Asher update: 3 years home

There was a disclaimer posted on the original blog post which you can find here.


Three years ago today Asher arrived home. I can't believe three years has passed so quickly, or how much this child has changed in just 36 months.

When Asher first came home he was 7 years old but stuck at a 6-12 month level. He was 40 inches tall and 31 lbs. He had just learned to walk a couple of months before and toddled around. Asher had never seen solid food, only baby food consistency. He did not know how to chew, he was not potty trained, and clung to me - or anyone else - like a baby rhesus monkey.

Three years later and Asher is now 10 years old. He is ALL BOY! He spends his days going over, under, behind or on top of everything that is possible to get his body into those places.

Asher had no communication when I met him, but now he is signing up a storm! He has a 1:1 interpreter with him in school and his vocabulary grows larger every day! Suddenly in the last couple of months he is trying really hard to say words. It is so fun to watch his attempts.

Asher has grown A LOT! He is now 60 lbs and 49 inches tall! He has developed a slap-stick type sense of humor and loves to be silly. When he gets up in the morning he signs "Good morning" before his eyes are even open, and asked me to sing our good morning song. He is quick to dish out a hug and kiss for his Mommy! Asher is very close to Audrey, the two of them often found hand in hand. It helps that they are in the same special education class together. He also likes to play with Abel a lot, but a bit more rough and tumble than with Audrey.

Asher has brought us three years of amazing JOY. To see him blossom from a shy, fearful little guy tormented by severe PTSD into this funny, loving little man just makes my heart full!!! Every day I thank God for bringing Asher to us, giving us the opportunity to witness yet another miracle.

Three years

Three years ago I boarded a plane for Belgrade, Serbia. I was so very anxious to meet our newest son!

Conversing!

We are loving watching the communication that is happening here with the kids. Asher and Abel's sign vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds! Both have 1:1 support staff in school who are fluent in ASL, plus we sign at home as well. (I'm a former ASL interpreter.) Here's a conversation we watched the boys have this morning. SO FUN, especially when you think of the fact 18 months ago Abel had zero ability to communicate in English or Serbian, and Asher had no ability 2 1/2 years ago.

The scene: Asher and Abel are waiting outside on the front step for Dad to bring them to the bus. Dad gets something out of the car, locks the door and goes into the house.

Abel pointing at car door handle: "Papa opened the car."
Asher: "Papa's car"
Abel: "You open it." 
Asher: "Papa's car. Yes."
Abel, touching the handle: "Open it."
Mom (from the house) "Abel don't touch."
Abel: "Mom said no. Don't touch. Open it."
Asher: "Mom said no."

Airplane flies over. Abel looks at the sky: "There's an airplane. Up there." (takes Asher's chin and makes him look at the sky.) "You do it. Airplane." 
Asher: Airplane
Abel: "Eating is done. I need to go to the bathroom." 
Asher: "Go to the bathroom." (points to the house.)
Abel: "Mom! I need to go to the bathroom!" 

Asher's love of water

The first day I met Asher he was given a "bath" in the sink of his room in the institution. Its kind of like a farm sink at counter height. You can kind of see it here in this picture of Abel in the same institution. (At 10 years old Abel was still in diapers and this is the diaper changing station. A couple weeks home and he was out of diapers. )

When the children in Asher's group were given a "bath" they were made to stand in the sink while they were hosed off with the sprayer. I watched him desperately try to put his hands in the water only to have them swatted away, as if he was a naughty little boy for touching the water. My heart broke for him. He just wanted to touch the water. I had no idea how badly. 

For many adoptive parents getting custody of their child is synonymous with the "first bath". It means an opportunity to get rid of the institutional stench that emanates from the child's every pore. (It actually takes weeks to get rid of that smell.) For some newly adopted children this first bath is an extremely traumatic experience. Not only are they in a new environment , but they may have never experienced sitting in water before.  This is Asher's first bath. No trauma, but a big smile about half way through. So happy he can touch the water! (I would not normally post bath videos. You only see his back in this one, except for a few seconds. Originally this video was made so his dad at home could share in the first bath experience.) 

