Welcome back! For many of you, this blog will serve as the continuation of A Wide Sea, our family’s international adoption blog. Because we’re hoping to share our evolving adventures in parenthood and Alexander’s enduring cuteness, we decided to start a new site.

Before we adopted, we were warned by many parents and non-parents alike that our lives as we knew them were over.  Our excursions to breweries, weekend shopping, and outings to Las Vegas would be distant memories. What we’ve found out in just a few short weeks as parents is that your family life evolves, but ultimately, you’re only limited by your comfort zone.  When we think back about our trip to China, sometimes it’s hard to believe what we did with a son who we had just met– we survived a 14 hour international flight, we went through airport security in a foreign country MULTIPLE times without a stroller or carrier, and we prepared bottles on the fly in vans, airports, restaurants, and while watching a movie at a museum.  We changed his diaper on so many bathroom floors and in public places that we feel spoiled finding those Koala Kare thingies in restrooms now.  We’re pretty sure he’s no worse for wear, and mom and dad have mostly maintained their sanity.  No, we don’t plan on any weekend jaunts to Las Vegas with Alexander in the near future, but he would have had his first brewery tour in Guangzhou if we weren’t thwarted by a huge rainstorm.

We hope to share what has worked for us, what doesn’t, what baby and kid products we can’t live without (and a few that never left their packaging), and the general chaos involved with raising a little man with a few extra medical needs. I’m sure we will also tackle a few ongoing adoption-related topics on here as well, but our focus is on our new life as a family. We hope this serves to educate, entertain, and maybe even provide a little encouragement to other families who want to enjoy family time that’s not always at your local rodent-themed pizza parlor.