Continuing the Journey

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY!!

Hard to believe, but today makes one year that Carson has been part of our family! In some ways, our trip to China seems like it was just yesterday...in other ways, it feels like a very distant memory. Either way, we have had 365 days (some of them challenging, most of them wonderful) with this perfect Little Man! We have seen him grow and watched his personality emerge. He has learned English quicker than we ever imagined he would and has met (and exceeded) nearly all of his physical and occupational therapy goals. The combination of his zany personality and his amazing determination prove to me that God put this child in EXACTLY the right family!

Meggie suggested I post a picture from every month, to show how much he has changed. I tried, people...really I did. But gimme a break...I take a LOT of pictures of my kids. One picture per month just wasn't enough! So, bear with me as we take a pictorial walk down Memory Lane...a year in our life with Carson...

Of course, we start with Gotcha Day, October 29th, 2007...he was so serious, studying us intently...
When we showed him the toys we had brought, he started hamming it up for the camera...a peek into his true silly personality...
Playing with bubbles outside the bank while Daddy and our guide exchanged our orphanage fee into Chinese yuan, Meggie and I got to hear his loud and infectious laugh for the first time...This picture was taken the morning we arrived home from China...he barely spoke or understood English, but easily cooperated with this picture and took directions well...
His first haircut...again, he cooperated (but doesn't look very happy, does he?)...
Nine days after arriving in the U.S., Carson attended the first party where he was the guest of honor. Grandma and Grandpa B. threw us a "Welcome Home Shower" and Carson got to experience something new...opening TONS of presents!
The next week, Carson had his first occupational therapy session...
Here we are on Thanksgiving, our first holiday together as a family of four!
Carson got to attend his first college football game in November...and we all froze our you-know-whats off...
The day I decided that leaving Carson alone with Meggie and a camera might not be the best idea...
Meeting some of his cousins on my side of the family at Uncle Mike and Aunt Pam's house...
Carson's first trip to the mall with his Big Sister...probably still one of my favorite goofy pictures of my kids...
Posing for our Christmas card pictures lying under the tree...he still spoke very little English, but cooperated perfectly with every silly idea we had. I LOVE this picture!
Meeting his preschool teacher, Miss Tracy, for the first time. I can't help but laugh out loud every time I see this pic...
Wearing his backpack on his first official day of preschool in mid December...
...and looking a bit happier to see Miss Tracy this time!
Making his first snowman with Sarah, Meggie, and Kaylie!
Getting his first set of "Ultraman boots"...he has been such a champ with all the corrective devices and therapies, never ever complaining. This kid IS a superhero!
Another reminder that spending time with Meggie and a camera WITHOUT parental intervention isn't always best for Carson...
About five weeks after arriving home, we had family pictures taken at a professional studio. Carson saw the "foo-ball" on the shelf and wouldn't cooperate or sit up in the chair unless he could hold it. Cute pic, huh?!Another "laugh out loud" photo...Christmas shopping at Target with Groucho Marx!Christmas Eve with Meggie, sporting their new Bowling Green University football jerseys...
Christmas morning, sporting Daddy's new boxing gloves...
New Year's Eve, during our movie night/popcorn party. He's grinning because he chose "Sleeping Beauty" and it was driving Daddy crazy!
Happy New Year!
In January, I was FINALLY able to convince Carson to sit still long enough to let me read him a storybook. He now loves books and will often choose reading (or looking at books) over playing with his toys when given the choice.
Carson's first at-home haircut...
His first visit to the dentist...he had to take Monkey along for moral support, but he was so brave and did a great job!
The horrible, awful day we had the EMG done...here, we're watching his Ultraman videos on the laptop to try to distract him...
Snuggling with Meggie at the Chinese New Year celebration...
Goofing around with Sarah at Meggie's first dance competition of the season...
Meeting his baby cousin, Sophia...he called her "Baby Foe-fee" for the LONGEST time!
MRI day...the day I vowed to never let my Little Man take oral Versed again! He screamed and sobbed for roughly three hours after waking up from anesthesia...
Carson playing in the "frozen tundra"...also known as the Blizzard of 2008!
His first experience coloring Easter eggs...Easter Sunday, getting ready for the Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa B.'s house...
Carson's first trip to the YMCA with Mommy, going swimming in the big pool...
So proud of his soccer uniform when he started his indoor soccer classes...
Loving on Mommy at Mother's Day lunch...
Posing with Meggie (who looked like a "Pwin-sess") before the Freshman Semi-Formal...
Posing with Miss Tracy on the last day of school...we didn't know at the time she was leaving his preschool. She was so sweet on Carson and really made his transition into that school practically seamless. We miss you, Miss Tracy!
Posing with Grandpa D. at Father's Day brunch...
Happy Birthday, Big Sister!
My cool dudes, heading to the pool on our Florida beach vacation...
Happy for Mommy that she FINALLY finished her Bachelor's degree...
Goofing around in his swimming trunks on a hot August day...
Being a trooper on surgery day...Pooh kept him company as we waited to go into the OR for his muscle biopsy...Happy 5th Birthday (or "Five Burf-day" as he called it), Little Man!
Posing after his first official soccer game, also on his "Five Burf-day"...The mooncake we shared in celebration of the Autumn Moon Festival...yuck!Readoption Day! Grandma and Grandpa B. gave him this balloon bouquet...
So proud of his first soccer trophy...Carving his first jack-o-lantern...Then we get to today. My co-workers followed Carson's blog while we were in China like it was the hottest new soap opera and he has become my department's unofficial "mascot"...mention his name and you will hear people say, "He is SO cute" or "I just LOVE that kid" from nearly everybody who works with me. When I told my friends that today was our Gotcha Day anniversary, my friend Katie made him a "Happy Gotcha Day" card and got everyone to sign it.

After we had "China food" for dinner (of course!), I gave him the card...
...he was SO excited! He kept saying, "For me? COOL!" over and over. I'm not sure he 100% understands the Gotcha Day concept, but he thought it was pretty cool that they made the card just for him.
Happy Gotcha Day as well to Isabella and Will! We were so glad to have met you and your families in China...the craziness and laughter we shared with your families truly kept us sane at the end of that China trip!

For those who haven't read my blog from the beginning, I will be reposting some of my China posts in the next few days...it will be interesting to re-read (and mentally re-live) those first few days as a stunned, amazed, and slightly overwhelmed Mother of two. Stay tuned...