September 10, 2007

First Gotcha Day Party!!











Saturday was the first Welcome Home Party for Taylor! It was held by my friends Beth, Marty, Elyse, Marna and Bruce. Everything was spectacular and beautiful! The decorations were wonderful and the M&M's with "Taylor Van Sant" on them were amazing! My sister did a great job with all the signs! Many of our friends and family came to celebrate with us. A special thank you to Marty, Beth, Elyse, Bruce, and Marna for all that you did. And thank you to everyone who came.

Taylor did very well with all the people and the excitement and she really enjoyed herself!

Things here with Taylor have been going extremely well. She sleeps through the night and sometimes she even decides to let us sleep in a little! Naps however, are not as easy! She fights it with every ounce of her 13lb body. She will scream, and when she does eventually fall asleep it only lasts about 30-45 minutes! She is beginning to have night terrors though, and that freaks us out! The other night she was sleeping and about an hour in she woke up with a very high shrieker scream. No matter what we did, she would not settle down.

Taylor is beginning to enjoy many new foods. Here you see her eating grapes!

15 comments:

Susan said...

what a cool party--and her own personalized M&M's! I love the Kaz flag too..and the blue and yellow design banner thing is VERY COOL.
I've been "stalking your blog" and i'm so glad you posted again. I never considered myself a stalker type until I discovered international adoption. Taylor is so adorable..and so great to hear she is adjusting well. Another blog I stalked (Berik-Jamie and Gena's son) also had night terrors-and a freind of mine (not adopted) told me she had them when she was little.

We are still waiting on our I-171H and everything else is translated just waiting at CAI for our one last document. We bought our crib this weekend and my grandma and my aunt are making Baby Kaz a quilt with the flag design. Just waiting and blog stalking--and love to see Taylor updates.
Thank you for letting me follow along on your journey. :)

Sonya said...

I am so happy you guys are all adjusting well. Look forward to reading more in the future.

We are still waiting for Karaganda to open up....hopefully soon!

Sonya

http://boykinfamilyadoption.spaces.live.com

The Cook said...

I am so glad you updated. I loved the pics. She is so cute and looks really happy. Sophie was like that with the naps too. She still is not a great napper but she does sleep 12 hours at night and that is all that matters. Welcome Home

Catalina said...

Welcome home, Taylor. I`ve been following your story while waiting to meet my own little baby, hopefully anytime soon. I hope you will be healthy and have a beautiful life. Your parents gave you the best present ever: love.

Dana said...

I am so happy to see an update and I'm glad to hear Taylor is adjusting well and letting you all sleep in. I hope the night terrors stop quickly, I can't even imagine what that must be like. It's nice to see you guys again and I really wish I could have met that sweet little face while I was still there! Keep in touch!

Dana

Anonymous said...

I'm so sad that I had to miss the party! I wish I could have been there. I'm glad the day went well for all of you, sounds like it was lots of fun!

Matthew Ruley said...

Welcome home! I've been checking (stalking) your blog daily for updates and was so thrilled to see an update. Taylor is absolutely adorable!

Our dossier has been with the MoE for a week now. Thank you for sharing your experiences so that those of us in waiting feel prepared for the journey and processes ahead (AND help us keep going at this difficult waiting game), and what to expect when we get home.

Sarah said...

Ah 13lbs!! I thought she looked tiny. :) Our KZ angel is 7 and weighs 38lbs, I imagine she was tiny like your little one back then too!

Sarah

Anonymous said...

Ok OK, I loved it when Taylor was chewing on the chair. I think I have a pic but I need to download it still. If I do I will email it or bring them out to you. Just for a day to get away. Anyways, you guys did a great job on the party. And tell the cook, that her food was delicious. I loved it, and thats good I am so picky on food. Anyways I know I am babbling, call me later chicky.

Love ya guys much

Adam, Aubrie and Heather

Unknown said...

Hi. We brought our son home from Kaz in May. He has had night terrors too. You are not alone in this. It does get better with time. For our son they have gradually decreased in intensity and frequency. The most important thing to remember is NOT to try to touch her at all during these episodes, it only makes them worse. Hang in there.

I have silently followed your journey. Congratulations to you all!

Michelle said...

Congrats on the great home coming. You guys look great. Isn't home just a the greatest place to be?!
We also had problems with naps (no night terrors)He would do fine for the morning nap but afternoon was always a battle, I would hold him most of the time until he fell asleep. Just because he would be so fussy if he did not sleep a little. I think he was feeling a bit lost and confused and the time change took a while to settle in. It lasted for about 3-weeks, hang in there.
Michelle in GR

Kristan and Mark said...

What a lovely party!

Welcome home!

OUr Kaz cutie has been home since June and her napping is still unpredictable. Some days she fights with everything she has and other days she melts in to me and off to dreamland she goes.

The Cook said...

Kazapalooza?

Wonderful world of Kaz said...

Hi guys, finally got a chance to see what you were up to! You are both glowing! Taylor looks so cute in her dress! I enlarged one of the photos and Matthew started bouncing on my knee and laughing - I think he recoginzed you! So glad things are going well for you. We are doing great! We are doing well too. So far, Matthew doesn't make strange, sleeps pretty much through the night and does pretty good for naps as well. I am waiting for the "honeymoon" to be over! Anyway, glad to hear things are going well! Jenn, Mike and Matty

Patrick & Eileen said...

Hello Van Sants! Welcome home to Taylor!

We are in the process of adopting from Kaz too and are encouraged by your timeline. A bit jealous actually since we are still stuck at the point of last minute back-and-forth correction of the homestudy between our homestudy agency and adoption agency. We are at the 5-month point and hope to be sending our dossier in for apostille next week. We can only hope it gets translated and approved as quickly as yours! Your daughter is absolutely gorgeous! Love the Kaz banner you have hanging in the house too. Where did you get it?

Thanks for sharing

Eileen & Pat

www.kazbabymakesthree.blogspot.com