First Visit with Hudson

Nico (a volunteer from Germany) and Phil (one of the social workers) picked us up in the orphanage's van and drove us over to the Boys' Home.  When we pulled up and got out, there was a group of people (and a couple of little boys) outside.  I scanned the faces and didn't think any of them were Hudson.  They walked us into a small room, and there he was!  He was sitting on a blanket with a few toys, playing by himself.  He barely looked up when we entered.  Matt immediately got down on the floor and started playing with him.  I think I was a little in shock.  I took some pictures, but it took me a minute to process it.  This was our boy!  In real life! 

Immediately, I noticed some sores on his head.  There was a place on his head that seemed swollen.  I was concerned.  The "momma bear" in me was a little angry honestly.  Within a few minutes, the main social worker came in and visited with us.  She addressed the spot on his head and said that they are much better and that he had been under a doctor's care.  I felt better pretty quickly because they addressed it directly.  She also asked what we wanted to know about him, and we said everything that she could tell us. So, within minutes of meeting our boy, we were hearing parts of his story.  I was desperately trying to memorize every detail, knowing that these pieces of information will be precious to our son one day.  But I was also heartbroken learning about his story.  Truly sad that he ever had to leave his first family and experience such loss and trauma.  

I was with this precious boy, this precious life who will soon be placed in our hands, and I was heartbroken about his first 2 years and 8 months of life.  I also was given the impression that his coming into our family will not be an easy adjustment for him.  I prayed.  My eyes filled with tears.  Deep in my soul, I cried out to the "Father of the fatherless", the one who "sets the lonely in families".  I feel so unworthy, so inadequate to enter into his life.  Yet there is a deep, rising LOVE for this precious boy that was instant, the moment I found out about him.  It's overshadowed my feelings of concern.  Matt and I shared a couple of glances.  We wondered if we are "cut out" for this.  If we are strong enough.  If he would ever acknowledge our presence.  ;) 

As all of these conversations are going on verbally, all of these internal shifts happening, little Hudson has barely looked at us.  He hasn't spoken.  Has barely moved.  

I finally ask the social worker, "can he walk?  does he talk?" and she says "oh yeah!" and starts talking with him in Thai.  He starts identifying different animal toys and answering her prompts to pick up different things.  He got up and walked across the room to get a book, and we saw the first glimpse of his personality.  (Or maybe the withdrawn, reserved Hudson is his personality too.  We will know eventually.)  I try to get him to sit in my lap while I read him a book, but he wasn't interested.  It's okay.  I know these things will take time.  I don't want to scare him or overwhelm him.  I'm a stranger to him.  He has no idea I am his mom.  At one point, P'Nan walked out of the room, and he cried.  An intense cry that was honestly a relief to hear and see.  More evidence of "life" within him.  

After a little longer in this small room (which we found out he had never been in before), we went outside to go to his area of the orphanage.  He took Matt's hands walking down a few stairs, and he let Matt carry him across the grounds.  Matt was gracious and passed him off to me after a little while, and I was thrilled when he let me carry him the rest of the way to his lunch area.  Then I got to sit with him and feed him lunch.  He is a good eater and definitely seemed more comfortable surrounded by his friends and nanny.  His nanny asked him to tell us the names of all his friends, and he did.  There were 5 other kids with him that day.  There are usually 10 in his group.  We had already been told that he loved this nanny very much, but seeing it was a different experience.  I felt a strange mix of feeling thankful that he has this close attachment but also sorrow to know I will take him away from her in the coming weeks.  

Matt had some sweet moments of connection with him after lunch.  We stayed in his area of the orphanage for a little while until it was time for his nap.  They took us to the van and said they would come back to get us in a couple of hours.  

We went back to the hotel and found Tyndall and P'Nui.  We were anxious to tell Tyndall about his brother and show them pictures.  We also started majorly coaching Tyndall about Hudson being pretty reserved and how he needed to be reserved at our visit the next day. 

We all went to the area mall for lunch together.  Even though it was just a local mall, I noticed some differences in Southern Thai culture compared to what we're used to.  I was trying to soak it all in but also trying to process the last couple of hours.  Such an intense and powerful and wonderful morning. And we knew we would get to see Hudson again in just a couple of hours! 

