3 1/2 months in...

Little cutie patootie has been here for 3 1/2 months. That seems just crazy to me. He is doing so well here and progressing so much in his speech and behavior. He is truly a joy for us to have. I'm trying to savor all of these precious moments since I know he won't be with us forever.

 Some of my faves:

I love seeing the kids play with him and love on him every hour of the day. They never seem to get annoyed with him or tired of having him around. I love seeing C carry him around on his shoulders and little man rubbing C's earlobes while he is up there. I love coming up to T's room in the morning and seeing the little man has climbed in bed with him and gone back to sleep. I love hearing him yell for "DACH" (that's P) whenever he needs anything and seeing her drop what she is doing to go help. I love holding him while he falls asleep and rubbing his hair or ear until he is snoring. I adore hearing him sing "hallelujah" and "amen" when he listens to the CD of hymns he sleeps to each night. I love that he is trying so hard to talk clearer to us - this is new the past few weeks really. He's trying SO hard - it's adorable! I love that he says "See Ya" when he leaves the room, "All done" anytime you ask him "What do you say?", that he polices everyone while we are praying and calls out (loudly) anyone that doesn't have their eyes closed. I love that you can hide an app anywhere on the ipad and he will find it (T keeps hiding one of his games that little dude keeps finding and messing up). I love that if Wondermutt is at the back door, he will let her out or in (and not try to escape - wahoo!). I love that when he gives me a kiss he also gives me an "Eskimo kiss" - I taught him that at the beginning because he was full on, open mouth kissing us all.

Of course, there are some not so favorite moments and glorious 2 year old fits that we have enjoyed, but I'm going to focus on the good times and let the others fade in our minds. He really is a joy to have around and (as is pointed out to me by every single person I meet) we are sure going to miss him when he is gone.

Ever since Big Daddy and I got married, we have collected Christmas ornaments from all our vacations and important things that happened during the year. We thought it would be cool to get one to represent each of our foster kids through the years. It was fun to have those on the tree this year. When it was time to put the tree away though, I didn't want to pack these up. We had a big ice storm a few weeks ago and our pretty spiral willow lost a bunch of limbs. We brought some in to refill our vase in the living room and decided to hang these ornaments on there...all year long. It is a sort of "prayer tree." Constant visual reminders to pray for each kiddo/family by name. {names blacked out on the pic but we put their names and date on them}

I wonder how many ornaments we will add to that little tree. It's exciting to think about!