From that first bath until today Asher has been obsessed with water. I don't know if the word "obsessed" even comes close to describing his fascination. In the summer, if its nice outside I need only to turn the hose to a trickle and it will keep him busy for hours.  Sometimes with the hose he will put it right to his ear, letting that ice cold water shoot into his ear. 

2 years ago today...

We already knew he had Down syndrome. 

We knew he could walk. 

We knew he could not chew. 

We knew he could not talk. 

We didn't know his name. 

We had never seen  his picture.

Two years ago today, we learned his name was Lazar.

 We were SO excited! I must have been running on adrenaline because I wrote three blog posts that day on our adoption blog. 

It was a Tuesday, November 15th. On the 18th I was on a plane bound for Serbia. 

Student of the Week

Last week Asher was student of the week in his first grade classroom. I wish his teacher hadn't chosen him first. He has no idea what it means, or what is supposed to happen. If he'd seen a few kids be the student of the week before him he'd understand what was going on.

Student of the week is something that can make a parent of an adopted child cringe. Asher came home with a poster that included lots of questions we were supposed to answer, like "Where was I born?" and "The happiest day of my life."

Was the day he met me, his new mom, the happiest day of his life? Probably not. Was the day he left an institution in the middle of Serbia the happiest day of his life? No, it was probably the scariest!!! Really, I would have no idea what other day would have been the happiest. This is a child who spent 7 years abandoned, drugged and severely neglected. I have no idea where he'd find the happiness in that.

Here's how we answered his questions:

My full name:
Asher L. S.

Where i was born:
Kragujevac, Serbia

Favorite foods: 
yogurt, ice cream

Favorite colors:
blue, orange

Pets:
3 dogs: Dudley, Zurri, Roman

Family members:
Mom & Dad
7 brothers: Rob, Noah, Tyler, Bryon, Aaron, Axel, Abel
1 sister: Angela

One thing I can do very well is:
climb!!!

Favorite thing to do in school:
Music

Happiest thing that ever happened to me:
When I came to America!

Special interest or hobbies:
Playing with my brothers and sister, singing with Mom.

Thing I like to do best at home:
Sing, sing, sing!

Jobs I do at home: 
put my dirty clothes in the hamper, put my dishes in the sink, put away my toys before I go to bed, make my bed.

We also did a poster-board full of pictures. Since Asher hasn't even been with us 2 years yet, we don't have any cute baby pictures or things like that. I decided to call it "My firsts" and it included a picture of "The first time I met my mom." or "The first time I met my grandpa." "The first time I finger painted." and "My first hamburger" and "First time I saw a washing machine".

I knew that Asher's "Student of the Week" was going to bring some questions from his classmates. I decided to use this opportunity to introduce Asher and Down syndrome to the other parents, as well as address some questions they may get from their kids. Last year I sent out basically the same letter and received several emails from the other parents thanking me for the information because their child HAD come home with questions and they really didn't know how to answer them. It was a great way to connect with the other parents and several had more questions. Later in the year as I was involved in various classroom activities the other parents were really proud of their kids and how well they included  Asher in their play.

Here's to hope this is another awesome year for Asher!

Crab Boil

Going through my pictures from the summer, I realized I never blogged about the trip Axel, Asher and I took to Philadelphia! While the original purpose of the trip was a check up at Shriner's Hospital in Philadelphia, really we made it all about friends!

My very good friend Coleen has hosted us nearly every time we go to Philly. She picks us up at the airport, drops us off when it's time to go home, lets me borrow a car to get back and forth to the hospital. She is just the best kind of friend ever.

