Okay, Olivia has been eating Yo Baby yogurt from a spoon for a couple of weeks, but she has resisted eating fruit from a spoon until today. Today she ate some yogurt and pears from a spoon for lunch. And she did it sitting in her high chair. Yay! We did a little dance around the house afterwards! She has been eating fruit from a feeder bottle, but now she eats it like a big girl.
Tomorrow we are going to try peas!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Happy Valentine's Day
Taken yesterday before her Doctors appointment
Olivia not feeling well the morning after her shots...Well, we had our six month shots yesterday. It was so sad. Olivia had such a good doctor visit. She was laughing and playing with the doctor. She was very healthy, other then her little tear duct in her left eye that still hasn't opened. This gives her a perpetual runny/pink eye. Then she knew something was up when the doctor left and we stayed. As soon as she saw the nurse come in with the shots she started screaming her head off. She remembered this from the last time--two months ago. I didn't think that was possible at this age, but she is a very smart and alert baby.
So we came home and went right to bed. I have gotten in the habit of giving her Tylenol or Ibuprofen before her shots, which is supposed to help. She slept for three hours and then got up and had a good bottle. She stayed up another three hours before going down for the night. She seemed just fine and slept all night with no trouble. I went in to get her up this morning at 6:45 am and she said "ba, ba, ba" in a very sad voice. That's when I noticed how hot she was. Her temperature was 103! We called Granny and she told us to sponge her off in a tepid tub and give her medicine at once. So we did. Within thirty minutes her temp was down to 100. That was scary!
She drank her morning bottle while in the tub. At least her eating hasn't suffered. She is napping peacefully now and doing much better. This vaccination stuff is so hard to deal with. I still feel as if we hadn't had to do it for the adoption, we would have waited until she was older. The only good thing is that we don't have to do it again for six months!
So we came home and went right to bed. I have gotten in the habit of giving her Tylenol or Ibuprofen before her shots, which is supposed to help. She slept for three hours and then got up and had a good bottle. She stayed up another three hours before going down for the night. She seemed just fine and slept all night with no trouble. I went in to get her up this morning at 6:45 am and she said "ba, ba, ba" in a very sad voice. That's when I noticed how hot she was. Her temperature was 103! We called Granny and she told us to sponge her off in a tepid tub and give her medicine at once. So we did. Within thirty minutes her temp was down to 100. That was scary!
She drank her morning bottle while in the tub. At least her eating hasn't suffered. She is napping peacefully now and doing much better. This vaccination stuff is so hard to deal with. I still feel as if we hadn't had to do it for the adoption, we would have waited until she was older. The only good thing is that we don't have to do it again for six months!
Friday, February 8, 2008
It's Really Official!
This baby girl loves Yo Baby Yogurt!She's eating from a spoon!
Who is that big girl in her first pair of jeans?
Birth mother and parents--happy family!
About to be officially the Daddy!
About to be officially the Mommy!
In the courtroom with our lawyer and the agency rep.
Answering our questions before the judge...
The witnesses: Granny, Cousins (Colleen, Mary Kate, Kelsey),Helen from the Methodist Mission Home, & Auntie Susan
(taking the photos)
The Payne family with Judge Margaret Tanner
Mommy and Olivia with the San Antonio cousins(Kelsey, Mary Kate, and Colleen)
Best friend/godmother Susan with Mommy and Oliviaafter the court appearance!
The set-up for the party...
The Cake!We are so relieved that it is all official! It is hard to believe that we don't have any more paperwork to fill out, any more home visits to get ready for, or any more monthly check-ups! We are officially a family and on our own! We are truly blessed and amazed by our little girl and how she has enriched our lives.
The court procedure is all a formality. It was very easy and sweet. I cried the whole time, of course. Our Texas family got to be there and Olivia's godmother Susan. We had a little party that night at Granny's house.
On Monday night before our court date we met with Olivia's birth mother. She hadn't seen her since we left the hospital six months ago. It was a good meeting. She is doing well and making good steps forward in her life. She is happy with her decision and so happy to see us as a family. We hope that someday Olivia will be blessed by the decision her birth mother made and will see how much we have been blessed by her.
