Long Overdue

Wow. We’re the worst. I had every intention of keeping this site updated with monthly-ish posts, but it has been 6 months since we last blogged. I can’t believe it! Actually, I can believe it, but I do wish we’d make more time. Having a new house and baby definitely makes finding time more difficult! Anyway, here’s a brief recap of the last few months with lots of Cashel pictures: 

Our happy boy

Cashel is pretty much a little boy now, which is crazy. If you follow us on Facebook or Instagram, you’ll know that he is the world’s happiest, and possibly most photographed, little guy. We love him so much and it has been a privilege to parent him together. It has been so much fun to watch him grow up, develop a personalty, and become more mobile and independent. Colleen sometimes bemoans all this, asking "What happened to my little baby boy?!?!", but for the most part we are loving having an almost-toddler. 

Cashy started crawling around 8 months old, at the end of April, and his (and our!) world changed almost instantly. He went from a calm baby who loved just to chill, and who loved nothing more than to sit and watch us, to a boy who is curious about, and into, everything. He loves to bang doors, climb up the stairs, try to share Indy’s food, stalk the cat that we are babysitting, and bee-line for the refrigerator whenever it is open. 

Cashy loves acrobatics!

He is hilarious, and we all laugh all the time. One of his favorite things in the world, behind spaghetti, pickles, strawberries, our dog Indy, and bottom-dropping his parents as they try to sleep-in, is being tossed and spun in all directions. I’d definitely be a bit woozy being swung around by my feet, but he is mostly fearless and is shaping up to be a little daredevil.

We’re trying to teach him sign language to communicate, and so far his only consistent sign is “more,” which he uses almost exclusively for food and acrobatics. However, this past Saturday I was gone all day at a soccer coach training, so I called Colleen and she put me on speaker phone. Cashel ambled over, looked behind the phone to see if I was hiding there, then starting signing “more”... “more Daddy.” Man, I love that kid. 

Cashel loves his momma

Cashel loves his family, and typically gets out-of-control excited whenever we video chat with either set of Grandparents or one of his Aunties. We’ve been fortunate to have lots of family and friends come visit, and we’re glad that Cashel is such a social person... though sometimes it can be difficult since he doesn’t like to go to bed when things are going on and his “audience” is still available. 

He loves to give wet, opened mouth, tongue-out kisses, and will mostly do so upon request. 

The last week of May, all 3 of the Ramsay kids & spouses & kids & dogs headed home to Wooster to spend a week at John and Eileen’s recently renovated old family farmhouse. There were 8 adults, 3 kids, and 3 dogs all under one roof, and though it was hectic at times - nay, possibly because it was hectic - we had a blast. It was the perfect year for a “staycation,” especially for “the boys,” who were 9 and 10 months then, since they wore each other out speed-crawling from room to room and (of course) always wanting the toy that the other one was playing with.

The Ramsay Family

Curly Boys: Cashel and his cousin, Graham

Mr. Curious chasing the chickens around the yard

In non-Cashel related news, we’ve been enjoying our house and have kept busy fixing it up as much as possible. This spring we’ve focused the work on the backyard, where I’ve built raised beds and other gardening apparatus, added a privacy fence, built a chicken coop out of old pallets to house our 5 chickens, built a bench out of old fence panels, and a few other things. It has been so much fun to work on a place that feels permanent, but the never-ending list of projects takes up time and money. We’re finally feeling like we’re to the place that we can comfortably enjoy our backyard, so we enjoy most evenings sitting out in the shade, usually grilling dinner and getting what we can out of our own garden, while Cashel plays in (i.e. tries to eat) grass and our plethora of animals roam. Not much to complain about. 

I also coached a club girls soccer team again this spring, and will be an assistant high school girls coach this fall. Coaching is a big time commitment, but I very much enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to a few years down the road when I can start to coach Cashel and his friends just like my dad coached me!

Cashel and his buddy, Keagan

We love our church, especially the other young families there. Cashel’s got lots of buddies in the nursery already, and we’re so thankful that he will grow up with a great group of friends. Our small group went through a parenting book this spring, which was very pertinent for us. It was wonderful to candidly discuss parenting decisions and issues with friends as we were learning how to parents a little guy rapidly maturing into a toddler. 