I have known Coleen on the internet since Angela was around 9 years old. That's about the time her son Nolan was born with Down syndrome. Since then we've grown to love one another's kids via the net. She has supported us through three adoptions, plus all the ups and downs of raising a kid(s) with Down syndrome.

Anyway, one of the things Coleen made sure we experienced was a crab boil. Ok, really it was her fiancé Phil and his buddies who got the crabs, but still...

Now, we live in Minnesota. Our sea life is much different. Well, because it's lake life, not sea life.

First, there were A LOT of crabs! 

Gotta keep them cool or they get too active and want to climb out and run away. 

Put them in the pot... This water had all kinds of spices and stuff in it.

Cooked crabs!

Axel thought the crabs were pretty cool. 

The guys ate late into the night. 

 Asher didn't really care about the crabs. He loved the roar of the boiler thingy though. LOL He ate some of the crab meat but was more interested in running on the trampoline. Axel,  however, LOVED the crab! He ate quite a lot. I ate plenty of crab legs, which is about all my mind could handle eating of the crab.

All in all it was a great time. So glad my boys got to experience this! Someday Dean needs to go crabbing with Phil and his buddies.

Business, as in busy-ness

Usually I spend the summer getting all the kids medical check ups done so I don't have to do them during the school year. This year several kids need some things done under anesthesia and I was trying my best to get it so each kid only had to go under anesthesia at once, AND so I could spend as little time at the hospital as possible.

That was a fail.

Instead, I couldn't get everything scheduled until this month, and Abel's are all spread out over a couple of months.

So here's what the line-up looks like.

August 29th, Angela and Axel will be having stents put in their tear ducts. Well, Angela is also having reconstructive work done on one eye lid (she's missing both upper and lower ducts on that side) so hers is a little more involved. She had this same surgery done when she was 7 but she pulled the stents out after 2 weeks so we decided to wait until she was older to try repeating it. Two kids but minor procedures so we should be in/out of the hospital relatively quickly. Angela is excited she's getting an I.V. (yes...she loves to have an I.V. Goofy kid!)

September 12th Abel will be having all of his dental work done. Many teeth pulled, some restored, and what's left will be cleaned. I cannot wait to get this done! I wanted to do it a couple months ago but we were trying to get all the specialists coordinated and it just didn't work out.

October 14th Axel will be having minor dental work done under anesthesia. He's petrified of the dentist so this is much quicker. We should be in/out of the hospital in a couple of hours.

October 22nd Abel will be having his tonsils and adenoids out. I am not expecting an easy recovery for him. He'll also be having an ABR (hearing test) done. His hearing appears to be fine but it's good to get this done since he'll be under anesthesia anyway. Unlike my other kids, he does NOT have a high pain tolerance.

We have a couple things coming in November too, but I'm waiting to get the dates.

And Asher? Well he just lucked out, didn't he?

A Day at the Office

Axel came trotting out of his room wearing his baseball hat and sunglasses, his toy computer tucked under one arm, a stack of magazines and a calculator in his hands. "Gottago" he said. "GoWork." (his words all run together, probably what we sound like to him.

He grabbed his backpack and quickly shoved everything in. "Bye mom!" he said, and ever so gently gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Bye Papa." giving Dean the same loving kiss.

"See you! Love you. Bye. Have a good day." as he closed the door behind him.

Oh, but this is Angela's favorite game! It is called "Pack a bunch of crap in a bag and hike around the yard!" She jumped to her feet, got her backpack and hollered "Bye! I'm headed to work!" as she ran to catch up with Axel.

I expected they would do as they usually do and head to the back yard. Dean went outside to get something and Axel was at the door of my van. "Papa! Keys please!"

Ummmm......No.

So they settled for driving their pretend car and sitting at their pretend desks on on the pavement.

It wasn't long before Asher joined them. Angela is typing away on her invisible computer.

And there are phone calls to be made.

It's very busy around here in the summer time. By the time I catch my breath in the morning it's time to make dinner. I love it!

