The Summer of Kieran

When you're almost two, the world revolves around you, right? So I'm calling this post "The Summer of Kieran". (Seinfeld fans will remember the summer of George.) Here's a random post of pictures from various activities and visits with family and friends. Having fun in the backyard.
At the park with Dad. Kieran is about ready for a nap.
Celebrating Father's Day. (Thanks Kelly for the green table mat! It worked great.)
Kieran and Grandpa chillin' in the remote controlled chair.
A family photo taken at a memorial service for Amy's grandma. She passed away on June 18th. She got to meet Kieran on June 16th. His antics were the only thing that made her smile during our visit. We're so thankful she got to meet him.
At the memorial service, Kieran got to play with his cousin Caleb. He liked Caleb instantly, it was so cute!
Kieran gives his new friend Summer a hug. Kieran is already girl crazy!!
Kieran got to meet his cousin Heather yesterday. As usual, he was shy at first but soon was all smiles and laughter.
Kieran's cousin Heidi also came to visit yesterday. He was uncertain of all the new attention at first.
But he quickly warmed up to his cousins and had a great time playing with them.
Kieran, Mom & Aunt Katie having fun on this lazy Sunday afternoon. (Aunt Kendra took the picture.)
That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by to visit our blog.

My new favorite bedtime story

Every night before bed, we read Kieran a bedtime story. I bought the book You are My I Love You (by Maryann K. Cusimano) a couple of years ago in hopes of sharing it with my children some day. Tonight was the first time I read it to Kieran. As the story unfolded, I began to cry as it was amazing to finally be doing something I had only dreamed about for so long. Many of the anecdotes in the story perfectly described experiences we've had together as mother and son. Here are some of my favorite lines: "I am your parent; you are my child. I am your quiet place; you are my wild."..."I am your lullaby; you are my peekaboo. I am your goodnight kiss; you are my I love you." The illustrations, by Satomi Ichikawa, are also endearing. If you haven't read it yet, go check it out! I know this book will be a treasured favorite for years to come.

Through the eyes of a child

Today Kieran and I played on the patio while Mike mowed the lawn. Kieran thinks his dad is awesome, especially when dad is operating some sort of cool tool. It was so cute to watch his fascination as Mike went by with the mower. I love how everyday life is so interesting when you look at it through the eyes of a child.

One month ago

Meeting Kieran for the first time on May 19, 2009 He was not happy at first.
When he stopped crying and cuddled close to me, I started crying. Finally, I was holding my son!
It took a little longer for Kieran to warm up to Mike, but he did finally settle down and let dad hold him too.

One month ago, we were in Rwanda meeting our son for the first time. So much has changed since then. Today I sat and looked at pictures taken of Kieran on May 19th and compared them to photos taken a few days ago. Is it the same boy? Yes and no. How do I explain in words what has transpired in his life and ours? So much has happened in one month's time. I'll do my best to explain some of the milestones along the way...When we first met him, he did not want to be held by either of us. He was very upset and cried loudly for quite a while. Now, there is an amazing bond that has formed between us. He is our son, and we are his parents. He knows us and wants to be with us. He gives us hugs and kisses spontaneously! I love it! It took four days before we saw a smile from him, and then it was only a little smirk he gave Mike when they were playing in the hotel room. Now, he smiles often. The first time I heard him laugh was two weeks after we met him, and that was just a little chuckle. I was beginning to worry that he didn't know how to laugh! Now he laughs many times every day. He's a playful kid who likes to initiate games of peek-a-boo and chase. We have lots of fun together. He's also grown in physical strength and stamina. A month ago, he could not walk on his own and was barely able to walk while holding someone's hands. Now, he walks on his own while carrying toys half his size. He's not super stable yet, but he's walking! And, he's picked up some English too. We are impressed with how quickly he is learning to understand what we say to him. His vocabulary is growing daily too. He loves to say: "sock", "up", "cat", "yes", "baby", and "mom". However, the first three words are mostly vowel sounds but he says them in context consistently so we know he knows the words. When he is eating and we ask him if he wants more he often says, "YESSS". It's adorable and hilarious to me. When he says mom, it is not a title for me, it's to ask what something is. He points to everything, including himself, and says, "mom". Sometimes it can be quite confusing, especially for somebody who doesn't know our son. But, as quickly as he's been learning, I know it won't be long and he'll be saying many more words, including mommy and daddy. I do have to add for the record that he did say "pampa" for grandpa. It made my dad's day!
Kieran loves his daddy!

