Easter Fun with Family

We spent time at my parents house with my brother and sister-in-law and niece and nephew right before Easter.  The kids had a lot of fun!  Easter Sunday was a beautiful day so after church we went to Quail Ridge Park and flew the kites the kids got for Easter and then they played on the playground.  The weather is finally getting warmer, so the kids love it and so do we!  The kids all got chocolate Easter bunnies in their baskets and Samuel loves chocolate!  They had a lot of fun playing together and flying their kites.  It was such a nice day!

 

Samuel's favorite thing in his Easter basket was the chocolate bunny!

 

Cousin Maya laughing at Samuel in his bunny mask.

Silly Bunnies!

 

Samuel had fun flying the kite he got for Easter.

Samuel's eye looks great!

Samuel had his eye surgery (corneal transplant) a couple weeks ago and the ophthalmologist said it is healing nicely!  I can tell it is doing better everyday, it was very sensitive the first two weeks.  His eye will continue to heal with time, but already looks so much better.  He can see better and that will improve with time too.

Samuel tuvo su cirugía ocular (trasplante de córnea) un par de semanas y el oftalmólogo dijo que está sanando bien! Puedo decir que está haciendo mejor cada día, era muy sensible a las primeras dos semanas. Su ojo seguirá sanando con el tiempo, pero ya se ve mucho mejor. Él puede ver mejor y que mejorará con el tiempo también.

Samuel's eye before surgery

Samuel's eye after surgery and still healing

Happy 3rd Birthday Samuel!

Samuel loves Cars and his favorite is Mater, so I knew of someone who makes amazing cakes and asked if she could make him a Mater cake. It turned out amazing and I love how she put his name on it and he had a little Mater cake all to himself! We had his party with family at Ashland Pizza & Pub (APP), a neat Pizza place my brother owns, and they had a band playing later that night too. Samuel loved the cake, presents and most of all the balloons! He loved all the attention! It's been so busy lately, we drove all the way there last night and had to come back because Jeff had to help a friend this morning and then Dalton has a basketball game and then a birthday party after. We are at a crazy busy time in our lives, but we are excited about all the exciting things happening. Samuel's surgery is scheduled for February 26th at 7:30am. I pray it goes well. It takes about an hour and a half and then he will have to go in the next morning to see the surgeon. It is supposed to correct it to look like his other eye and he will have improved vision as well. He is doing very well and I hope this is not too overwhelming for him, but I know he will be very happy one day we had his eye corrected.

 

Loving life with Samuel!

We needed pictures for our post placement, so we finally took a family picture with all five of us.  We will have professional pictures taken this spring when the weather warms up because we like outdoor pictures.  Samuel has a new friend Emery who is so sweet to him!  Everywhere we go Samuel gets lots of compliments on how cute he is, which I must say he is pretty cute.  His big sister and brother think so too, they are very good with him and lots of help.   He seems very happy and we love his smile and laugh.  He still stays up later than Amelia and Dalton, but is getting better.  We've been so busy lately, but he doesn't seem to mind running errands with mom, picking the kids up from school and watching his big brother play basketball.  Also, he has had to go to two different ophthalmologists because the one that was recommended could not do the type of surgery he needed on his right eye.  He needs a cornea transplant and it will improve his vision and correct it so that it will look like his other eye.  We are excited about the fact it will improve his vision, because we were told there was little possibilty of that from Colombia.  I am a little nervous, but I know it will go well since this ophthalmologist specializes in corneal transplants.  It was funny though when we went to Anheuser Busch Institute because not only was Samuel the only kid there, but I was probably by far the youngest one there too.  I was very pleased with Cardinal Glennon for his pediatrician that specializes in internationally adopted children and the other ophthalmologist who will start seeing him after surgery since the other one does not work as much with children. 

We feel very blessed to have Samuel in our family and I think he feels the same.  He has only home for a couple months, but we couldn't imagine life without him!  God is so good to have chosen Samuel to be part of our family.

 Family picture

Samuel with his friend Emery

 

 Samuel in his new t-shirt that says it all.

 

 

 Samuel fast asleep waiting for Amelia and Dalton to get off school.

 

 

Dalton's first basketball game! 

Christmas 2012 & Sledding

We've been so busy since we've been home I haven't blogged in awhile.  Amelia and Dalton have really enjoyed playing with their new little brother.  Christmas came really fast for us since we were gone most of November and the beginning of December in Colombia.  I am so happy though that we were able to travel before the New Year, because Samuel has had a chance to spend time with my parents, brother and sister-in-law and his cousins Alex and Maya.  He now gives them all hugs when he sees them, which they love! 

Before Christmas we went to visit my parents in Kansas City and they had snow, which meant Samuel went sledding for the first time.  He loved going sledding!  We had him bundled up good since he is still getting used to this cold weather.

For Christmas his favorite toy was a foam Jake and the Neverland Pirate's sword from his Aunt Penny and Uncle Gerry.  He carried it along everywhere with him on Christmas day.  He also loves the Christmas pajamas Penny got him and he looks so cute in them too!  He is still very attached to the Mickey Mouse I got him at the Miami gift shop on our way home from Colombia.
                                                  

Samuel in his Christmas pajamas sprinkling reindeer food on Christmas Eve. Amelia and Dalton were excited for him to help, but I'm sure he had no idea what he was doing:)

 

 Samuel got a Mickey Mouse guitar.  He loves Mickey Mouse!

 

  

 

 He loved the play sword from his aunt Penny and uncle Gerry.  He carried around all Christmas day at their house.  Nana got him the cute puppy Jingle that had a read along book.

 

 Maya and Amelia tried making a gingerbread house from scratch, it didn't quite turn out, but they sure had fun making what they called a crumple cake..lol.

 

 

  

 

 Samuel's first time sledding!  He had lots of fun with daddy, Amelia and Dalton!  I had fun taking pictures and making sure they were safe!

 

 Amelia and Dalton love their little brother!

 

 Amelia is such a good big sister!  I'm so proud of how good she is to Samuel! 

 

 Samuel was afraid of our dog Lexie the first few days, but then decided he would make friends with her.  He follows her around and laughs at her all the time.  The kids were very excited that Samuel was giving her hugs and kisses.   I think Lexie may be a little afraid of him now...lol.