Here are some more pictures from Easter. We just spent the day playing and relaxing and went out to dinner. Nathaniel posed for some pics for me in his cute Easter outfit: 
Here's the little guys Easter basket and a pic of the 2 of us before Easter dinner:
No...he isn't really going to eat the peeps and the chocolate...but he's gotta have a taste of them! ;-) 
It's funny...I wasn't sure how Nathaniel would react to the 'big' bunny. He is not really afraid of anything-- not even our lovely but gigantic rottweiler. I handed him over to the Easter Bunny, and well, he pulled his whiskers and laughed! :-)
We're looking forward to a quiet and relaxing day with just the 3 of us.
We had a great time in NH! Nate got to meet his great grandpa and spend time with Grammy, too. The subarctic temps of central NH didn't keep us from all having a great time. We exchanged gifts with Grammy and Bud (who spoiled us!) and ate lots of good food. Nate loved Grammy's house! He loves to be held by everyone and so he is happiest when there is lots of family around. He loved all the toys he got...especially his new baby boom box...he loved to make the music play. It's amazing how fast he is growing...he easily mimics what we show him now and then will look right at you once he has imitated you....as if to tell us how proud he is. Yesterday we were at the Olive Garden and I found him in my wallet trying to grab my credit cards out- can you believe it!!
Here are some pics:
Grammy and Nate...
My friend M. and Nate...
Great Papa and Nate...
I'm standing in my new winter boots!
Before we left for our visit to NH this weekend, we made some hot fudge. Nate absolutely loves chocolate- he can never get it in his mouth fast enough. A you can see, while I was busy making a mess in the kitchen- Nate fell fast asleep!
Can't believe you're already 10 months today....still SO little and SO cute, though! Your smile reaches out and grabs me- love you! Mom
This picture was one in a series of professional pics we had taken this week....I only got the wallet size so far - I will post more when I get the others next week!
It's hard to find the right words to express how much this journey has meant to us and how truly fulfilled we are now that our son is home and we are a family. The journey was filled with so many emotions along the way....some days were so unbearably difficult and others were nothing short of pure bliss. There were days when I wondered why we had chose this option and there were many, many days when I knew exactly why. Now that we are home, I am reminded every day of why we chose adoption and why we were matched with the little boy who is our son. This blog has served as a great way for us to journal about our experiences and for our family and friends to follow. We have been so grateful for all of the friends we have met since we started our journey...friends we have known for years and also new friends we have made throughout the process.
Having said this, we feel as though we have closed the door on our journey to our son and are blessed to start a new one...life at home with Nathaniel!! So... starting soon this blog will end and we will begin an exciting new chapter in our lives. We will be starting a new journal of our experiences of life at home (aka-new blog!) and, for many reasons, we are choosing to share that with our family and friends -- keeping it more private. If you have followed our journey along the way-- thank you! All of our friends both inside and outside of blogger world- your comments and emails and words of wisdom have meant so much.
What I am most excited about is the future. I await the day when Nathaniel can reflect on this journal and understand how greatly he has changed our lives...when he can see how much he has meant to us from day 1 (and before)....when he can truly understand how he has made us a family and how loved he will always be. I really can't even find the words to express how much love we feel for him...and the happiness he has given us is simply the best experience of our lives.
Family and friends...I will send you the password to the new blog in a couple weeks. Friends and fellow bloggers we have become close with...if you would like to continue to follow our journey -- email me privately.
There will be a couple more posts here before we offically sign off.
It's now on to a new chapter with much anticipation of what Life with Nate will hold!! Here's a special montage of our journey. For our sweet, sweet son...
We are in the midst of a serious growth spurt. The little guy has been eating voraciously AND...he has started babbling in sentences! It is so funny to watch. It truly sounds as though he is having a conversation with himself in babble language. He had his nine month immunizations on Friday and he did so well. As long as people are around- he is a happy camper.
We can't believe it's almost been one month since we arrived home. WOW! We are so fortunate that the transition has been smooth. I can honestly say- I have not been sleep deprived once!! However, Nathaniel does not love his crib (much prefers the European pillow top that mom and dad share) and so we have been letting him sleep with us. For the next several weeks we'll just continue to bond as a family and visit with family and friends. Nathaniel will start baby school in April 3 days per week! 
