Early Birthday Surprise

We didn't want Michaela to have to wait all the way until the end of July to get her first bike, so we gave her one last weekend. She was very surprised!
Nathanael wanted it for himself, and kept trying to get it away from Michaela.

99 Luftballoons

Party!

We had a wonderful party for Nathanael(2) and Elizabeth(4). I love the look on Nate’s face here. He loves large groups of people, and you can see this in his smile.

Everyone pitched in and we got Nate this awesome stroller/bike trailer. He loves it, and we’ve already used it a lot of times! Thanks again, everyone, for being so generous!

Happy Birthday Nate!

Michaela made Nathanael a cake for his second Birthday on April 2. I love this picture of Michaela proudly showing off the cake she made. For some reason she reminds me of my Dad. Note the backwards pants (done intentionally) and the thumb in the bellybutton. Uncanny resemblance, don't you think?
You can tell by the look on Nate's face that the cake was really yummy!

Puppy

You all know Nathanael’s Puppy. There is nothing in this world more important to him then his Puppy. It’s a little blue puppy with a soother sewn onto it. Michaela gave it to him the day we met him, and although I force him to keep it in the crib, he live for that puppy. All I have to say at bedtime is “let’s go see Puppy!”, and Nate scrambles up to bed quicker then any 2 year old I’ve ever met. I even bought a second one, exactly the same, just in case he ever lost his (or if it fell apart from so much loving). He won’t touch, or even look at the second one. He knows his Puppy.
I wash Puppy every few months because he gets really grungy. So far this has never caused a problem. Nate recently had a really bad cold, and Puppy was getting really gross! I ran him through the wash the other day, and was broken-hearted to find that Nate no longer recognized him. He cries when I put him to bed, cries in the morning and cries all nap time, looking for his best friend, but not knowing where he has gone. I’ve never felt so sad for Nate, but didn’t know what to do.
Finally today I tried a new strategy, I let Michaela walk around all afternoon, holding Puppy, and sucking on the soother. For the first half hour, Nate didn’t mind, then all of a sudden he reached for Puppy, and when Michaela wouldn’t give him back, Nate flipped out. I gave him his Puppy back, and he hasn’t put him down since. Phew! Nate is too young to have lost his best friend.

And the Results Are In!

I asked for feedback on which of Nate's important milestones to celebrate yearly. I think Mom, Josh, Calvin and Rebecca are right. It's hard to think of celebrating the 14th of December because it was such a hard time for us, with a new baby, I had the flu, we were trying to get ready for Christmas, Jon had extra long hours at work, and everything was so stressful! But I guess that's often the case when you have a new baby, whether you're giving birth or adopting. It was the day he joined our family, and so that is the day we will celebrate yearly. Although, knowing me, (I like parties), we'll probably always mark the other 2 days as well, just without as much pomp. So Dec. 14th will be "Our Family Day", Aug. 14th will be "Nate's Name Day", and Feb. 18th will be "Nate's Adoption Day". But the real day to celebrate him will be Dec. 14th.

Someone asked me if there really was a need to celebrate another day, after all, Michaela only has her birthday, isn't it a bit unfair to her. I feel that Nate deserves a special day for him, and I do as well. He and I missed out on breast feeding, his first smile, his first teeth, his first solids. And then there is the miracle of his finding his way, through all of the thousands of other families waiting to adopt, into our arms. He deserves to be celebrated over and over again.

Fun With Balloons

Belonging

One of us at last!

Party

We had a mini party for Nate because Mom and Meghan, Aaron and the kids came down to celebrate with us

Febuary 18th - Finalization!

Before

Nathanael standing outside the courtroom doors, just before we all went in to finalize his adoption.

.

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After!!!!

One of us, forever!
You can see how excited Missie was when we told her that Nate was going to be her brother "forever and ever".

I want to take a little survey..... I really want to celebrate Nate joining our family, yearly, but I don't know which date to use. There are 3 possibilities;

1. December 14 - The day he moved in with us.

2. August 14 - The day we got legal custody, and his name changed, officially, to Nathanael Josh James Santo

or

3. Febuary 18 - The day his adoption was finalized.

I'd love it if people could post comments voting which day I should use. They are all so important. Thanks!

Buddies

These two trouble-makers have a blast together! It's so cute to see them having fun, and playing. Nate adores Micah. And Micah is so great with him.

'Who so poor,' asked Anna Kingsford more than a century ago, 'so oppressed, so helpless, so mute and uncared for, as the dumb creatures who serve us -- they who, but for us, must starve, and who have no friend on earth if man be their enemy?" - Christian Vegetarian Association Newsletter

All animals, including often overlooked farm animals, deserve to be treated with as much love and kindness as the chickens at Little City Farm.

Justin Douglas Neufeld

I think these pictures speak for themselves. Justin is so adorable, peaceful and precious. Michaela adored him! It was so wonderful to meet him before he was even a week old. We're so thankful to Josh and Heather for allowing us to barge in on them 2 days in a row. And thanks Mom and Dad for bringing us to Kitchener with you.

Pickles, I Think!

Little City Farm has 6 or so dearly loved chickens. The owners were so nice, and brought Michaela to collect their eggs, and she got to hold one of them (Pickles, I think). Michaela was beyond thrilled! It was an amazing experience for her.

Little City Farm, Bed & Breakfast

Michaela and I went to visit Josh, Heather, Jamie and Justin this weekend with Mom, Dad and Meghan. We stayed at a cute little Eco-Friendly, vegetarian Bed & Breakfast. It was very nice, the couple running it were very friendly, and the food was awesome.
Michaela sneaked into Grandma's room, and found her favorite sweater that Grandma wears often. She put it on, then came running into the breakfast room to surprise us. It was really sweet.

Welcome Justin!

Well I guess I can't say that Micah is my favorite nephew anymore, because now I have 2 nephews! I am so pleased to welcome Justin Douglas Neufeld into the world, and can't wait to meet him! We're so happy for you, Josh and Heather, and look forward to many more years of passing along little boy hand-me-downs! Love you all, you are a beautiful family.

Growing

I often look at the kids and wonder where the time has gone. Last night I lay awake in bed, thinking about how in 9 short months, Michaela would be off to school. I can't imagine my days without her. How will I bear to send her by herself on the school bus? Will she be liked? Will she be happy? Will she behave? Will I have prepared her enough? Will the thought of her being gone all day, day after day ever stop hurting? Sigh.

Wheeeeee!!!!

The kids had a blast using Michaela's new sled. The fun lasted for almost a week before the rain started, and the snow hill melted....so sad.

Finished just in time!

I built this for Michaela, and we gave it to her before we left for Kingston, because it was too big to fit into the car.
One of my biggest worries was whether or not she would appreciate it, but she really loved it!
Right away she got all of her favorite animals and people, and lined them all up in the house. Her auntie Heather helped us out with some great furniture for it as Michaela's Christmas present.

King of the Hill!

Jon Michaela and I shoveled all of the snow in our back yard into one corner, making an awesome sled hill for Michaela once she gets her Christmas present (shhhhh!). The snow almost reaches the top of the fence. So far, Michaela's favorite thing to do is stand at the fence and talk to people walking by, in her typical, friendly way.