Learning to Function on Less

I’m tired, but I can still get things done (like a couple loads of laundry today!).  Each day I can accomplish a little more than the day before (such as write this very random and not free-flowing post). Daniel’s due date was today and here he is already 13 days old.  Tomorrow he’ll get a weight check to see how he’s growing. 

Nicholas had another milestone this week and he waited until the one day that I wasn’t there.  He jumped off the diving board at swimming on Tuesday.  Of course, he loved it!  So, while I got to see him do it today, I was a little sad that I missed the first time.  But, I am happy that Evan was there since he doesn’t get to see Nicholas swim too much.

Being brave - Day 2

I got blessed with an awesome gift this afternoon.  A friend from church took Nicholas to her house.  Her daughter is in our class at church and Nicholas loves her (enough to declare that he is going to marry her).  He’s also friends with her older brothers who he will get to play with when they get home from school.  Evan and I really feel bad that we can’t give Nicholas as much attention has he needs (or is used to).  Every time I try to sit down with Nicholas, we get interrupted.  So, we are happy that he has this opportunity to get out and have some fun.

Daniel – well, he knows what he wants.  And, right now, that’s me.  He wants me to hold him a lot.  That is a wonderful feeling to be wanted, but I would like to get up to go to the bathroom, change the laundry, eat, etc.  He’s also getting hungrier and when he’s ready to eat, the whole world knows it.  I’m not complaining though.  I’m just trying to learn all I can about this little guy. 

Well, I have tried to finish this post for the last five hours (see previous paragraph for the reason).  I’m just going to upload a couple of pictures and call it a post.

Pre-K Graduate

My other “baby” is growing up.  Nicholas finished pre-kindergarten on Friday.  We managed to do school three times this week.  I think it helps that Daniel sleeps a lot.  We’ll be working around Daniel’s nap schedule come this fall, so that Nicholas and I can have some one-on-one time. 

Nicholas also finished soccer too.  He wants to sign up again in the fall.  They gave everyone a medal and he’s been proudly wearing it around.  It was a great instructional program and I think he learned a lot.

He’s halfway through his last round of swimming lessons with the teacher he has had since September.  She takes the summers off to be with her family.  Nicholas continues to amaze me.  He’s great at diving for rings now too.  Each lesson he keeps getting better and better.

While school is officially done, we will be starting Summer School in June.  I do this for two reasons:  Nicholas likes school and that way he doesn’t forget everything.  We’re doing the library’s summer reading program.  I plan to continue with a couple of math lessons a week.  We will also review his spelling and continue All About Reading once or twice a week.  We’ll do Summer School for two months and take August completely off. 

I tried to get Nicholas to pose for a picture on his last day, but it ended up being a very interesting photo shoot.

I can't believe I have a Kindergartner now!

One Week Old (Yesterday)

It is hard to believe all that has happened in the last week.  We’re getting adjusted.    The loss of sleep is hard, but I’m trying to fit in naps when I can.  The last two nights I took one at 8:30.  I figured that would work because I would be up in a few hours anyway.  I do feel a little bit more refreshed than normal, but I still have a ways to go before I feel back to my old self.  The perpetual brain fog is the most annoying symptom of my sleep deprivation.  I pride myself on being very detailed and on top of things.  Now I have trouble forming a sentence sometimes. 

Daniel had his first doctor’s appointment on Thursday and he only lost 2 oz. of his birth weight.  We have a weight check on Friday to see if he gained it back.  With the way he’s been eating the last day or so, I think we’ll make it.   He’s been pretty content until yesterday.  I noticed that today he has been more alert and fussy.  I'm still really enjoying him though.

Nicholas still likes being a big brother, but I think he’s ready for when Daniel can play with him.  He did tell me yesterday, “He’s annoying” when Daniel was crying for his bottle.  But, he’s also the one to set up everything for a diaper change.  He also puts Daniel’s pacifier back in his mouth if it falls out. 

I have been trying to put up this post since yesterday.  I guess I should just put up what I have with some pictures.  

More when the fog lifts . . .

We’re Home!

J and C signed the papers this morning.  They made a loving and difficult decision.  We’re so blessed by them.  Please keep them in your prayers as they move forward in the days ahead.   We were on pins and needles all morning waiting for the call.  But, now he is home and we are trying to adjust to life as a family of four.  Nicholas is taking his job as big brother very seriously.  It has only been a few hours but he’s been making sure that the baby has his feet covered and helped put things away.

