonight he was sitting in his highchair and pointed to his puppy blankie on the table. I handed it to him and he gave his puppy a big squeeze and then looked at me with the cutest smile and signed "thank you". I sure do love this little guy.

Zach and Aunt Steph Zach loves being outside. He loves his

water and sand tables.

Zach and cousin Melissa taking a snooze