His Name ~ Hudson Arthit

The very first thing we learned about our son was his name.  His name "Arthit" in Thai, means "Sun", and that is his current "play name" which most Thai kids have, like a nickname.  

We did not know if we would give him a new name or not, but after learning he is so young, we decided we will.  We have had some possible names in the mix for the past couple of years, so we revisited those first.  And after learning his play name is "Sun", we definitely wanted to incorporate that.  But we also love names ending with "s-o-n" because we want his name to be a reminder of his identity.  (And it sounds the same at the end so hopefully will be an easier adjustment for him.) 

We all loved "Hudson" the best and thought it fit him the most compared to others we like.  We also like the meaning and immediately thought of Hudson Taylor, a pioneering missionary to China.  And because it is the name his first mother gave him, we will keep his Thai name as his middle name.
So, he will be Hudson Arthit Flagler.  

Meaning of Hudson: The name Hudson is the transferred use of an Anglo-Scottish surname originating from a medieval personal name “Hudde” which itself has three possible origins. One, it’s widely thought to be a pet form of the Old Saxon name Hugh which comes from a Germanic word “hug” meaning ‘heart, mind, spirit.’ Secondly, Hudde is also thought to have formed as a nickname for Richard which also has Germanic origins meaning ‘power, strong, hardy.’ Lastly, it could be derived from the Olde English personal name “Hūda” with uncertain origin but which gave its name to places like Huddington in Worcestershire. The surname dates back to the 13th century in Scotland and England. 

Tyndall's name is also an Anglo-Scottish surname.
And Hudson Taylor's name is actually James Hudson Taylor, so there's another brotherly connection with the name.
On other websites, we read that Hudson can mean "power" which is a strong family connection with Matt's "Powers" family--and middle name.  
Tyndall James's name reminds us of William Tyndale who translated the Bible into English, and Hudson Taylor translated most of the New Testament into Chinese.  

So, it all seemed to fit, and as we decided throughout the rest of the day, it stuck. 

A verse we are associating with his name is 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

Funny side note:  As I was researching multiple websites about the meaning of names, I read that Hudson was mostly used as a surname.  It took me a minute to make the connection that my best friend Ginger married a Hudson in 2015, so it's now the last name of my dearest friend.  So, even though it was not the reason we chose the name, it definitely was not a deterrent.  And she promised me it wasn't too weird.  

Hudson Arthit, you are loved! 

It's A Boy!

14 hours.  I waited 14 hours from our social worker's Line message about being matched.  At 8:40 am the next day (I simply could NOT wait any longer!), I sent her a "good morning" sticker.  She immediately wrote back that she was not at the office and had to go to a meeting so couldn't tell me anything more until the afternoon.  Okay, I understood.  I resolved that I would be distracted by teaching for the morning and could wait a few more hours. 

But 25 minutes later, I noticed my phone started dinging like crazy.  It was during a weekly prayer time that I have with some friends, so I waited.  When we were done, I checked my phone and saw that they were messages from her.  So I went upstairs to Matt's classroom (it was almost time for morning break), and waited for his kids to leave.  There were a couple kids who needed help with math, so I helped for a minute but then told Matt that we had messages from K. A and asked if the kids could do the math later... :) 

We read the messages together and learned that we had been matched with a BOY! And that he was born in February 2015.  Matt said, "2015?! So he's 2?"  We were truly shocked by this as we were open to kids ages 2-8 and even sibling groups.  Our understanding was that most adoptive families preferred younger children, so we just expected we would be matched with older.  So, shocked, but very happily.  

She asked if we accepted the referral, and we wrote back, "yes, of course" and then immediately started receiving pictures of our handsome son!  His face, y'all.  The sweetest.  I mean, he is just.so.adorable.  (But we will not be posting any pictures publicly until the adoption is finalized, per the understood guidelines of adoptions in Thailand.) 

After the first time we said we accepted this match, we learned about his current orphanage and a little more about his birth family.  After we said we accepted again, we learned a little more.  