// Reflection // 

Mother's Day 2013

A year-ish ago, the Mother’s Day / vacation / Father’s Day season was one of the more miserable of our lives. We were just a few months removed from having a child taken away from us after caring for him for 8 days, and happy families seemed to be everywhere we went. We enjoyed time with friends and family, sure, but it was extremely difficult to not be selfish and have those moments tainted with bitterness. We still don’t understand why we've had children “taken” away from us on more than one occasion, but we are so thankful that Cashel is in our lives. It just feels so right, like we’ve always known that he was coming. We feel blessed. That’s not to say that things wouldn’t have worked out with other kids - I have no doubt they would have - but for whatever reason, Cashel was brought into our lives as our first-born, and we are extremely thankful to call him our son. Getting to celebrate our first Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, as well as to take him on family vacation, were some of the happiest moments of our lives. 

We are hoping to have more children soon, both biologically (if it is possible for us), and also via adoption. So we’d appreciate prayers for wisdom as far as how much we should try to get pregnant verses seeking to adopt again. One thing is for certain: Cashel loves other kids and needs some siblings to play with and to steal some of the limelight away from him! 

I'll be sure and try to update in sooner than 6 months! Thanks, as always, for reading. 

Cason

Brown eyes

Peak-a-boo with mommy over daddy's shoulder

We love to fly!

Getting kisses...

... and giving sloppy ones back

Fly, fly away

Happy with Bibi and Aunti Corinn

Wittig family pictures from Christmas

Bibi and Cashy in hoods

He loves mealtime

Curious about the tortoises

More to come soon!

So much to be thankful for!

In the court room with Judge Petrie (photo courtesy of Brian Ramsay)

Hey, this is Colleen. I've been waiting to make this post for a while now and I'm so excited to be able to say that Cashel's adoption has been finalized!

Christmas Party! (photo courtesy of Charlie Ramsay)

It is difficult to express how overwhelmingly happy and thankful I am for the blessing the Lord has given us in the last few months. It is amazing to believe that He could bring us through the heartache of losing children we thought would be our own. Not because I didn't believe that He could, but because when you are in it, you can't imagine getting out of that emotional mire. I still miss Caleb, Lydia, Benjamin, and Jayson, but that in no way lessens my love for Cashel. If anything, it magnifies it. I am cherishing every moment with him in a way I'm not sure I would have 3 years ago.

Today I have been sitting at home, snuggling by the fire with Cashel and Cason reading Peter Pan and thinking about how perfect my life is right now. I have caught myself just smiling throughout the day, full of thanksgiving and joy. I know life won't always be this happy, but for now I'm just enjoying the Lord's blessings on my life. The Lord is sovereign and loves us.  He is our Rock and our Salvation.  He has given us immeasurably more than we need or deserve.

I have a wonderful husband who is in love with me and supports me so that I can stay home with Cashel. He works only a few blocks away so he is able to be with us so much more than most. He sacrifices for us and is such an amazing father. I sometimes  just sit and watch him with Cashel (even though I should use those moments to get things done around the house). It is so cute how much Cashel loves him and they have so much fun together!  

I love those deep brown eyes

I have a beautiful home that we were fortunate enough to purchase just days before Cashel's birth. It definitely has its issues here and there, but it is my dream home: quirky with nooks and crannies, lots of space to grow into, very unique with beautiful little touches that make it one of a kind. I love our home and have enjoyed making it our own.

God brought us to Danville Kentucky. I believe that with all my heart. He knew we would need family and a supportive church. I am so incredibly thankful for the love and support we have received. On Thursday for Cashel's adoption finalization, the courtroom was full of family and church friends there to witness and help celebrate our special day.

Most of all, I am thankful to have adopted our beautiful son Cashel, officially and legally, so that he will grow up a Wittig and a Ramsay/Ambrose. He is the most incredible little guy, so full of joy. Most mornings he wakes up smiling as soon as he sees our faces. We are so blessed by him and love him more than I can even express in words.  He makes us laugh continually and we can't wait to see him grow up... although that is already happening way too fast!

Can't believe he'll be 4 months old 3 days after Christmas!

I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for blessing our family with prayers, cards, support, gifts, visits, phone calls, messages, and thoughts.  The joy I have is overwhelming. My life is beautiful; not perfect, but beautiful. I just hope that I can share this joy and Christ's love with others in a meaningful way this Holiday season.

Merry Christmas!  

Love, Colleen

Aunti Adri came down to celebrate the adoption and love on her boys

Such a happy boy...

... but not all of the time!

He love his bumbo and loves being as naked as much as possible!

On December 15, Cashel gained a cousin - Weston Michael Todd

"The boys," Cashel and Graham

My siblings and Cashel's cousins at the court house celebrating his adoption

Cashel: 3 Months of our little man

Our Little Bundle (Thanks to our friend Rachel, from Selah Photography, for taking some shots of Cashel)

This cute little guy makes it tough to get any blogging done!

