Snow???

So, Trey and I came out of the flower shop today (bought flowers for Senior Night--VB Match) and it was snowing!!! Ok...it only snowed for about 10 minutes and then it stopped, but Trey was completely spazzing over the snow. He literally has been asking about when it will snow since July! He apparently loves winter and was figuring that anyday it should snow. Well, today he was satisfied.....for a few minutes. He said that we needed to go to the store and get some skis! (I'm not joking!!!) Of course, we didn't go pick any skis up....but it cracked me up that he even asked. He started talking about making snowmen and snowballs! He is going to be a hoot when we "actually" get some snow!

Trey is also learning so much at school. He has already started working with site-words. I can't believe that this little boy who didn't know a word of English in April is now beginning to read. Everyday people tell me that they would have never guessed that he was adopted. They say that he looks like us and sounds completely "American" with his English. It's been pretty amazing!

I am including some pictures from a week and a half ago. Some of our friends from Wisconsin came down and we went to eat at Harry Caray's Restaurant. They also brought their new puppy along. Trey LOVES dogs! He also has been wishing for a dog. I say that I would like a small dog and Shane says that he would like a big dog. To counter that....Trey just says that we should just get one big and one small dog! He's pretty smooth!!!

Have a GREAT Day!

New Photos!

I didn't mean to leave you hanging with my eye issue. I wore my glasses for about 8 days, then I attempted to put my contacts back in. My eye is completely healed and doing much better. :o) Thanks for all of your well-wishes regarding my eye.

I also wanted to include some new pictures of Trey. The top picture is Trey's first school picture (kindergarten). I thought that it turned out really cute. In fact, all of the kids' pictures that I saw were really great! The photographer did a really nice job.

The rest of these pictures were taken last Sunday. Trey and I ventured out on our bikes to the playground. I took my camera along to capture some of our fun moments. I have to admit....we took about a zillion pictures of Trey during our first couple months and now, the picture taking has definitely tapered off. I really need to keep my camera more handy to keep up with Trey's growth and his fun adventures!

Speaking of Trey's growth, last Sunday, we measured him and weighed him. Since we came home in April, Trey has grown 2 inches and gained 4 pounds! He is noticeably bigger! We try to pick him up and it's getting harder and harder. :o)

Trey is really doing well and has made such great strides in his language development. He is starting to sound and act like he has been here in America all along! It's crazy how he has adapted to all of these changes! Trey is also doing really well with the whole "my mom is a coach" thing. The first volleyball match that he ever attended...he sprinted out onto the court during a time-out because he wanted to be with mama. Fortunately, Shane was about a foot behind him...scooped him up and took him outside. Now, Trey can sit in the bleachers, watching the game, or playing with toys, or literally cheering "Go Cougars!". He has come to understand the routine of volleyball matches and seems to be enjoying the experience as the coach's son. It also doesn't hurt that he gets to talk to 20 college age girls after the match either. :o) My players have been really sweet to Trey and his reciprocates their affection.

Well, I better get back to work now. Today, is a fairly slow day. I have given the team the weekend off (for Homecoming). So, it should be a fun weekend!

Take Care and God Bless,
Kathy

Mama's Doctor Appointment

So...I have been having some issues with my left eye lately. It has been red and watery and it felt like I had a scratch (from my contacts). Therefore, I took my contacts out for a couple days, then it seemed to improve so I put my contacts back in again. Well, that was fine and dandy for a few days. However, yesterday morning (while in Wisconsin with my volleyball team), I woke up around 4:00 a.m. with a really watery eye. My eye just got worse and worse through the day. I could hardly keep it open at times and it was very sensitive to light. Therefore, I knew that I would have to see the doctor. So....this morning, after church, Trey and I went to the Convenient Care Medical Facility near our house. The reason that I bring this story up is because Trey was hilarious while we were there.

At first, I was just registering at the desk. The lady was getting my name, address, etc. Please follow some portions of the conversation below:

Lady: "Last Name?"
Kathy: "Gebhardt. G-E-B-H-A-R-D-T"
Lady: "First Name?"
Kathy: "Kathryn. K-A-T-H-R-Y-N"
Trey: "T-R-E-Y"

It was so funny! He is so excited about letters and numbers and spelling....he just shared his name as well!

