Wendy and Brad completed the Turkey Trot this morning along with 5,000+ Ozarkers.
In 2006, Brad did it in 30:14. In 2007, 32:18. 2008: 29:43. PWNED!
Wendy clocked in at 35:28
Wendy and Brad completed the Turkey Trot this morning along with 5,000+ Ozarkers. As of press time, we're waiting to see how they did. During the race, they missed a Zeke diaper disaster.
Multiple night wakings by Zeke meant that Mommy was too tired to run with Daddy and Auntie Weed in the Turkey Trot this morning. Plus, Zeke was still asleep (ah, the irony!) when it was time to go so me and the little man stayed in bed. We had planned to take Zeke and push him in his stroller during the race. Thank goodness we didn't go. At about 8:15 (minutes after the race started), Zeke had a major diaper drama. It was bad enough dealing with it in the comforts of our own home. It would've been AWFUL to deal with it in the middle of the race. So, I'm thankful we didn't go.
Diaper dramas and middle of the night wakings aside, this is the happiest Thanksgiving we've ever had. We're so grateful that Zeke is home and we are finally parents. We're also thankful to have my sister here with us for Thanksgiving...her presence here is especially important as we hear reports of killings in India (where she was visiting just a few months ago) and instability in Thailand. God is so good and we thank God for all the blessings we have. They are abundant and beyond anything we could ever ask for or deserve. Wishing you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving Day!!
Our friends Vince and Alisa got matched to a baby in Ethiopia yesterday!! YAY!! We remember so well how it felt the first time we saw Zeke's sweet face so we can only imagine what they're feeling now! It's so great to see them moving forward with this adoption. They're also in line for China like the rest of us. If you want to pop over to their blog, here's the link.
Wow, do we have a lot to be thankful for this year. ZEKE is at the top of the list!!! I'm also thankful for all of you!! I'm thankful my sister will be with us for the holiday. We're getting the food today so we can be ready for our Thanksgiving feast. We're all going to go "turkey trotting" Thanksgiving morning. That will be fun! And now a bit of humor:
His future's so bright... Sleepy time. In Kansas City, getting ready to head out for a big adventure on the Plaza. It's a Zeke burrito!! Zeke: "I don't do mornings." Zeke in his big coat. Nap time! Trying his hand at coloring.
Our very own Olan Mills Awesomeness arrived in the mail yesterday. Yep, it's that time again--time for new church directory photos. Anyway, we had our photos taken a few weeks ago and ordered some extra photos to send to far away family. We thought you might enjoy reading the synopsis of the last year that we're going to include with the photos we send:
The day started with blueberry pancakes…
Four flights and 30+ hours later, we touched down in the heat of Hanoi, Vietnam, on September 14th.Watching the green rice paddies and countless mopeds whiz past us on the way to our hotel, it was hard to believe we had started our morning with pancakes in Springfield, Missouri, because there we were on the other side of the world, ready to adopt our baby boy.
Our baby was born in Lang Son, Vietnam on October 18, 2007.We saw a photo of our baby for the first time on January 31st.We were so excited because he was so cute and perfect!Through the spring and summer, we waited as patiently as we could for the wheels of government to turn and paperwork to get finalized.Every so often, we received new photographs of the baby, each photo more precious and special as we watched him growing bigger. Finally, we received clearance to go get the baby and on September 19th, Ezekiel Buu Anh Belote was placed in our arms.He forever became our Zeke.
The adoption journey was one that increased our faith in God’s plan, our love for each other and our appreciation for family and friends.We’re so thankful for this path and most of all, we’re thankful that it led us to our beautiful baby Zeke.
It’s with love and joy in our hearts as a family of three that we wish you and your family peace and happiness this holiday season.Merry Christmas!And may all your hopes be realized in the New Year.
Zeke had a big time this week getting to know Lolo and Grandpa Ron. He just had a ball and they did too. I'm so glad they got to come out for a visit!
On an unrelated note...if you haven't yet read Twilight and the other books in the series...what are you waiting for?!?! Not since I devoured Da Vinci Code while vacationing in Dominican Republic have I gone through a book this quickly. It's not literature, it's brain candy. (As opposed to brain rot, which is my term of endearment for the celebrity "rags" I like to read.) Anyway, the movie for Twilight opens this weekend. The reviews are mixed and I'm sure it won't live up to the book but I still look forward to seeing it eventually.
I'm really looking forward to having my sister for a visit next week. I haven't seen in her in almost 2 years since she moved to Thailand. She's now living in the US again and will be spending Thanksgiving with us. Yay!
It seems like Zeke is doing better. He only woke up once last night (thank you Lord!) and that's a HUGE improvement.
My parents will be here a week from today and this will be the first time they'll meet Zeke. We're so excited and so is Zeke! We have created a photo album for Zeke with photos of Lolo, Grandpa Ron, TT, Big Daddy and Mama and Dada. Zeke loves to look at the album. His favorite photo is the first photo of the three of us taken at the orphanage in Lang Son. Zeke will look at this photo a long time and will point to each of us over and over again. I wonder if the unusual color of the walls reminds him of the orphanage, which was his home for the first 11 months of his life.
It's finally gotten quite cold here. That means Zeke gets bundled up in his big coat from Old Navy. I bought it a size too big because the smaller coat just fit and I was afraid it might not make it through the end of the winter. When he wears this coat, it's like the little brother from "A Christmas Story." He can hardly put his arms down. Too cute. I'll have to capture this with a photo today and post it.
Zeke has discovered the magic of coloring. I bought him some crayons and a giant coloring book from the Star Wars Clone Wars. He loves it (Brad does too since it's a Clone Wars book). I've got some coloring photos I'll have to post later.
