Olivia loves church!

Olivia is all dressed up for church!
This was her "coming home" outfit and it finally fits!

Olivia and Katherine

Last Sunday we spent the whole Sunday at church since Daddy was preaching at all three services. Olivia was so good. She did not cry once and really loves the music. The church was packed and everyone wanted to meet her, rub her head, etc. She handled it all and even made a new friend, Katherine, whose birthday is August 6 (she just turned 6). This Sunday was just as good--Olivia was awake through most of it, but very happy and good!

Daddy had his birthday on Friday and we had a little party at Granny's house. It was so nice to see our cousins again. But, sadly, school has started for both of us and it was a short trip. We are back home, back to work, and school!

Enjoy the pictures!

Congratulate Daddy!

We are working our way into a little routine. Somewhere between Olivia sleeping in Mom and Dad's room, in the bassinet next to our bed, which makes Mom really happy--and Olivia sleeping part of the night in her crib in her own room (with the monitor on, of course). Olivia starts in our room and after her 2 am feeding, she finishes the night in her own room. This works really for me (the Mommy) because then Daddy gets baby up in the morning around 7 am when he gets up and lets the dogs out.

Olivia has developed another routine and that is saving her poopy diapers for the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. The other night I had the stuff all over me, all over our bed, and all over Olivia--and Daddy laughed at me. Well, this morning he experienced his first dirty diaper and he learned that (often) the more you wipe, the more she goes! I think he finished off our baby wipes. I shall have to refill the dispensers.

So, congratulate Daddy! It was his first dirty diaper EVER!

Andy is preaching this Sunday. Our Pastor will be away for the long weekend and Andy has been asked to preach. He is very excited and nervous at the same time. I am sure you will do well. He missed his chance to preach in Florida, it was the May weekend we were supposed to be getting our first baby. After church on Sunday we are heading up to Mom's to spend a night or two and celebrate Andy's birthday. We are having a cook-out on Monday! Andy will be 34 next week!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers, especially this Sunday as Andy preaches three services!

More Pictures!

Olivia and her best friend--Honey!

Olivia and Mommy, August 28, 2007

Olivia Grace hospital newborn picture!

Everything is moving right a long here. We are eating well, loving our new formula, and starting to sleep a little more at night. Last night, for the first time, Olivia spent most of the night in her very own crib, in her very own room. She seemed to sleep better and I know we did, at least for about 4 hours.

We have spent the last week waiting on almost every conceivable repair man to come visit. We are still waiting on the dryer man to come replace a part in our dryer--thank goodness it is under warranty. The wait that never seems to end is that for the plumber who is to replace some pipes under the house (for our landlords), so that we will have hot water pressure in the bathroom. We have had none since we moved in. This has been going on now for weeks.

I guess that's all for now. I have to go feed the baby! With much love to all of you!

We passed our Two Week physical!

Announcing the news Olivia passed her two week physical. Here is the news: she now weights 7 lbs 10.5 ounces, is 20.25 inches long, and her head 13.75 inches around. We did have our change of formula for the third time in two weeks, but the doctor remains fairly certain that Olivia's digestive problems are nothing serious. She is eating well, sleeping fairly well, and has never run a fever. She does not spit up or throw up--her only problem is a slow turn around on poopy diapers. We are now drinking the new Carnation Good Start which is supposed to be the closest to breast milk and has new flora and proteins that are good for baby's tummy.

We also had a very nice conversation with our birth mother today. She was in much higher spirits and seems to be happy to share information on Olivia. We agreed (at her suggestion) to talk only every two weeks. We felt this was a really good sign.

When we got home from the doctor's office this morning we had a mailbox full of mail! Olivia's birth has been announced in three church bulletins, including: Alabama, Florida, and here! One of my good friends from Florida who is also on the altar guild there sent us a pressed rose from the altar announcing Olivia's birth and the bulletin. This past Sunday here there was a white carnation on the altar for Olivia. Someone is supposed to bring us that one as well. We also got two packages from New Zealand from Grandma Shirley and from Olivia's friend Tayla (who was born to Andy's best friend and his wife in May). Very exciting stuff! The newborn photos from the hospital have just arrived and we will be posting that online--maybe tomorrow.

