Everything is fine...

Olivia is still doing really well. She is eating everything we put in front of her. We have developed a little routine. She has fruit (pears) or fruit juice (apple/prune with water) every other day. Every other day she also has some cereal. The juice helps keeps her regular. She likes prunes too, but they can upset her tummy. I read somewhere that it is the yellow or white fruits that she should be on first (pears, apples, bananas) so we will stick to that for a few more weeks.

We have to have her weighed soon for our last medical report. It will be exciting to see how much she has grown. Someone actually said that she was big today, so that was nice. It was a first! She still wearing 3-6 mos clothes, so she is right in her target area.

It has been really cold here this past week or so and we have no heat in our house. Sometimes it is colder in here then it is outside. So poor Olivia sleeps with a onesie, a blanket footie sleeper, a swaddle blanket, and a woolly blanket her Nana sent her from New Zealand. All of her cousins used it--it is nice that she gets to use it too. The swaddle blanket is the only thing that makes her settle down for bed and it keeps her from rolling all over the bed. She is a funny girl. If we don't swaddle her she ends up with her head down at the bottom of her bed. Her mattress is on an incline to help with the reflux, so she ends up backwards.

We are still waiting to hear about a court date for our finalization next month and our date for our last home inspection. I can't believe it is almost over. It seems unreal. We talked to Olivia's birth mother last week. She had moved to a new apartment and had a new phone number. She wanted to make sure we had her new details. It was really hard for me to talk to her. She wants to see Olivia next month when we finalize the adoption. My instinct tells me to avoid this, but I know that it will be better for Olivia if we maintain an open relationship with her birth mother. I just can't hardly stand the thought of sharing her. Then I have these totally irrational thoughts like what if she tries to steal her or something. I know it is crazy--it's just that I finally feel as if I have totally, helplessly, fallen in love with my daughter. She is a long time dream come true and I couldn't stand to lose her. But I know that holding onto her too tight will not help. Andy's mother is a great example of an adoptive mother. I know it had to have been hard for her to share her children with their birth parents, but when that time came she did it with love and without question. Her children simply loved her even more for it, his father too. I hope that someday Olivia will feel the same way about us.

Andy had a little accident today and cut his hand reaching into the dishwasher. He is fine after nine stitches, a nicked tendon, and a soft cast. But this will mean three weeks of no help with baby from Daddy. He can't lift her. I am really going to miss his help! I haven't even figured out yet how he is going to pull up his pants and fasten his belt when he goes to the bathroom. Oh boy!

I'll work on more pictures this week!

It's a New Year!

Please forgive me for taking so long to blog again. It has been a crazy couple of weeks with the holidays and then I have been sick with a bad sinus/chest infection. But I am up today and taking nourishment as my Granny would say, so I am at it again.

Olivia is still loving her goats milk. She is eating 25-30 oz a day of milk and we have added some fruits--pears and prunes. She loves them! She eats her fruit and sometimes a little cereal through a feeder bottle, she still doesn't like to use a spoon. This is fine with me as she will eat all of her fruit this way and it is much less mess. She is basically just a happier and healthier baby.

She has started to sit-up a little bit, unsupported. In fact she is sitting here on my knee as I type. I put my arm around her, with her back to me, and she is quite content to sit and watch me work on the computer. We do a lot of homework this way.

We have sent off our paperwork to finalize the adoption. We will have our last home visit this month and then the court date should be set for early February. We have asked for February 5, 8, or 12. February 5 is the earliest possible date. When we get her new birth certificate we can apply for her social security card and passport for our trip to New Zealand next summer.

Everything here is going quite well. Andy is happy at church. We love our little house and our town, although we don't get to the bay as much as we would like to. He is spending a lot of time with Olivia and loves every minute of it. He can give her a bath all by himself, change diapers like a pro, feed her, make bottles, and yes, he is even learning the art of washing her clothes. I know you say, Andy is laundry challenged, but he is learning. I can't imagine having a baby with a Dad who was less involved. He is such a big help and Olivia is so blessed to be able to spend so much time with him. This week, while I was sick, he took her to work on Thursday and they were gone for almost nine hours. She didn't fuss too much, drank two bottles (away from home--this is new), and was the hit of the day. They even went to story time for a little while. I was so excited to be alone, I forgot to take a nap and spent the whole day playing cards in bed.