We stayed in Matt's classroom for a minute soaking everything in and reading the messages over and looking at the pictures.  Then we said we wanted to go tell Tyndall.  But as soon as we got downstairs and saw Krissy and Abby & Bryn standing right there, we had to tell them.  Krissy saw our faces and said, "you know?!"  And we ran toward them and did a big group hug and I said, "WE HAVE A SON!  AND HE'S 2!!!"  And we burst into happy tears and jumped up and down.  And took pictures.  Because we want our son to know that this moment...  This moment that we found out about him and "met" him through pictures was the very moment God placed him into our family.  Just like it was with Tyndall.  It is indescribably precious.  Even with students crowding around "why are you crying, Mrs. Tricia?" and other teacher-friends sharing in our joy, at that very moment, God sunk this son of ours in our hearts.  

Before we realized it, break was over and students were going into both of our classrooms.  We realized we had to do real life for a little while.  As my students came in and got settled, I did call my mom and send her a picture of her new grandson.  :) I then told my first graders that I had just found out I have a new son.  They didn't really understand, but it will be fun teaching them more about adoption this year.  That was the hardest English lesson I've ever taught, and Matt would probably say the same.  

Right after English is lunch time, so we went to find Tyndall in the lunch room.  We wanted to tell him he has a new YOUNGER BROTHER!  We told him and showed him a picture.  Right away, he grabbed my phone and gave it the biggest hug and then started showing his friends "This is my brother".   We spent a lot of time hugging and processing this news together (in the cafeteria filled with 1/2 of the school).  Other teachers were hearing our news, and we were able to tell people who have been praying with us for these last 2 years that God has given us a SON!  

Needless to say, Tyndall didn't go back to class.  He probably would have been too distracted and distracting to others.  Matt and I went to Chapel after lunch, and I could barely keep it together singing worship songs like, "My God is Powerful" and "By Faith".  I took the rest of the afternoon off, and Matt came home during his planning periods.  We tossed around a few names and then settled on a name we all liked as a family.  That will be another post.  

We learned more about him through the day (all through Line messaging) and just couldn't believe the way that God had given us another perfect boy to join our family.  

Little boy, you are so very loved already! 

Will you be praying for our boy?  Will you pray for his little heart to be prepared to meet his forever family soon?  Will you pray for us the next few weeks as our files go before the adoption board in Thailand for final approval?  It's possible that he will be home with us before Christmas.  It's a lot of change to happen in the next few weeks.  Please pray with us during this time.  

Flagler Family Asia Adventure! Part 1-Thailand

Stephani and Steven arrived in Thailand late on May 26th. Their flights were smooth, and all their luggage arrived with them, which made the reunion at the airport extra sweet!
We came right back to GES where our friend Sarah was staying with Tyndall who had been too excited to sleep!  So he got to have some aunt and uncle snuggles in the middle of the night and stayed up a couple of hours because everyone was so excited.  We ate nachos and Face-Timed Mark and the girls and eventually settled in enough to get some sleep.  

Matt and I were still working the next day, but we took Steph and Steven to P'Nee's for lunch and to 7 for drinks and for a tour around the school.  When we were done with work, we took them on a tuk-tuk to the pier where we caught a water-taxi to KhaoSan Rd.  

At KhaoSan, Steph and I got fish pedicures. And we did some shopping and lots of snacking (coconut ice cream, fruit shakes, waffles on a stick) mostly while walking around in the rain.  For dinner, we met the Boydas at the robot restaurant at Central Westgate then had Coldstone.  Tyndall and I caught a ride home with the Boydas, but Steph, Steven and Matt went back to KhaoSan for more adventures.  

The next day was a Saturday and Matt and I taught our last Joy Club.  Steven and Stephani went exploring at BigC that morning while we taught.  For lunch, we went to SamSep, which is a restaurant owned by one of our student's family.  The food is delicious, and we ate a ton of it! Stephani said it was the best fish she's ever eaten. After lunch, we went to Chatachuk Market to explore but got lost and turned around more than usual. (It's the largest outdoor market in the world where we have gone quite a few times but still manage to get turned around, especially if looking for something specific.)  Amidst the wandering around, there was still lots of shopping and snacking.  After JJ, we came back to get Tyndall and then went to The Mall for dinner.  We just ate at the food court there and were going to get massages, but they didn't have any availability.  And then we were going to see a movie, but that didn't happen either.  So we came home to get ready for our next adventures.  

