Welcome Home Tia!: Our 4 Month "Gotcha Day" Anniversary

Today is March 5^th, our 4 month GOTCHA DAY Anniversary with Tian. Really?! It’s only been 4 months?! It feels like she’s been a part of this family so much longer. We'll save the big celebration at 6 months.

Greetings Everyone! January and February have again worked out to be a terrific couple of months! Hunter and Tian are doing great. Tian is getting caught up on her immunizations. Shots, 3 at a time, aren’t fun. Poor Kerry has taken her to the visits and is temporarily viewed, in Tia's eyes, as the bad parent. hehe. We got great news back on January 9th. We pretty much already knew the answer, but Tia had a visit with the Pediatric Cardiologist and they confirmed that the hole in her heart has closed up. So, no surgery and a normal childhood is expected. Woot!

Tia started day care on January 7^th and in the last two months, the babbling has significantly increased. We are hearing “Hi”, “Momma”, “Dada”, “Bye” and Kerry has been working diligently on apple. “App – Pull”. The teachers send notes home daily saying how sweet and kind she is. That she plays well with the other kiddies and is always, always happy. A couple weeks ago, as I was leaving the room, she got a hug from one of the boys in her class … I admit, this troubled me a bit. But what can I say to a 2 year old Casanova making moves on my 2 year old Princess? It’s funny how great I thought it was when Hunter hugged Julia at that age. The roles have been reversed. The “My Baby Girl” curse has begun.

She’s really soaking things in and understanding so much more. She definitely knows her routine and is 100% pumped about it. She gets excited about getting in her highchair for meals. The kid loves to eat. When we head to school, she nestles into the cars seat and reaches for the belts to help daddy strap her in. At night, I just show her some PJs and she’s bolts into her bedroom to get changed.

We’ve also enjoyed the playset. Tia has no problem climbing the ladder by herself to the second level, then come whizzing down the slide. Ok, she doesn’t “come whizzing”, but it’s fast for her! She smiles, claps her hands and makes a beeline for the ladder again.

Finally, we have seen some fussy behavior that has been a very welcomed sight. She wants up! She wants to be held more often! It appears the “bonding” we read, heard and spoke about is developing nicely. We are basically 4 months in now and so far, so good.

Hunter has been keeping us busy with Soccer and Lacrosse. Hunter’s Soccer team just finished their season. Mostly he played keeper and right forward. The team had more ties than wins, but somehow made it to the Championship, Gold Medal Game. Hunter was in goal the first half when the score was 0-0. Unfortunately they lost 0-2, but as a parent, I saw in him what we all hope for. 110% effort, good sportsmanship and a smile. It was a super year. A great group of kids and excellent coaches.

Official Ball Girl for the SilverBullets.

In February Hunter started Lacrosse. The seasons overlapped for a couple of weeks, so it was 4 days a weeks at the fields, plus games. He always seems to have his gear on. He’d sleep in his helmet and shoulder pads if he could. Hunter is really liking Lacrosse. They’ve played two games. One was in SunLife Stadium which was a great experience for Hunter. Not so much for me. It was 50 degrees, windy and we had to be there by 7am! What we do for our children…

First game against the Miami StoneCrabs.

Position: Middie.

Sweet steal Hunter!

~~Soccer~~ Lacrosse Mom and her kiddies.

At SunLife Stadium.

And finally, Tian Lauren received her Baptism on Sunday, January 27. We were blessed with a beautiful day, a wonderful service with Deacon Frank and surrounded by close family and friends. Tian looked so beautiful in her little white dress, headband and pearls. Thank you and big love to everyone that was there.