One hard decision we had to make during this adoption is what to name the baby.  J and C had a name for him, but we did as well.   It is hard to change the name and some people probably wouldn’t.  We just had a name chosen that was very important to us.  So, we made the hard decision to name him what we had planned.  We did have one common name – the middle name.  His middle name will be the same as both his father and his birth father. 

The name we chose was purposeful.  We chose his name based on someone in the Bible that had a lot of integrity and wisdom.  He was able to stand for what is right and had a heart for God.  These character traits were definitely what we wanted for our son.

His name is Daniel Edward. 

It’s funny because both his biological grandparents and we were just calling him “Baby” for the first day.  They knew we probably had a different name and we knew the name they had chosen.  But, we started on Saturday morning calling him by his name and by “Danny”, which is what Nicholas calls him.

Side note about the nickname:  If anyone knows Nicholas, then they know that he wants to be called “Nicholas”.  People may call him nicknames and he’ll tolerate it.  But, we can’t shorten it at all without hearing about it.  So, for him to give Daniel a nickname is really funny to us.

Without further ado, here’s Daniel:

Brothers!

We're exhausted from living in a hospital for the last four days.  I don't know that any relief is in sight, but Daniel is definitely worth it!  Thank you for all of your prayers!

More Waiting

 Here we are with less than 24 hours until the papers can be signed.  The baby spent yesterday in transitional care so they could monitor his tummy and his gas issues.  He’s doing great and he’s with us today.  The only problem is that we don’t have a room on the floor right now.  Last night they had several women go into labor, so they needed our room for recovery.  We were moved to a closed wing on a different floor.  While we got a good 5-6 hours of interrupted sleep last night, the room was more sterile and less homey than maternity.  There are several women being discharged today, so we should have a room sometime today on this floor.  For now, we are in a small room in the nursery area.

Nicholas got to come and see the baby yesterday.  My parents and sister drove him out here.  Unfortunately, because the baby was in transitional care, they had to see him mostly through the nursery window.  The nurses did allow them to come in and see him up close for a couple of minutes though.  Nicholas told us that he liked the baby, which we hope continues once the baby comes home.  We also enjoyed hearing some funny stories from my parents and sister about all the things Nicholas has done or said in the last few days.  We really miss him and can’t wait until we’re all back together.

Everything continues to be headed toward placement.  His birthparents came to see him last night while we were in the nursery.  I’m glad they got to see him again.  I’m not sure if they’ll see him before she leaves the hospital today.  But, this is not good bye.  The relationship will continue on some level – whether by pictures, e-mails, or a visit on occasion.  I could do a whole post (and maybe I will) on how my views on open adoption have been changed.  We are so thankful for the time that we’ve spent with the baby’s biological family.  It has been special.

If anyone is interested, the Ordinary Hero grant contest starts today.  Choose my name at checkout.  I’m not going to annoy people about it (except on F@cebook).  Our placement fee is due very soon, so we’re hoping to raise just a little bit more money to cover it.  We appreciate everyone who has been a part of our baby’s adoption. 

Finally, Evan and I put up a teaser picture on F@cebook this morning, so I’ll put it on here as well.  We did the same thing before we could put Nicholas’ picture on the blog.  We’ll show you a snapshot, but not the whole picture.

Well, we're just hanging out for now.  The guys (Evan and the baby) are napping.  It must be nice.   

Keep praying for everyone involved.  Tomorrow should be an emotional day!

Waiting

So, we still have about 48 hours or more until we leave the hospital.  We managed a month in Russia, so 4 days in a town in Ohio is not too bad.  We can come and go as we please, so we've been out to lunch and even went to W@lmart.  Exciting, huh?

We also talked a lot with J's family last night.  Our social worker came to the hospital to see J, and then came to see us and the baby.  Her family is just loving the baby's thick head of dark hair (a little spoiler for you).  It is nice to be able to ask them questions about where he got certain features.

They continue to be supportive of J's decision.  They're honest and upfront about everything.  They will probably come by today to hold him and take some pictures.  We told them that they are welcome to come to our room if the baby is there, or take him to J's room.

