Halloween Festivities

We certainly made the most out of Halloween this year. This past weekend, Rocco and I took a special trip to visit my family an hour and fifteen minutes away. Here's Rocco on my parents' front porch rocking.

We had our own, small family festival. My nana, papaw, brother, mom, and dad were all there for candy making, cookie decorating, eating homemake chilli, and putting on icing "lotion." That was the highlight and big laugh for the afternoon. Rocco thought the icing for the cookies was a small tube of lotion. He and my nana had the best time pretending to put it on. Oh, the simple things in life!


Sunday was a cool, beautiful fall day. Rocco and I took advantage of the nice weather by going for a ride on my dad's tractor. Little man LOVES tractors. Without me even asking him, he turned around and showed his excitement by giving me a kiss. My mom caught it on camera.

That afternoon, we cut out and carved another pumpkin. Rocco thought the gooey insides were funny when papaw pulled them out!

Counting the others we had already carved and painted, we did 7 pumpkins this year. That includes the one Rocco painted all by himself at my school's annual PTO pumpkin painting on Oct. 25th. He was way too cute with his paintbrush. Check out the snack he stored in his little cheek.

This is what he looked like on our way to the Pumpkin Painting. It looks as if he's thinking, "Are all of these warm clothes necessary?"

On Oct. 31st, my school had a Trunk or Treat for all of the students. The parents didn't simply put candy in their trunk, they decorated their cars in creative and imaginative ways. The kids rotated around the big parking lot in their costumes and loaded up on candy. Jason brought Rocco, and he got an early start Trick or Treating. Little man loaded up on some junk; he especially enjoyed the Kit Kats and suckers.

Later we met up with Tonya, my sister-in-law, and Drew, our 8 year old nephew, for some serious Trick or Treatin' fun! Rocco had a blast riding around in the garden utility wagon. The life of Riley!

He was a little scared of Drew at first, but eventually warmed up to him. He was a busy little ninja looking at his candy and checking out everyone in their costumes. Thankfully, no scary spooks came near us. We did find some cute cousins all dressed up in their costumes though! Here's Chloe as Pebbles, Drew as a Mad Scientist, Colston as a Little Pumpkin, JJ as Hannah Montana, me, and Rocco as a Ninja.

Tiny Ninja

What's Rocco going to be for Halloween? A tiny ninja! This is one outfit that he will wear. It's too bad he won't wear the cute lion outfit my sister-in-law gave us. I have photos of him in it, but he's screaming his head off and yanking off the head piece. Luckily the ninja outfit does not require anything to be worn around his face. I'm not too sure how the whole trick-or-treat adventure will go. He can be easily scared, and he did not seem to like Drew's outfit. . . mad scientist. Tomorrow's the big day. Maybe there won't be too many spooks out there to scare our little man.

19 Months Old

This month almost slipped up on me. I can't believe it is the 29th again. Our little boy just keeps on growing up. I'm so thankful I've been able to see him develop and try new things over the last 7 1/2 months. It's odd to think of our life before we had him. Here is the latest on what's going on with Rocco.

1) He's definitely going through a screaming phase. When strangers greet him, he turns red faced and wails at them!

2) Through watching us, Rocco has learned how to be gentle and loving to the pets. He'll stroke the cat once and then laugh. Today he had the chance to pet a 1 day old calf.

3) Believe it or not he enjoys watching old Westerns with my dad. His favorite part is when the horses run. He'll holler real loud.

4) Books are still a big part of his world. He enjoys pulling certain ones from his giraffe bookshelf. If I don't immediately read it to him, he'll sit down and go through the pages himself.

5) His favorite food, other than potato chips, french fries, and other potato foods, is cucumbers with ranch. He is the only little man I know that can make a meal out of them.

6) Currently he still sleeps between us at night. We're hoping to get him adjusted in his own crib after Christmas.

7) Anything with gadgets or buttons fascinates him (mouse on the computer, calculator, remote control, etc.) He also enjoys unscrewing one of the dishwasher parts, using a screwdriver like a handyman, putting lids on bottles, and opening/closing doors.
8) Recently he's been more generous with his kisses. I'm not the only one receiving them. He's really sweet about giving "Bye Love" to family members before we leave when visiting them.

