July 9th, 2008!

Yesterday was, of course, a big day for us. We decided to spend the afternoon on a hike as a family. It wasn't too awfully hot in the shade so we decided to hit a state park close to here that we've hiked before. They have a few different trails where you can walk next to/up to free-roaming elk, deer, etc. With Eliot strapped into our Ergo, we started our 3+ mile hike.


Pretty sure Eliot was saying "Uh...what's an elk?"

We went about half-way in and finally saw the elk! Eliot also got to see frogs and a hawk on our trail. We took a break after checking out the Elk taking a "bth". Eliot explored some sticks and rocks while Russ and I sat on a log for a water break. That's when Russ showed me what a tick looks like. I've made it 31 years and never had one, and frankly, am quite freaked out by them. Not in a cliche-screaming-girl-in the-woods kind of way, but in a hey-that-carries-disease-and-burrows-into-your-skin kind of way. Immediately after his discovery on his ankle, I looked at my ankles.

Here's where I have to stop. I would like for you to just guess. Just guess how many ticks Russ and I had by the end of our 3+ mile hike. (no cheating if you hung out with us last night!)

Once that adventure was over, we went home, cleaned up and went out for dinner to celebrate our homecoming day. Eliot kept putting his arm around Russ during dinner for no apparent reason other than to show a little love. It was really cute. Then we met friends at Ted Drews to top off our special night. E was up way past his bedtime but, he was last year too, so maybe it's a tradition. July 9th can be "stay up way past your bedtime" day.





Okay, now give it a guess. How many ticks hung out with the Mohr's yesterday afternoon?

Happy Homecoming Day!!!!

[Russ here.] Right about this time last year, my parents and I were frantically converting our house from 8 months of being a bachelor pad back into being a home for our new family. OK, it wasn't that bad, and actually I was quite proud of how impressed my mom was at the condition of our house. I kept it up pretty well. That said, we still had to take down Katie's decorations from the fall. We didn't want her walking on a house full of pumpkins, etc. That's the kind of thing I miss... sure, the dishes and laundry were cleaned and put away, but dusting? Thanks for the help, mom and dad. Maybe I was impressed with how "well" the house was kept up, but Katie would not have been.

July 9th was the day it all went down. While Katie (and Lisa A.) and Eliot were getting all their stuff to the airport for a day long journey home, I anxiously awaited phone updates and cleaned. And what a long day it was. Katie was scheduled to arrive around 8 (or something like that) and ended up being delayed in Atlanta. Myself and 60+ people (family, friends and folks from church) just sat for hours at the airport waiting for any sort of updates. Life was about to change dramatically and I was excited and nervous. I imagine it felt like sitting in the waiting room waiting for the doctor to pop out and tell you the baby's arrived... after 8 months of labor. She was so close to being home. Eliot was in the US and yet they were still 3 hours away. Ugh! What a night. Needless to say, I was pacing the airport terminal like crazy.

Finally (10:30ish) I got the call from Katie that they were pulling into the gate. Airport security let me go back and greet them just beyond the security checkpoint and bring them out. It was awesome! Turning that corner and seeing a hallway packed full of signs, balloons and all the people that had been praying and waiting for Katie and Eliot for 8 months cheering and screaming was the best feeling ever. We were there for what seemed like a couple more hours while everyone hugged and kissed on Katie and Eliot (who by the way was a champ considering it was hours past his bedtime after a long day of sitting in planes and airports).

If you'd like to view Katie's blog entry and pics from last year's homecoming click HERE. It's an interesting trip down memory lane. I'll let you check that out rather than posting all the pics all over again, etc.

A friend of ours from church brought some friends from work along that night. The Fox 2 News team, that is. They did a "human interest" story on the adoption and sat and waited it out with us with camera's rolling. Here's the story that aired the next day on the local news...



I'll never forget that night. We'd looked forward to it for so long. It was the only thing that kept us going on some days. It was as awesome as we'd dreamed it'd be. It's weird to me that at that point only a couple people had ever met Eliot. It seems so normal having him here now. He knows so many people, calls their names when he sees them, and just knows the world around him so well. He loves our home, our friends, and it just seems like it's been this way a lot longer than a year. It's so bizarre. He's grown so much and has had so many experiences in the last year. It's really amazing, actually.

I'm not even sure what we'll do to celebrate today, but we'll be together. Maybe we'll go to the airport and sit around for a few hours for old time's sake...

(click on the picture to see larger image)

This time last year...

