First post placement visit

Our first post placement visit is tomorrow afternoon. We are hoping that all goes well of course. It seems to be going well to us so far. Rafael is the most social, happy little boy I have ever met and he loves to make us laugh. He is always dancing and doing the sign for us to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Too cute!! He loves to cuddle and to blow kisses. He says Mom, Dad, Nan, bye and no although not consistently. He just started saying no over the past few days. I guess that is because he is sick and tired of hearing it!! He still likes to get into everything. I caught him in my gym bag yesterday and he took out my bra and put it around his neck. When I went in the bedroom, he was just standing there looking down at the bra wondering what in the world it was. He then proceeded to take out my underwear and put them over his head. Very funny boy!! He also loves to clean and goes around the house sweeping the floor and dusting. I've seen more dust bunnies over the last few days because he likes to sweep underneath the stove and furniture. There is always lots of dust there!! I guess he is just getting us prepared for our post placement visit. We are so lucky to have such a helpful boy!

1 month ago....

It was one month ago today that we first met our little boy and now it seems like he has been around forever!! He continues to keep us on our toes and make us laugh almost every minute of the day. Today I caught him putting my toothbrush into the dog's water bowl. Too cute!! Things seem to be going well so far. He certainly seems to know that we are his parents and if we are around other people he will keep coming back to us to check in or if he is tired. He continues to sleep well at night but still doesn't have a nap routine. He can nap once, twice or not at all. I guess we'll have to keep working on this one!!

Here are a few new photos of the past week.

More photos

Rafael has been settling in wonderfully in his new home!! He now goes to sleep at 7pm and awakes around 6am. He doesn't wake up at all in between!! He naps once or twice a day for an hour or two. He eats well and enjoys his highchair which he didn't at first. He loves strawberries and yogurt but is not to fussy about vegetables yet. He does great in his carseat and will fall asleep if we are driving a longer distance. His favorite thing to do is to go out in his stroller. We do that once or twice a day and take Sid with us. He usually falls asleep after 10 or 15 minutes and the bumpier the ride the better. He's all boy!!

He loves to pick at everything. Especially things that he shouldn't be picking at. He will just turn around and look at you and laugh. He has quite the personality and he keeps us all on our toes! I caught him putting his ball in the dogs water dish and putting the tv remote into the garbage can. You need eyes in back of your head with this boy!! He has had a few outings to Walmart and Costco and hopefully soon I will take him out to some kid groups.

Life is certainly much more busy now but is so much more interesting!!! Enjoy the photos.

We're home!!!!

We finally arrived home at 1:30am Thursday morning after 20 hours of flying. Rafael made out so well which made the trip all the more bearable. My parents met us at the airport and Rafael loved the Elmo doll and balloons that they gave him. He was showing off his big smile and beautiful laugh. He finally got to bed at 3:30am but was up again at 7. He had his first doctor's appointment that same day and has also gone for bloodwork and x-rays just to check him out so he has been quite busy!! I'm guessing that it may take him a while to adjust to the 11.5 hour time difference. He went to bed last night just before 8 but woke up again just after 12 because he was teething. Brian finally got him back to sleep after a few hours. He hasn't been napping much at all but this afternoon he finally collapsed and had a 3 hour nap but unfortunately it wasn't until 7pm that he woke up and then he was cranky because he had gas. We finally got him back to sleep after a few hours. He wouldn't eat his supper but he did drink. I'm sure he will be starved when he finally wakes up!!
This whole parenthood business is so busy!! I can barely find time to do anything but just the bare minimum. I guess as he adjusts to being home and to us, things will become easier. When Rafael is not tired or in pain he is the most pleasant and beautiful boy. He loves to play with his new toys and to explore his new environment. He is the most amazing little boy!!
When we visited ICAB they told us that there are at least 200 families approved in 2008 still waiting to be matched. I pray that all of those famililes hear something soon!!! The wait is so long but it is definitley worth it. Well I'd better go catch some sleep because who knows when Rafael will awake again. I'm hoping it isn't until 7am!!

photos

Hey everyone. Finally some photos!!! The newest photos are first and the older ones are at the end. As you can see, Rafael is adjusting well and is having lots of fun. He is the cutest little boy and loves to laugh and smile. We are so lucky that he is our son!!!

Boracay!!

We have now been in Boracay for 24 hours and it is beautiful!!! We reached here lunch time yesterday after a 5 hour drive from Iloilo City. Rafael did amazingly well. He slept 4 hours and then played for the other hour and ate some teddy grahams. He has slept thru the night the past two nights which is wonderful!!



Yesterday after reaching our hotel, Rafael played in the room with his toys and then took another 3 hour nap. Boy does he love to sleep!! We then played and looked around the resort and had dinner on our veranda. Rafael then played more and ran all around the room over and over and was opening and closing the cupboards. He's so active but we just love it!! He didn't go to sleep until 10:00pm but that was because he did so much napping. He then slept until 6:30am this morning.



After breakfast I showered with Rafael (there is no tub here). He loves the shower and the water in his eyes. Afterwards we went to the pool and he got in the baby pool and was splashing like mad. He loved the pool! He just finished lunch and now we're going for a walk. It's wonderful and relaxing here. The beach is beautiful. We visited it early this morning and will go back later on today. Gotta love this life. A beautiful place and a beautiful son!!! Amazing!



Rafael is doing very well. He settles in more and more everyday with us. He still prefers Brian to me, but if Brian isn't there he will easily go with me and enjoys playing with me. That's all for now!! I tried to download some photos but for some reason, it didn't work. Sorry!

Coming around

The first full day with Rafael was wonderful!! He was happy and laughing and was lots of fun. That night however, he had alot of trouble getting to sleep and kept looking around the room, for the orphanage staff I assume. It was very sad. Then last night he went to sleep much better but awoke after a few hours and was then up all night. I think that he was having alot of gas pain. Today wasn't the best as he was sleep deprived from the night before. He was irritable and didn't want to get out of arms at all. Tonight he did better and ate a big dinner and went to sleep fairly easily and he is still asleep 4. 5 hours later!!! Knock on wood.

Rafael prefers his Dad over me right now and if he has a choice, he will always pick Dad. Tonight though he went to sleep on my chest while Brian was down grabbing some dinner. He slept there for a few hours before rolling off and sleeping on the bed. He much prefers to sleep up in arms however. He cuddles into you in the most precious way!

Tomorrow we leave for Boracay. It is a 4-5 hour drive from here to the boat ride so hopefully all will go well. It will be good practice for Rafael's long flight home. We are looking forward to our time in Boracay and we are hoping to actually get to spend sometime outside. So far I have spent a maximum of 5 minutes outside each day and that's it! Most of the time is spent here in our little hotel room. Especially today when Rafael wasn't himself. We were hoping to go across the road to the mall to buy Rafael some new shorts but even that didn't happen. All the clothes I brought here for him were too big so he needs some smaller clothes, especially shorts as the ones I brought are falling off of him. I guess we'll just have to make due with what we have!!

We are so lucky that Rafael is finally in our lives and we already love him to pieces!! He is just precious and we are so happy to be able to call him our son. It is the most wonderful feeling in the world and it will only improve as he continues to adjust to us.

Hopefully I'll get to post again from Boracay but it all depends on how things go. Keep your fingers crossed!!