ONE YEAR ANNIVERSERY!!!!

Gotcha Day October 22, 2008

ONe year later, October 22, 2009

October 22, 2008 we held in our arms for the first time our precious son AJ. It doesn't seem like a year already and in other ways it seems like AJ has always been with us. I'm still completely awe struck by God's perfectly orchestrated plan. I can't believe everything he taught me during the waiting process and the incredible trip we had to China to bring AJ home. Like all of our children, AJ is a gifto us from God. We are so honored to be AJ's forever family. THere isn't a day that goes by that I don 't recognize the miracle of him. I do think of his birthmom often. I am so thankful that she carried our son. That she gave him life. THat AJ was knitted together by God and born to this birthmom. And that through God's plan, AJ was united with his forever family 6000 miles away. There is nothing God can't do. Just look at my baby, he's living proof!

Hootball Season

Yes, I wrote "hootball". That's how AJ pronounced football when he first learned the word. He is in love with Hootball. We are true blue U of M fans, but Big Brother Jacob's colors are green and white. So, Aron bought this State uniform for AJ. He wears it constantly. He thinks that when we go to Jake's games that they are his games. This morning AJ's first words to Aron were, "Watch me play football today?" AJ also thinks that counting goes... 1, 2, 3... hit. No, it's 4 AJ. But he insists that "hit" comes after 3. He is a complete crack up. His love for football has really helped his relationship with Jacob. He thinks Jake is awesome. He wants to be just like his big Jake. I must say that Big Jake is quite awesome. I'm a little biased of course. He is on the 7th grade youth team. He plays defensive end and guard on offense. He had 7 tackles last week. He is a monster. Aron is coaching his team. They are 3-0 now. Aron, in my humble opinion, is a fine coach and mentor. Many of the kids and parents alike respect him very much. He is a teacher and not a yeller, although he can yell if he gets really fired up. But, mostly he really gets down to their level and talks to them and pats them on the helmet. He hasn't even thrown his clipboard yet this year. This is Aron's eighth year coaching young players and he gets better every year. He tries very hard to keep sportsmanship and leadership at the top of his coaching priorities. Now I'm just getting on my soap box, but sometimes kids and parents get their priorities mixed up. If you always win than you are a good coach, but if you lose, you are not. Well, guess what? Everyone loses!! That's life. And, a good coach uses all his players and brings out the best in each one. Of course there are superstars but every kid has potential. A good coach figures out what strengths each player has and capitalizes on them. He had a wonderful compliment last year whan a grandfather of a player told Aron that his grandson had never gotten to play in the past, but this year he is excited about football and school and feels so confident and happy. Yay! Go Aron! That's what good coaching is about. These parents who want the superstars to stay on the field for 60 minutes and win by 50 points. I don't think they get it. That making a good team involves everyone and working as a team and believing that you can win and rising to the occasion. Anyway, Aron's (and Jacob's) team is winning so Aron is great. But, I think that someday some kid is going to remember Coach Palmer and his positive attitude toward them and thank him for making a difference in their life. Now that's a win!!

You may have noticed in the first picture at the top that AJ is toothless. Well, he had 7 decayed teeth. He had 3 pulled, 3 filled and 1 capped. Yikes! Poor baby. They did give him some Happy Juice. Well, it may have made AJ happy for the dentist but when he woke up, SCARY! He was a bear. We drive an hour to the pediatric dentist and man was that a looooooong ride home. Thankfully, Aron took that day off and was able to sit next to him on the way home. Now AJ will be toothless until his permanent teeth come in....like 3 more years. Oh well, as you can see, it doesn't slow down his eating abilities. He loves to eat..and he loves the "confession" stand at the football games. Today he consumed popcorn, a sucker and a hot cocoa. I really need to cut him off. He just loves everything about "hootball". Aron says that AJ is going to be the first Chinese born lineman! Wouldn't that be cool? I hope that he knows that he can be anything he wants to be. The sky is the limit! Go for it AJ!!

Big head at the monkey exhibit

We went to the zoo last week. It was a really good day. I went armed with the stroller, backpack filled with water, snacks, wetwipes, money. I was prepared. We had purchased the yearly pass last time we were there because with 2 adults and 4 kids it was nearly the same price. So, this time, I sailed through the pass holder's line with AJ in the stroller and packpack on my shoulders.

We saw the "scawy tigers", the lions, the penguins, etc. We stood in line to touch the starfish. We paid 75 cents each to pet the sting rays. They were very fun and Danielle was especially thrilled.

It was while Danielle was getting a free pink starfish painted on her cheek that AJ started screaming. I mean like crowd gathering screams. We were watching the monkeys waiting for Danielle and my sweet little man with the big melon gets his mongo head stuck between the wooden arm rail and the metal railing beneath. I have no idea how he managed to squeeze his head into that spot. My 12 year old thought that I remained quite calm. AJ's mouth was on the metal railing, so I was able to have him open it a little more and turn his head just right and, pop, out came his head. I cuddled him on my lap and he quit crying.