The arrival of my dear friend and packmule, Lisa! It was appropriate to have her along since Russ couldn't be there. She's been along on our journey for the last 12 years alongside us every step of the way. (Sidenote not mentioned last year: on our way home lots of people thought Lisa and I were a couple, congratulating "us" and our family. It was highly entertaining.)

As exciting as going home was, I was conflicted in leaving these girls behind. It still hurts my heart to think about that moment, those girls in that restaurant. There's a lot of history within a short time period. and "Goodbyes" are not my favorite.

...and this is one of my all-time, top-five favorite pictures. I can't tell you the amount of emotion pulsing through me that day. I didn't sleep very well this night last year, as you can imagine. It was one of the most important and pivotal moments of our lives.

Packer's Anxiety

I made up a new 'condition'. It's called packer's anxiety and I have it. My dear friend Beth once asked me what some of the long-lasting ramifications of our time in Guatemala would be. One after-effect I didn't see coming was over packing. To review: I went down to Guatemala by myself right after Thanksgiving, thinking that I was coming home by Christmas. So, logically I packed very few items since I only needed stuff for a few weeks. Then we started to realize that it looked like I might be coming home in January so I had Russ bring me things to get me through another month but also sent home lots of stuff since I wouldn't need that much. This cycle kept going for almost 8 months. Eliot started stages and we were unprepared for them, not knowing we would still be in Guate for it. We've been home a year now and every time I have to pack a suitcase, I start hoarding all my stuff and trying desperately to squeeze it all in. Even if it's just an overnight trip, I pack for a month(slight exaggeration...). Even though my brain says to pack only what I need, my hands keeping grabbing more stuff. Ahead of me is quite the pickle: we're going back to Guatemala. It's only for a week though, right? AHHHHH!

Olympics?

While watching part of the Olympic trials yesterday we watched a segment on Michael Phelps. Eliot kept saying "Fish" and pointing at him. I thought that was pretty right on.

Last birthday present!

We pulled out Eliot's last unopened birthday present on Saturday morning! We invited the gift-giver over to enjoy it along with us. Check it out:





This one's my favorite

New! Summer of 08!

The "Beliot2007" model has been upgraded this summer to include a milk reservoir in the already conveniently located belly button region. Now you can capture that bit of dairy that used to get away!

Happy Fourth!

A family first for us, we went for a picnic! We grabbed lunch at one of our favorite restaurants and headed to the park! After naptime we headed to the hospital to visit our new friend, Jane (pics later), and then to a friends condo to watch STL's fireworks. Eliot was up until past 10! Yikes! We're going to regret that tomorrow!


Mmmm, frabears! (Strawberries, if you weren't sure what he said.)

It's a Boy!!

So, when the agency paperwork says "Check one of the following: Boy Girl No preference" we prayerfully decided on a boy for our first. During our homestudy, the social worker did her job at making us aware of the differences between raising boys vs. girls. We agreed that we were up for it. So far, Eliot has just been a typical "kid". Until last week. He became 100% boy. It's here.

We always try to spend time with The Mitchells when in LR, as Jon and Russ 'go way back' and I love me some Trina-time. Their son in exactly a year older than E and they are to the point that they can interact instead of just playing side by side. Within a span of just a few hours, we saw KidEliot turn into BoyEliot while spending time with G.


At their house, without prompting, E picked up a toy pistol, took 'the stance' and starting making shooting sounds while pointing the gun at G. (sidenote: G's response was "We only point guns at deer and birds") Russ and I both looked at each other in disbelief. Where in the world did E learn that? He doesn't watch much else besides Backyardigans and Little Einsteins. We've been wracking our brains trying to figure this out. Since then he's turned everything into a shooting gun including an elderly woman's walking stick and limbs at the park. Yeah, you read that right. Is it in their boy-genes? Was it from a commercial?

After playtime we went out for dinner. Eliot and G were having the time of their lives to the point where we moved our conversation outside for everyone's sanity. Hence began the "play hard or go home" philosophy. We've never seen E play like that or that hard ever before. He was unstoppable. Chasing, laughing, being chased, falling down, rinse, repeat. And then it happened. He tackled G. And the wrestling started. You would have thought he did this all the time. This wasn't 'tickle-time' like we have at home, this was a whole new way to play. And he loved it.

You're right, Sharon...

Sharon emailed me to say that this pic:



reminded her of this pic:

Which was taken this week last year in Guate! Weird. Some things haven't changed, I guess?

We're coming up on our one-year anniversary of coming home!! More on that later.