In regards to the baby, he could use a few prayers.  They think he may have a little reflux.  His stomach was distended and he wasn't digesting all of his formula.  He was doing a lot better for a while, but he's back in the nursery being monitored again.  He doesn't seem too upset by it.  He's just a happy guy.  The pediatrician is coming to examine him again today.

It is weird to not see Nicholas everyday.  This will be the longest he's been away from us.  He may visit us today if it works out.  Thankfully, he's been busy with his soccer game, violin lessons, bike riding, and time with my parents and my sister.

Well, we're trying to cherish the time spent with the baby while we're here, but still hoping time speeds up just a little more.  Sometimes we get a little bored and a little crazy though . 

. .



That's where we are right now.  It is hard to believe that as I write this, the baby is just under 29 hours old.  It seems like we've been here much longer.  Hopefully, we'll have some more information to share after we here from the pediatrician.

He's Here!

At 3:22 AM a little baby boy entered the world (name forthcoming).  J was in labor for about 12 hours.  Evan and I got very little sleep, so we're living on adrenaline right now.  The baby spends part of the time in the nursery and then time with us.  J is probably going to be discharged from the hospital as soon as she can.  Please continue to pray for her.  She has made a brave and courageous decision, but it is also not an easy one.  Pray for her family.  While her parents were happy for us, you could see that they were mourning the loss of a grandchild.  We've gotten to spend more time than I ever thought we would with them and we really care about J and her family.

Now, we have until Monday morning until J can terminate her rights.  Since he was born so early in the morning, we'll have to wait until at least breakfast time for this to happen.  So, there will be a lot of sitting around and waiting.  The hospital social worker stopped by to introduce herself and to let us know she is here for us if we need her.  Everyone has been so kind to us here.  It has been a great blessing.

We're hoping to get in some naps today.  One of us is having a much easier time sleeping than the other.

This is before the baby was born, but I could probably get more of the same since.

The head nurse just walked in while I was typing to say we can have the baby as much as we want.  We can feed him or they can feed him.  We're in charge.  I told her we may do a mix today since we haven't slept much.  The baby is with the pediatrician now, so he/she should be in to talk with us shortly.

I won't be posting any pictures of the baby yet.  I'll probably wait until Monday because there is always a chance. . .  But, we have peace and feel confident that the baby will be our son.

Pray for energy for my parents.  They will have Nicholas for four nights.  Last night he didn't sleep that much.  Thankfully, he has soccer this evening, so that should help.  He's excited to be a big brother, but really has no idea what to expect.  It will be an interesting transition for him, but I think he'll be a great helper!

Well, I'm going to wait for the pediatrician.  More later . . .

Whirlwind

J had a doctor’s appointment yesterday (Wednesday).  This morning I woke up to an e-mail from her mom saying that J was dilated 1 cm and 50% effaced.  Her doctor thought it would be soon, but everyone figured we would have some time.  I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish this weekend to get ready.  The last thing I expected was our social worker calling me around 4:00 PM to say that J’s water had broken.

I sprang into action.  I’d like to say that I was cool, calm and collected, but that wasn’t the case.  I made dinner while washing laundry and running the dishwasher.  I packed Nicholas’ bag, as well as ours.  I made lists.  Evan finally arrived home three hours later. 

Once my dad came for Nicholas and we installed the car seat, we were on our way.  The whole trip to the hospital seemed surreal.  Initially, J did not want us at the hospital until after the baby was born, but she changed her mind.  So, we went.  We haven’t thought much about how heartbroken we would be if she changed her mind.  We are just going on faith.

We were greeted by J’s parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew.  It wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be.  We sat and talked with them until the nurse got us a room ready.  And, now we wait.  As of right now, J wants us to take care of the baby once he is born. 

I am so tired right now that it is hard to even think or worry or plan.  I’m just finding this whole journey very interesting.  It is so different from Nicholas’ adoption. 

I will try and keep everyone updated as much as I can.  The Internet is spotty here and kicks me off after a couple of minutes.  Keep praying for everyone involved.  Once the baby arrives, the emotions are going to really be all over the place for everyone!

What’s On My Mind

Our 10 year wedding anniversary is coming up in less than a month.  I don’t know how we’ll be celebrating though.  We are hoping to at least go out to lunch or dinner.  We’re probably going to do something special later this year.   We’ve never been able to celebrate our anniversary like we wanted.  Either Evan was out of town, or had school, or we were headed to Russia. 

