Our friend from college, Heather, is a wonderful photographer. When we got home from Russia, Heather offered to take some family pictures as an adoption gift. At the time she lived in Charlotte, so when we traveled to Charlotte this summer to see Zac's sister we were thinking of doing them then. However, it didn't work out for either of us, and I'm so glad we waited! Last Thursday, Heather came to town and we went to a park by our home to take some pictures. Rebekah did great with Heather and really responded well to her directions. If we had done them in June, it probably would have been harder for Rebekah b/c she was still learning English and still getting used to us and new people.
Heather sent me a link to a few of the pictures she took, and they are amazing!! Rebekah has such a pretty smile, but it has been hard to capture on camera. Heather was able to capture our girl so beautifully. We will be forever grateful for such a precious gift. Heather now lives in Birmingham, so if you live nearby you should look her up the next time you need family pictures. Heather is also working towards donating her services to other adoptive families, which is going to be such a blessing to many people!
Here is a link to the pictures on her blog. Enjoy!!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Auburn
As graduates of Auburn University, we love Auburn and hope to pass along our enjoyment for all things orange and blue to Rebekah. We have enjoyed taking her to campus and dressing her up for football season. She has observed us as we've watched Auburn football on TV and now she'll sit in her small AU chair and yell "go, go, go" to the football players! She loves to shake a shaker, say "War Eagle" and sing the fight song. Of course, in the grand scheme of all the things we hope to instill in her, this is on the fun side, but it is really enjoyable to watch! War Eagle!
At Tiger Walk for the first time.
Ready to watch the game with her chair!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Hilton Head
Over Labor Day, we were invited to stay with Zac's oldest sister and her family at Hilton Head, SC. It was a wonderful long weekend, with the highlight being able to show Rebekah the ocean for the first time. She loved it! The first night we went, the beach was really long and flat and Rebekah just took off running. At one point she even put her heads over her head and started clapping. I've never seen her do that before - It was precious. She had no fear of the water and splashed and jumped and laughed as hard as she could. We enjoyed playing in the sand and the ocean, the pool, and going out to eat at night. It was a wonderful trip.
Zac's sister took some pictures of us and Rebekah and they turned out beautiful!!
Zac's sister took some pictures of us and Rebekah and they turned out beautiful!!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Pumpkin Patch
There are a lot of things to catch up on, but instead of back-tracking I'm just going to move forward and hope I can get around to catching up one day.
Last Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch about 20 minutes away in a neighboring city. It was a lot of fun. We first rode a tractor hay ride that took us to the pumpkin patch field and a barn. Rebekah didn't really think much about it either way. She just sat back and enjoyed the ride!
When we got to the field of pumpkins, she wasn't so sure about it. She didn't like walking around on the lumpy ground with all the tangled vines and long grass. So, it was up to us to choose the pumpkin. I was beginning to think this was all going to be a big bust, but thankfully they had a barn with several animals and it saved the day! She got to feed a baby calf, a goat, look at some chickens, pet horses, and then hold baby rabbits. Her favorite was the rabbits! Then, we also got to play with some corn kernels.
It was a fun little family adventure. Here are a few pictures!
Last Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch about 20 minutes away in a neighboring city. It was a lot of fun. We first rode a tractor hay ride that took us to the pumpkin patch field and a barn. Rebekah didn't really think much about it either way. She just sat back and enjoyed the ride!
When we got to the field of pumpkins, she wasn't so sure about it. She didn't like walking around on the lumpy ground with all the tangled vines and long grass. So, it was up to us to choose the pumpkin. I was beginning to think this was all going to be a big bust, but thankfully they had a barn with several animals and it saved the day! She got to feed a baby calf, a goat, look at some chickens, pet horses, and then hold baby rabbits. Her favorite was the rabbits! Then, we also got to play with some corn kernels.
It was a fun little family adventure. Here are a few pictures!
Friday, October 8, 2010
First Post-Placement Visit
It has been a while since I last blogged and there are many things to catch up on. I realized that I had started a blog post about a month ago and just completely forgot to post it. We had our first post-placement visit at the end of September. It is hard to believe it is already time to complete our first report. Here is the original post:
Russia requires that we complete four post-placement reports over the course of the next three years. If we were to not comply to this, both of our agencies (Children's H@pe and Lif@line) and in turn other families would be affected negatively. Russia is very strict about this issue and if agencies and couples don't comply they won't work with those agencies until the issue is resolved. We certainly don't want to be the cause of that, so we are happy to submit these reports.
Our social worker from Lif@line came to our house at the very end of August to meet Rebekah and talk to us about the past five months. Rebekah was wonderful! She had a great day and was so good during the visit. Our social worker was really pleased with Rebekah's overall development and her bonding. She was even more impressed with her language. I knew Rebekah was saying a lot of words, but I had never written down these words and counted how many she could say. Amy really encouraged me to do that and it didn't take long to get to over 200 words. At this point I have quit counting because I'm not really sure I could write them all down. She may be saying close to 300, which is amazing!! It seems especially amazing because she was not speaking when she came home.
We are so thankful for all of her progress in so many areas. We know the Lord is working a miracle in her life and it is so amazing to get to have a front row seat to all He is doing in her.
Russia requires that we complete four post-placement reports over the course of the next three years. If we were to not comply to this, both of our agencies (Children's H@pe and Lif@line) and in turn other families would be affected negatively. Russia is very strict about this issue and if agencies and couples don't comply they won't work with those agencies until the issue is resolved. We certainly don't want to be the cause of that, so we are happy to submit these reports.
Our social worker from Lif@line came to our house at the very end of August to meet Rebekah and talk to us about the past five months. Rebekah was wonderful! She had a great day and was so good during the visit. Our social worker was really pleased with Rebekah's overall development and her bonding. She was even more impressed with her language. I knew Rebekah was saying a lot of words, but I had never written down these words and counted how many she could say. Amy really encouraged me to do that and it didn't take long to get to over 200 words. At this point I have quit counting because I'm not really sure I could write them all down. She may be saying close to 300, which is amazing!! It seems especially amazing because she was not speaking when she came home.
We are so thankful for all of her progress in so many areas. We know the Lord is working a miracle in her life and it is so amazing to get to have a front row seat to all He is doing in her.
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