Wow. Being a dad makes it tough to get anything done! I had grand plans for blogging and getting projects completed on our house this fall, but not much of that has happened since Mr. Cashel came into our lives - obviously, I wouldn't trade having him for anything, but I definitely have gained respect for fathers who find time for those things! It has been so much fun to watch Cash grow and develop - can't believe he is already almost 3 months old! He is doing wonderfully and we are loving being his parents. He definitely has his moments (don't we all), but pretty much as long as his diaper is clean and his belly is full, he is a content, happy, and healthy little guy. 

Our friends, family, and church have been an incredible blessing during our first few months of parenthood. From giving/loaning baby clothes and gear, to throwing fantastic showers, to donating toward our adoption fund, and just generally being excited with us, the three of us feel so loved. Our attempts to express our gratitude seem feeble and wholly inadequate. We are particularly grateful to those who helped organize the three wonderful baby showers - Colleen's sister, mother, & aunts, friends at Grace PCA, and my mother & sister. It was a blessing to see so many friends and family at those gatherings; we're so proud to share our little guy with our loved ones!

Cashel loves Bibi (aka Grandma Wittig)

We have been overwhelmed by all of the gifts we've received and by the contributions towards our adoption expenses. (So many gifts, in fact, that we are still working on writing all of the thank yous!) Through our church, friends, and family, our adoption fund has swelled to more than we could ever imagine, enough to cover a significant portion of our expenses. Words really can’t describe the thankfulness and relief those gifts have brought - God is a great Provider!

Some may know that we closed our house the same weekend that Cashel was born. We had grand plans for renovating and fixing it up, but those were obviously slowed with suddenly becoming parents. Though we haven't done as much as we planned on our house, thanks mostly to my parents coming down for "work 'n baby" weekends, we've been able to finish Cashel's nursery, repaint our living room area, begin to restore the original floor upstairs, and get a few other projects going. We really don't know what we'd do without all of the help!

August 2012 Cousins: Cashel & Graham

Another blessing in our lives this fall has been the fact that Colleen's brother, Brian, sister-in-law, Michelle, and their two beautiful children moved from south Florida to 2 blocks away from us! It has been incredible to have them around, and we are so excited that Cashel will grow up with his cousins - particularly Graham, who is just 19 days older than him. Brian and I are already planning soccer training strategies for "the boys," and are wondering when is too early to start practicing with them. Michelle and Colleen have enjoyed visiting each other often and going on walks with the kids. We’ve loved having them so close and hope they stay that way!

Colleen and her little man

Thanks again to Rachel for these great shots!

Colleen is such a great mother. Like I've said in previous posts, she's been ready for this for a long time, and I'm so thankful that she's knowledgeable, comfortable, and happy in her new role. Our new house is a few blocks from my office so I walk to work every day and come home for many lunches to see my lovely wife and sweet boy. Being a parent definitely isn’t always easy, but we have loved working at it together. Having a son is an amazing, sometimes scary, privilege that I believe we appreciate more because of some of our life experiences. It really has been an honor being Cashel’s father and I am so excited to watch him grow over the coming months and years. If time flies as quickly as it has these first three months, it’ll be over far faster than I want it to!

We still have a few days before we can officially apply for a court date to finalize the adoption. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and quickly. There is very little chance now that anything could disrupt the process, but we just want it finalized as soon as possible.

These last few months have been an incredible ride. Our house feels like a mess and our lives are hectic, but between Cashel, our dog Indy, and our own general ridiculousness, we definitely laugh all of the time - and you can't ask for much more than that. Thank you to everyone who has journeyed with us these last few years - they have been the most difficult, but best of my life, and I’m excited to see where the Lord takes us from here. Thanks again!

-Cason

Happy Halloween!

Mr. Funny Faces

With some friends from church on a fall hike

Grandma Eileen getting ready to take Cash on a walk

Cashel Face

Five Wittigs taking a break from painting to enjoy a warm fall day

Our little lumberjack

On a hike with my niece, Rose. Glad she lives so close now!

Love this one: looks like he's boxing

Grandpa John with his grandsons

A momma and her boy

The Ramsay family - Thanksgiving weekend 2012

The Whirlwind: 2 and a Half Weeks of Cashel

Friends and Family ~

Thanks so much for your prayers and support for us. Can't believe that Cashel is already over two weeks old!  They say time flies once you have kids, but WOW... these two and a half weeks have been a complete blur!

