Easter in Leroy

Easter in my family has always been a big deal. It is definitely our largest family and friends gathering, and I have many great memories from my childhood of the holiday. Beginning with coloring eggs the Saturday before, going to church Easter morning in a new dress, having a big pot luck lunch, and the traditional Easter egg hunt where everyone (adults included) set out to find the dyed egg with their name on it. There are some legendary stories of eggs being buried, put in craw fish holes, and even a rumor of an egg of a certain deceased great aunt being found! Easter in our family is definitely fun. So you can imagine my excitement in getting to share all this with Rylin & Jordan. Here are a few pics of our weekend. I've posted more on our Shutterfly share site here.

Rylin in the bluebonnets

Mommy & Rylin
Daddy & Rylin (two sharp dressed men)

Grandmother Wines & Rylin

Rylin got lots of love from family this weekend, but he also got to meet his cousin Bonnie for the first time. You may remember me talking about her arrival here. Bonnie is two months younger and much more dainty. She is a real cutie, and I'm sure they will be curly headed pals.

Rylin & Bonnie

Our little Easter Bunny who loves to hop these days!

5 Months Old

I have a feeling this picture is just going to get more and more difficult! Rylin turned 5 months yesterday and he is definitely more active than ever. He rolls from front to back and back to front quite efficiently, scoots all over the floor, loves his jumperoo, eats some fruit, still hates cereal, and makes all kinds of new noises.

His buddy Reid visited us this week and they had some good play time, though Reid is a bit older and moves a lot faster! Reid will be welcoming a baby sister soon, so it was good practice.



Rylin has a sweet smile that he shows us much more frequently now and even laughs on occasion.

A Few Requirements

I know I haven't mentioned it on the blog (we've had more important things to post!), but Jordan and I still have monthly requirements for the adoption that have kept us busy. Our adoption isen't finalized with the agency until 6 months after placement. This is when we must go to court in order to make Rylin legally an Everhart. During the 6 month period, our agency requires health/status updates along with photos, and attendence at an adoptive parent support group meeting each month. We also have several home visits that must be done prior to our finalization. This week we spoke with an adoption lawyer to set our court date and it looks like it will be April 30th. Even though we know Rylin is already a part of our family, we are excited to make it official!

Sour Looks

Our little guy has some great happy expressions and his little dimples could melt the heart of anyone, but.....we have a small collection of sour looks that make me laugh every time I see one! This one could be my new personal favorite though...

I thought he might enjoy being outside while it was so pretty, but he was not happy about watching me to yard work!

Family

A lot of you have asked us about Tess (Rylin's Birthmom) and I realized that I haven't updated much about she or her family recently. Because open adoption is a new concept to a lot of people, and all parties in our situation are pretty transparent, I feel like we have an obligation to share some of our story whenever we can. We do feel truly blessed to have been matched with a birthfamily that is so much like ourselves when it comes to honesty and openness, and we know that it is no coincidence.

We continue to have a great relationship with Tess and usually text or message one another on a weekly basis. Because we live so close, she has been able to visit several times a month and continues to be surprised by how much Rylin has grown and changed. We laugh about how he has her lips and his birthfather's pointy head! Sometimes she brings a few of her friends, and sometimes her Mom is with her. Rylin gets lots of attention (which he is beginning to love), and no shortage of kisses and photos. Tess is working and taking classes to finish her high school diploma and to get a few college credits. She is definitely a typical teenage girl who is very social with lots of friends.

I asked her today when she stopped by for a visit to give me an idea of her perspective of life after October. (Because that's what everyone really wants to know) She said that she knows her decision was the best she could make considering the circumstances. She has days where she misses him and feels the true loss of parenting, but she says she is confident in her choice. She said that getting to see him has helped a lot. We both mutually agree that our relationship is better than we could have imagined it would be and are thankful for that. She thinks about Rylin all the time, and she has been keeping a journal since pregnancy that she plans to give him when he is older. We listen to a CD that she made special for him and gave to us after he was born.

My hope for Rylin (and I know Tess's too) is that he always feel wanted and loved...and I think we're off to a pretty good start!

Jumping Just Because

Rylin has been especially active the last couple of weeks and Jordan and I were beginning to think he needed something that would let him move around a bit more. I found this great Jumperoo (yes, that's really whats it's called) on Craigslist and I'm not the only one who thinks it was a bargain for all the entertainment it's provided...

This Ain't No Fruity Pebbles