Danielle returns and mentions that some moms were talking about a poor little boy who got his head stuck in the railing. I said, Well, that was your brother. And AJ says "head stuck at the monkeys." I couldn't help but laugh at our perfect day at the zoo. Life is never boring for the Palmers.

Vacation 2009

Well, you wouldn't believe me if I told you, so I'll give you the short version. We bought a timeshare on ebay in Outer Banks NC for an unbelieveable cheap, (I mean inexpensive) amount of money. It was so cheap that my husband thought that maybe when we got there it would be a tin shack with an outhouse attached. It wasn't, thank goodness, but if the homes there are the Radisson, we stayed at the Super 8. I'm not complaining. With 4 wild children I feel more comfortable at the Super 8 anyway. The auction was for a timeshare deed without expiration. We thought, well, even if we get just this one year out of it, the price is right. To our delight, the deed came in the mail a couple of weeks ago and our name is on it. Yay! It's ours every year for the price of the maintenance fees. We had sooo much fun! It was 80 degrees and sunny. The water was cold though. The kids didn't care. They dove right in! The guys surf fished and crabbed. YOu would have thought they were locals. We rented a jeep to go look for the mustangs indiginous to the area and we saw them. Danielle was thrilled.

I love the author Nicolas Sparks. They movie Nights in Rodanthe is based on his book. The book is 100 times better. Anyway, we drove about an hour to see Rodanthe. We ate at a park there and the guys fished off a pier in Rodanthe. It's a whole different culture down there. Sometimes it's even hard to understand their accent. They are very proud of their movie and the cute little store their boasts of meeting some of it's stars. It was very fun.

We also drove north to Corolla and climbed a 150 foot lighthouse. Well, Jared, Danielle and I did. Aron and Jake are chickens. Of course, AJ is too little. He waved at us when we got to the top.

We saw the Wright Brothers museum in Kittyhawk. It was very interesting. Those guys were very industrious and very determined. America was and is built on individuals like them. People with a strong will and heart to accomplish their dreams. Incredible.

The trip went very well. THe portable DVD player was a life saver. I think AJ watched "Cars" like 10 times. By the time we got there, each of us was a character from the movie. Aron is Mater. I'm Flo. AJ is Doc. Jared is LIghtning Mcqueen. Jacob is Luigi. And, Danielle is Sally. Isn't that funny? I especially think Aron is a dead ringer for Mater. He's as happy as a tornado in a trailer park. Can't wait for next year!

Some more pictures (I can finally upload)

making brownies! yum!

Go Blue!

AJ loves his big sis!

Isn't he cute?

AJ turned 3!!!

AJ turned 3 on March 20, 2009. He had so much fun. He loves Mickey Mouse so I made him a cake with Mickey on top. I hand drew it with a knife and frosted it by hand too. It looked pretty good. AJ recognized Mickey so I think it was a success. He got balloons and horns and bubbles and sidewalk chalk. We asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he said,"CAKE". It was sooo cute. All of his cousins were here for his party and it was a beautiful night (50 degrees and sunny) so they blew bubbles and drew on the sidewalk. We had cake and ice cream and tons of fun.

AJ is doing wonderfully. We still can't believe he's ours. His receptive language is very good. He understands almost everything. He is speaking more and more. We were in the grocery store and he was rattling off everything I was puting in the cart plus picking out chocolate milk and donuts and pickles. He's difinitely Americanized already. He loves the outdoors and will stay out as long as he can. We can't wait for warmer weather. He is a complete joy and we are so blessed to be his family. Happy Birthday, AJ!!

Potty Training and Driver's Training

Jared's basketball team

Well, I must say that potty training is much easier than watching your 15 year old child get into a car with a total stranger and drive away. I pray for Jared every time he gets in the car and then tear up. I can't believe my precious boy is driving!! It's crazy!! He did inform me that his instructor is "mean". I told Jared that you'd be mean too if you had been driving with 15 year olds for the past 20 years. He's a crusty old fella with a white beard and permanent frown. I like him. He makes me feel like if he's hard on the kids they will learn more and take driving a 55 mph death machine seriously. Jared did complete his 6 hours of driving with the "Meany" with little scolding and he passed his written test last night. Soooo... today we headed to the Secretary of State and got Jared's level 1 driving permit. It was incredibly surreal and SCARY handing the keys to him. I told our other 3 kids to BE QUIET! Jared has to concentrate. I grabbed that OS bar and said a prayer. Jared started up the van and off we went. He is pretty funny... he talks to himself... like OK he's turning left... or there's a semi... or look left and right and left again. Hearing him I respond, "check left and right and left again, then right and left one more time just to make sure no one is coming". He thinks I'm overprotective I'm sure, but he doesn't understand that just yesterday I potty trained him. That the last 15 years have gone too fast. That having him pee on the seat was a heck of a lot easier than having him in the driver's seat. That tomorrow my baby will be gone. So, over the last several weeks, I cherished every "accident" AJ had being potty trained. I laughed and said, "oh well", and changed his pants for the 5th time that day because I know that soon he will ask me for the keys and drive away.