Sam Talking

Sam has become quite the talker and works hard to pronounce things correctly. It's pretty cute. Except that he never, ever stops! :)

Let the Elk Take the Cup!

Fun in the Sun

August was all about swimming and soaking up as much fun as we could. The boys love nothing more than to be in the water, whether it's the lake, the pool, or the tiny baby pool in the front yard. We are holding onto the nice weather as long as we can and spending as much time outside as possible!

We took our first official family vacation last week. Thanks to some wonderful family friends, we were able to go to Lake Erie and stay in a little private community called Lakeside (near Sandusky). It's a gated Christian community reminiscent of days past, where most people walk or ride bikes. We stayed in an awesome old house. Within the community was everything we needed: shops, restaurants, putt-putt, shuffleboard, a sandy beach on the lake, a baby pool, a fab park with playset and huge sandbox, a huge pier for fishing... in other words, we were in heaven. All of this was literally a block away from our house, so we walked to everything.

We also went to a nearby drive-thru Safari where we fed animals such as a huge elk, deer, and even giraffes-all through our van windows and sunroof!! It was an incredible experience. We also took the ferry across to Kelley's Island and spend some time there. It was fun to see where Jeremy and my dad often come to fish and we had an impromptu swim on the beautiful beach there. (You'll see in the pics that we hadn't planned on swimming there-no swim suits, no towels, nothing. But it was deserted and gorgeous and we just couldn't resist the water. Ben swam in his undies, Sam in his outfit. It was an interesting ride home on the ferry with 2 wet, sandy kids, naked kids...) We can't wait to go back.

Jeremy had 10 days off, so after our 4 days there, we have enjoyed a wonderful 6-day "stay-cation" here at home. We've gone out on dad's boat on East Fork Lake, spent lots of time playing in the yard in this beautiful weather, flew kites and just enjoyed being together.

Sam had his yearly allergy testing done last week as well- results were the same as last year, mildly allergic to peanuts and very allergic to eggs. Dr. says he has a chance of outgrowing them both, especially the eggs. We are completely okay with where we are with that right now; we are used to accomodating his diet and just remain focused on keeping him safe. We believe his food allergies have actually been a blessing to us. We eat much healthier now and are more conscious of what we put in our mouths. It's also sweet to see Ben so protective over what Sam eats.

We got an update on the adoption as well. Our social worker believes we should get "matched" with a baby sometime late fall, definitely by the end of this year. We'll learn who she is, what she looks like, her background, etc. Typically babies come home 4-6 months after being matched. So according to our calculations, she's probably already born and should be home sometime between March to June next year. We are very excited and trying to wrap our brains around the fact that our daughter already exists on the other side of the world!

We have much to look forward to this fall. Ben is playing team soccer for the first time. Preschool starts for them both next week. Ben's excited to get back, and we are thinking Sam is going to love his first year, social butterfly that he is. Hope all is well with you, and check back soon!

Not the greatest video because I was laughing so hard, but here's the kids on a ride at Kings Island. It whips them around so fast that Sam could barely stay upright. Sam and Izzy are sitting together in the blue seat and Ben is in the seat behind them.

Trains, Trips and Rides

July was a super fun month for our family. We took a real train ride with Curious George and spent lots of fun time with cousin Izzy. She and Sam are hilarious together, they are like brother and sister-they either love or hate each other depending on the moment!

Jeremy and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary in Ft Lauderdale, Florida! It was the longest we we had left the boys, we were gone for 4 days. We had a very relaxing time away, spent lots of time by the ocean and pool, and had some quiet, peaceful meals together. We loved every minute and were also completely ready to come home to the boys.

Dirt and Fireworks

We recently went out on Grandpa's boat for the first time this summer. Last year Sam was so little and scared. This year he was into everything. He loved the ride, swimming in the lake, and even riding the inner tube. Of course Ben is a pro at all this, and he is ready to go back and do a little fishing next time!

The most exciting thing to happen around here in a while was the load of dirt we had delivered right to our driveway. Our basement has a leak and Jeremy had to do some digging to fix the crack, and then ordered a bit load of topsoil to fill the hole, etc. The boys got to watch the big, red, dumptruck back into our driveway and dump the load of dirt. They were wide-eyed and completely silent during the whole process; they didn't move an inch they were so fascinated! Then they "got to work" on the pile, getting out their little wheelbarrow, buckets, shovels, etc. They have played for HOURS in that dirt pile. Ben helped Jeremy by loading up his little wheelbarrow, pushing it around to the side of the house, dumping it and using a rake to smooth it into place, just like his daddy. He was actually productive and helpful! Sam dug in the dirt, put it between his toes, threw it, ate it and slide down the pile. Absolute heaven for two little boys who like nothing better than being dirty. We've decided to reserve a small portion of it to keep around for a while-it's better than any toy!