Kieran loves his mommy too!


We are all adjusting well to life as a family of three. The first couple of weeks were tough due to exhaustion and all the transitions. But now that we have a routine, life is good. Mike and I are still amazed that we are parents. Just today I was marveling that Kieran is our son. It's an honor to be given such a blessing! We love our son!
Thank you, God, for giving us such a wonderful child!

Bubbles and laughter

Yesterday we had some fun family time playing with bubbles in the backyard. Kieran absolutely loved them once he figured out that it was safe. Mike was blowing bubbles and then attacking them like he was sword fighting. Kieran thought that was hilarious and he laughed harder than we'd ever heard him laugh before. It was a delight to laugh together.



After all that fun, we're exhausted!

Fun with Kieran

Kieran is smiling and laughing more every day. He is a very good natured little guy, and he seems to be adjusting very well to his new life. Here's a few pictures with family and friends as well as just having fun....
...hanging with his uncle Dennis...

...caught with his hand in the cookie jar, er.. coffee cabinet.....

...jamming on his drum....

...sharing toys with his friend Amelia...

...riding his trusty steed...

...playing with his aunt Kendra...

...practicing his tackle technique on Dad's leg...

...laughing with his aunt Berta...

...and preparing for backyard liftoff with Dad.

We're so glad that he's adapting so quickly and flourishing in his new home. We're also grateful for all our friends and family who love Kieran and have welcomed him with open hearts and arms. He has a lot to smile about!

Dining in Rwanda

I promised families waiting to adopt from Rwanda that I would share about the food. Sorry it's taken so long to post this. Life with Kieran leaves much less time to blog! For those concerned about getting sick from food or beverages while traveling, I didn't get sick the entire trip. However, I ate cautiously. Before drinking juice, we asked if it's made with bottled water. I never had any dairy products other then hot milk in my tea and cheese on the pizza. I pretty much stuck to things that were cooked through, or fruit that I peeled or cut open myself. After others in our group had eaten the fresh pineapple without incident, I did have some of that. It was delicious! I did not eat any fresh vegetables while we were there. Mike was a more adventurous eater and he did get sick. We think it may have been from the butter at the breakfast buffet. They kept the unwrapped pats of butter cold by sticking them in ice. He also had lettuce and tomato on his club sandwich one day, which also may have caused him problems. We drank only bottled water, of course, and even used it for brushing our teeth. So, if you are planning to travel to Rwanda, don't worry about getting sick. Just eat cautiously and get a prescription for Cipro just in case!


Bourbon Coffee, our favorite hang out. It's the one place that really felt like home as it's sort of like Starbucks. We went there three different times. On one occasion, we sat on the balcony, pictured here. The food was good, and the atmosphere is very relaxing. Their chai tea is excellent- I'm not a coffee drinker. The pasteries looked amazing, but I was too hot to be tempted by sweets. They also serve meals for breakfast and lunch, and maybe dinner. I was impressed by their extensive menu. The view from the balcony was beautiful. I've included a picture below.

Another lovely place to eat is Afrika Bite. You will truly appreciate this place because it's the only "fast food" we had our entire visit, excluding the breakfast buffet at the hotel. The food is traditional Rwandan food kept hot in large urns. Some of the foods they served were potatoes, rice and beans, stews, and cooked bananas. I can't remember everything but it was all delicious. You grab a plate and dish up, then amble out to their enclosed garden area to eat. It was a lovely little spot with lots of plants and flowers all around you. For dessert, they brought us fresh fruit. (Pictured here is my dear friend Mandy and her son Henry.)