Andy is really enjoying his new job. He has had more and more kids at youth on Sunday nights. Last night he had about 50 junior and senior high. These are really excited and tuned in kids. Andy was discussing all of this with our senior pastor today and he was told that the children and youth ministries have always been a priority here. It is obvious in the way that Sunday night youth with Bible study is a real focus for the kids. What an extraordinary blessing!

Please keep praying for Olivia and for God's continued leadership and work in our lives! We miss you all very much and can't wait for all of you to meet Olivia Grace.

Oh, I forgot to mention in the last blog that in September I will be employed by the church, part-time, doing desktop publishing of the weekly bulletin and the two monthly newsletters. I will also be taking a class so this will be a challenging time for me, but I am really looking forward to being involved in the life of the church again.

Guess Who Is Two Weeks Old

Well, Olivia is two weeks old (this past Friday). She had her first pedi appointment last Monday and had gained 1/2 pound and grew 1 and 1/2 inches! She is eating well, sleeping well, and waking up every three hours. We all seem to be adjusting well, but Mommy and Daddy are still getting used to sleeping in short naps. Olivia has her two week appointment tomorrow and we will see how much she has grown this week! How exciting?!

We are still maintaining communication with our birth mother. It has been a little strange as we all adjust to our new roles. She has just returned to her home with her son after two weeks way out in the country with her mother and family. When we last spoke she was anxious to get back to work as it keeps her busy and out of trouble. She has called Mom to get a chair we promised her--a result of downsizing from one of Mom's friends. She did have some rough moments last week and seemed very sad when we spoke. We are supposed to call her tomorrow after Olivia's next doctor visit. We sincerely hope she is doing better!

I believe that we naively thought it would be easier than it is to keep in contact with our birth mother. We get along so well that it seemed we would just continue this friendly relationship. What we did not account for is how difficult it would be for her to adjust and grieve, and how fiercely we would grow to love Olivia. There is still an air of danger as we wait out the 60 days it will take for the parental rights to be terminated. While the birth mother's decision to place her child for adoption is irrevocable no parental rights are terminated until 60 days have passed without locating the birth father--at that point both rights will be terminated in court. If we are to believe our birth mother, the birth father is unknown (except for a nick name) and is believed to live out of state. She wasn't even really sure of his race--possibly African American and Hispanic, or Puerto Rican. The birth father has thirty days after the birth of the child to register with the birth father registry stating he believes he has fathered a child, then the state has thirty days to conclude paternity. On October 2, we will all breathe a sigh of relief when those first court papers are filed.

Some time in the next two weeks we will have a home study visit--our first supervised visit from the Methodist Mission Home. We have to file a monthly report for six months with pictures, documenting the health and progress of Olivia. These are shared with the birth mother. During these first six months we will also be sharing photos and phone calls with our birth mother. We hope that after this time we will be able to have some space so that we can all really begin to heal and grow into our new lives.

Right now we live joyously in the moment. We love our new little daughter and are constantly amazed at how she grows, responds, and seems to love us in return. This is definitely the hardest thing either of us have ever done, but it also the most rewarding. We are so blessed!
Granny came to visit for a few days last week. We breathed a sigh of relief as tropical storm Erin missed the coast. Now we are praying for a reprieve from Hurricane Dean. If it seems as if he might still hit us we will be going up to San Antonio until the danger has passed. We don't want to be caught here with the possibility of storm damage, flooding, and/or loss of electricity. We already lived through a boil water advisory last week after ecoli was found in local city water, likely a result of an over burdened system and all of the flooding we have had already this Summer. Please say a prayer for us as we make decisions and preparations for dealing with Hurricane Dean.

Things are good!

Guess who is two weeks old?

What a big girl! She loves her bouncy chair!

Honey really doesn't know what the big deal is...
when the girls are sleepy there is no place better than Daddy's lap! [Yawn]

The doggies love their little sister!

Our New House!

Our new house! It is small, but sweet.

The doggies have already made new friends!

Lots of new friends came to help us move-in.

Our new pastor and his wife (Alan & Susan) helped us move-in.