9) Tractors, motorcycles, and big trucks quickly get his attention. All boy I guess :)

Mawmaw's Sunday

Everyone gathered at Mawmaw and Papa's place for Sunday dinner and some fall fun. After enjoying everyone's homemade dishes, Aunt Tonya handed out white paper bags and Halloween stickers to decorate them with. Once our goodie bags were ready, all of the kids went on a pumpkin hunt. It was just like an Easter egg hunt. . . except the kids found little pumpkins filled with candy. Rocco seemed to really enjoy it once he realized there was candy involved. He particularly enjoyed the Nerds. Next came the pumpkin carving. The adults were far more into this than the kids. You should have seen some the pumpkins they carved. . . looked like they were right out of a magazine. Jason and I made a traditional face and a spooky spider. The kids made a mess painting theirs. Many of our friends joined us (John, Rachelle, and the girls, Phyllis, her twin boys, and 3 week old Abigail). The littlest pumpkin was Colston. . . only 4 days old. As far as the pumpkin painting and carving went. . . Rocco was more into squating down and playing in the gravel.
One of the highlights of the day came as a total surprise. As we were finishing up our pumpkins and the kids were all loaded on the the golf cart for a Sunday afternoon ride, my best friend who lives about 2 hours away drove up with her husband and son. I couldn't believe my eyes. We were able to spend a few hours together. Heather was in town for a family birthday and decided to come see us. She hadn't been to my house in 9 years. Thankfully it hadn't been that long since I'd seen her. She was at my baby shower last May. Regardless, we had a great time watching our adopted, miracle boys play together. She is currently adopting a girl from China. And if you're wondering if we're going to follow in her footsteps. . . . well, it may be a while. We are enjoying Rocco for now. But one day, maybe he'll be a big brother. Not anytime soon though.

Slingshot Rocco

How much cuter can he get? I prayed for a beautiful baby, and I know God definitely heard and answered my prayer. I'm reminded of His goodness every time I look at my handsome boy's face.

Sunday morning Rocco and I played around in our pajamas and had so much fun just being silly. What was he smiling so much about in this photo? He was laughing because I had to keep ducking from him. He learned how to use my ponytail holder and turn it into a sling shot. The first time he did it was by chance, but after that he did it on purpose. Of course he thought it was hilarious and laughed uncontrollably. What a difference a 1 1/2 year old can have on your Sunday mornings!

Pumpkin Patch

Fall is definitely my favorite time of year. Now that we have Rocco, we can take full advantage of it. Jason and I have always been kids at heart, but now we actually have a good reason to play at the pumpkin patch. My sister-in-law and her 8 year old son went with us to the Pumpkin Patch today. Jason's parents joined us there. The weather was beautiful. . . just a little hot though for October. Rocco had the mack daddy Cadillac tractor. He was the envy of the other kids. We pushed him around the big field of pumpkins. We had a great time on this beautiful farm so full of animal life, hay bales, scarecrows, pumpkins, gourds, and families enjoying themselves. I guess Rocco's favorite part was the hay ride. . . only that he thought he should have been on the tractor since daddy and granddaddy always let him ride theirs on the farm. (Kid's got it made out in the country.) Our trip wouldn't be complete without getting a pumpkin. I bought Rocco two little ones which we would later paint. He held on to it the whole ride home. . . it was just his size.

Rocco and Granddaddy take a look at an old tractor.

Nana is so proud of her two grandsons, Drew and Rocco.

Rocco and his first cousin, Drew

Momma and Rocco tried to divert their attention away from the scarecrow that was above them (he was scared of it)

What a Ham!

If you're from up north, you probably have no idea what my title means. I'm not referring to cooking ham, I describing my little boy who is getting so spoiled. He can really be a ham and put on. I just love his fake laugh. He has to bend over to do it good. Of course, this works both ways. If he isn't getting what he wants, he can pour out the fake tears, too. Rocco is the man at our house. We do, however, have to correct him every now and then for his screaming when he wants something. I'll explain to him that he's being unreasonable, I can't understand screaming, and that words are more powerful. He does sign more, eat, yes, no, book, and bye. He's also really good at pointing. One of these days he's going to start using words. We're just not sure when.

