The Withers Family: 2009 year in review: a good place to start (Part Two)

So when I ended my last post, it was mid-June and we had just gotten Noah home. Here is part two of the Withers Family 2009 Year in Review:

JUNE (Part Two)
Our first days home with Noah were just awesome. He transitioned into our family better than we could have ever imagined. The books we read and the training we received through our adoption agency taught us to prepare for the worst and hope for the best as far as bonding and attachment with our new little one. I'm glad we "studied up" on attachment problems, but I'm thrilled that we didn't have to use any of our training. Noah settled in with us and is just the happiest, funniest, most loving little boy we could imagine. He makes Nathan and I laugh every day and he is the perfect fit for our family. After all the struggles and waiting we endured in trying to have a family, I'm convinced that Noah is the little boy who was meant to start our family. He was definitely worth the wait!

The hardest part of Noah's transition that first week home was the jet lag. Such a sleepy boy!

First week home: Noah giving Grandpa Martin some love

Noah came home on a Thursday. The following Saturday morning, I was sitting on the couch with him and suddenly became sick to my stomach. I figured it was just nervous anxiety about suddenly becoming a mom and having this little guy to care for, so I didn't think much of it. Then, it happened again the following weekend. I wasn't concerned for my health, but it did get me thinking. I bought a pregnancy test that Monday and took it just on a whim - mostly to calm that nagging feeling in the back of my mind. Wouldn't you know it, that stick lit up like a Christmas tree the second I peed on it. Holy crap - I was pregnant! I called my doctor right away because my first concern was making sure that this pregnancy was healthy and in the right place after having suffered the ectopic just a few months earlier. I had an ultrasound which confirmed everything was great. I was already 14 weeks along and was given a due date of December 22nd.

While this pregnancy was never unwanted, it was certainly unplanned and unexpected! I had a hard time coming to terms with having another child so quickly. We had just gotten Noah home and had no way to know how well he would adjust. I was terribly afraid that we wouldn't be able to give Noah the time and attention he needed to adjust to his new life with us. At the same time, most of our family had not yet met Noah and we didn't want to "steal his thunder" by announcing our pregnancy right away. So, we decided to wait a few weeks before revealing our exciting news to the world.

JULY
During the first week of July, we headed to southern Indiana to visit Nathan's family and introduce Noah to everyone down there. Such a crazy weekend, but so much fun! Everyone was so excited to meet Noah. He did a great job meeting so many new people. We celebrated the 4th of July with a parade, Noah's first haircut in the USA, and his first dip in the pool.

Great-Aunt Denise give Noah his first haircut in the USA

Happy boy in the pool

Later in July, we hit the road again - this time to Ohio to meet my extended family. More people that were so excited to meet our new little man! Noah has so many people that love him. He is a very lucky little boy and we are very lucky parents.

"Hey Mark - Nice catch! Can I touch it?"

That's Noah gnawing on the magic cucumber from Great Grandma Wieging's garden. (We say it's magic because the day after he chewed on this, he FINALLY got his first tooth!)

Near the end of July, I went back to the doctor for another ultrasound. Everything was going great and we were excited to find out that we were expecting a BOY. Hooray for a little brother!

Also in July, we had the first gathering of the Withers', Lafler's, Balon's, and DeBriere's. Those are the four families here in Kalamazoo that welcomed little boys home from South Korea within 8 months of each other (from November 2008 to June 2009.) It was so much fun to get all four boys together - they are all so different (with strong personalities!) What a hoot it was trying to get all four of them to pose for a picture! It was the first of what I am sure will be many gatherings of our little "fantastic four."