Sunday we took it easy in the morning while we packed for the upcoming travel.  We went to check-in to our hotel downtown Bangkok where Matt and I had an Adoption Seminar.  After checking in, we went to Beirut for Lebanese food.  Though we had a slight sidetrack at "Le Beirut Cafe" which is more French food, we eventually got pointed downstairs to the real Beirut, and it was sooooooooooooooooooo good.  I had heard about this place for years, and yes, it is worth the hype.  So, we all ate a ton of food to the point where we were too miserable to do much else.  But we headed to Siam Paragon to walk around.  That was such a cool thing because I had envisioned going there with Stephani and Steven for so long.  As expected, the luxury hall was ogled over, and the car stores (in the mall!) were drooled over by Steven.  From there, Tyndall and I head back to the hotel, and the siblings went on a tuk-tuk food tour which they all loved!  They went to a few different stops for different types of food but also got to visit different wats (temples) and learn about Bangkok history in between food courses.  

Monday, Matt and I were in Adoption training from 8-5.  We were a little bummed that this training fell during Steven & Steph's visit, but it also worked out because it meant Tyndall got to have some special time with them.  While we were in training, they slept in, had breakfast and then explored Siam Paragon on their own.  They went to the aquarium, had high tea, and did shopping.  Apparently Tyndall was a perfect angel.  We met up after training at Terminal 21 and ate dinner at Sunrise Tacos and then had leg massages (and a manicure for Steven) across the street before heading back to our hotel.  

Tuesday, Matt and I still had training, and Steven and Steph were sick of malls.  So they arranged for a Grand Palace tour with transportation by boat.  But there was some mixup (and probably tourist trap), so they didn't end up doing the Grand Palace but saw some of the temples downtown and went to some markets where Steven had some pants tailored.  

After the training and waiting around for said-pants to be ready, we made our way back to GES. Sadly, we got back after most of the local restaurants had closed, so we had a hodge-podge of a dinner while we packed for Cambodia and Malaysia.  

First Semester Recap

In a perfect world, I would have been posting a lot more regularly and done {at the very least} monthly updates.  It would be a great way to connect with family and to help me remember in years to come what our lives look like these days.  That would have been nice.  

Instead, I was busy and consumed emotionally with transitioning to our new lives in Thailand.  I'm allowing myself some leeway.  However, one of my 'outlets' and ways of processing is to write.  I want to document these days for the reasons above and also to help me truly experience and find joy in the present.  So, I will be a bit more active here.  

In the interest of chronology, and because I'm a bit too particular to start with now, here's a bit of a recap of our first 5 months in our new home.  

August~We literally landed in BKK on the first of August which makes it wonderfully easy to remember how long we've been here.  Most of August was spent in the awe of being back here with our son in tow.  We made LOTS of trips to Big C (the Nonthaburi equivalent of Super WalMart) to make our home more home-y.  We eventually purchased some living room furniture, a 50" tv, some rugs and decor to help us settle in.  Each day, this new place became more our home.  We spent time reconnecting with friends and students who were here 7 years ago as well as beginning to get to know all the new faces.  MUCH has changed.  Some things are the same.  Once school started, we liked getting into the new routine and learning the new schedules and students and systems of life on a school campus.  We had a couple of weekend outings to explore the city.  We went to Dusit Zoo and got annual passes to Ocean World. Mostly, we focused on adjusting to our new jobs and home.  Speaking of jobs, here's what we do: 

Matt is teaching second grade and has 14 kids in his homeroom.  He also teaches the higher-level English students for all of Grade 2 and Science for both Grade 2 classes.  In the first semester, Tricia was working 3 days a week as a substitute teacher for all grades.  When she wasn't subbing, she was working in the office as an assistant to one of the school administrators.  (This is changing for 2nd semester.) Tyndall goes to Nursery Monday-Friday from 8:00am-3:00pm (naps for a couple hours there).  It's on our school campus, and we get to peek glimpses of him during the day.  