Goodbye Mattie

Mattie giving Rocco some welcome home sugar back in March

It is a very sad day in our home. Mattie, our closest pet companion, died. She came to us as a stray about 9 years ago. All tangled up in briers and a piece of tire, we decided that the black, matted Cocker Spaniel should go by Mattie. Little did we know then that she'd be the best dog. Anytime we were on the four wheeler she was right behind us. . . no matter how far or long we rode. Out in the flat woods, in our subdivision in South Carolina, or just around the house you'd always see her following our trail. Over the years, Jason even grew to like her. Her barking drove him crazy, but it's hard not to like a friend who follows you faithfully from sunup till sundown as you plow the fields on the tractor. She was as gentle as a lamb but sounded as fierce as a lion if a strange car pulled up in our yard. Up until she lost her sight, she'd chase balls we'd throw to her. Living out in the country is where she belonged. She could keep up with the big dogs, our labs. Even though she was half their size, she could still hang with them. The only difference is that they'd fetch in the water while she would plop down at the edge of the pond for a cool drink. This was her home and she was happy and content living here with us.

Getting her groomed was a chore. I tried to shave her several times only to have the garage covered in black fur and my clippers turn dull. I had to take her to the professionals because she would get so matted running out on our land. When she'd return home, she was so beautiful in her black coat and a cute scarf tied around her neck. I know she was a blessing from God. She was a piece of home for me when we moved to South Carolina. She got me through a lot of homesick days.

We always joked that she'd live forever because everyone had run over her at some point in time. . . Jason, me, Carolyn, the power company truck. And not just once, Jason and I both ran over her several times in a car, golf cart, four wheeler, etc. Even the cows kicked her around on several occasions when she got in their space. After the blow, she'd just roll over, shake it off, and keep on trucking. She's the only dog I know with nine lives. Unfortunately though, her lives ran out. Jason ran over her this afternoon around 4pm. Being almost blind and deaf, she probably never knew what hit her. It will be sad and lonely now when I look behind the golf cart and don't see ol' faithful Mattie. I'll never forget her. . . Love you girl.

Mimi's Visit

This weekend my mom came down to spend some time with Rocco and me. On Friday night, Rocco got to experience painting with a paintbrush for the first time. Using some orange paint, he colored a wooden pumpkin. Actually he colored the table as much as he did the pumpkin. Mimi and I took turns helping him.

The next day we woke up early for Rocco's 18 month photo appointment. We drove about 30 minutes to get to a lady's studio in Alabama. I was a bit concerned since Rocco had never met her before. He's funny about meeting new people, and he doesn't just warm up to anybody. I have to admit by the time we left her studio two hours later, I had a headache. It did not go well; Rocco was so clingy to me and would NOT cooperate outside for the cute shots I wanted him to. Inside, he finally smiled at some bubbles and a duster we tickled his feet with. Later we tried outside again, and he at least let me put him down. I don't know what I would have done without my mom there. To top it all off, the photographer backed into one of her props and it fell breaking her tall vase of bubbles. I'm not so sure she is looking forward to us returning next month for Santa photos.

On the way back home, we stopped at a pumpkin stand to pick out his first pumpkin. Here are some shots of our day together with mimi.

New Pediatrician

Rocco went for his 18 month check-up today, and he met his new pediatrician. We really liked Dr. Miller, but when we moved we had to find another one. I believe we are going to really like her; what a blessing! She is Asian herself, part Chinese and part Filipino. She is very attentive to our concerns and very thorough. Rocco had 2 immunizations today and had some blood work drawn.

Little man is in the bottom 1/3 percentile for his weight. He is 19 pounds and 13 ounces with a soaking wet diaper. His length is 31 1/2 inches long. After we answered many questions regarding what he does/does not do at this point, we learned that he is really advanced in his gross and fine motor development. His communication and interpersonal skills were fine, too. No major concerns. I am so thankful that God has blessed us with a healthy boy!

18 months old

Yes, I know I am a little late in posting his 18 month picture. I have done so well taking his picture exactly on the 29th of every month, but the past week we were out of town and I didn't have the "blue chair" for his photo. The good news is that while we were out of town, we took a quick overnight trip to Aiken so that we could finish up Rocco's third and final post placement visit that is required with Vietnamese adoptions. God really worked the details out for all of it. . . down to the timing and the finances. He is so faithful. . . even when we doubt him. So, here it is. . . and here's the latest news of what Rocco does, does not do, and his likes/dislikes.

Likes:

1) to play in the tub and feel the water sprinkle down on him through his cup as I sing "It's Raining, It's Pouring"

2) to watch Cedarmount videos and has learned many of the dance motions since last month ("Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Roll Over", etc.)

