Found it!

Oh my gosh, we thought this blog was lost!  What a relief!

Snap back to reality....

Nam Aun is now 2 years old. Her favorite color is blue and she delights in turning the hose on and chasing us till we're soaked. She changes and gains skill so quickly we can't keep up.

Yesterday we went to open gym at Bounce Gymnastics and had a great time with a friend and his son. Summer camp was going on and a little girl of about 7 or 8 approached and asked if Nam-Aun was adopted and where both she and I were from. She was quiet for a minute and then said, "Gosh, she must really miss her real mom." I could only nod, smile and stay silent. The truth that Nam-Aun will and has felt loss stings. We can relate, though not in exactly the same way. We know loss. We believe NamAun's mother made a difficult decision in love.

Our family is so bonded and happy that I dread the day when the way our family came together becomes concrete to our daughter. The context of the reality she knows will be altered and the way she sees us will be changed. I hope that she will be able to love her birth parents for giving her life, and love Jeff and I for nurturing, guiding, embracing, sustaining, and keeping her safe. We love her with everything we are. We know that she is ours and hope that she will always love us the same way.

How time flies when you're having fun!

Wow! Nam-Aun has been home for nearly six months! We are preparing for our final home visit and the official tap on the head to start our adoption process in the US. We hope to be finalized before the year's end. We are going to be speaking with adoption lawyers next month. We expect to be able to meet with the Thai consulate this Fall and be finalized in Thailand as well.
I've not posted for so long because we have been busy, busy, busy. I can't believe how much our sweet girl has grown. It made me tearful to look back at old pictures from our trip.
Nam-Aun has become quite a character, with an amazing sense of humor, empathy for others and a strong self will. She loves to be outside and is very active. When we play music, she says, "Loud" so that we turn up the volume. =) Still lots of separation anxiety and some fearfulness of new things and people, though we are making gains. She is very social, and feels she needs to say "Hi" to every baby in a 100 yard radius. We say "Hi" a lot. Most people are really sweet about it. Nam-Auns current favorites are monkeys, school buses, bumble bees, and car rides.


We will try to post more frequently! Hope you all are well!

G

Nam-Aun's tree

Well the plum tree came down and a Kwanzan cherry tree went up - to celebrate and grow with Nam-aun. It is only a twig now, but we should have a nice flowering tree in 5 years or so.
Maneekarn is picking up language quickly, and is very in love with music. We are now back to real life and work schedules. It was good to have so much time off with Short Stuff. We miss her when we're away. She is a funny, cheerful, and demanding little one. She'd be better than TV, if we had one! We can't wait for people to meet her. Maybe next summer we'll get back to Michigan. We think this year is too soon. So, if you can, come to Oregon - it's beautiful here!

Luv, G

Time is flying - post 1 of 2

Time is flying!

A busy baby, a broken washer, crashed computers, and things to do have kept us away from our blog for a while!
Nam=Aun is a happy, playful, high-energy child that keeps us running like the Energizer Bunny. Our learning curve on parenting and arranging ourselves to be efficient has been huge. By the time evening rolls around and a peaceful calm takes over our home, we are all nodding off to sleep.
Despite our tired eyes and bodies, we are enjoying ourselves tremendously. The laughter in our house has multiplied immeasurably, and we are amazed at the new things our daughter is teaching us. She is beautiful and a blessing in our lives.

Happy New year!

t


We can't believe a whole week has passed! We have had trouble with both of our computers and cannot download new pics from Christmas on, so we will have to get things fixed up. We've been having so much fun with Short Stuff, I've just gone straight to bed and have not kept in touch. We had a great visit with Clayton and Katie a couple of nights ago. It was so great to see you guys and meet some of Katie's family. I have lots of special pics to shre with some people as soon as we are back up and running.
Please have a great New Year's celebration! We wish we could be with you all!

Luv.
The B's