I can’t believe it’s already the first week of August and that it’s been almost 3 months since I’ve posted. Actually, I can when I look back at what’s transpired since the last post. Here’s the abbreviated version (feel free to stop after this, it’s going to be a long post) – we sold a house, bought a house, Wesley turned 2, we moved out and moved in, Wesley had ear tube surgery (both ears) and I was laid off from my job. In between the majority of this we’ve been working on unpacking and redoing/remodeling the “fixer upper” of a house that we bought, which I do not recommend with a 2 year old.
Let me start by saying that although it’s been a hectic couple of months, we (especially Wesley) have all hung in there and we’re doing fine. Now, down to some of the nitty gritty from the events mentioned above. Before we moved out of our old house, we threw a birthday bash for Wesley. Since he was still in Seoul with his foster family for his 1st birthday, this was the first birthday he was celebrating with us so treated it like we would his 1st birthday and invited close friends and their kids in addition to our family.
Since we were going to have a wide age range of kids coming, we planned a variety of activities for the party from a bounce house and t-shirt decorating station to a piñata and ultra cool bean bag toss game (custom made by our friends Jose and Shannon). I also hired a face painter to come for a few hours – some of the adults even took advantage of her skills! It was a beautiful day and we all had a blast. Wesley was a bit overwhelmed (this was the most people we had at our home to date) and as I think back, I believe he was fighting an ear infection, so he wasn’t completely himself but he enjoyed the day.
The following weekend was Wesley’s actual birthday and Brian, Wesley, my parents and I went to dinner at our favorite Korean restaurant for dinner. After some amazing grill-your-own food; Wesley had japchae (Korean noodles) and veggies, some of the waitresses came over to sing a special B-day song and present a yummy dessert to the Birthday Boy. Of course he cried, but it was really cute. Although he’s lactose intolerant, we let him have a little bit of the ice cream sandwich treat – truth is, we couldn’t pull it away from him!
Then came moving day. Brian and I consider ourselves two fairly “together” and organized individuals. Let me tell you that the day before moving day was complete packing chaos. Thank goodness for my mom. She offered to come over and help and we were so grateful for that extra pair of hands. Things are just so different when you’re living with a toddler. You’re so much more limited in what you can and cannot do and what you can and cannot live without. Needless to say, we were up packing until 12:30am the night/morning before the move – I felt like I was back in college cramming for an exam. The move itself went very smooth despite the fact that it was raining. The movers hauled booty and were done in no time. Then you have that moment of “holy cow, what did we just do?” hit you as you look around at all of your stuff. It’s a bit overwhelming, especially knowing again that it’s a whole different ballgame with a toddler in the house.
Fast forward a few weeks – we’re still unpacking. Wesley’s room was the first to be completely set up and unpacked before we ended the day on moving day – that was a given. Wesley has been on and off sick since we moved including one trip at 4am to the Emergency Room. He’s now on his 7th ear infection however relief was right around the corner! On June 21 I brought him to the hospital to have ear tube surgery in both ears. The procedure itself was very fast – it was going under the anesthesia and coming out of it that took awhile. Once he was home and had some lunch, we could immediately see improvement in his demeanor. And, knock on wood, he’s been a new kid ever since. When I look back I’m sad for all the suffering he had to go through to get to this point. He was miserable. So many sleepless/restless nights. It was hard on all of us, but for him it had to be awful. I’m just thankful that it’s hopefully behind us.
July has been pretty uneventful because we’ve been so wrapped up in working on the house. We did spend the 4th of July holiday at my brother’s house celebrating both America’s independence and my nephew Jaden’s 7th birthday. Wesley had a blast hanging out with my nephew Brooks and playing outside with water toys.
The poopy news in our house is that on July 15th, I was laid off from my job of almost 3 years. I worked at a small advertising agency and when new business isn’t coming in; unfortunately cuts need to be made. So, I’ve been busy looking for a new gig. The end of the month started the series of anniversaries to celebrate in our home. Most were associated with Wesley’s homecoming – 7/22 Travel Call, 7/28 Travel Date and 7/30 First Meeting. Then, Brian and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on July 31st.
My parents came over and watched Wesley so that we could go have a nice dinner out. Sadly, this is only the 3rd date we have had since we brought Wesley home almost a year ago (the other 2 dates were for both of our birthdays). Clearly, we need to get out more.
Well, I think at this point we’re pretty much up to speed. I just took Wesley to his 2-year Well Child Care appointment with his pediatrician (a few months late, he’s very popular). Despite a mini-meltdown with our favorite doctor, all went well. Wesley is off the charts when it comes to height (stop laughing Dad) at 3’ 2.5” and is keeping up with the pack (and stretching out nicely) with his weight at 31 lbs. 8.4 oz. Honestly we thought he’d be heavier. LOL! Wesley’s speech has been on fire these past two months. Explosive would be a better word. You can’t get the kid to stop talking! He goes to bed talking. He wakes up talking. He truly is my son. Some of his new favorite words/sayings are: all done, banana, Mmmmmm!, please, Boo (this is his new name for Daddy), yeah, No! and bye-bye. And, the newest obsession is the ABC song. It is the cutest thing I’ve ever heard. He’s got the rhythm of the song down and a handful of the letters. I’ve got to get it on my Flip Video. It’s precious.
We’re now just days away from celebrating Wesley’s Forever Family Day. I can’t believe that it’s almost here. The fact that a year has passed since we brought our sweet boy home. This post has been long enough, so I’ll save the emotional, mushy, reflective thoughts for Thursday. But all I can say is that our lives have never been better and it’s all because of a little boy that let us in his world and in his heart.