Shriner's Update

Today was our appointment at Shriner's Hospital.

It was Axel's 2 year post-op follow up. He is doing just great and the surgeon is pleased.

Asher had his c-spine and then full-spine X-rays. He has horrible kyphosis but it is completely positional and not something we need to worry about for now. His AAI is...well...not really AAI.

AAI is movement between the C1 and C1 vertebrae. Last year Asher's was borderline, but now it looks fine, measuring at 4mm which is within normal ranges.

And then there is AOI. That is the movement between the Occipital (the head) and C1. That measurement needs to be under 10 mm, and anything over that needs to be fused. Ashers measures 8.5-9mm. Most kids don't get worse after age 8, but Asher has delayed bone development. So, we're going to recheck him in 2 years and see where it's at. For now he has no restrictions. YAY!

Hello Philly!!!

This morning Axel, Asher and I hopped on a plane bound for Philadelphia, PA. The boys have a check up with their spine surgeon at Shriner's Hospital on Thursday.

This is Axel's 2 year post-op check up. Can you believe this is what we were doing 2 years ago in May? I don't know what was worse: seeing him in the halo, knowing the screws were boring into his head, or knowing we had months ahead of us to deal with this contraption! It seems like a long time ago now, and all that is left are eight faint scars on his forehead and the back of his head. The scar on his hip, where they took the bone graft, is nearly invisible.

Asher is also being seen. When he first came home in December 2011, I made sure his AAI screening was one of the first things done. Everything looked find then. Six months later the kids and I were driving to D.C. for the 2012 NDSC conference, a trip which included Axel's one year post op visit. Well, two weeks before the trip, Asher started playing with a clicking sound in his neck, which is the same thing Axel had been doing prior to his surgery. Axel's surgeon was kind enough to squeeze Asher onto the appointment schedule That's when we were told  his was borderline and would need to have precautions in place to prevent injury to his spinal cord.

I should have started buying lottery tickets right then.

Asher can do some interesting things with his neck. We call this "taco neck". To see it in person makes people squirm. Just try putting your ear below and behind your shoulder like that!

Asher, spring 2012- taco neck

There is a theory that Asher's first screening done when he got home was not accurate because his bone age was significantly delayed due to malnutrition, so there wasn't enough calcifications on the bones for it to be seen. 6 months later, after rapid catch-up growth and good nutrition it showed up. He's grown A LOT in the last year, so I'm really anxious to see what his new X-rays show.

Here's the horrible part. I would rather them tell me it's time to do a fusion than deal with him being on restrictions forever. This kid is BUSY, a climber and frequent faller. I have 10 near heart attacks per day. Axel's AAI was much more obvious and left no doubt that he'd need surgery.

I will update more on Thursday after our visit.

 Every time we come out here (and I think this is 5th or 6th trip) we don't have time to see or do anything fun in Philadelphia. This time we're going to hang out a couple extra days. Friday and Saturday are scheduled to be some really fun days with lots of friends.  I can't wait!

Growth

Last year Asher was new to us. He spent the last couple of months of school in a kindergarten classroom. He was SO TINY!!! This year he went back kindergarten with the same teacher and additional supports in place.

Last year for Mother's Day the kids gave us moms a picture. Since this is Asher's second time around, I was privileged enough to get a second picture too!

Look at the difference from 2012 to 2013! 

Last year it was still really hard for Asher to give us eye contact. 

He didn't understand English yet either, so taking pictures was always

a bit confusing for him. But this year? He's got it down!

Growth

We're growing in lot of different ways around here.

Asher, January 2012

Asher and Abel, May 2013

Brothers

We're home now. I think its time to move back to blogging over here since this is our family blog and we're now a family!

