Mowing

This just cracked me up today! Nelson was outside mowing and I look out there and Will is on his tractor mowing right behind him!! It was just too cute!! He was doing everything Nelson was, looking behind him, looking down at the grass making sure he got all the spots, it was just hilarious!! Man, if only that tractor really cut grass. . . Will decided to play bumper tractors for a minute!

And there they go again! Good mowing guys! The yard looks great!

That little guy is his Daddy's boy all the way!!

Ajay's Story

I figured since it was Ajay's First Birthday, I would tell the story of his birth and how he came to us. He is an absolute joy to our lives and we can't imagine our lives without him!

On our anniversary in 2007, Nelson and I decided that we wanted to expand our family. We knew that I wasn't going to be able to have another pregnancy and we knew that adoption was really something we wanted to pursue. I started looking online and calling agencies and lawyers to kind of get a feel for the private adoption world. We found an agency and got our packets and started on the layers and layers of paperwork. By February 2008 we were totally finished with everything and were finally in the "active" stage of the adoption process, which is the wait and be prepared stage. We waited, not expecting a call any time soon, since they told us it would be about 18 months on average to get "the call."

Then one Friday in August, Nelson and I were both home and we heard the phone ring, we saw the adoption agency's name on the caller ID and stood there in total shock. I answered the phone and Sarah, our adoption specialist, was on the phone saying she had a birth mother who wanted to talk with us and meet with us!! The situation was a little out of our "match" situation, but Nelson and I said, YES!! We were in, just YES!

The next Friday we were on our way to meet our birth mother. We had lunch with her and her boyfriend and we got along great! She was just soooo sweet!! I showed her pictures of Will and his birth experience. We talked for about 2 hours there at the restaurant. She said she had found our profile on the Internet and had wanted us! The agency had showed her tons of other families profiles, but we weren't in that stack, so she asked the agency, "Why isn't this family in here? Why didn't you give me their profile? I want them!" She just totally clicked with our family and our profile and we just new it was a match! In talking with her, she was going to name the baby, A.J. and when she heard we were going to name him Ajay, she said, "Now I know this was meant to be." We just had so many similarities and we just knew it was right!

We also had dinner with her and her boyfriend, but this time her Mom and sister joined us. Her sister wasn't really quite for the adoption, but after meeting us, and getting to know us, she really opened up to us and the adoption process. Her family was so sweet and I am so glad we got to spend the day with them and got to meet them.

The next morning, at 6:00am, we were asleep in our hotel room and my cell phone rang. It was Sarah again, and she said, the birth mother was in active labor! She wasn't due for over 4 weeks, so we were totally shocked!! We didn't have anything with us!! We headed up there and they ended up taking her for an emergency C-section before we could make it there. When we got there, she was in recovery and doing good, but the baby was having a little trouble breathing. Her mother took us in to see the baby! For the first time Nelson and I saw him, we knew he was our Ajay! We fell in love with him right then and there! He was tiny and was having a little trouble breathing, so we couldn't hold him right then, but we held his hands, talked to him, and gave him kisses. We sat with him all day, and had visits from the birth mother's mom, sister, best friend, boyfriend, and even extended family.

My sister was going to drive from OKC to Durant, then up to us with all the stuff we would need for Ajay (car seat, crib, clothes, etc) not to mention clothes for Nelson and I. Pretty much right when she got there, the Pediatrician came in and said, he was going to go ahead and ship him to the NICU in Kansas City because he wasn't getting any better and he was now, 8 hours old and still hadn't gotten to take a bottle. So we followed the ambulance up there and got him settled in the NICU that night. It took him a few days to get his breathing under control and he caught on pretty quick to feeding, so we got to take him home from the NICU after 12 days.

The day Ajay was discharged from the hospital was also our day in court with the birth mother to terminate parental rights and then give us temporary custody. It was a whirlwind of a day!! Court was super stressful and the judge was not very nice to either one of our parties! I was in tears, the birth mom was in tears, it was a hard day! But in the end, the judge saw what he needed to see and we got to take Ajay out of the hospital. However, we had to stay in Missouri until our ICPC came through and Oklahoma said we come back with him. We were gone for 21 days total, but finally after a horrible ICPC ordeal which had everyone stressed out and emotional, our wonderful friend and Representative John Carey helped us get Ajay home! We were sooo relived and happy to be able to take him home, FINALLY!!