September~September was definitely about settling in.  We had a staff retreat out of town for a couple of days.  During that time, Tyndall fell off an incredibly tall ladder, so we had a bit of a health scare.  Thankfully, he was totally fine, but it was definitely a monumental day for our family.  I think it helped us become closer to more people here as well.  In September, we started investing more in relationships with people here.  I had a couple of one-on-one coffee morning dates with new friends, and we went out with a couple families for dinner.  We also spent a lot of time in the evening watching shows like Parenthood, The Walking Dead, and Bones.  I started doing a women's Bible Study group through our church on Monday evenings and was teaching ESL at our church on Tuesday evenings.  We also had Overnight Camp on campus where all of elementary school kids have extra time at school (grades 2 and above spend the night).  Matt became really sick that weekend, which caused him to miss a couple days of school the next week.  Everyone said our immune systems would be weak this first year as we adjust to a new environment and living at a school.  Which brings us to October... 

October~was a very different month.  We had committed to teaching Joy Club, which is English school on Saturdays for (mostly) kids who don't go to GES.  Matt teaches K2&3 (ages 4-6), and I teach K1 (ages 2-3).  We started that on Saturday mornings, but we were both feeling run down.  Matt started feeling better after about a week, but I started feeling worse.  I broke down and went to the doctor one day and found out I had pneumonia.  Yuck.  They wanted me to stay at the hospital, but that was intimidating to me in a new country, away from my family, so I opted to just travel to the hospital each day for breathing treatments and IVs.  That lasted about a week, and then I just had to go a couple times a week.  By the third week in October, I was starting to feel better but was still just wiped out.  That happened to coordinate with October Break for the school.  We had originally planned to travel to Cambodia for the break, but opted to stay home and do day adventures instead.  We did things like Imagania, Ocean World, Safari World, Ikea, Tyndall's first movie at a theater, and hanging out with families at the school.  The Ikea trip was fruitful in that we got lots of more things to make our home more home-y.  My birthday also fell over October Break, and I share a birthday with another teacher here.  So, we took our families to lunch and to the Children's Museum together.  Then, we left the kids with Matt and went and got foot massages. Then she babysat Tyndall so Matt and I could have a date night.  So sweet!   Even though I probably should have rested a lot more, October Break was fun!  I remained pretty exhausted and out of gas for the rest of October, even though I returned to work, and we both started tutoring kids after school.  Our friend George started hanging out with Tyndall after nursery while Matt and I were tutoring.  My pneumonia stayed around until the 2nd week of November, but I was feeling much better by the end of October.  

November~November was busy.  I did a LOT of subbing and even worked extra days to make up for time that I would miss from school in December.  We also had a lot of teachers out for various reasons, including the birth of a new baby. While the new daddy was out for a week, I taught his high school chemistry classes.  Hilarious.  I also spent a few days shadowing one of the first grade teachers because I will be long-term subbing for her while she is out for maternity leave.  Between normal jobs and tutoring and Joy Club, we kept ourselves busy.  In November, I was also back to Bible Study and ESL on Tuesdays most weeks.  But when I committed to teaching full-time this coming semester, I knew I wouldn't be able to teach ESL as well.  I was a little sad to give that up, but I know I can do that in another season.  I realized that my time at home with Tyndall was becoming pretty limited, and I want to have more of that.  Thanksgiving was definitely different.  On the actual Thursday, we ended up having friends over for dinner at the spur-of-the-moment and didn't actual realize it was Thanksgiving dinner until after. Our school did a BIG Thanksgiving dinner the Saturday after.  We had about 100 people.  Ham, chicken, and sides-a-plenty!  It was good.  Definitely started missing family (and familiar traditions) more though.  

December~was CrAzY.  Matt was getting his kids ready for the big Christmas program, and for the end of the semester.  The first week of December, I worked extra days to get ready for the time I was about to be off...
On December 5th, I flew to Cancun, Mexico for my best friend, Ginger's wedding!  Mom met me there, and we spent a few days on a beautiful resort hanging out with the Henry~Hudson wedding guests which was so much fun.  It was honestly the best resort I've ever been to and the people were really fun to get to know.  Very, very fun and refreshing few days.  Not to mention getting to watch Ginger marry the man of her dreams, a man we have prayed together for for years!  After Cancun, I flew to SC for a few days and spent a little time trying to see a lot of people and get a lot of stuff done.  Overall, it was a great few days.  I feel like I got to have time with almost everyone I wanted to and it was even quality time.  I got to see Valerie and Zeb's new house and dance around to Disney songs with my niece Sadie.  I got to have a mock Christmas breakfast with the Flagler fam and even a typical Sunday lunch on my "bonus day" (my flight was delayed leaving Charleston, and by then I had missed all connections to Bangkok, so I had to stay an extra day).  Got to see the James Island Christmas lights with the Flaglers and my other nieces, have Panera dates with friends and even an airport breakfast with the fresh-from-her-honeymoon Mrs. Hudson.  A great, whirlwind trip for sure, but praise God, jet lag didn't put a damper on things!  Once back home in Bangkok with my boys (and SIX suitcases!), it was straight to working in the office then time for Christmas program (a 3 day intense event right in our front yard.)  Tyndall handled the change in schedule and loud music outside his bedroom window quite well.  But we were also really glad when it was over because then it was time for CHRISTMAS BREAK!  

