Happy First Year At Home, Owen!

Friday afternoon, we celebrated Owen's first year at home. We invited many of our friends from church, work, our neighborhood, and friends through adoption, and although many of our friends and family were out of town, about 40 people including the children were able to come. We were thrilled so many friends could join us to celebrate Owen's Adoption Day!

I found the cutest little watermelon invitations at our local party store and then stumbled upon watermelon plates and napkins to match at Wlmt. Then, I went to order a cake at S@ms Club, which makes the BEST most affordable cakes, and didn't see anything I thought would work for an adoption day party so I asked if they could make a watermelon out of cupcakes, and they did!! It was sooo adorable!





My mom made my favorite homemade Southern potato salad, and Jim's mom made BBQ baked beans, potato salad, and R0tel dip, and we cooked hot dogs and served chips, dip, strawberries, blueberries, teddy bear and goldfish crackers, cupcakes and ice cream, lemonade, and soft drinks. Mmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it all again!




This summer, we bought a big pool with a water slide with our friends who live on either side of our house, and the kids LOVED it! We also set up a slip-n-slide and a couple of baby pools, a sand-n-water table, picnic table, hula hoops, bubbles, trucks, and a mower for the little ones to play with. One of our friends called it a "Water Wonderland!" The children seemed to have a great time, and I loved seeing all of them playing in our backyard and getting to chat with friends while they played.



























I cannot believe a year ago today we were spending our first day at home as a family. I remember waking up and getting Owen out of his crib for the first time, putting him in his Fourth of July outfit, and taking him for a walk outside on the sidewalk for the first time. He loved playing with his new toys and exploring his new home. We were so tired from our flight from Vladivostok to Moscow earlier that week and then the flights from Moscow to Atlanta and Atlanta home. We were greeted at the airport the night before (on July 3) by many of our friends and my mom and sister Candice. Our flight was supposed to arrive around 8 pm and was delayed until closer to 10 or 10:30. We were so surprised to see so many people waiting for us with a huge Welcome Home Owen sign. I remember having tears in my eyes as I carried Owen in his baby carrier and introduced him to everyone for the first time. My mom and Candice were so excited to finally see Owen, and my friends who had lived daily with my ups and downs waiting to return to Vlad to bring Owen home were so happy to finally see him in our arms forever. He was so tired, and so were we, but it was one of the happiest, most wonderful moments of our lives.






What a year it has been. I didn't realize at the time just how tiny Owen was when we brought him home. He was wearing 9 month clothing (which was a little loose) and was turning 19 months old. His skin was so fair from never being outside, and his hair was so thin from malnutrition. He didn't know how to play with toys, beating them together and tossing them onto the floor, but he quickly learned. Within days he learned how to follow directions to stir, take tops off and on bowls, put objects in and out, and how to do these things on his own, pretending to cook just like Mommy. He quickly became interested in his magnetic letters set and learned the letters and sounds in such a short time. He loved to look at picture board books and soon learned to identify and then name all of the objects in the books. This little boy had so much potential that had just been waiting to be brought out. For so long, Owen would not look at us or at anyone. He was so interested in toys and was very easily distracted by noises. He wasn't alarmed by sounds but always stopped what he was doing to listen to sounds in his environment. It didn't take too long for us to realize that so often when he was diverting his gaze, he was listening to something. For example, if a lawn mower turned on outside across the street, he would stop what he was doing, and his eyes would go in the direction of the sound as he listened to see what it was. He had such a difficult time locating objects that were not directly in front of him. He was so accustomed to being in a tiny environment most of his day (a crib) when he lived in the baby home that he had to learn to focus on people and objects that weren't right in front of him. Also, Owen had never had one consistent caregiver. He was fed facing away from his caregivers and was one of 12 in his room at the baby home so he received very little attention and affection. He had to learn that we would always be there for him and how to connect with us as his mommy and daddy. For a long time, Owen kept his hand or arm between him and us at all times. We constantly said "put your arm back please" and wrapped it around our necks as we carried him. When we rocked him at night, he preferred to lie across our laps facing away from us and would not tolerate skin to skin touch, moving his hand away if it touched our hand or arm. We reminded him with each want and need he expressed to look at our eyes when he talked to us. We worked hard to do the same when we spoke to him as well. He diverted his eyes to one side or they moved in and out as we spoke to him, listening to us but not making direct eye contact for the longest time. As he became more used to a noisy environment and all of the new sights, sounds, and smells and as he learned to depend on us as his parents and to accept our love and affection, we began to see the real Owen. He now is able to focus on objects and people all around him, both near and far, and he lovingly takes us by the hand to play with him and loves to feel our arms wrapped around him. When we adopted sweet Owen and brought him home one year ago, he was like a treasure chest that had been locked away when he was born just waiting for us to come along to be the key to unlock the chest so all of the beautiful treasure stored inside could come pouring out. And what a beautiful treasure he is!!