Settling in

On Oct. 30, we picked up E for the last time from his previous foster home. We couldn't believe this day was finally here...no more waiting for "the call", no more transition visits, no more saying good-bye to E as we stood in the temporary foster home. E was coming home for good...our home..Sara, Andy, and E's home.

E has been settling in really well. He seems to have adjusted to his new surroundings and new schedule. I am off work for almost 10 weeks and then Andy will be off work for 10 weeks. I am loving having all of this time off work to spend with E. Every day he is surprising us with something new..new phrases, new emotions, new foods he likes/dislikes, etc. He is such a sweet and loving child. E loves to run up and give us hugs for no reason other than he wants to give us a hug. If we leave the room, even for a minute, when we re-enter the room and he notices this, he will drop everything to run over squealing mommy or daddy and give us a hug. It is the cutest thing ever.

We were a little worried that E would regress some when he realized that he wasn't going back to other foster home. So far, haven't really seen any of that. He has had some very typical two year old tantrums. The hardest part is us not letting him see us laugh when he has some of these tantrums. He is quite the character...furrows his brow, crosses his arm stomps across the room, all the while speaking in his own little language--which I'm guessing isn't pleasantries.

The first weekend in Nov, Andy's mom and her husband, Bob, were in town for a wedding so they were able to meet E. E loved his Grandma Diana and Grandpa Bob. He had so much fun and was so sad when they left. E loves meeting new people and gets so sad when they leave.

We had dreamed for so long what it would be like to be parents and it is so much better than I ever thought it would be. Yes, there are days when I'm exhausted or nights I didn't get much sleep but it so worth it. We have lots to learn still but luckily have a great support system from our families and friends. The long road to get to this point was hard but it was so worth it, as we are now the parents to an absolutely adorable little boy who already brought us so much joy.