Fourth of July was a "blast", the boys both really got into it this year. We went to Loveland's parade and fireworks. It was a real treat for them to be up so late, although the days following were a bit rough from being so tired!

Hope the summer is treating you well! Keep checking back!

Ben's T-ball picture!!!

After a fun morning at the museum, Sam couldn't stay awake for the ride home. Despite a sucker and a snack and attempts by all of us to keep him awake, he was out within 5 minutes. :)

Summer Begins!

Well, summer has begun for us at the Coleman house, and we've had countless adventures already. Ben finished his second year of preschool and has blossomed into a much more mature, awesome "big kid". We can't believe he only has one more year of preschool to go, and then kindergarten! Sam will begin his first year of preschool in the fall! He gets to attend school with cousin Izzy, so hopefully their teacher has lots of energy and patience, those two are double the trouble!

Some of our fun adventures so far this summer: getting ice cream at the Whippy Dip (the ONLY place around for ice cream!), playing at Lunken Airport playground and eating at the restaurant there-they got to watch planes and helicopters take off and land! We also made our annual visit to the Butterfly Show at Krohn Conservatory, went to Kings Island (where we discovered Sam has no fear of the rides and laughs hysterically on them!), played in the river w/our buddies, and started swim lessons. Ben also has started his first "season" of t-ball, which is basically just a camp where they learn the basics of the game. It's amazing how they've improved already! We also had a quick trip to Evansville to visit family, and Ben got to go to a Red's game! Sam also got his first buzz cut, and for the first time I can see a resemblance between my boys!

Hard to believe, but we're also making an effort to spend more down time at home, so we've spent lots of time in our sandbox and playing with the hose-which seems to make them happier than anything! They are usually either covered in dirt, sand, or sopping wet-which often means multiple showers/baths a day!

Couple of updates people often ask us about: the adoption is still a-go, we are just waiting to be matched with a baby. We were told she should be home sometime beginning to middle of 2011. So we are patiently waiting and enjoying our last year or so w/just two kids! Also, Sam's allergies are still the same as far as we know: eggs and nuts. He did get a fistfull of hardboiled egg the other night in his hand, and no reaction, so that's a good thing! He goes back to be retested in the fall.

I have 2 tutoring students this summer-6th & 7th grade- a bit older than my usual kids. I'm enjoying the challenging and keeping my feet wet in the teaching field. Jeremy continues to be a top tech at Toyota, even got a surprise bonus from his boss yesterday! Our 10 year anniversary is coming up in July, so hard to believe!

Hope your summer has gotten off to a great start for you and your family! I'll updated again soon!

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Jen

A New Family Member?

For those of you who don't know, we are officially on a waiting list to adopt a baby girl from Korea. We have been blessed with two beautiful biological boys and are now excited to pursue our dream to adopt. We've already spent more than a year working on the application and home study process and now we're approved and "in line" for a baby. Typically the babies are around 10-12 months when they come home and are generally healthy. A social worker will fly with her to the Detroit airport, where we'll meet her for the first time. We are cautiously optimistic-adoption is a shaky thing and sometimes things don't work out. It's a lengthy process and it could be a year or more before she comes home. Ben is pretty excited about the idea right now, and Sam of course has no idea what's coming. :) We'll keep you posted!

Ben Turns 4!

It's so hard to believe our firstborn is 4! He was such a happy baby and continues to be such an easy going kid for the most part. He is continually happy and optimistic. He did inherit his mother's stubborn streak, so there are definitely times that we go head-to-head, but recently he has really been maturing and has been just so awesome to be with every day. He goes to preschool two mornings a week and LOVES it. He loves his "buddies", riding bikes, playing in water, and anything planes, trains and automobiles! He's all boy, very adventuresome. He's very protective of Sam and they get into all sorts of trouble together. We are so proud of his outlook on life and his ability to see the good in everything!

Sam Turns 2!

Can't believe my BABY is 2! He's a smiley, happy guy most of the time and we are so blessed to have him in our family. He's very outgoing and social, prefers to be out and about with people rather than be at home. He's starting to talk a lot more and eats us out of house and home, still. He's finally sleeping through the night, he's our light sleeper and it literally took him 2 years to figure out how to be a better sleeper. Exhausting! He's all boy, such a brave, roughneck boy and does his very best to run, jump and climb like his brother. He's still allergic to eggs and peanuts, but it's just a way of life for us now and we are praying that long term he outgrows them. He's extremely loving and sweet, very generous with his affection. We're thinking he might be a really sweet, protective older brother when we bring him home a sister from Korea! The future holds great things for our little Sam!

Here's our recent professional pictures, Ben is almost 4 and Sam is almost 2. They love our photographer and love being in front of the camera, as you can tell!