Also, when will J give birth?  Her mother has been kind enough to update me on doctor’s appointments.  The first time was to tell us that J was measuring big.  Thankfully, I have stocked up on a lot of size 1 diapers because he may be skipping the newborn size all together. 

I had a good Mother’s Day.  It was my third official and fourth unofficial (we had just met him in 2008).  I didn’t really want anything, so I asked for something practical.  They bought me a huge magnetic whiteboard.  We had a small one we were using for school, but we outgrew it.  I’ve always been a big fan of school supplies, so this gift was perfect! 

Nicholas is getting so much better on his bike.  He’s getting fast and taking the turns so much better.  He asked to take the training wheels off, but I think he needs a bit more practice before that happens.  I’m sure it will be soon enough though.

We had our social worker over today for Nicholas’ last post-placement report.  Once she completes it, we’ll have to run downtown to get the apostilles, but after that . . . we are done!  It’s just a headache.  Speaking of headaches, why does W@lmart always cut the heads off my pictures?  I even chose “true digital” this time and it still happened on the one picture I absolutely needed.  We have to send at least 7 pictures with our report and one has to be a picture of the whole family.  Thankfully, I sent it to a different place this morning and we’re good to go.

One nice thing about having our social worker over was that we were able to talk more about J’s situation.  We had a couple of questions that we wanted answered in regards to the process.  We also talked about re-adopting Nicholas, which would give him an Ohio birth certificate.  It will make us feel a lot better because right now we only have his Russian birth certificate and adoption decree.  It would be so much easier to replace or get copies of an Ohio one.  It isn’t a difficult process, so hopefully we can get it done this summer.

I want to close with the results of a very big race that happened yesterday.  Recently, my dad did not choose his words correctly and ended up giving Nicholas the impression that they would race.  Nicholas had not forgotten, so the big race happened yesterday.  Scroll down for the winner!

On your mark . . .

Poppy takes the lead

But, he couldn't keep it!  Winner is Nicholas!

Two and a half weeks until J's due date!  

Less Than 3 Weeks Left

J is due in less than three weeks.  That means the baby can really come anytime.   We have a place for the baby to sleep.  We have bottles, diapers, and wipes.  We have several onesies.  We have a few outfits (tags still on).

We are ready!

Well, almost ready.  We are still trying to finish raising the money for our placement fee.  I changed the thermometer on the side of the blog.  As far as I know, J does not need any birthmother expenses, so I’ve moved us onto goal #3. 

There are three ways to help:

1. Our Puzzle Fundraiser is ongoing.  We are over halfway done.   Sponsor a puzzle piece for $10 and we will write your name on the back of the puzzle.  This will be a nice momento for our child to have.
   
   
2. Lifesong for Orphans has a tax-deductible account where you can send a donation for our adoption.  Your checks can be made payable to Lifesong for Orphans and sent to:
   
   Lifesong for Orphans
   
   PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford Street
   
   Gridley, IL 61744
   
   Please put your donation preference in the memo line of the check – Preference: Morgan #2013. This is very important so the money is earmarked for our adoption. Any amount is a great help to us.
3. Finally, Ordinary Hero will be having another contest at the end of the month.  We really need to sell at least a thousand dollars in merchandise to have a fighting chance.  So, if you want a t-shirt, mug, etc., then feel free to help us win.  If you just feel led to donate, then maybe consider doing option 1 or 2.

We are so grateful for each and every one of you that have helped us so far.   We have trusted God from the very beginning of this adoption.  Everything about this adoption requires us to have faith.  That includes once the baby is born too.  We all know that nothing is 100% until J & C relinquish their rights.  However, we remain optimistic.  Our cell phones are on and close to us from here on out. 

I didn’t want to leave you with just a fundraising post though.  Especially since I have been absent on here for well over a week.  We’re just finishing school and going to all of Nicholas’ activities.

How about just some pictures for now?  I’ll do my best to collect my thoughts and think of something interesting to write about.  Until that happens, here are some Nicholas pictures: 

More practice on his bike

I ran into Larry the Cucumber from Veggie T@les at the bookstore the other day

And, how about one of me, since it is my blog:

My new haircut!

Well, I realize that's I haven't really taken many pictures since my last blog.  I'll try and do better!