4 weeks already!!

Well, I can't believe it, DD is 4 weeks already!!!! Time sure flies!!! Everything is going really well. I was sick earlier this week with a sinus infection which made things interesting. Luckily DH stayed home Mon and Tues otherwise I don't know what I would have done!

I am getting used to the getting up in the middle of the night i guess. I hope she starts going longer then every 3 hours soon, but I guess she will when she is ready and no sooner.

I heard from teh birthfamily via e-mail the other day which was nice. It was the first I had heard from her since before we left Texas. I really can't explain the feelings I have for this couple....I will forever be grateful to them for giving me something, I could never give myself, the gift of being a mommy! I really wish them all teh best and hope that life gives them some breaks and good things come their way. I want to remain in contact with them which is something that 1 month ago, I never would have thought! THis process of semi-open adoption is truely a gift and a blessing and now that I have been through it I can't imagine it any other way!!

You see I am adopted myself.....only my adoption was completey closed (as were most at that time) All i have is a biece of paper that gives a description of what the birth parents looked like, their interests and a brief medical history. It is interesting because before I went through this experience, I never cared to track them down, but a part of me feels differently now. The only feelings I had about it growing up is I would have liked to see a picture of them. Well now a part of me wants to try to track them down to say thank you!

My DD is so blessed to be able to know exactly where she came from, and know that her parents met and got to know her birthparents, and we can tell her without a hesitation how much they love her and want the best for her. We have so many pictures of all of us together, which I am sure DD will love to look at. It really is an awesome experience and so much better then closed adoption (in my opinion) We have to go back to TX at the 6 month mark for the finalization and I hope that we will all be able to go and we can meet up with the birth family so they can see how well she is doing. I hope that they will always be a part of our lives, (to an extent of course) i have so much love and admiration for them, I will forever be a changed person because of them!!!

Here is a picture i took last week I think, isn'tDD the cutest!!

Happy to be Home!!!

Well we have been home for a few days now and are settling in. It is so nice to be sleeping in our own bed (although dd still prefers her carseat to the pack and play bassinet!) I am definately exhausted, but it is so worth it! I have yet to figure out this sleep when she sleeps thing, even though I am exhausted, I have so much stuff to do, I don't want to waste time sleeping. And it seems like when i do lay down I cant fall asleep anyway and just think about all the stuff I need to do.

Since everything happened so fast, we still don't have her nursery set up or anything, we have the walls done but then we started redoing the spare room so all that furniture is now in the baby's room, and we don't have a crib or changing table or dresser or anything, so it has been a bit cluttered trying to get organized. Hopefully dh will make some progress on the spare room this weekend so we can get it put back together and start getting dd room organized! So for now we have the pack in play in our room and dh bought a 3 drawer plastic container that we have in our room with some of her clothes and blankets etc. We definatley have more stuff in this house and we haven't even had our shower yet! So far we have a bouncy seat and a swing. I can't even imagine what this house is gonna look like after the shower.

Instead of a traditional shower we are just having an open house. I am not a big fan of showers so I think the open house will be good. It is next sat the 17th so we have bit to get ready for that, hopefully that spare room will at least be primed so we can get the furniture back in it.

It is starting to sink in that I am a mommy and that is my full time job! I am still going to try to work in my dad's office a few hours a week, but for the most part will be at home and am SOOOOOO excited. I can't imagine it any other way.

We took dd to the peditrician here today and that went great. The doctor was really nice and dd is up to 8lbs!!! she put on a 1lb in a week!!!! The doctor said she looks great and couldn't find anything wrong with her!!!!!!!!! We are just so blessed. I swear the last 2 weeks have been an absolute dream come true.

For those still waiting, DON'T GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!! Your child WILL find you and as soon as you see him/her you will know they are meant to be yours!!!!! And we are proof that it can happen ANYTIME!!!

We are Coming Home!!!!

Well we got clearance this morning so we are on the last flight out tonight!!! We are beyond excited, cold weather here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Doing well, but ready to come home

Everything is still going great. We took DD to the doctor on Thursday, she was up to 7 lbs and the doctor said she is really strong and healthy. Her cord fell off also on Thursday so that was nice to have that gone. She had her first bath in the sink on Thursday too since her cord fell off. She seemed to like it once she was in it. She really is so mellow, nothing really seems to bother her, except a hungry stomach (or when teh doctor is trying to look in her ears or poked her foot!)

We did get registered and that was SOOO much fun! We have an open house/shower schedule for Feb 17th. I am not a big fan of showers so I liked the open house idea a whole lot better.

We were hoping to get the clearance to come home on Friday but no luck. So we are stuck for the weekend and are hoping we hear on Monday and can go home on Tuesday. The first week we were here it was fine, nice to get to know one another with peace and quiet but now we are starting to go a little stir crazy, sick of the hotel and really wanting our own bed! I guess we are thankful for the weather here since they are having record lows in MI and it has been in the 50's and 60's here!

We met another adoptive couple here in teh hotel whose daughter was born 2 days before ours and they just got to go home today. It was nice we went out to dinner with them yesterday. I love the adoption community, it is just filled with amazing, caring, wonderful people!!!

I am going to go ahead and post a picture of dd. We think she is just the cutest!