Here is some video from this morning. As you probably already know, Abel came to us complete with his block (and a spare we have in hiding!) NOBODY touches the block. We have gotten us to play a back and forth game with us. I sign "please", he hands it to me, I sign/say "Thank you!" then he signs "please" and I hand it back to him, he signs "thank you." He's getting better and better at letting me hold onto his block. When he goes to the bathroom I would set it on the counter. Now he prefers to set it there himself.

This morning Abel was playing with his block on one of the dining room chairs. Asher decided to join him.

A bit of history: Asher loves to get people into headlocks, and is very creative about getting people into proper position to grab them, including baiting them into position if necessary. But Abel had a game in mind and he wanted Asher to play with him. I love how he taps Asher on the head with his foot and points to tell him to come back to the game. LOL

And the sickies hit AGAIN!

The beginning of February everyone here was really sick. Well, everyone but me. I managed to escape the influenza bug this year. Asher was down just a day or two. Dean was sick well over a week, Axel a few days. Angela had it the worst of all of us because it triggered her asthma which took several weeks for her lungs to recover.

And now there is something else upon us.

On Thursday last week we were innocently going through our morning routine; Angela getting her backpack/jacket on, Axel getting dressed and Asher sitting on the pot.

I was in supervisor mode, walking through checking on everyone when I heard...I heard a noise I have not heard in 16 years. Dean had never heard the noise before and looked confused, "What was THAT?" he asked.

"OMG THAT WAS PUKING!" I hollered as I ran for Asher in the bathroom.

Yes. Yes my mind had remembered that sound correctly.

I don't do puke. I can clean up a lot of things, but puke is not one of them. When big brother Tyler was a kid he used to get carsick all the time. It started when he was just an infant, so by the time he was 4 he could independently manage his puke bucket and towels in the car. All I had to do was roll down all the windows. :-)

As I lifted Asher to the bathtub I hollered for Dean to bring paper towels. Lots of 'em. When he came back with the paper towelsI don't even think he came into the bathroom. No, I think he just threw them at me and ran. "I don't do puke" he said. Really???? So I should just leave Asher here in the mess because I don't do puke either? "Sorry kid, you're on your own with this one. We don't do puke." But I am the mom, so I stayed. Dean, on the other hand, didn't say a word and supervised Angela and Axel through the rest of the morning. You know, don't draw attention to yourself and nobody will make you deal with the puke.

There is one thing about cleaning up puke, and that is I never really know where to start. I mean, do you clean up the kid first or the floor? Since it wasn't really possible to walk in the bathroom without stepping in puke, I opted to start with the floor first. That was great until I realized - too late - that Asher was standing in the tub leaning over me.

And WHY IN GOD'S NAME did He...the same god who gave me these beautiful children - why did He give us mom's the reflex to CATCH things???? ALL things?

Eventually I got the floor cleaned up, the kid cleaned up, the tub cleaned up, and then I got me cleaned up. I wasn't really sure where to put the puking Asher now. Hmmm Somewhere that can be wiped clean, but the hardwood floor didn't seem like the most comfortable option. I laid him on his bed and images of washer load after washer load of puke bedding flashed before my eyes. I stripped his sheets and let him lay on the vinyl mattress cover. Thank you to whoever invented those! They are great for puking kids! It did look a bit like a scened from an institution, but I didn't care. I was more concerned about avoiding more laundry.

I left Asher there while I went to wash my hands for the 27th time in 30 minutes when I heard that noise again. I went running back to find Asher sitting not on his bed, but on the other side of the room and he had puked all over the carpet. Lord Jesus help me! I put him through another rapid bathing and put him back on his bed then ran downstairs to get the carpet machine.

I passed Dean who was sitting quietly in the living room, minding his own business. I must have looked like I needed help because Dean was working from home that day, but when he saw me he suddenly slammed his laptop closed and ran for his shoes. "I'm outta here!"  he said, and I'm pretty sure he was smiling as the door closed behind him.

Now, this thing...this carpet machine... is brand new. I bought it when we had a pipe burst back in November and have only used it one time. It is a whole lot of awesomeness. Yeah, well, things are a lot of fun until the carpet cleaner craps out on you in your time of need!!!!

