Merry Christmas

Happy Birthday Jesus! Christmas is more than presents, wrapping paper and lights. Family is so important at Christmas time. This year we were able to celebrate as a family of 3 finally! Daniel was home with his forever family. Though I am not sure he quite knew what was going on. he was a trooper. 3 long days of family get togethers, food and gifts. Daniel learned very fast though, if he unwrapped something most likely there was a car in there. His favorite ever! Disney Car's is his favorite movie. So needless to say our house looked like a commercial for Lightning McQueen. Check out this picture:


Daniel got to spend Christmas with so many of his cousins and friends. The best gift to me was seeing him so happy and loved. Below are some pictures of Daniel and his family:











On Christmas eve I was rocking Daniel to put him to bed. I was telling him how lucky mommy was because he was Mommy's Gift from God. It was like he knew exactly what I was talking about, he got the biggest smile on his face and said his version of "God". We have been so blessed this year with our baby boy (who by the way is turning into quite the big boy). I can't wait to see what this next year brings for this special boy. Thank you God for the best Christmas present ever! Here is our first Christmas picture as a family of 3!



Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving (1 week late)

Happy Thanksgiving! Just one week late. I don't know how we got so busy. Thanksgiving was fun. The only problem was we ate dinner at 1:30 right around nap time. We all sat down to eat, filled our plates and then the fun started. Daniel started screaming and pushing his food away. Definite sign that he needs a nap. But since we weren't home he wanted to hear nothing of it. So for Thanksgiving dinner Daniel ate pumpkin pie and chocolate cake. Such great parents we are right! He was so tired he took a 4 hour nap on Friday. So here are a couple of the things I am truly grateful for:

*Our baby boy Daniel, the blessings God has given to us in this little package. Every day I thank God for Daniel and the joy he brings
*My family and friends, the are the best family and friends anyone can ask for. The most loving and supportive.
*I am thankful for the nannies in Ethiopia and the way they love on the babies until they are united with their forever families
*I am thankful for the people at AWAA and the support and hard work they put into every adoption case.
*I am thankful most of all that I have a God that loves me unconditionally and is always there when I need carried through life.

There are many more reasons I am thankful this year but these are just the top few. One thing I read this year is why do we set aside one year to gives thanks to God. This is something that we should do every day. We should be thankful and grateful everyday and praising God for our blessings. This is something that I know I do not do every single day. I am going to really make an effort this coming year to do this. Everything I am thankful for came from God and was a gift to me. I will praise him and thank him for these gifts.

Readoption Day

Ok I am officially crazy behind on blogging. Last Wednesday November 10th was Daniel's readoption day. We went to court and saw the judge for 10 minutes to say officially he is ours. Now we wait for the Ohio Birth Certificate with the name Daniel Abdi Kelile Heddleson born on March 9, 2009. Yeah! One step closer to having everything complete. The day didn't go quite as planned. Daniel woke up not feeling well and by the end of the night was officially sick. Poor thing. But we got what we wanted, an evening together as a family. Wednesday was officially 6 months since we held Daniel for the first time. Kind of appropriate that his readoption is 6 months from the day we finally got to hold him. He is the sunshine of our life, I don't know what life would be like without him. We are looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us in the next 6 months!



We love you Daniel always and forever!

Happy Halloween

Ok so I am little behind blogging, but have you met Daniel! So Halloween was fun. Daniel made in my mind the cutest little Ewok ever. I am sort of partial though. He got to wear his costume a couple of times. Thank goodness Halloween wasn't any later we would have been buying another costume. It barely fit he has grown so much. The funniest part was the hood part wouldn't fit quite right because his hair has become a little big. His little round brown face was so precious sticking out the hole in the hood.

Saturday was the Halloween Party at RJ's house. This would be Daniel's first experience with things in a mask or face paint. We weren't sure what he would do. He was so friendly and excited to see the tall skeleton that greeted you at the door at Walmart or the creepy witch that was stirring a caldron in the aisle. He waved to them and laughed when he saw them. Now a real person in a mask or with their face painted was a different story. He wanted nothing to do with Uncle RJ because of his face paint. He stayed away from all the dressed up people and hung out in the garage playing with a tractor all night.


