7 Years

It's been 7 years. In some ways it seems like not that long ago. In other ways it seems like a lifetime ago. Regardless of how you look at it 7 years ago Daryle and I flew to the other side of the world... literally... to find our son, Travis.  Many details I remember clearly. Other memories are already fading for me.  It's a good thing we took lots of pictures and videos! Plus those were the years before blogging, so most of my thoughts are written in my journal.  The process we went through to get Travis was daunting. To say my faith was put to the test is an understatement.  Yet day by day, week by week, month by month, we held out faith and hope... and said lots and lots and lots of prayers.... that it would work out. There were days that I wondered if this child we were waiting for actually existed at all!  How crazy was it to be head over heals in love with a small picture of this baby who was on the other side of the world?  We waited 10 1/2 L O N G months until we finally got to meet him. The good part was in those days we only had to make one trip. Thank goodness. Otherwise I know I would have gone off the deep end.  Here is our first family picture after Travis was home for about a month. I had waited years to have a family picture. (Perhaps this is why we get them often.... I like to see the kids grow and change!) 

He was such a peanut. At 16 months old he weighed 15 pounds. This outfit he is wearing was 6-9 months.  He has spent a lot of time catching up.  7 years ago he wasn't even close to being on the growth charts. Now he is thriving and is in the 50th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight.  For those of  you just now bringing home your kiddos who are tiny, don't worry, give them lots of love and nurturing and your kids will thrive too!

I love this one. It was the first picture we took of him.  When we visited him that morning we took video. When we came for our afternoon visit we brought the camera.  Travis doesn't like looking at these pictures much. He has been known to say, "Mom, why does that baby look so sad?"  It breaks my heart. I don't know if it is good or bad that he doesn't recognize himself.

Here is our first picture together.

I just love how they are looking at each other here.

Fast forward 7 years and here we are today.  Look at him puffing out his chest, such a goofball!

It wouldn't be a Gotcha Day photo if we didn't get a family picture with Connor too! (Picture taking wasn't going so well that night....)

Last weekend all four of us went to the Diamondback's game. We had an awesome time!  Here are the boys just before the game started.  We snuck down into our regular season ticket holder seats.  Our tickets for that night were in the nose bleed section.  We spent one inning there and then we roamed the kids area for the rest of the game. There is so much for the kids to do, it really is a lot of fun! 

Connor is in love with the "Big Heads". He now runs around the house pretending to be them. He runs all over giving high fives and "knuckles". Tonight I asked for a hug and was told, "Big Heads don't give hugs!"  But then he came and gave me one anyway. He is such a sweetie! I took their pictures with each one. (There are four in all.... bear with me!  lol)

I just wanted a little proof that I was there too.... this was in our nose bleed section. We were up so high that Connor was terrified. He just kept asking to leave. Poor little guy!

Of course we had to see Baxter, the team mascot.  We were at the end of the line so we didn't get a good picture with him.  However, we did get autographed pictures of him! Next time we will get in line earlier.

This is often what we find Connor doing in the bathroom.  He likes to comb his hair and check himself out. Isn't he a bit young for this??!!?

This past week has been rough on Travis.  We were at the doctor on Monday with the usual sinus infection.  We know the drill by now. However, on Thursday he gave us a scare.  At the end of the day we realized he had been having a severe asthma attack. Great.  Thank goodness we acted early and did not end up in the emergency room.  Now he is just on an obnoxious amount of medicine.  6 to be exact. I hate having him on those steroids. But what can you do. A guy has gotta breathe, right?  Anyway, today he laid low and decided to create another store in his room. (Budding entrepreneur? )  He got his cash register and set it up on his bed. He also got some plastic bags for his shoppers to put their loot in.  He thinks of everything!  (Pardon his messy room... this was before we went on our cleaning spree!)

He even attached price tags. He went in the garage and brought in some drinks to sell in his store because he "wanted to use real things" in his store.

Take note of this belt at the bottom of the picture. Travis brought this home from California this summer. Apparently it was Daryle's when he was a boy. They found it at grandpa's house.  I didn't realize it was there until I uploaded this picture. Boy the stories that belt could tell!  I wonder what kinds of things my grandchildren will take home that belonged to my boys??  The possibilities are endless. For now I think I will enjoy them while they are little. We are so thankful for our boys.

Happy 7th Gotcha Day Travis! We love you to the moon and back a million times over! 

Mommy and  Daddy

XOXOXOXO