Not far from Afrika Bite is the restaurant Papyrus. Like most of the places, the decor is rather humble and unassuming. They serve many things at Papyrus, but most of us ordered pizza. You chose all your own toppings and they cook it up in what looked like a large wood-burning oven. It took a long time for our food to come, as is the norm for most of the restaurants there, but the pizza was good. We had Fanta to drink with our meal. It comes in glass bottles like we used to drink our sodas out of in the "old days" before pop came in cans. Fanta is served just about everywhere. I kept getting the silly advertisment jingle, "Wanna Fanta, don't you wanna Fanta?" stuck in my head.

Our hotel, Chez Lando, had a fairly nice breakfast buffet. It was so relaxing to be able to wander in at our own pace and sit down to eat. Most of the staff were quite friendly. Many of them came by our table just to say hello to Kieran. (He tends to draw a fan club wherever he goes!) The breakfast buffet included fresh fruits like pineapple, papaya, bananas, and some fruits we'd never seen before. They were similar to a kiwi in taste but looked like a roma tomato from the outside. The buffet also included rolls and croissants, cornflakes, eggs, potatoes, and some mysterious gray veggie sauted with the potatoes. I was brave and tried the mystery veggie- it was actually not bad. We did try their version of pizza for a take out lunch one day. Unfortunately, we didn't like it. I think it was due to the goat cheese they used instead of the mozzarella we're used to. Although this is a food post, I must mention that the grounds at Chez Lando were beautiful. It was like and oasis of calm.





On Sunday, our group took a trip to the countryside. We traveled about 45 minutes away from Kigali to a beautiful lake. The road to get there was incredibly rough, but we'd been in country long enough that the dirt roads were becoming common place. I don't know the name of the lake, and I've forgotten the name of the place we ate at! Sorry. It was a simple set up with plastic chairs and bamboo huts. However, the views there were beautiful. We saw many plants there that are common to us, like nasturtiums, but they grew much larger there. It was lovely and peaceful. The food was very slow in coming. We joked that they had to actually butcher the animal before preparing the meal. It didn't seem that far from the truth considering the remote location. We all had bruchettes, which is cooked meat on a wooden skewer. The meat was tough but tasty. The meal came with french fries like all the other bruchettes that I'd eaten during our stay. There was also a small salad on the side which we all judiciously avoided. To drink, lemon-lime or orange Fanta of course! (The drinks were 400 francs which is less than a dollar, cheap cheap!) It really wasn't about the food with that visit, it was all about the setting and getting out of the city for a bit of touring. I'm so glad we had the opportunity to see more of Rwanda that day.

We also ate at several other places. A memorable one is New Cactus but I don't have any photos of it. The setting was great. It's on a hill with great views of the city lights, as we were there at night. The name of the restaurant made me think Mexican food. But we actually had Italian food there. I ordered spaghetti. It was good but not great. However, Mike had lasagna and he said it was the best lasagna he'd ever eaten. He loves lasagna so that's a huge compliment.

Finally, we had Chinese take out one night. Our guide, Nyanja, was so kind to go get it and bring it back to the hotel for us. We all gathered in James and Mandy's room and had a feast! The food was great, very similar to Chinese food in the states. The Chinese restaurant, once again I don't know the name, is located near Africa Bite. Just remember even take out is not speedy so plan ahead.

A warm welcome home

It's been a little over a week since we've been home, but I wanted to share about our experience when we arrived at the airport May 29th. We had been traveling for thirty hours with little sleep. Kieran slept quite a bit, which was fabulous for all of us. But Mike and I were exhausted. As we came up the escalator at the airport, there was my dad taking our picture! My mom and sisters were waiting at the top and the moment when everybody saw us was so beautiful. It couldn't have been any more perfect. One of the hardest parts about being overseas is the separation from family and what is familiar. It was so good to be home with family and what an amazing sight to see all the love being showered on our dear son. Adoption in a miracle, and I'm so grateful to be a part of it.