Nine Months!

Bennett has been home 9 months! He has grown in so many ways since March 4. Daddy now lets him type on his old favorite Commadore 64. We'll have to get around to coming up with a computer game for him to play soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a wonderful day giving thanks with your loved ones! Last year, Bennett was an exciting dream. Now he is an exciting reality!

I have to laugh at this photo. We look so peaceful! That wasn't reality when the photo was taken. I had to merge two to get one of all of us looking good! It probably didn't help that I had Ben's shirt on backward because I wanted it plain yellow with no print. PhotoShop is wonderful.

You've come a long way, baby!

One year ago we saw Ben's face for the first time. We asked for more information about Su Shugu from the Child of Promise list and got to see these photos. We found out we were matched right before Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful holiday season waiting for our son! We did not get to meet him until March 4 of this year.

This is an amazing wall at the orphanage Ben was based out of. He was most likely in foster care for some of the time because of the two surgeries the first six months of life.

His paperwork was filled out in July 2007. He would have been 18 months old at that time these photos were taken.

Conversations

Daddy might be surprised but between the "What?" and the "Why" and "Sing it Again" Mommy's run out of words!

The other day we stopped at a light that was red. I hear a "Why?" from the back seat of the car.

I bring him some vegetable soup. Bennett sweetly says "No, thank you!"

Or when I tell him it's time to play with boats (bath time) he'll say very nicely "I wait"

Favorite

Ben loves this YouTube video. Join him in laughing at this amazing chess game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXM3wrIhcwY

Changes!

It was Ben's last language development class today and we celebrated this milestone!

He drank his cup of tea and kept saying "whooo-eee" after each swig. You would have thought something much more exciting than tea was in the cup!

His teacher Miss Robin is the best and we will miss her antics!
Ben is enrolled in a preschool and will go two days a week starting in January.

The crib is now empty as Ben wants to sleep in his big boy bed. Bye bye crib!

New "word"

Ben's new word is a sophisticated air brake sound. Very important in all his play with trains and the like! Yes, he is saying other new words, too. He is also saying more names. We wish progression was faster, but his vocabularry is inching along!

Fall fun

Ben thinks pumpkins are fun but it's more about getting there that gets him excited!

The tractor ride was great. And thanks, Natasha, Jannah and Evan for letting Ben "drive" the load of pumpkins!

Why?

Time keeps moving on, doesn't it? Local fair season is over and a new season has begun at our house. It's called the "WHY" season! A few days ago Ben kicked it off by asking "why" four times. The next day the count was about 8. He usually is happy to hear what I have to say. He does not ask you to repeat what you said as many times as in the past few months but the "What " season is still here. We can chat up quite a storm walking through the mall or driving down the road. I have to laugh at times. I must sound crazy! Occasionally I will give him a complex answer just for kicks. He takes it all in stride!

Bennett's babies

Bennett enjoys playing with one of the dolls we have around here.

The doll house gets a bit of attention, too.

Home

I wrote this devotional for another project and decided to post it here. (Breaking out of my often shallow posting!!)

“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:6

Our toddler son will from time to time will say, “I home.” That may not seem particularly interesting except for the fact that he has only arrived “home” a few months ago. My husband and I traveled to China and brought him home to be part of our family. Some have said “He doesn’t know how blessed he is.” But even at two years of age, he does truly seem to understand and appreciate his new forever family. When he says, “I home,” he will say it in a contented tone of voice. Of course, those words frequently bring tears to my eyes when I think of the things our son already has experienced. Not only was Bennett blessed by a home, my husband and I are also blessed by the joy that he brings.

I am so grateful for our forever family God provides for us as believers. Sometimes I watch people in the world and wonder how they do it without the security God provides for his children. I too need to express thankfulness to the Lord for caring for me!

Lord, today may we count our many blessings including our eternal home with you. Thank you for embracing us with your tender care. Amen

Six Months!!

Bennett has been home 6 months already! He now speaks many words, not just understands them. He will now eat mac n cheese. Mommy is thrilled! He is beginning to pedal his toys, not just speed along with his feet. He is heavier to carry than he used to be! The Thomas the Tank Engine sheets went on the single bed this week...helping him identify it as his own bed which he naps in. His prayers sound like this: "Mumble, mumble, mumble. Amen!" Our trip to China seems like such a long time ago!