We had to wait six months to totally finalize our adoption of Ajay, and during that six months we had to have monthly visits from our social worker. But that day in court, was one of the happiest days of our lives!! Ajay was ours, legally ours, forever!! He had always been ours, but it just felt better having that little piece of paper to officially make him Ajay Richter Edgeman!!

Most of you know where Ajay's got his name, but if you don't: Dr Ajay Verma was one of Will's NICU doctors. When Will was so terribly sick in the NICU with septic shock and we were just praying that he made it through the night, as Dr. Verma was standing there working and working on him for hours and hours, I told him, "If you save my baby, I promise, I will name my next baby after you, just save him." And I think Nelson even told him that again months later when Will was having another trying time, so we just thought we "owed" him that little piece of thanks. Then Dr Richter was Will's doctor that helped perform Will's LTP surgery to remove his trach, and he just made that entire situation bearable and even gave us high fives when Will was extubated and breathing on his own, plus we just liked the name. So our little Ajay has a lot to live up to in his name, and I know he will!

Anyway, that is the little story of our Ajay came to be a part of our family. He is a true joy to our lives and just fits in with us perfectly!! We can't even imagine our lives without him!! We love you Ajay, happy birthday, you are our second little miracle and we can't wait to show you the world!

Here is proud Mommy and Daddy with Ajay right after he was born.

He was so tiny and so perfect!

Here is Ajay after being transferred to the NICU in Kansas City. All those tubes again!! Nelson and I knew we could do this though! Our birth mother was so worried because she knew how much we wanted to experience a "normal" childbirth. We told her don't you worry, we are experts at this, we are just meant to have those special little NICU miracles!!




Look, Mom, no tubes!! Just my special little space helmet!


Here is Mommy getting to hold Ajay for the first time!! Nothing like getting to hold your baby for that first time!! You get nervous and excited all at once!!

Well, that is our adoption story. It was the best thing we could have ever done after going through what we did with Will. We knew we wanted to share our love with more children, we just couldn't put them or ourselves through that again, so adoption was our answer! It was truly a life changing experience and I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful our adoption experience was and how much our birth mother will forever be in our hearts and prayers! She gave us the best gift of all, the gift of life, our Ajay!

Ajay's First Birthday!

I can't believe my little baby turned ONE Year Old on Monday!! It seems like just the other day we were driving up to Kansas City to be with him in the NICU after he was born!! Time sure does fly! They grow up too fast!

Since Nelson and I both had to work all around our little guys first birthday, we decided to just have a little family birthday party after work Monday. That's what we did for Will, so we decided to do that for Ajay too!

We grilled up some K-Bob's and ate dinner together and then had cake and presents! It was very yummy and great to have the family all together!

Ajay wasn't quite sure what was going on, but sure did enjoy being the center of attention and loved the cake and all the presents!! I think he had a GREAT birthday!

Here is a picture of his Birthday cake!

We decided to eat dinner outside, so everyone pulled up a chair and got to enjoy dinner outdoors! It was a nice summer night, thank goodness, so it was a good time! My grandmother came, and she brought her sister-n-law that has been visiting with her, it was great to see Aunt Georgie again! Then we had Nelson's parents (Grandy and Grandpy), my parents (Grams and PeePaw), Ritchdie and her granddaughter Chloe, and Megan.
And so the cake eating begins! He was very delicate at first, just sticking one finger in the icing and then licking it off, then. . . he discovered what all he could do with it!


I think he definitely enjoyed his cake!

I don't think he wanted us to take the cake away from him!! It was just too much fun!!

Yep, it's official, completely covered in icing!! Now quick, get him to the bath!!

After the bath, we opened presents!! He wasn't quite into opening them yet, but he sure did enjoy the toys that were in there! There were so many choices he didn't know what to do!

I think he has enough toys to last him a while!!