Here's the Cliff's Notes version of the last few weeks for us since Cashel was born August 28th....Colleen and her mom stayed with Cashel in the private hospital room for two days until he was discharged, then they went to a hotel in Cincinnati since he couldn't leave Ohio until the adoption was accepted by both Ohio and Kentucky.  I came home early the day after he was born (Wednesday the 29th) so I could continue to move us out of our rental home and into the house we just bought, and also get some work done. After taking some last loads, trying to unpack and find things in our many boxes, and building a tortoise pen in our new backyard (the Tortoise Fortress, or Tortress, as I dubbed it), I headed back up to Cinci to the hotel late Thursday night before Labor Day weekend.

Momma Wittig with three generations of Wittig men

That Friday morning we waited nervously to get word that the birth mother had signed over her rights to her son. When we didn't receive word at the expected time, doubts began to slip into our minds... maybe something happened again... maybe the birth mom would decide she wanted to keep the baby... maybe this sweet little guy would be taken from us as others had before. As I held Cashel in my arms, I prayed that he'd be ours even as my mind continued to second-guess.

A few stressful hours past the time we thought we'd hear that everything was taken care of, we finally got word that the birth mother had signed without any issue - she'd just overslept. That news that was met more with relief than celebration on our side, but after it was our turn to sign and make everything official, we let ourselves rejoice. Colleen was beaming. She has an amazing smile in normal circumstances, (I'm biased...), but it was incredible to see her grinning for hours on Friday - she couldn't stop. Signing those documents really did flip a switch for her; she was obviously caring and loving him before, but signing everything made it feel authentic and official. Until the end of this month, there's still a slim chance that things could get interrupted, but it is minute, and we are trusting that Cashel is the one for us.

Loving his momma

We had a wonderful weekend at the hotel, with both sides of our family in and out the whole time. I came back to Danville early Tuesday morning after the holiday weekend (the 4th) so I could get back to work, and Colleen and Cashel were allowed to join me just a day later after getting word that both Ohio and Kentucky social services have approved our documents. We were expecting to have to wait until later in the week, so the fact he was allowed to come home a few days early was such a blessing! Since then we've been adjusting to parenthood in our new home while trying to unpack and prioritize projects.

*****

Brown

Cashel has been a relatively easy baby so far, sleeping up to 4 hours at a time even with so much going on around him, and loving life as long as he has a full belly and a clean diaper. When he is awake, it is amazing just to hold him as he stares inquisitively into our faces with his beautiful dark brown eyes. His hair seems to get longer and crazier by the day, and he has such a cute little personality. He, of course, loves Colleen most of all, and tracks her by the sound of her voice even from across the room. We love him so much!

I am loving being a dad, and I'm so excited about all the things that Cash and I will do together. For those who have been asking, though I had a few diaper related fiascos while we worked at the orphanage in Kenya, I now feel officially a part of the dad club since I've been peed on mid diaper change multiple times already and "exploded" on a few times already over that first weekend with him. Working on our house makes it all the more exciting to think about the future with him - we've been trying to get his nursery ready, planning where his future room might be, and I've already climbed the one tree in our backyard looking for good spots for a future tree fort. 

Our church family has been incredible during this busy time for us, with individuals helping us move, watching our puppy, and bringing us meals, among many other things. We are also extremely grateful to Colleen's mom and the Ambrose aunts and uncle who spent part of their holiday weekend cleaning, tearing out carpet, and emptying boxes at our home. We are astounded by the blessing of our friends and family; Cashel is going to grow up in such an amazingly loving community!

*****

Bliss: Grandpa and Grandma Ramsay with their three grandchildren 

One of the great things about having so many friends and family with children close by and all in the same age range is that we have an incredible network families who have given/loaned us baby gear (that's what it's called right?... Maybe baby supplies? Baby rations? I need to learn some more dad lingo.) for Cashel. There are a few things we need for him, and we are incredibly appreciative of all of the gifts we've received thus far, but for the most part we are asking those who desire to bless our family, to contribute toward our adoption expenses in lieu of other gifts.

Our church has graciously agreed to accept donations toward those expenses on our behalf, so if you desire to give to Cashel's adoption fund, you can make a check out to Grace Presbyterian Church and put "Adoption Fund - Wittig" in the memo line. You can give checks to us, any of our family members, or mail them to Grace PCA, 180 Bold Venture Blvd., Danville, KY, 40422. You will receive a tax-deductible receipt for your contributions. Please don't feel obligated though! We just wanted to share our biggest area of need with those who have been asking how they can help. Thanks!

Thanks so much for reading, for your love, and your support! Yay, I'm a dad!

-Cason

This little guy is so loved

Aunti Adri!

Too tired to blog: Cuddling with the little man cub

Mr. Funny Face

August babies: Cousins Graham & Cashel with their mommas (holding opposite babies)

With Aunt Kathy and Aunt Neena