So Bad About Blogging, but Adorable Video to Make Up For It!

My goodness, I have been so out of the loop about blogging!! I'm trying to catch up, but it may take some time :)!

This video is just too funny not to share. Abraham discovered his drool on his belly today. He had quite a marvelous time rubbing it all over himself. I was cracking up. One disclaimer about the video... Our house is usually not that messy, but people who have kids get it - the front room can turn into looking like the aftermath of a tornado in less than 5 minutes (and that's exactly what happened)!!

Abraham is growing up so much! He's just starting to get up on his hands and knees and crawling may come in the next few months (he likes to take his sweet time when doing new things :) ). He now has three teeth (two bottom, one top) and a fourth one on the way! He's making lots of babbling sounds and eating Zwieback toast and lots of fruits and veggies. He's obviously gaining weight and getting a lovely Buddah Belly - it's quite adorable I might add! He's fully of energy and loves attention, attention, attention. If I walk out of the room, a full on fit ensues - joy oh joy! Lowa and Whitt are super gracious with him and give up a lot of time with me so that I can take care of Abraham. They love him so much and love to play "Peek-a-Boo" with him on a regular basis. Every time he starts crying, Lowa will come up and try to soothe him - she is super sweet! Things are going well as we're all preparing for Tom to return to work tomorrow. Life will be getting back to our "new normal" as we call it!

Without further ado... here's the drool video!

Summer Fun

These are just a few pics of our summer fun.

Abraham and Mamaw


Lowa and Daddy at the lake - love the goggles!


Whitt getting ready to dive in...


Rollerblading - Lowa and Abraham ride in the stroller, Whitt rides his bike and Tom and I rollerblade switching who pushes the stroller.


Could this kid get any cuter? He loves to smile!!


Daddy holding Abraham - beautiful brown skin and GLOWING white :) - too funny.


Lowa eating strawberries, a favorite treat - YUM!


This is the best smile I could get :)!

Whitt swinging away!


Warming up after some swimming - he's so darn cute!


Abraham playing in the rocks - he loves it! Can you see his legs flapping - cracks me up!


UNDERDOGS!!


Love this action picture!

My Girl

I just have to say that having a girl is absolutely fabulous! I can't imagine my life without my precious Lowa! God has gifted this girl with such a bright, inviting and joyful spirit. I thank the Lord that I have the opportunity to be her mom. I love you sweet girl...

It's Official...He's Our Son - Uh Duh!

Yesterday we went to the courthouse to officially adopt Abraham into the United States. It truly was a wonderful day!!! To know that Abraham is a US citizen now and that he is officially our son - well, it's a great feeling. In our hearts he's always been our son - from the moment we got the call that he was being referred to us. But, in the eyes of the US, he was not ours officially. Yesterday - he legally became a Gresham! Praise God for this incredible miracle of Abraham and that God has led us to this amazing boy - our son Abraham!

Love the expression on his face - so darn cute (I bet you're thinking Tom and I look really cute in this pic too - ha!!)!!


It's official - He's Our Boy! We dressed all of the kids in their Ethiopian outfits - they looked really sweet!


Posing with our amazing family and friends (many family members and friends couldn't make it - but their love and support has been amazing)!!

Please Pray...

A fellow adoption family through AGCI, just found out some absolutely devastating news. Their daughter Abby (adopted from Guatemala) has just been diagnosed with leukemia. I cannot begin to fathom the fear, and worry that would go along with this. But at the same time, reading their blog gives me such encouragement. They are completely relying on God and know that He is in control. How comforting is that! Please visit their blog and lift them up in prayer. Thank you...

http://riggsbunch.blogspot.com/

There is also another friend Julie, through AGCI who just found out that her mom has cancer. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult this would be. My mom and I are so close and I can't even go there. Please keep her mom, Margot in your prayers as well.

http://www.beeleradoption.blogspot.com/

He Is Out There...

Ok, I must start by saying my husband made this video for a reason and reluctantly gave his permission :)....

****Don't watch video until after reading****

My mom is in town visiting and she, Lowa and I had been gone all day long on a "girls day out." Thus, Tom had Whitt and Abraham for the entire day. We all met up for lunch and my mom and I took Whittaker with us (side note - we had a blast hanging out). Tom was still hanging out with Abraham. After lunch, they went and got Tom some Tennis shoes (for playing tennis) and then headed home. Unfortunately, Abraham fell asleep in the car the last 5 minutes and when Tom took him inside to lay him down he woke up and would not go back to sleep. Let me put it mildly - the kid was a CRANK BUTT! This is Tom's way of not only entertaining himself, but Abraham as well. Enjoy....




PS Fine means finished in some other language!

Kisses and Inside Camping

Abraham got his test results from all of his blood work and he's as healthy as a horse!!!! YEAH!!!! Even though we had given him TONS of kisses, we were a little cautious about giving mouth kisses (which we do in our family) b/c of advice from our Dr.! We officially got to give mouth kisses to our buddy yesterday and it felt SO great!! He totally dug it! That boy gives kisses non-stop - he is such a cuddle bug and we LOVE that (our other two aren't big cuddlers so we're excited to have one who does like to cuddle :) ).

This is how he gives kisses - he grabs onto your face and goes for it! So darn cute!

Daddy giving Abraham mouth kisses.

So hard to get a picture of the actual kiss as it lasts a fraction of a second.

Don't you love the facial expressions?!

Inside Camping...

Our family LOVES to go camping, but this year it would just be too much for Abraham. He's trying to adjust to home and getting used to being good sleeper, so we didn't figure it would be too much fun for him or others in the camp ground to hear him trying to go down for a nap :). So, my best friend Tia suggested that we go camping inside! She's a genius! The day consisted of going strawberry picking. Tom's mom came with us and it was a blast - the kids loved the tractor ride. Then Tom's parents came over for a BBQ on the back deck, which was delicious. A few years ago, Tom and I built a table for our deck that was made for a fire pit. After our BBQ, we got our stuff together for S'mores and went for it- YUM!!! The kids loved that as well (Abraham was asleep by this time). After cleaning up, we all crawled into our tent that we had set up in our front room. Of course, the kids were thrilled to all be sleeping together. We tried really hard to make it through the night, but Whitt kept waking up and whimpering, so Tom put him in his bed and went to our bed - can you say wimp :) - just kidding babe!! I was determined to last all night, but after another two hours of falling asleep and then being woken up by Lowa kicking me in the face, I'd had enough. I carried her down to her bed and climbed in my bed - oh yes, I'm a wimp too :)! I was thinking they'd be disappointed the next morning, but they didn't even notice. They woke up happy as usual, and we spent the rest of the morning eating our "camping" breakfast of blueberry pancakes and bacon! Then we played in the tent some more and packed up. It was a blast!!

Whitt drinking water after downing his S'more

Go Grandma go!

Tom and grandpa enjoying their S'mores


Do you like the pose Lowa has going?


Lowa loving her S'more


Tom roasting away...


All laying down for our "restful" night sleep


Daddy and Lowa cuddling in the tent. You can tell Lowa is THRILLED!


Daddy and Abraham hanging out - just had to throw this picture in...