3) to watch the Wiggles and does the movements along with the video

4)to lift the flaps on books and shrugs when asked, "Where is. . . ?"
5) to get a book and climb into our laps for some reading time
6) to jabber a lot. . . none of it is actually words - but he is very vocal
7)to throw tantrums when he doesn't get his way - he's really good at producing tears and drying them up just as quickly as they came
8) to mimc us in the tasks we do - screwing lids onto bottles, tightening up bolts with a wratchet, using a screw driver, and he thinks he has to drink/eat the same thing we do from the same cup or plate
9) to listen to the Bible as he drinks his night time bottle
10) to pretend as if he's talking on the phone

Newest things
1) I'll use the signs and say, "I. . . . love. . . . you!" When I sign love, I'll cross my arms over my heart like a big squeeze and then tell Rocco to do it. He'll clench his fist, bend his elbows, and squeeze with all his might. This lets me know he is crazy about me, too!
2) He loves to peek at us from behind objects, whether they be a bookshelf, napkin, plate, or towel. It's a new form of peek-a-boo with him.
3) He's really good, and has been for some time, in correctly pointing out his head, hair, nose, eyes, ears, mouth, belly, feet, and toes.
4) The other day I got a kick out of him going round and round in a circle making himself dizzy.

Does not like:
1) to be ignored or left to feel like he is not the center of attention - if Jason and I are talking to another child or get in a discussion with one another, he'll start screaming like "Hey! Pay attention to me!"
2) to wear a bib or sit in his highchair
3) to have his picture taken - he'll ignore the camera on purpose

What a long way he's come in just 6 1/2 months. It is such a joy to watch him grow into a little boy. There were times I thought I'd never be a mom. And now that I am, I am loving it so much. Sometimes people ask me, "Did you think it would ever be so hard? or take so much work?" I just laugh because to me it is not really work. It is a wonderful experience, I cherish our time together, and I consider it a great honor and blessing to be Rocco's mama.

Tea anyone?

Even though Rocco didn't enjoy sharing his mama and daddy with their friends' girls, Claire and Ava, on his trip to the beach, he did enjoy pretending with them. Believe it or not, he took part in their tea party. (I think Jason was glad that he chose to do this rather than play My Little Pony or Barbies with them.) It was entertaining to see him use his imagination and make believe. This was one of the first times he's really involved himself with imaginative play, although he has made tractor sounds before when playing with his tractor toys.

Fall Break Has Come to a Close

The week is winding down, and it's almost time to go back to work. I have loved every minute of my fall break. For the past 4 or so years we have gone to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina the first week in October. Last fall break (2006), Jason and I were looking for a post office in Myrtle Beach so that we could mail off our acceptance papers stating that we indeed wanted the little boy that was referred to us. This year we had that little boy and were enjoying some family time on the beach together with him! Chasing sea gulls and saying, "Get!" just to hear Rocco laugh, searching for sea shells, walking on the beach at night and looking for beach treasures with a flashlight, taking afternoon naps, floating down the lazy river, chillin' in the hot tub as Rocco drifted off to sleep in the breeze, and watching Rocco get excited and very vocal at the Dixie Stampede were the simple things that made this trip so memorable. This was Rocco's third time experiencing the beach (1st time in Ninh Thuan, Vietnam in March and the 2nd time was at Edisto Beach, South Carolina in June.) I'll close with some of my favorite pictures from this week.

Our latest family portrait.

I caught this sweet father/son moment while they were looking at shells.

Rocco and mama at the beach right before sunset.

Rocco would leap to Jason so that he could swoop down into the pool, get his feet wet, and swing back out.

Rocco became used to the beach as the week progressed. He finally learned that playing in the sand could be so much fun.

He enjoyed getting into a float as long as he was on dry land doing so. If he was in a pool or in the ocean, you can be sure he was on mama's hip or on daddy's shoulders.

The lazy river was my absolute favorite!

Jason carved his name in the sand. Then, he took a picture of it from our 11th floor condo. Check out the sea gull in the letter "C."

Getting Used to Beach Life

Oh me! We're going to the beach!

Two hours after carrying him around, looking for sea shells, and viewing the water, he finally allowed us to let him down. . . but only if he could sit on the boogie board and off of the sand.

Time to eat a little snack.


He finally got off the boogie board and out of the chair and touched the sand all by himself. This little bucket of water kept him busy for quite some time.
Daddy rode some waves while Rocco and mama played with the shovels.

Proof that he finally touched the sand with his feet!!

Rocco and the Girls

"Oh, me!" Rocco says as he puts his hands on top of his head. "I'm surrounded by girls!" Claire and Ava do make great play mates. . . unless they start getting too much attention from his parents. He shares really well unless it comes down to sharing mama and daddy.