EXCITING NEWS!!!

YEP, you read that right!!! Alan and I are officially awaiting a referral for "Baby Suan #2"!!! The thought of giving Brady a sibling is very exciting and at least this time we know what to expect. With that being said, this time around it's going to be MUCH longer than last time, and there are several reasons for that. First and foremost, the Taiwan program has literally exploded, so there are many more families waiting for babies from Taiwan. The state of international adoption is a bit rocky right now as several programs have closed or are closing soon and of course the China program is taking forever right now, which is why so many families are "jumping ship" to Taiwan. (of course these are my opinions and are not confirmed facts). I'm guessing that our wait for referral will be 6-12 months and then another 4-6 months before travel, so like I said it's going to be a long road. But, this time around we have a cute little distraction named Brady, so I think it will be a bit more bearable, but please don't hold me to that! Like last time, we have said that we would accept either gender, so until we get our referral we won't know what we're having. By saying either gender that should, hopefully, speed things along a little for us, but who really knows. I'm guessing that more than likely we'll get another boy, but again, you never know.

So, stay tuned and follow us down this journey to "Baby Suan #2"!!

DAAAAAA

This is a short little clip of Brady saying "dog" or what his version of dog is anyway. He usually knows that a dog says "woof", but he didn't today...probably because he knew I was taking video!! He's doing a fair amount of talking these days, which is great. Tonight at the dinner table he even said "hi da" to Alan, it was very cute!!!

WALKING!!

Here's a little clip of Brady walking. He's getting better every day so I don't think it will be long before he's walking for good. If he needs to get somewhere fast he still drops and crawls. The other funny thing that he's doing now is "walking" on his knees...not sure where he learned that from, but it sure is cute to watch!! I'll try and get some video of that too, but don't hold your breath because this took forever to catch. It seems that when Brady knows I have the camera on the video setting, he stops whatever it was I was trying to capture...little bugger!!!

RIBS!!!

About a month or two ago, we found out that Brady really likes ribs. And I don't mean just the meat, he really prefers to eat it off the bone, like a big boy, SO, we decided to have ribs last night for dinner and I actually had my camera to document the event!!!

He is pointing and making mmmmmmmmmm sounds as Alan brings the plate of ribs to the table.

I mean, just look at that face with that expression of 'ooooooooooooooo'....too cute!
diggin' in
he's really getting into it now
OH MY GOSH!!!! It was so fun to watch him and these pictures totally make me laugh!!! We've definitely got a good eater on our hands!!(most of the time, anyway)

CHILLIN'

Brady likes to hang out on the couch these days. Most of the time he is NOT sitting as still as he is in the first picture, he much prefers to dive into the pillows or better yet he likes it when one of tosses him into the pillows!!! He's kind of a daredevil, really!!

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY!!

One year ago today we were introduced to this cute smiling face. I can remember that day like it was yesterday...everything except for the time of the phone call!! (Dawn, do you remember??). I remember being at my desk at work and talking to "Big Joe" when my cell phone rang. I picked up my phone, saw who it was, managed to tell Joe I was putting him on hold and answered my cell phone, cool and calm of course!! : ) My caseworker proceded to tell me she had my referral and I looked around the office and no one was at their desk, so I walked to the back and found Dawn and started scribling notes on a piece of paper(that I still have, of course) while both of us started tearing up. Once I got off the phone I called Alan ( I did FINALLY pick up my work extension and to my surprise Joe was still there, so I told him what had just happened!!) and we both went to our computers to look at photo's, but for some reason Alan didn't have the email and after I waited the appropriate amount of time (in my eyes anyway) for it to appear in his inbox I decided to go ahead and open the pictures at work...with EVERYONE peering over my shoulder!!! I remember thinking that he was SO cute and that he and Alan had the EXACT same hair and that they really looked a lot alike. Then I remember not getting ANYTHING done for the rest of the day...can't remember if I went ahead and left work early or not. Our lives haven't been the same since, but we've gained SO much that it's unbelieveable. I love our little boy more than I thought was imaginable and I look forward to each new day with him. Brady at 2 1/2 months old

my scribbled notes about our referral

REBEL YELL!!!

I was attempting to get some video of Brady walking, but I guess the commercial playing Billy Idol's Rebel Yell in the background was more interesting for him. At any rate, I got a few steps, some dancing and watching tv all in one video!!! You've gotta love his dancing!!! : )

TAMBORINE PLAYER!!!

Alan brought this tamborine home from Barcelona for Brady and as you can see, he loves playing it!!

A NICE SURPRISE!!

This Sunday, April 20th is my birthday and to my surprise Alan actually pulled off a birthday dinner for me that I knew NOTHING about!!! I thought I was going to Silverado with Alan, Brady and our friends Vivianne and Monica, BUT instead this is what happened:

MONICA: "why don't we go to that Peking place you keep talking about?"
BETH: "we need more people"
M: "I'll call my brother, he'll go"
B: "Okay, I'll call my brother too and see if he can go" (when I called my brother and asked if he could go, he was apparently already halfway there!!!)

So we pile in the car and head to Peking Gourmet after deciding we had enough people and after Alan placed a fake call to them asking about getting a table for 6....I guess it's a good thing I didn't walk into the kitchen when he was "calling"!!

Once we get to the restaurant and start following the lady to our table I realize we're getting a "special table" and I'm thinking, WOW, we're getting this for 6 people!!! (Alan's dad knows the owners so I just figured the Suan name got us some pull!!)