I've decided to keep my fall decor up (the vote was unanimous!) at least until Thanksgiving. We are not putting up a Christmas tree this year. Many of you know that even before Zeke arrived, we often skipped the tree because the cats would play with it and then we were gone so much around Christmas anyway. We know that if we put one up, Zeke would be in it all the time. It will be amusing to see how he reacts to Lolo's and TT's trees when we visit them at Christmas!
Zeke has an ear infection and a stuffy nose. That explains the torturous nights we've been having. He's on antibiotics now and infant Motrin so he seems to be doing mucho better. Last night was the worst episode by far. I had foolishly let him nap an extra hour yesterday because I knew he was sick and probably didn't feel well. So, it was enough to ensure he was wide awake and "chirping" at 2:30AM. We tried everything to get him back to sleep, including a drive around town. After all that, we put him in his crib, he cried for a few minutes, I swooped in to hold him and rock him and he fell asleep. No trick...he was just exhausted by that point. So, today I'm back to being "the enforcer" on the nap schedule...no more than 2 hours. I hope that prevents a repeat of last night.
It's good to have the election behind us. No more robo-calls, political mail, TV ads, etc. Now, it's time to focus on the holiday season!! Brad put up our outdoor Christmas lights November 1. I have not put out any Christmas decor in the house just yet. I'm really torn between keeping up my fall stuff and going ahead with Christmas decorating. I love my fall fru-fru but I have fun winter/Christmas pieces too. Today, it's in the upper 70's here...that makes it hard to set out little snowmen!! Weather like this is always a treat but there's usually a payback--tonight, there's a chance for severe weather, including isolated tornadoes. That's always a possibility when you have really warm weather in November and December. We've actually had some bad tornadoes in the winter. So, we'll just have to keep an eye on things this evening...
Brad waited almost an hour to vote this morning. I went a bit later and waited about 40-45 minutes. Isn't that great?!?! I saw lots of young people at our precinct casting ballots. How encouraging to see young people participating! Brad came home to watch Zeke while I voted. Whose election coverage will you be following tonight? I'll be at work so I'll be listening to NPR. When I get home, I'll watch MSNBC. How about you?
We went to the Social Security office this morning and got Zeke's number!! And it's in his new name!! YAY!! It's so nice to get all these important things checked off my to-do list. Zeke slept thru the entire interview. The guy who processed our application was really nice and helpful. I think we might have needed the state-issued birth certificate in his new name because he asked if we had that. I told him we were waiting on it. He said, "Let me try something." In a few minutes, he was handing me the paper to sign showing Zeke's card would be issued in his new name. Sweet!
I don't care how long the line is at your polling place tomorrow, you'd better vote! And when you do, think about all the people around the world who would LOVE to have this privilege. Think about the people in our own country not too many years ago who wanted to vote but weren't allowed. Now, go vote!!
Zeke went trick-or-treating at Brad's old station and then we buzzed over to Greg and Laura's house on our way home and snagged some treats there. This little bee was all buzzed out. Our beloved Sunday School class, Branches gave us a shower last Sunday. It was so much fun!! Zeke had a blast too. We're so thankful for the wonderful baby gifts but most of all, we're thankful for the prayers and support from our class during this adoption journey. John and Carol made sure there were balloons at the shower...something Zeke LOVED! TT sent Zeke some baby-sized sunglasses. We're still working on getting them to stay on in the car. Zeke and Woolly! Zeke, Brad and Missy with the nice judge who made the name change official and recognized our foreign adoption.
So, my former Mizzou professor who still works with me on political coverage called the house yesterday. We hadn't talked in a while and he wanted to discuss election night. Zeke was with me when I answered the phone. I had the cordless with me but switched to the other phone when the batteries died. Zeke picked up the cordless and started talking into the phone...and I thought I heard him say HELLO! When Brad got home, I gave Zeke the phone and Brad agreed that it sounded like he was saying hello!!!! I tried again this morning...sure enough, a two syllable "word" that sounds a lot like hello. This is so exciting!! He came to us saying ma-ma and da-da and he has directed those words at us in the proper context so we think he understands. But this is the first time he's said a new word since we've had him. Praise the Lord for Zeke's mad language skillz!!
Zeke must have wanted to show off for the PAT educator who came to our house this morning. He was walking all over the place! Once again, she was very impressed with his skills. I had him do his "fishing" trick for her (thanks TT and Big Daddy!) and she nearly fell over!! In fact, she said she was going to buy the set that includes this little fishing rod and use it as a "game" for other babies!!
Since he's doing so well with his motor skills, I'm working really hard on his language. She said not to worry that he isn't repeating all these words yet. She said the fact that he says Ma-Ma and Da-Da is right on target for his age and he's saying those very well and directs them at us. She also reminded me that he's only heard English for 6 weeks!! That's not very long!!
On a completely unrelated note...I am looking for some book recommendations. I am muddling through The History of Love. It's not bad but it's not great either. I think I've convinced Brad to read the Time Traveler's Wife. It's a great but somewhat challenging book (I was slow to "get" the mechanics of reading about a time traveler). I'm in line to get American Wife from the library. I only want to read that because I heard an interesting interview with the author. What are you reading right now? Here are my picks if you're looking for something good: *The Alchemist (I think this book is life-changing!) *The Secret Life of Bees (yes! read the book before you see the movie!) *The Red Tent (a fictional re-telling of Dinah's story from the Old Testament by a Jewish author) *Ahab's Wife (beautiful prose) *Duma Key (the best Stephen King I've read in a long time...set in the Florida Keys, it has a Priates of the Carribean flavor! I'll be re-reading this in the spring.) *The Memory Keeper's Daughter (a story about a father's wrong decision that became a blessing for another woman)