Daniel liked trick or treating I think. He had the most fun walking down the street waving at everyone that passed us. He also loved getting the candy out of the bowl and putting it into his pumpkin himself. He was to cute. For the most part he left his hood on the entire time too. I have to wonder though what was going through his little head. Seeing all these people in different costumes, going to houses and getting candy. To me it would be scary for a little kid. Plus it was cold. Good thing is we didn't trick or treat long, we just went to family and friends houses. Since he is only 20 months old and doesn't need the candy. I was so thankful for those houses that passed out goldfish, pretzels or some kind of healthy snack. As a child they probably hated those houses. As a mom I loved them! Here are some pictures of our 1st halloween together:

Carving Pumpkins

I was so excited to carve pumpkins with Daniel for the first time. Mark did most of the work, Daniel only stuck his hand in one, not so sure he liked it. He was more impressed when we lit the candles in the pumpkin. But in reality I think he just wanted to blow them out!

Fall Leaf Fun!!

One day after work when the leaves started to fall, Daniel I walked across the alley to pick some up. This is where he first learned that leaves that have fallen off the tree make crunching noises when stepped on. He also liked to pick them up and look at them. So once more leaves started to fall we decided to take him to play in the leaves. At first he wasn't so sure. Then we threw some up and let them fall overtop of him. Then the leaves were fun. He loved throwing them in the air and letting them fall in his hair. I have to say Mommy didn't think this one through to much. We laid him down in the leaves to see what he would do and he giggled. He loved the leaves. By the time we were done he had leaves all over him, in his diaper down his shirt, in his shoes and definitely in his hair (thanks to the fact that papa had ground them up first, the really stuck in his hair). His favorite thing to do was to pick them up and help papa put them into the garbage can. Doesn't take much to entertain him!


October is our favorite time of year. The weather is beautiful, the skyline so full of color with all the trees changing and so many memories made in October. We got engaged on October 18th, 2002 and married October 25th, 2003. We love to take walks, it is not to hot and the air just smells like fall. Bonfires, roasting marshmallows and friends. That is what October means to me. God paints amazing pictures in October and I am so thankful that this year we got to share it with our baby boy. He loved the leaves, what is he going to do with the snow? I love experiencing all the firsts with Daniel. You get them initial, I am not sure face and the steps backward. Once he sees mommy or daddy jumping in you get a few steps toward whatever you are doing and then once he tries it, it is all over from there. I love his faces as he experiences these things for the first time. I fall in love all over again each time his eyes light up with amazement at God's wonders.

Pumpkin Patch

Daniel's first trip to the Pumpkin patch was definitely fun. We started out at Detwiler's Farm with a stop at the petting zoo. Daniel loved petting the goats and baby animals. Mommy did not so much, there was a little goat tied to the outside of the fence, everytime I tried to take a picture of Daniel feeding the animals the baby would jump on me. I finally just gave up. Petting zoos are definitely Daddy's area of expertise.


The hay ride was by far the best part of the visit for Daniel, since he loves tractors and basically anything with wheels and a motor!
He sat between Mommy and Daddy and just took it all in. Then they passed the apples. Daniel loves apples but does not eat them very fast. He did not want to let go of his apple when we got off in the middle of the pumpkin patch. This was quite interesting since he seemed to be on his stomach in the dirt more than anything! That apple was quite disgusting by the time I finally got him to let it go. Funny thing is he really didn't care to much about all the pumpkins, he just wanted to play in the dirt!




It was such a beautiful day in the sun and dirt! On our way out I bought 2 of the little pumpkins that fit in your hands for Daniel. He was excited because he could carry them. He was playing with them in the back seat and we hear a crunching noise. Mark looks back and he is eating the pumpkin. I looked at Mark and said "Is that bad?" Well he didn't get sick, but apparently he was pretty hungry. I think he thought it was another apple! I can't wait to go back again next year. He will be so fun when he understands more what we are doing. We were not just playing in one big sandbox, which is what I think he thought! He loves to play in the dirt.