We thank God for the tremendous growth we've seen. And thank you for all of your prayers and support for our family. We are so blessed!

Beach

Bennett loved our trip to Long Beach Island.

Carrying Ben up all 276 stairs at the lighthouse was Daddy's accomplishment!

Having Daddy around all day was a great start to his weekend!

Ben loved the sand but maybe next year he'll be up for swimming in the waves!


We had perfect 81 degree weather!

Ben surprised us by wanting to go by himself on this rather noisy ride.
We look forward to next year's trip to the beach! time flies so fast!

Boys will be boys

Who can resist some good, sandy mud?

And water handy to splash it up?
Who needs a boat with all of those options, anyways!!

Summer fun

Bennett is learning to enjoy more and more things in the pool. Of course, Grandpa and Grandma Sauder help. Cousins Maddie and Bailey teach him new tricks, too.

Smile!

It's fairly easy to get Bennett to smile! So, when it came to picture taking time, I wasn't too worried about the out come. But it was fun to see how nice the photos look in his traditional Chinese outfit!

Where ever we go: grocery store, Post office, Social Security Office, through our neighborhood, it's interesting how many smiles Bennett gathers! And it's mainly because he hands out smiles and little waves so freely. Hey - it costs nothing to smile! Let's ALL learn from him.

Great day!

We had a great day - Dutch Wonderland sandwiched around a visit to the Cleft Palate Clinic in Lancaster. Bennett did better than we expected with all the attention. The team of several different specialists were wonderful. We will get a final report after the team meets but we got a lot of positive feedback. His cleft lip surgery, done at 6 months of age in China, was good quality care. Different individuals commented about how beautifully done his surgery was. I have to admit, I didn't think about it before how nice his lip really does look. I keep seeing the scar on his upper lip. He will need a bit more surgery at around age 6 and 16. He passed the hearing test in flying colors and the speech therapist is pleased with his progress. We will have at least annual visits to the clinic to stay abreast with Ben's growth and needs through the years. (Ben did not have a cleft palate.) We are so blessed to have this incredible resource in our back yard!

We really did have some family fun at the park! Ben made the choice to go on the merry-go-round and loved it!

A big slide for a big boy and a little boy.

This is the first ride Ben made up his mind that he could go on by himself. He passed it up once but went on the second time around.

What's that song about the watercolor ponies riding away? Bennett really is growing up! It makes me want to hang on to his cute toddler ways!

WOW! 4 months already!

Four months ago, on March 4 in Nanjing, China, we met Bennett on Gotcha Day.

Four months later, we can't image life without our boy! He is so special and sweet.

Flowers, too!

For all Ben's chatter about Cho Chos and trucks, he does love to water flowers. I suspect it has more to do with the water than the flowers, but we do enjoy keeping the beds looking nice.

New stuff for Mom

Our little guy looks even smaller!

Having no brothers, all this stuff about tractors, motors, trains, etc, has been a learning experience for me. I did enjoy our trip into Burkholder's Quarry where we got to see some very big wheels! I get tired of it before Bennett does, though.

Play Group

We are grateful to be part of a play group for families in the process of or who have adopted Chinese children. Most Fridays can find us hanging out in a local park or some one's home.

Faster, lady!

We first connected with this group around Christmas 2006 at a drop-in party. We went to some special events like Chinese New Year Parties since then. Now that Ben has come home, we are part of the Friday play group, too. As a new mom, I have so appreciated learning from this group of ladies and their special kids. Ben's the only guy for now. But he can learn a lot from these little ladies, too!

Ben's great friends

Neighbor friends Lance and Haley help Ben figure out what is means to live in farming country!

That's OK if you hold it, Haley!

They sure start small! Mooo!

Hershey Park Fun

Real life choo choo!!

Mommy, why did they throw food on the ground?

Ben had too much fun to fall asleep!

Daddy's reaction to Ben's driving.

Mommy's reaction to Ben's driving.