He got this little phone on one of his toys and he knew exactly what to do with it! He put it right up to his ear and started saying "Hi" "bye-bye" It was just tooo cute!! Nelson said he has been learning that from his Mommy since I am always on the phone!

End of the night, bedtime, one year older!!

We had a great time!! It was a wonderful birthday! I just can't believe he is one!! My goodness, they will be in college in no time!!

Will's First Day of Pre-K

Monday was Will's First day of Pre-K! I can't believe my baby is at Big Boy School!! They just grow up too fast! He is in Northwest Heights! Which, is where his Mommy went, so that is kind of neat! I still remember where everything is too, which is kind of surprising! He was very excited to go and couldn't wait!

The Street NWH is on is a one way, so you have to pass it, make the block, and come around the other side to get in. We had showed Will his school several times the week before driving by, and when I passed it, he said, "Mommy, why are you not stopping at my school, I want to go to my school today. Can you turn around and take me back there, I want to be in Mrs Davis' School." So he was very excited!! I think he thought I had changed my mind and wasn't going to let him go!!

He has a WONDERFUL teacher this year!! Mrs Davis!! We have known her forever, I went to school with her daughters, Sharla and Starla, and we were best friends (we all went to NWH too!) and have been in school from Kindergarten to our Senior year at Durant! Then Sharla and I even went to the same college (SWOSU for Pharmacy). So when we heard we had Mrs Davis, Nelson and I were soooo relieved because we knew he would be in great hands! We had almost chickened out a few times this summer and decided not to put him in school this year, but once we knew he had her for his teacher, we felt so much better and decided to let him try it! He is super excited too because he knows her from Ajay's OLAP studies where she comes to our house to see where Ajay is and gives us lessons to do! So I guess Mrs Davis is both of their teachers!!

We were really afraid that he wasn't going to get his transferred approved to come to Durant and NWH, so we were very grateful that he was and did get to this year! They are so pushed for space and it is hard for the district to let in transfer students, but thank goodness we were approved!! I had my appeal speech ready and waiting if we didn't!!

Here is my big boy getting ready to go in the doors to NWH (or Mrs Davis' School as he calls it)

Here is Will putting his backpack in his little "cubby"! I think he was kind of confused about that, since Nelson and I call him "Cubby" and have since he was super small in the NICU, so I think he was kind of like what? my Cubby, me?

Here is Will as we were saying bye. He didn't even cry, he saw all the kids and was like, "Mommy, I want to go play with all those kids." and then he just took off and joined the group! At least I got to sneak in a quick hug goodbye before he ran off to join his friends! Mr Independent!!

Nelson and I had to both work Monday, so his nanny, "Ritchdie" got to pick him up from school. I had her bring them by my work so I could see him! He was sooo tired, he played super hard! I asked him how his day went at school, and he said, "Oh Mom, it was GREAT!" I asked him what he did and he said, "I played with EVERYTHING!" I said, what kind of things did you do, he said, "I played with toys with kids, I played on the playground, I ate food, I took a nap, but had to wake up, then played with kids some more!" I think he had a great day! I asked him if he wanted to go back to school, and he said, "but not today." I think he was ready for anther nap!! He wanted us to buy him a meal ticket (he is all into tickets) for lunch, and I asked him what he had for lunch, he said, "chicken nuggets, french fries, corn, and white milk in a box!" So I think he had a super day!

When we were up at NWH dropping him off, we ran into several of my old teachers, and one of them, Mrs Lindley, came running through the halls to say hi and give hugs! She is the librarian there, so I asked Will, since Monday is library day, if he got to see Mrs Lindley, there, he said yes, and I told him she was my teacher. He said, "when you were a little girl?" and kind of looked at me funny, I guess he thought I was crazy and meant she was still my teacher today, smart kid!! It was a GREAT DAY though!!

Florida Vacation

We decided to make this year full of nothing but fun and vacations and relaxation and memories, thus all the vacations this year! We haven't gotten to take many vacations over the last few years since all of our time off was spent in Cincinnati, but since we didn't have to make that trip this year or spend any of our vacation time in the hospital we decided to travel!! We started the year off with a trip to Kansas City, then came Sea World and San Antonio, then Colorado, and now it was time for Florida!