Tomorrow we have one service at church with a potluck afterwards. I am making a meat loaf and baked beans (from a can). Andy is out of school until February and is still not sure what to do with his time. He did find out yesterday that he made a B+, B, and a B-. So he has a 3.43 GPA. This from a guy who was convinced he might fail two classes. I guess that's about all--we are still doing WW and having some success! We are not giving up this time. Read my other blog for more details on that (if you wish), as well as, recipes and cleaning hints (I've gone to homemade cleaning products).

Beautiful smiles...
Olivia had been at work all day with Dad--
and she came back all smiles!

What's so funny?

Now this girl smiles all the time!

She is growing up too fast!
Five months old... she can sit up for a about 10 seconds,
totally unsupported!

Olivia and her cousin Colleen.

Who's that hairless man?

He looks like Andy...
Andy shaved his beard for me (as a gift),
because I have never seen him without it.
It is already growing back.

This is a happy girl with her Daddy!
She recognized him even without his beard.

Olivia's arms are still a little short for this move.

After opening presents at Granny's house,
Olivia and Daddy needed a nap in Granny's office.

Auntie Kerelyn and family from Hong Kong, sent Olivia
this beautiful doll. We named her Esme, which means
"Protector of Grace." They are inseparable.

"Let me tell you 'bout my best friend..."
Olivia & Esme

Olivia loved the lights on the Christmas tree!

It's a new day!

Andy will kill me, but this was too cute.
Olivia had her first shower today with Dadand she just loved it!
She loves the water, we had lots of giggles and managed to get clean too!

See she will sleep for other people--Olivia loves Susan, our pastor's wife!
Don't be jealous Granny White.

Olivia in her travel swing at the Christmas party.

"Baby's first Christmas" outfit--it does have a cute beret that goes with it,
but Dad preferred this silly hat for his youth Christmas party.
Who will notice the hat with that smile?

Beautiful outfit, before she spit-up all over it.

Olivia in her wintery outfit for Sunday morning.
She is wearing her very own ugg type boots!
It was cold here, in case you didn't guess.

Olivia loves her Auntie Susan!

For all of you children of the 80's--
isn't that the cutest pink argyle sweater ever?

Olivia loves her new walker, a present from Auntie Susan...

...even though her feet don't quite reach the ground yet.

What is that face?

Olivia aka "Cupcake" and Auntie "Tia"
or Susan, Riyan's Girlfriend!

Olivia loves her tia!

Well, we have had a busy couple of weeks. We are eating better, but still have our battles. We are moving around a lot more, talking a lot, and way more fun! I am still working on videos to upload.

There is not a lot more to report. Things are going well. We are getting through our first Holiday season here and having a good time. Andy's ministry continues to grow and things in that arena are really a blessing. He is finished with school (gratefully) for the fall semester and won't have class again until February. I don't know what we are going to do with him to keep him busy until then.

Hugs and kisses for everyone!

Monday, December 17

Last week was an interesting one. We had our monthly doctor's appointment on Monday to get our four month old shots and to have our adoption form completed (only one more month of supervision--yay!). Olivia had only gained about 8 oz. in the last month, had not doubled her weight by four months, and was barely hitting a 2 lbs gain over the last two months. For the two weeks before our appointment her eating had dropped off to about 16 oz a day. She should have been eating 24 oz a day.

After discussing all of this with Dr. Davis, she doubled Olivia's reflux medication dose and the eating began. It still took her a few days to get over the shots, but she did. We were supposed to take her back to the doctor on Thursday if her eating had not improved, but by Thursday afternoon she was on the road to her second day of eating a full 24 oz. YAY! There have been lots of prayers going up as I was really concerned about heading towards a failure to thrive diagnosis.

Anyway, we have changed bottles to Dr. Brown's bottles. I highly recommend these to anyone who uses bottles! And our medication is working. We have been eating 24 oz a day for almost a week now. Praise God! Keep praying that Olivia will keep eating!

She's just growing too fast!

Olivia loves to stand-up! She wants to be constantly on the move. I think she will be walking in four or five months--just in time for our 18 hour flight to New Zealand. She is still having trouble eating her daily requirements. We try not to worry, but if we don't make a strong effort to feed her every three hours and stay with it until she has had 4 or 5 ounces, she won't eat. Yesterday Dad was watching her and she ended up with only 15 ounces for the day. She should be up to 28 ounces a day for her weight. She also won't eat away from home--like at church or at the store. Since she had so little yesterday I had to stay home today so we could concentrate on eating. Otherwise she would have skipped her feeding while she and I were at church. Oh boy. Well, whatever she eats--it doesn't keep her from standing up!