{Forgive the lack of pictures.  Again, this is really just for my remembrance down the road.  Plenty of pics can be found on Facebook.}

Here We Are Again! (Thailand)

It's our 12th day in Thailand, so I figure it's time to start catching up and processing/documenting things before I get too far behind!  

I LOVE having the blog book from this blog last time around, so I know this will eventually be a great resource of looking back and remembering the great things God does! An "Ebenezer stone" of sorts.  

I guess I should start with how we got here.  I remember being on the beach one day with Matt and Tyndall.  We did it a few times this summer, which was super nice.  We were talking about our long-term goals for our family and our dreams for the future.  Our current situation (at the time) was not sustainable.  Matt was working 3+ jobs, and we literally had opposite schedules.  Our family time was pretty limited, and we felt very stressed and worn thin.  It was not fun seeing my husband like that when he is generally such a laid-back, easygoing guy.  So, we had known that something needed to change and had been tossing around options for awhile.  

On our beach day, (June 23rd), we decided for sure to sell our house and simplify our life.  Get rid of STUFF.  Live more simply.   We met with our realtor the next morning and were thrilled with finding out the state of the market and our house's value.  We could pay off all of our 'bad debt' and start fresh.  But the "where do we live?" was harder to answer. We talked about what we wanted... to live with more purpose. To be able to do ministry as a family.  We looked into Cares again.  We looked into other schools overseas, and we even applied to a few.  And then we started talking about being back at GES.  For some reason, it seemed quite obvious.  Things would already be somewhat familiar.  We would know some people already.  It wouldn't be as HUGE of an adjustment as the first time since we would already somewhat know what to expect.  Within that next week, we applied, we interviewed, and we were offered positions.  (Matt's IDEAL position, by the way, which wasn't available when we first started interviewing only a few days earlier!) We had lots of conversations in the meantime and started throwing the idea around to family... Tyndall and I actually were able to be with my family in Saluda the weekend of July 4th which was wonderful family time!  While I was there, the house went under contract after only 4 days on the market. 

So we decided. Back to GES. It was confirmed in our hearts, in our spirits in so many ways.  Just a few days later,  the house contract fell through... time for the 'test'.  Did we really want to go? Was this the right timing?  Lots of prayer and conversations and Scripture, and we still knew we were to go.  So we continued selling all our things, closing down my Mary Kay business, preparing to go.  Visas, passports, original documents all mixed in with the details of selling a house and packing up our household.  Then the house was under contract again, after only 5 days this time.  I was VERY happy to be done with showings.  Keeping the house tidy and leaving for extended periods of time with Zoe and Tyndall was harder than I imagined it would be.  :)  But, we made it, and it was a pretty short amount of time.  Thank You, Lord!  

The whole process was only a few weeks... less than 5 weeks.  Kinda crazy.  Very faith-stretching.  Very humbling and even painful in some ways.  But, through it all, we pray we are being made more like Jesus.  Less earthly stuff.  More focus on eternal matters.  As hard as it is to leave family, especially this time with Tyndall, we knew we were supposed to be heading into this new, different season. So, here we are again!   

 

Six Months Old!

 Tyndall James is 6 Months Old!

Six Month Stats:Weight: 13 pounds, 9 ounces

Length: 24 1/2 inches
Head Circumference: 16 inches

STILL not on the charts, but growing well and on-track based on where he started. :) 

This month has been my favorite yet... by far!  Each has been special, of course, but all of a sudden this little baby is becoming a little boy filled with personality.  I LOVE being his Momma!  