Later in the registration process, the lady asked me to sign some documents. Trey watched me sign the papers and said:

Trey: "That's not your name. Your name is M-O-M."

Ah....he kills me! Can you tell that he is a smart boy?

After we hung out in the waiting room, looking at the fish in the tank and spending some time finding letters in magazines, they called my name. Trey and I went to the examination room....answered some questions by the nurse, and then waited for the doctor to come in. When the doctor came in, Trey was very interested in everything that she was doing with my eye. He kept watching me...thinking that I was crying because it watered with everything that she did (light in the eye....ouch!). Then, the doctor had me lie on my back. She was going to put some stuff in my eye to make it glow in the dark. She then put a black light on it to see if there was a scratch on my cornea. Well, in the process of all of this....I am on my back and Trey climbed right up on top of me. He was literally laying right on top of me getting a bird's eye view of everything that she was doing. The doctor said that I should be named, "Mother of the Year." I certainly didn't think that this was worthy of such an award....however, I do realize that Trey is a sensitive boy and he wanted to make sure that I was ok. He asked me several times throughout the appointment if I was ok and he kissed me a few times too. What a sweetie!

All in all, my eye will be fine. I have a corneal abrasion and a possible ulcer on my eye. Of course, it is due to my contact....I had a scratch at some point and it hasn't been able to heal. Therefore, I am in for a lot of eye drops. I have to put 2 drops in my eye every 15 minutes today. Then, tomorrow, I will put 2 drops in my eye every hour and then after Day 3, I will put 2 drops in my eye every 4 hours for up to 14 days. I also won't be able to wear my contacts for awhile. Oh well, it could be worse. I'm really glad that it isn't pink eye or something contagious. I really didn't want to pass anything along to Trey or to my volleyball team. Therefore, I'll just be sporting my specs for a while. :o)

Have a GREAT Day!

My Little Guy

I just need to post some pictures from this past Sunday. Our Sunday ritual is generally:
1.) Go to Church/Sunday School
2.) Order Pizza
3.) Watch the Vikings

You may wonder why we are Vikings fans when we live in Chicago. Well, Shane grew up in Minnesota and we actually met there (I lived there for 6 years.) Therefore, Trey is growing up as a Vikings fan as well, even though he might take some ribbing as he gets older for his team choice. Actually, right now, Trey doesn't even watch the game. Although, he is gradually starting to take more of an interest and is beginning to comment on the games.

Otherwise, life is busy as usual. Trey is doing really well in kindergarten. He loves letters and numbers! He actually tries to figure out the first letter of random words quite often. For example, he'll heard the word "bear" and he'll say, "Buh, buh, buh The first letter in Bear is B". He is quite good at this activity too! He continues to amaze us! He is also very creative! He loves art class at school and made a beautiful painting a few weeks ago. The art teacher was so impressed, she hung it on her office door and made a point to show it to me!

Trey still continues to love the computer (at school and at home). We have gotten a couple CD-roms that work with:
* Dot-to-Dots (letters and numbers)
* Reading basics
Trey is sort of a "gadget-guy" so these tools have been wonderful to assist with his learning.

It's amazing how Trey has changed in the past 6 months! (Yes...it's been 6 months! We just completed our first post-placement visit!) His vocabulary is wonderful. The only issue now is that he still has a little accent, so he can be hard to understand at times. Also, Trey is eating everything that we eat! He has had a really big appetite lately and seems to be in another growth spurt. I just remember when we came home....all that he would eat was mashed potatoes and cucumbers.... Now, he will eat just about anything that we put in front of him! Also, Trey's clothing choices have changed as well. At first, Trey wouldn't wear jeans at all. Now, he loves them! He also is much more tolerant of several outfits that he wouldn't even consider when we first came home.

It's hard to fathom all of the changes that have happened in a relatively short time. Trey has really fit in perfectly with our family. Trey cracks jokes all the time (he's really witty!). He also hugs tighter and kisses us more often than he ever did before. He's really bonding with us well and it all feels perfect. We feel so blessed to have this little guy in our life. He truly is a gift from God.