I spent the next two hours trying to unclog tubes that I decided must be the problem, stopping every 10 minutes or so to clean up more puke. He hadn't even eaten that much in the last 24 hours, how could there be SO MUCH???

Eventually Thursday ended, as did Friday and the weekend. Today is Monday and Asher stayed home with me again. He'll be home tomorrow again too. What a lovely lovely thing. NOT!

Dear God

Dear God,

I have tried to be so patient with this chewing business. I knew it would take a long time to overcome the 7 years of pureed foods that Asher received his entire life. We spent months pureeing everything while working on his oral motor strength and...you know...teaching him that he HAS a tongue.
Once he had some strength built up we worked on learning to bite, which he can do very well now and actually has for several months. Several months. He CAN chew now, but not for very long. But most important, he doesn't WANT to chew.

God, I am bored with this now, and pretty much done. Really, it is time to move on to other things. Only I don't want to be pureeing everything for him forever either. So, if I could just ask that you flip whatever switch it is you have up there with you. The chewing switch. That would be grew. Ok?

Thanks and Amen

Jump!

Asher has been trying to jump for several months now. "Bend your knees and JUMP!" is something we have been singing around here for what seems a very long time. He will stand in front of me, hands on his knees, waiting for me to sing it.

When he first started learning to jump, I'm sure he felt he could reach the ceiling when in reality his feet never left the floor. Instead he kind of got up on his toes. It was so cute!

Then, a couple of weeks ago, he realized if he held one hand for balance, he COULD get off the floor. Only a fraction of an inch, but he was jumping. He practiced, and practiced and practiced some more. Like a toddler learning to stand for the first time, Asher was determined to jump.

Finally. Finally he got himself off the ground in a REAL jump!

Yesterday I decided to see if he understood the concept of "Jump OVER!"

He has jumped "over" 3,402 times since then.

Communicating

We have two boys here who are in the midst of a communication explosion! Unfortunately one of them has gotten things mixed up.

Earlier in the week I picked Axel up from school to bring him to therapy. His teacher told me that during snack time he had signed "cinnamon bar", indicating he wanted the same bars for snack that one of his friends had. He had done it on his own without any prompting. I told him we would stop and pick up more snacks.

Later, after therapy we stopped at the grocery store, only it wasn't our regular store. The one we were at was about twice the size and layed out differently.

Axel stopped me at one isle, "Snacks school." he signed.

"Oh thank you for remembering you need snacks for school."

He lead me down the isle and half way up the other until he found the cereal bars. "Cinnamon bar." he signed and picked out a box of cereal bars.

"Good choice Axel. You chose your own snacks."

Then he spotted different bars with a strawberry on the front. "Forgot strawberry." he signed. He put his boxes back and chose two boxes of the strawberry bars, placing them very carefully into the cart. "School snack backpack" he signed.

"Yes, when we get home you can put those in your backpack, then bring them to school tomorrow."

The following morning Axel reminded me his strawberry bars were in his backpack.

"Oh that's right! You need lunch money too!" I quickly wrote out a check, stuck it in an envelope and said as I wrote on the front, "Axel's lunch money." He put it into the folder in his backpack. Later I got a text from his teacher. "Axel came into the room and signed, "Lunch money backpack" as soon as he got here!

This is a HUGE leap in communication for Axel! Talking about things that are out of context. Reminding me that he needs things, AND telling me things without any prompting! Way to go Axel!!!!

Asher, too, is doing more communicating. Just today Angela's behavioral staff came to the door. Asher ran to the door barking....just like the dogs do.

We'll have to work on that more.

Tonight Dean was leaving for Thursday night bowling. He asked Axel if he wanted to go along. Axel said yes , got his jacket and put his shoes, coat and gloves on. Asher got very excited about this! He dropped the toys he'd been carrying around and ran to me.