Many thanks to all of you for your support and prayers. We couldn't have done it without you!
Love--The Payne Family!
The court procedure is all a formality. It was very easy and sweet. I cried the whole time, of course. Our Texas family got to be there and Olivia's godmother Susan. We had a little party that night at Granny's house.
On Monday night before our court date we met with Olivia's birth mother. She hadn't seen her since we left the hospital six months ago. It was a good meeting. She is doing well and making good steps forward in her life. She is happy with her decision and so happy to see us as a family. We hope that someday Olivia will be blessed by the decision her birth mother made and will see how much we have been blessed by her.
Many thanks to all of you for your support and prayers. We couldn't have done it without you!
Love--The Payne Family!
Monday, February 4, 2008
We Leave Tomorrow
We leave tomorrow after lunch for San Antonio. We have tentatively scheduled a meeting with Olivia's birth mother for tomorrow night. I am anxious to get that over with. She expressed an interest in seeing her when we spoke a few weeks ago (the first time in over two months). So we have offered to meet tomorrow night since we will be in town. We are supposed to call her to confirm that today. I know that this will be hard for me, but I also know that it is very healthy for Olivia and for her birth mother. We can take new pictures again of us all together, like we did when she was born. I hope that someday Olivia will appreciate our efforts to keep her birth mother involved and informed of her well being.
Then we are off to court on Tuesday to finalize the adoption. Our last home study went well last week and our social worker gave us the low down on court. She said the whole thing lasts less then five minutes and the judge will usually let the family take pictures with him or her. That will be a great picture for the scrap book. I am looking forward to my week off between quarters at school so that I can get to work on Olivia's book. I have been collecting pieces, but haven't started yet.
Tuesday night we have a small party planned at my Mom's house. My Mom and sister, Lee Ann, have really worked hard to put it together and we are so honored. It will be nice to celebrate and breathe a sigh of relief at long last. I can't believe how far we have come since November of 2006 when we started this process. It was too much to imagine then. We couldn't have gone forward with it without the support of our dear friends Kay and Andrew Roberts in Florida who gave us living example of adoption in action--as well as--all of the support from our friends around the world who helped us raise our adoption fees. I wish you could all be at the party on Tuesday night.
I'll post pictures of the big event later next week!
God bless!
Then we are off to court on Tuesday to finalize the adoption. Our last home study went well last week and our social worker gave us the low down on court. She said the whole thing lasts less then five minutes and the judge will usually let the family take pictures with him or her. That will be a great picture for the scrap book. I am looking forward to my week off between quarters at school so that I can get to work on Olivia's book. I have been collecting pieces, but haven't started yet.
Tuesday night we have a small party planned at my Mom's house. My Mom and sister, Lee Ann, have really worked hard to put it together and we are so honored. It will be nice to celebrate and breathe a sigh of relief at long last. I can't believe how far we have come since November of 2006 when we started this process. It was too much to imagine then. We couldn't have gone forward with it without the support of our dear friends Kay and Andrew Roberts in Florida who gave us living example of adoption in action--as well as--all of the support from our friends around the world who helped us raise our adoption fees. I wish you could all be at the party on Tuesday night.
I'll post pictures of the big event later next week!
God bless!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
More Pictures!
We call this series--Baby with the Blue Bear Blankie...
Olivia and Skeeter
These two pictures are called--Baby on the Floor...
We call this series--Baby on the Couch...
Hello! We are all doing well. We have 11 more days until Olivia's adoption is final! Yee Haw! We thought it was time to add some more pretty pictures.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
It's Official!
Well, it's official. We got the paperwork in the mail today from the attorney. Olivia's final hearing has been set for Tuesday, February 5--the first day it was possible to do it, six months to the day since we brought her home. We are so excited, it hardly seems real. We can't believe that after everything we have been through--it is almost over. Olivia will legally and forever be our daughter. Praise God! Everyone is invited to come! We will be taping it and we'll send copies to anyone who wants one.
We miss you all and love you all very much!
We miss you all and love you all very much!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
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!
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!
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