Nelson and I have always "disagreed" on vacation spots. I am a mountains, hiking, relaxation vacation lover and Nelson is a beach, sun, and sand vacation lover. We made both of us happy this year and went to each! I have to admit, the beach was fun!! The boys really really enjoyed it and we had a good time too!! It was a little difficult with an 11 month old at the beach, but we managed and all still had a GREAT time!! Plus, we got to through 4 states that we have never been in: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida!! We are trying to take the boys to all 50 states, we are getting there!!

The drive was a long one!! But the boys are WONDERFUL little travelers!! Thank goodness for DVD players!! They are such troopers!! We spent two days getting there, stayed for two days, then took two days getting back, so a long trip, but well worth the fun!! I think we could have stayed a few more days though!!

We started off the trip with a walk on the beach the night we got there! Will was soooo excited!! We told him he couldn't go in yet since he didn't have his bathing suit on, so he snuck over to his Grandpy and talked him into taking him waist deep in the water!! Little sneaker!!

We got up early the next day and were down at the beach by 8:00am, and we spent the entire day down there playing in the sand, making sand castles, and playing in the ocean.

The next day Will had had enough of the ocean and wanted to play in the pools, so we spent that day playing in all of the resorts 5 pools! It was a great time and Will played soooo hard, he had a blast! Ajay loves the water so he was just a happy little camper too!! They almost turned into fish that day!!

Here is the view from our condo, it was gorgeous!! We just enjoyed sitting out there on the balcony and taking it all in!! There was a great breeze and view, perfect!

Of course, one of our favorite things to do on vacation is eat, so we had to go out to eat for our one real meal each day! We could only talk the boys into getting cleaned up once a day, so we had a late lunch/early dinner each night at a restaurant and then had the other meals on the beach or poolside! Here is Nelson and his Dad at Old Bay Steamer, it was delicious!!
Here is the huge pile of steamed sea food we gobbled up! There was lobster, shrimp, oysters, clams, mussels, crabs, mmmm good!!

Here is Mommy and her two boys at Old Bay Steamer!

I think we might have worn this little boy out!! He just fell asleep right on the beach!! It is hard work playing in the sand all day!!

Here is Daddy and Ajay hanging out at the beach!

Will decided to cover Daddy all up with sand and try to bury him, he was quite a busy boy!!

Here is Mommy and Ajay our first day at the beach! Ajay could not wait to get his toes in the sand!! He is such a water baby and wants to do EVERYTHING his big brother does!!

This is the first time everyone saw the Emerald Coast and got to stick their toes in the ocean and sand! Will got a little more than his toes wet, he went with Grandpy and was soaked!! He just couldn't wait!!

After the first day at the beach, Will decided that he really didn't like it because, "That beach and ocean just has too much salt and pepper in it, can we just play at the pool today?" He got hit in the face with a wave and got salt water in his eyes, so I guess the salt and pepper were just too much for him, so we spent the next day at the pools. They have a kiddy pool with a pirate slide, he LOVED it!! I think he probably went down that slide 50 times!!

Ajay got to get down and be "free" at the kiddy pool too and he LOVED it!! He was all over the place trying to get everywhere his big brother was! He wasn't afraid of anything!!

Ajay and I spent the first day watching the older boys swim, it was really kind of cold, there was a storm moving in so we opted to stay out and watch the older boys swim! Ajay had a blast just watching though, he is such a people watcher!!

Here is Will shivering, it was cold!! It couldn't stop him though, he was a little fish, we all were!!

We had a wonderful time!! We will definitely go back! We just spent the entire day relaxing and taking it easy and just doing whatever the boys wanted!! It was a GREAT vacation!! I just wish it was closer!!

We tried to make the most of each day, got up and down to play by 8:00am, then stayed down there until about 3:00pm, then came up to the room for a quick nap and to get cleaned up, then grabbed a bite to eat by 5:00pm to beat the rush, then back to the condo to swim again until 9:00pm, then showers and bed, then started the day all over again the next day!! It was GREAT!! I think we all made memories we will keep forever!!