 "Jacket, jacket jacket!" he signed. Asking me if he could put his jacket on.

"I'm sorry Asher. Today is Axel's turn to go along to bowling."

Asher's lower lip stuck out as he dropped to the floor in protest. He put is face down on his hands. A few seconds later he stood back up.

"Me me me" he signed, which is his way of signing "my turn, my turn, my turn".

"Asher, I know you want to go with daddy..."

"Daddy daddy daddy."

"Yes, you want to go with Daddy but..."

"Go go go!" (signed and SAID the word)

"Honey, you are staying home with mom."

"Home." he signed with a sad look as he watched Axel walk out the door. He ran to the window and watched Axel climb into Dean's car.

"Daddy daddy daddy!" he signed.

He came running back to me in the living room.

"My turn. Daddy."

I gave him a hug.

"I'm sorry honey. You are staying home with mom. Next week Daddy will take you along. I promise."

Arrrrgh!

About 2 months ago I took Asher in for a check up with his eye specialist. We're still really concerned about his left eye. After almost a year in glasses it still isn't functioning very well. The doctor said it was time to start patching.

The first time I put a patch on him it was more than I could stand. His little eye turned right to his nose and he couldn't bring it out to center to see at all. (the good eye is patched, forcing the weaker eye muscles to kick in) When his lip stuck out I knew he was truly overwhelmed. I dreaded patching his eye every day. We were supposed to be working up to eight full ours of patching every day. I wasn't very good about following through at all. Then his glasses got broken at school so he was nearly a month with out them.

My other problem is I don't want him only patched at school so that "school" becomes the preferred place because "home" is where the patch is on. I decided to wait until Christmas break so we could work up to the full eight hours.

Right now I have alarms set on my phone to go off at several times through out the day. The patch goes on for 90 minutes, comes off for 2 hours, then back on for 90 minutes. By Weds next week these times will blend together so he's wearing the patch for the prescribed length of time.

My poor Ashie! About every 5 minutes he comes to me signing "Please" then takes my hand and puts it to his eye; his way of asking me to take it off. Then every three minutes he signs "glasses" because he can't see well and he knows his glasses allow him to see. He has his glasses on during the patching times but I'm sure in his head trying to figure out why they're not working.

Still, he maintains his very sunny disposition. He's such a happy boy!

One year ago today

One year ago today, a tiny little 7 year old and I got off a plane at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International airport. It had been an eventful trip home (which you can read about here, and which will cause you to never use an airplane bathroom again. ) and I was so very glad to give my Dean, Angela and Axel hugs!!! Here's the disclaimer - and then video - I posted on that day not-so-long ago:
*Disclaimers*
#1 Dean is still learning to work his camera
#2 Check back in a bit and the video should be rotated so you can watch it.
#3 Our flight was delayed a couple of times and Dean wasn't exactly sure when we were coming in. He was a little late getting to the airport and barely made it to the magic doors in time.
#4 Dean had to be videographer while also trying to meet his son for the first time.
#5 I was tired and possibly a little crabby.
#6 I was also hungry.
#7 Dean forgot you can't try to record AND interact with everyone at the same time, and that the back of someone's head is not very interesting.
#8 I debated not posting this video.
#9 I am not responsible for Angela's hair.


It has been a pretty incredible year for Asher. Axel had been in a foster home for 18 months before our adoption so there were many "firsts" he experienced with them. Asher...coming straight from an institution, oh my goodness. Where do you start? Seeing food prepared for the first time? Seeing a refrigerator full of food? Having a real tub bath? Having a tub bath with warm water? Riding in a car seat? An airplane? Walking down the street? Being barefoot indoors? All of these things in his first 24 hours out of the institution. 

There was a little boy named Lazar who I carried out of the institution.

That little boy stayed in Serbia. A boy named Asher came home with me....

and hasn't ever looked back.