Tyndall still LOVES his feet... and having them in his mouth.  He was doing this a little last month, but now it's all the time.  Still likes chewing on pretty much anything else as well. The doctor said it looks like his bottom teeth will break through any day now.  

A new addition is how much he loves toys.  He likes teething rings, rattles, stuffed animals, and basically anything else we will let him play with (cups, bowls, spoons, etc.)  He is pretty coordinated and can pass toys between his hands.  He can also rake things in and grab them.  

 

His Current Favorite Toy (Thanks, BeBe!)

Rolling over has become a regular thing... both from tummy to back and back to tummy.  Back to tummy has just happened in the last week or so.  He will get on a roll (pun intended) and move around quite a bit.  It's an adventure to see what position he'll be in when we wake up in the morning... it's hardly ever the same and definitely not how we left him the night before. Matt and I both like watching the monitor more and sneaking in his room for nighttime peeks. 

He started eating rice cereal right at 5 months old.  After a couple months of rice cereal, we added in vegetables in Stage 1 jar food.  First he had green beans, then peas, then carrots.  We wait a couple days between introducing new foods, but so far, he has done great with everything.  His least favorite seems to be peas, and he likes oatmeal cereal much better than rice cereal.  He has also had a tiny bit of sweet potatoes from a church potluck on Father's Day. 

Feeding him is hilarious.  He is a very ferocious eater sometimes and likes to 'help' with the spoon.  It is soooooo messy.  I'm still learning to be okay with this.  Bottle feedings are also a lot more adventurous.  Gone are the days when he would quietly sit while eating.  Now, he 'helps' hold his bottle and also tries to suck his thumb while eating from the bottle.  It doesn't work, but he tries. Every time.  

Sucking his thumb while eating his bottle.

He is so playful lately!  He loves to grab our faces and 'talk' to us and people he knows (like Papa and other family members he sees a lot).  He also likes to play with the dogs now and has even grabbed their faces a couple of times.  

Playing with Papa's face

The laugh is finally an everyday, regular occurrence.  The belly laugh is my favorite sound in the world, and I especially love hearing him playing and laughing with his Daddy.  But I confess I will do just about anything to get some giggles myself.  This boy is so silly.  He has started to like more 'rough' play like being tickled and 'dropped' and bounced.  It's so much fun!!!  

He has moved into Stage 2 diapers but continues to wear mostly size 0-3 month clothes. Just last week, he still wore a couple of newborn outfits, but I think I'm finally going to put all those away.  He's getting too long for them.  

He STILL really likes to stand up.  We try to get him to sit, but his balance is much better standing.  We need to work more on the sitting, so hopefully next month I'll have a good update about that.  I mean, look at this pick of him standing while playing with a toy.  We hardly even have to hold him.  And sometimes we let him stand by himself if he is holding onto the crib rail or something like that.  

Other Highlights and "Firsts" from this Month:

•  1st overnight with Momma away. Daddy did a great job taking care of him! 

• First Funeral
• First Father's Day
• Visited Uncle Steven at work

 

• Trip to Beaufort with BeBe (visited Great Aunt Mary Frances in the hospital and did some shopping.) 
  • 
     First time sitting up in shopping cart basket (probably a little premature).
    
    • Ryan and Kellie Cantrell Wedding 
      
      
      
      • Started sleeping 12+ hours almost every night.
      • Going to work at Friendship Baptist with Mommy
      • Playing/splashing in the bathtub
      • TV News Interview

Honestly, this little baby is the sweetest, most fun, joyful little boy!  We are so, so blessed and thankful that God chose us to be his family.  

Happy 6 months, Tyndall James.  We love you so much!  

Tyndall on TV

An interesting thing happened today.  A news reporter contacted me and said she found our family blog and would love to interview us about adoption.  A local family has recently been in national news about their adoption journey, so the reporter wanted to get another adoptive family's take.  I thought it was pretty cool (and would make a fun blog entry!), so at 12:30, plans were made for the crew to come to our house at 1:30. {Read--only an hour to get the house and myself and Tyndall presentable for tv.}

Matt was at work, so I called him to give him a heads-up, but they were busy at work, and my phone didn't ring when he called me back.  So... sweet husband arrived home for lunch just as the tv crew was getting to the house as well.  He had NO IDEA why a news crew was at our house.  The look on his face was priceless!  He was such a good sport. 