Holiday Preparations

I don't know why (hee hee) that the holiday seems to mean so much more this year! Somehow I have actually gotten ahead for once and I find myself waiting to start celebrating. My Christmas decorations are all out and my Christmas cards are sitting around waiting to be addressed and mailed. Here a few pictures of our new house at Christmas.

The front...it's better at night.

All of our bushes and the nativity light up!

Our pre-lit tree that we got for $7.50 at Wal-Mart
after Christmas last year!

I'm surprised there is room for Christmas with all of the baby stuff.
Our stockings hang over our faux fire place.

Not all Christmas--our new cross wall

Sorry for the delay...

Olivia in the sink at Granny Whites!
Granny gave her a bath everyday in that big sink.

Bubbles...

Who's that big girl?

Olivia loves to sit up!

Olivia with Papaw John

Olivia in her big girl high chair at Granny White's house!

I am so sorry that it has taken so long for me to update the blog. Things have been a little crazy. Andy and I both fell behind with school and had to play catch up, so much so that we ended up canceling our Alabama/Georgia trip to the Youth Specialties Conference. We were so sad, but had to face reality. With a new job, new baby, two of us in school, and the holiday last week--we just couldn't fit it all in.

The adoption is moving along swiftly. I will have to get a picture of our sweet little social worker. She is so kind and loving. I am so glad that we were able to move to Texas and be under the care of the Mission Home. Although we loved our social workers in Florida, this is just cheaper (part of our adoption fees) and nice because they are so helpful. We are at the four month mark, over half way until the finalization. We will have one more visit in December and then our final at home check in January. The first week of February, six months from the date of birth, Olivia will be all ours! It is so exciting! Every month we go to the doctor and get a health form filled out. We complete a written check of the month and turn all of that in with a picture of the baby. It has been kind of nice, but it is a lot to keep up with. We also found out that six months after the adoption is final (August 2008) we can start again! So we are saving our pennies.

We have been loosely in touch with Olivia's birth mother. Our social worker says it is unusual to still be in touch after three months. Generally the birth mothers are ready to move on by then. We continue to call every couple of weeks and leave messages, but haven't heard from her in over a month. I write her a letter once a month and send pictures through the agency. That way they put a copy in the file and then send it on to the birth mother. It's funny because we have been concerned that every time we call her there is a man there that she shooshes. Then during our last supervision visit at Granny's (the day before Thanksgiving) our social worker told us how a great deal of families come back to the program because their birth mothers have called them to say they are pregnant again. We have thought a lot about that and how nice it would be for Olivia to have a half-sibling in the house, but of course we pray constantly that her birth mother will be able to straighten her life out and move on. She has been pregnant every year for four years and I know she would like to make a change.

We had a great holiday at Granny Whites. I cooked so that I could make healthy foods for all us, but especially for Andy and I. We joined Weight Watchers (again) the week before Thanksgiving and wanted to do well, in spite of the holiday. Everything was low fat and low sugar or sugar free. And it was all surprisingly good! We did do well and lost weight our first week even with the holiday. I hope that continues this week. Yay!

Olivia is doing really well. She is growing so fast. She loves to sit-up and stand-up. She rolled over for the first time last Friday. She gets frustrated and bored (I think) because she wants to be moving and going all the time. Even though she is a real homebody who loves her routine, she did really well at Granny's with all of the noise and visitors. She has never been held so much and by so many different people. It drives Granny nuts that I don't mind anyone holding her--I just can't say no. So every now and then Mom would just step-in and take over. I didn't mind, because for the first time in three months Andy and I had three hours to ourselves and we went to the movies! We saw American Gangster and it was great! Then the next day I got to have an afternoon with my girlfriend Susan and we saw No Country for Old Men, also great!

Oh my gosh--I have to tell you about Susan (she reads this too and will probably kill me). A few months back I put her in touch with one of Andy's friends in Auckland New Zealand. He is a very nice and very bright young man named Riyan (Spelled just like that!). They hit it off immediately, short of a few language barriers, and fell in love. So Susan used her last 6 days of vacation for the year and flew to New Zealand to meet him. Now they are engaged! It is so sweet. I have never known two people who were more deserving of the kind of love they seem to have found in each other. If all goes well, she will be moving to New Zealand next year. Riyan is coming to visit in February and then Susan had already planned on going with us in July. That may be when she moves--if she can wait that long. Please say a little prayer for them when you think of it. Susan has been my best friend for 19 years and I have never seen her this happy. Relationships are hard enough when they aren't on opposite ends of the world.

We are still working on the baptismal video and we are trying to remember to make more. I will try to get those up before much longer. Everything is going well at church. Like all ministries it is a challenge, but we still feel so blessed to be here.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!