Lo and Behold, I walk past the partition and sitting at the table are my brother, Michael, Cassie and Paul and Mark and Margi and their two boys, Ty and Blake!!! To top off the night, they even brought in a Carvel ice cream cake just for me!!! THANK GUYS, you're awesome!!!
All of us after our DELICIOUS dinner!!!
Margi, Ty and Eeyore
Mark and Blake
Paul and Cassie wearing their "tiaras"!!!
Brady enjoying his peas, to my horror, as this is my one other hated food!!! (see previous banana post) He didn't each much, but boy did he chow down on the peas....YUCK!!!

I CAN DO IT!!!

The other night Alan whistled...you know the kind where you put your fingers in your mouth and it's ridiculously loud. Well, I guess Brady thought it was cool and he wanted to try to do it too!! He started with just one finger in his mouth, so we had to help him out with that!!

You can see that he really is blowing and trying to make the noise!!

As if to say, "TA DA"!!!! He never did get any noise, but we'll keep trying.

DINNER TIME!!

This is Brady's new face when he likes something!! I'm not really sure when it started, but it hasn't been going on too long. While he's making this face, he's generally saying, "mmmmm"!! Every time he does it, it makes me laugh!!
Brady has also started to want to eat food the way we do...case in point...the pizza we had for dinner last night. He no longer wanted to eat the pieces that were cut up for him, instead he wanted to hold the crust and eat it!!! It's so funny to watch him!!

MR BEAR!!!

Well, I thought it was about time to post about Brady's best friend, Mr. Bear!! Mr. Bear was originally a shower gift that had a gift card attached and for whatever reason he was the one stuffed animal Alan and I decided to take to Taiwan when we went to meet Brady. It was pretty much "love at first sight" for both Brady and Mr. Bear. Up until now though, Brady pretty much only hung out with Mr. Bear in his crib, but he has started wanting to take him out of his crib and have him with him all day, which is fine by me. Mr. Bear's left leg is a bit more "squished" than the right leg because Brady carries him around or holds onto him by the left leg just before he falls asleep. (I've watched this many times on the video monitor!). Mr. Bear is also in need of a bath at this point, but I'm afraid to "alter" him in any way for fear that Brady will notice and not like him as much. And I'm sure Mr. Bear has brain damage due to the numerous times he's been evicted from the crib!!! (another act I've witnessed from the baby monitor!) So, without further ado......MR. BEAR!!!


the result of one of his many "evictions". This is usually where I find Mr. Bear each morning!!

Brady giving Mr. Bear kisses!

This is how Mr. Bear travels through the airports, so that we don't lose him!

The "left leg hold"

WHAT DO YOU THINK??

Okay, this top picture is a picture of Alan when he was much younger!!! How much do you think Alan and Brady look alike???

BRADY AND BLAKE!!

Today Brady and I met our friends Blake and Margi for some "play time". We went to the little local mall where they have a hobby shop that has the Thomas trains set up for kids to play with. And even better they have a nice bench for the parents to sit on, so this play date was just as much for Margi and I as it was for Brady and Blake!!

NEW TRUCK!!

When Brady and I got back from Florida he had a package waiting for him from Aunt Fran, Uncle Paul and cousin Scott!! It's a totally cool truck that I think he's going to have to share with Daddy!! THANKS!!!!

SPRING IN VIRGINIA!!

It was very nice out yesterday afternoon so Brady and I decided to go outside and play for a bit. We started with bubbles, but that didn't last too long so we moved to the yard to see what was out there.

I think Brady is investigating a leaf

Off to check out something else

A self-portrait!

Sticks are SO much fun!!

ANOTHER DAY AT THE PARK!!

While we were "home" in Florida we went to the park one evening with Grandma and Grandpa so they could see for themselves just how happy Brady gets on the swings!! As usual, he didn't disappoint.

You gotta LOVE his smile!!

He's having so much fun, he's clapping for himself!!!

It didn't take him long to figure out how to climb UP the slide!!! He did it quite well too!!

He also had fun inspecting the "mulch" they used....it's tires!!! He thought it was fascinating.

6 MONTHS!!!

I should have posted this yesterday but since Brady and I were on our way back to Virginia from Tampa I didn't have time to post. Yesterday, April 1, was 6 months to the day that Brady became part of our family!!

It's hard to believe that we've been a family of 3 for 6 months already and at the same time I feel like we've been with Brady the entire 14 months of his life. For those of you that have met him you know just what a GREAT little boy he is. I mean I've never been around ANYONE that smiles and laughs as much as he does (well, okay, maybe Donny Coffman!!). He really is just a sweet boy who likes to have fun. I can't imagine not having him in our life. As I was thinking about all of this last night on the flight home while Brady was asleep on my chest, I couldn't help but think about Brady's birth parents. I think it's a very unselfish and courageous act to give a child up for adoption and I just can't imagine how they came to that decision. For them to realize that they didn't have the means to give him everything that he deserves and entrust him to someone else is truly brave. I'd like to think that Alan and I are doing a good job of being parents and I hope that Brady's birth parents would be proud. I know that many people tell us how lucky Brady is to have us, but really we're the lucky ones who were given the opportunity to raise a child and love a child. It doesn't get any better than today when I was taking Brady upstairs for his nap and he proceeded to give me about 4 kisses...I mean real kissess, actually looking for my lips so he could kiss me....TOTAL happiness!!! As Oprah said, "Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother". We love you Brady!!! : )