They were here for about an hour and asked us about our adoption, our blog, and our thoughts on the "Save Veronica" movement.  I tried not to get too political with my answers related to the case, because the truth is, it's a very complicated case.  But ultimately, I do believe {from everything I've read}, that the birth father signed away his rights and had nothing to do with the birth mother or pregnancy, so the adoption was legitimate.  I believe Veronica was very loved and cared for for the first 2 years of her life with her adoptive family, and I think it's wonderful they and birth mother seem to have such a great relationship.  I do hope Veronica will end up reunited with her adoptive family but also have some kind of relationship with each of her birth parents... BUT... I will admit that I do not know the whole story surrounding the custody battle and probably never will. I have read details of the case here, though, and would encourage those interested to do so as well.  I'm certainly glad I wasn't sharing my opinion as an expert, only as another adoptive family who is excited that the ruling of the SCOTUS upheld adoptive law.

They ended up using more of our interview than I thought they would, but they used less of the 'b roll' stuff I thought they would use.  They had taken some shots of Tyndall 'standing' in his crib with his name mural in the background which I thought would have looked cool. I'm thankful they left the part in there about God having His hand in the details of adoption.  

Our blog even got some air-time... so cool!

I enjoyed working with Ava and John, the crew from ABC News 4.  And I thought Tyndall looked pretty awesome on TV. :)   

You can view the whole 2:22 here.  And I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the case if you've been following it. 
 
P.S.  Fellow blog friends, you never know when your blog will get you a tv interview, so keep it updated! ;)
P.S.S.  You never know when a tv crew is going to come to your house for a news interview, so keep your house clean. ;) 
 

Finalization Day in Court

We went to court, raised our right hands, and swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 

We swore that we have had "Baby Boy" in our care ever since we received placement.  We swore that we have bonded with him and he with us.  We swore that we have been married for almost 6 years and have a healthy marriage.  We swore that we will do everything we can to provide for our son.  We swore that we would like to have his name legally changed to "Tyndall James". 

Tyndall's representative, who happened to be a family acquaintance from the church where I grew up, testified that after reviewing our home study and post-placement reports, and visiting with us, he thought adoption into our family was in Tyndall's best interest.

Stephani, Steven, and Hailey were present as witnesses and were invited to speak.  Stephani said, through tears, that she was very happy for our family and knew that Matthew and I would make great parents. (At that point, I teared up.) 

The judge declared us a family. (Something we have known and felt to be true ever since our first phone call.)
And she invited us to take pictures.  

And then everything was official.  

I think this day means different things for different adoptive families.  For us, this was a very special day, but it was nowhere near as meaningful as you would think.  I have honestly, truly, fully felt that we were a family ever since we received the call  that we had been chosen for this baby boy.  I was never fearful that his birth mother would change her mind (she had already signed placement papers before we even knew about him).  I was never fearful that his birth father would come into the picture and choose to parent him (based on what we knew from the agency, this was never a huge concern).  I always knew that our family was the family God had chosen for this child, and that this child was the answer to so many prayers.  

I refer to 'placement day' as Adoption Day, because that's when things became official in my mind, in my heart.  It's not the same for everyone, and I recognize that.  But I'm so thankful this is how God orchestrated it for us.  On Placement Day, we became his primary caregivers.  We were given free license to bond with him and love him fully.  We were legally obligated to care for him and provide for him.  We became his parents that day.    

But officially, on paper, in legal documents, that wasn't true.  We were his guardians.  

On February 11, when I lost my job, I became a little fearful.  Our ability to provide for him had changed significantly, and I was afraid they would recognize that and choose to take him away.  Thankfully, that didn't happen.  Our agency and attorney understood the bigger picture--that we have bonded, that we would make sacrifices to provide for our son.  We continued moving forward to make the adoption official.  

Yesterday, the judge signed the adoption decree. Now, we are his parents.  We will even be issued a birth certificate that lists me as his mother and Matthew as his father.  That's pretty cool.  

What's even more amazing to me is that God has known for all eternity that this day would come.  Before I or Matt or Tyndall were created, God knew that we would be a family.