Happenings--NEW PHOTOS!

All is well for us. We survived a blizzard...literally. Thank the Lord, we never lost power and never got stuck in the snow. Of course, we were very conservative about when we got out. Zeke built a snowman (see photo below)--he was very proud of his creation and was very sad when it melted. Zeke will have surgery for his crossing eyes on March 16. We'd appreciate your prayers. The doctor expects everything will go smoothly and I feel peaceful about the surgery...there's no choice really if we want to preserve his vision.

Quilla is walking very well. We expect to end her therapy sessions next month. We had gone from weekly visits to monthly visits in December and already, she's doing so well, we'll suspend the visits and go to phone calls. She'll probably be dismissed from the First Steps program altogether in August.

Quilla knows how cute she is!

Quilla at a recent basketball game.

Zeke and Quilla love to play together...most of the time.

Zeke and his snowman!

Quilla at Missy's parents' house in Tennessee last October.

Cute at Christmas.

Cute babies!!

Zeke in the blizzard.

It's Not That Easy Being a Bloggy Mom

OK. I wish I had more time for blog updates. So much has happened and is happening but I find myself succumbing to the brief updates I can fire off via Facebook instead of typing a more meaningful update here. I will try to do better.

Quilla is down to seeing her therapists only once a month. She is very, very close to walking on her own. She cruises better than Royal Caribbean and is adding new signs to her "vocabulary" every day. Her most recent acquisition is banana (heck, she can even SAY "na-na"). So, she is moving on, full steam ahead and it's very, very exciting to see her progress. She's up to 17 pounds...amazing, huh?!?! She's one pound away from doubling the weight she was when she first came home. Praise the Lord!

Zeke is in the throes of the terrible threes. The twos were great for Zeke but the threes send him over the edge at times. I think it's compounded by the presence of baby sister, who is increasingly mobile and interested in being up in his business. Zeke wants to play with her, as long as it's exclusively on his terms.

I'm really looking forward to this summer. I hope to have time to visit a gorgeous outdoor pool in a nearby community two to three times a week. I also look forward to dress Quilla B in all the darling summer clothes I've been collecting since before we had our referral.

We had a very wonderful Christmas. Zeke was beside himself when Santa came to Lolo and Papaw's house on Christmas Eve. He had set out reindeer food at both grandparents' houses so Santa would know to make two stops. Santa was very good to everyone, too good really, and we had a fabulous time seeing family. The only thing missing was Aunt BB (Missy's sister) who lives in Thailand. However, Auntie BB will be heading stateside in April and will spend some time with Zeke and (for the first time ever!) Quilla B.

That's it for now...I will try to more updates...I promise!!

Fwd: photos

Brad Belote

Director of Digital Content

KY3 Inc

Begin forwarded message:

From: Travis Belote <travis_belote@tws.org>
Date: January 1, 2011 11:21:56 AM CST
To: "tbelote@aol.com" <tbelote@aol.com>, "bradbelote@yahoo.com" <bradbelote@yahoo.com>
Cc: Travis Belote <travis_belote@tws.org>
Subject: photos

some photos

Merry Christmas!

Holiday Greeting 2010 from bradbelote on Vimeo.

The Battlefield Santa

Missy sings offertory

Untitled from bradbelote on Vimeo.

Quilla's Progress: A Side-By-Side Comparison

Simply amazing! The photo on the left was taken a couple of days after we got home in July. The photo on the right was from last week.

Bad Blogger

I've been a bad blogger. You can understand why it's hard to find time to post meaningful updates. The kids keep us uber busy. That's why Facebook is a good place to catch short and quick updates from us. If we're not already friends, leave your name in the comment section and we'll connect there.

Quilla Update: She turns 1 Sunday!! She's walking by herself behind a push toy. AMAZING! She's doing so well, we've cut back on her occupational therapy to once a month. Her speech therapist is equally amazed at her communication skills. By 12 months, she should say one word. Quilla says mama, dada, kitty, Zekie, yeah, and no. She signs baby, eat, ball, more. She loves to pretend to give her baby a bottle. Santa is bringing her a baby doll care kit.

Zeke Update: He was very sick to his stomach on Thanksgiving. He's much better now. His eyes are improving, though surgery in the new year is likely to prevent his eyes from crossing. He is as precocious as ever and continues to amuse us with his cute questions and sayings. He's learning his letters and the sounds they make. He continues to be an excellent big brother and enjoys showing Quilla how to do stuff.

That's it! We are looking forward to being with family for Christmas. I have a pile of new photos...I'll work on a new photo montage very soon...and I will be a better blogger!

Pictures

Updating recent photos:

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LOVE these shirts!

Another family adopting from Ethiopia with our agency is selling t-shirts to raise money. This has to be one of the coolest designs I've ever seen. I'm going to get Quilla a onesie. CLICK HERE to see these awesome shirts!

Tennessee Visit

The kids had an AMAZING time with the family during our recent Tennessee visit. Enjoy! (By the way, it was tough to find the right music...in the end, I just went with a couple of songs that have a good beat.)

On the Road Again

We just got back from a WONDERFUL week of fun and family in Tennessee. Quilla got to meet Brad's parents, my brother, and the extended family! It was great! Photos are coming soon. We are doing well, though we're exhausted still from yesterday's VERY early morning flight (we woke up before 4AM). Halloween was a trip! Zeke was a lion and Quilla was a bee, perfect because we call her Quilla B.

FWD:Mizzou

This is Cousin Bridger!

Meet Quilla Rose Tigist Belote

It's official!