Thursday, December 30, 2010

The Year in Review

I always like the end of the year when you are reminded of the big stories and news items of the year.
It has been quite a year for me.  Here is a quick review of the year:

1. Started this blog.
2. Went to Australia
3.  Finished our adoption profile.
4.  We were chosen and met our son's birthparents
5.  We brought our sweet baby home and life as we knew it changed.  Woo Hoo!

Looking back I would say, we had a really good year.  I had no idea it would turn out this great, but I am so glad it did.  Can't wait to see what the next year brings.  I am sure it will bring ups and downs.  In the hard moments I hope I will remember that just when I think things won't turn around, that they just might.  

Happy New Year.  

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Merry Christmas: Christmas Spirit Video



I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

A great invention

has to be the drive-thru.

Now how to get grocery and retail stores to utilize them?

I had no idea how time consuming and tiring it is to take a baby in and out of a car and in and out of a store.  Without fail, by the time we get out of the house (which is a time consuming and amazing feat in and of itself), and as soon as we get to a store, my little guy is either hungry, dirty, or usually both.  So, we find a comfy spot, take a seat, and I feed and change him.  I wonder why I even bothered to try to leave the house in the first place.  I then have a small window of time to accomplish everything.

Then, like yesterday as I got him back in the car, he had fallen asleep, so I thought to myself, "hmm, should I try to run to the grocery store real quick?"  I had only been trying to get there all week.  I had my list with me, which I usually lose by the time I get to the store, but this time I hadn't.  So I went to the store, had almost finished shopping when he woke up.  I told him, we just had eggs, yogurt, and cheese left to get, so to please hang on, and then we would be on our way.

When we are out and about I always tell him the plan, but sometimes the plan changes.  He is a real trooper, and very patient while we shop, but it seems that if I try to get a few more things off the list or start to get distracted in a store, he starts to get fussy, so I tell him, "ok, you're right, I said we were just going to do these few things, thanks for keeping me focused", and then we finish up and leave.  We have fun together.

Well, while at the grocery store, I decided I wanted some icecream and then I wondered if we had milk, so I texted my hubby and we had a confusing conversation.  I asked him, "Do you need anything at the store?" and "Do we have any milk?"  He said no.  I realized I had asked him 2 questions, and only received one response.  So I asked back: "No, you don't need anything, or no we don't have milk?"  He didn't respond back, and my little guy was ready to go so I didn't get milk, but it ended up that we needed some.  So at some point I will need to make another trip to the grocery.  Just that thought exhausts me.  Maybe I will send the hubs out to get some.  

By the time I was back in the car with the groceries and baby loaded, my baby was crying.  He was ready to be back home.  And little did he know, we had one more errand to run.  While on my way to the store I had asked another sleep deprived friend if she needed me to pick up anything for her at the grocery store.  I had to swing by her house (super close to mine) and give her the eggs.  So we did.  And then we went home.  Thank goodness for pacifiers--that helped him get through those last difficult minutes of running around.

If a grocery store could just have a small drive up window where they sold a few items like gift cards, milk, eggs, bread, a few veggies, chocolate, and ice cream, that would be great.

If retail stores could even just have a drive up window where you could return an item without going into the store until a later time that would save me so much time, and be awesome.

After 3 days of running around town we are staying put the rest of the week.  Or at least until I can go out with my husband on Sat. and we can tag team some of the errands.

Although, there are some things worth getting out of the house for...

Pictures with Santa!

singing a Christmas Carol with Santa

Our fun visit with Santa yesterday was worth all the effort it took to get out of the house.   And I don't know how a drive thru Santa Claus visit would work.

Monday, December 13, 2010

A little sock was hung by the chimney with care


For at least the past three years I have hung this little sock up next to ours in hopes that by the time the next Christmas rolled around we would be celebrating it with our first child.  Every year I looked at it longingly and hoped and prayed that this little sock would not have to remain empty and lonely for too much longer.  At times my emotional and spiritual resilience waned, but in the end, things worked out as they always do.

You cannot imagine the joy I felt as I hung up this little sock this year.   As I was unloading some of the boxes of Christmas decorations and began putting the ornaments on the tree I remembered this little sock.  I immediately set everything else aside and with a smile on my face and happiness in my heart I hung up all of our stockings.  That was a sweet moment.    

this was a picture I took of his sock last year

As I thought about the phrase: "the stockings were hung by the chimney with care", from the poem, "Twas the Night before Christmas", this wrote my own little poem about my baby's Christmas sock 


The Christmas Sock
Twas the Christmas season, when all through the house
only sadness and longing hung like a blouse
a little sock was hung by the chimney with care,
in hopes that a child soon would be there
I thought and I prayed and I pled
that someday soon I could stroke my child’s head.
He would sit in my lap,
and take a few naps.
At times my heart stirred a bit
As I wondered how much longer I could take it.
Then all of a sudden, quick as a flash
My baby was in my arms and I was kissing his nose and eyelash
I now walk around with a glow
and love telling my little baby, “hello”.


Saturday, December 11, 2010

The wonders of OxiClean

There are many things I didn't know until I became a mom.  One of those is the power of OxiClean.  Now I know why Billy Mays was so passionate about this product.  It's because it works.  I love it.   My baby always seems to poop on his really cute outfits and now instead of worrying about whether or not the yellow stains will come out, I confidently go to my bottle of OxiClean and spray away.  It has become a good friend of mine.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Smiling Session

My baby is smiling.  He has been off and on for a few weeks now, but it is really hard to catch it on camera.  He will stop as soon as I bring the camera out, and then start up again once I put it away.  And then it often seems that he decides to have a "smiling session" as my husband calls it during his 3 am feeding.  But right now we are having a smiling session and it is lots of fun.

I continue to get comments from friends about how happy I am now that I have a baby. And they are right, I am so happy.  I am having a smiling session.  I have been told that I haven't stopped smiling.  I was also told by one friend that she didn't realize how unhappy I was, because I am so happy now.  That seemed a little strange, I think it was a poor worded comment, but I am over it.  I have also been told by a friend that she did not realize how badly I wanted a baby, but now she can how much I wanted one because of how much joy and happiness my little guy has brought into my life.

It's true.  I haven't stopped smiling.  And having my little guy has brought so much joy into my life.  I am enjoying my smiling session.  I smile when I am sleep deprived or changing a stinky diaper, which I need to do right now.  :D

ooh eeh, that was a stinky and big one.  An outfit changing one.  He didn't last but 5 min in the outfit I put him in for the day.  Good thing he has more clothes than me.  :D

Friday, December 3, 2010

A Christmas Miracle

During December, whenever something good, (big or small), happens, my husband always says, "It's a Christmas miracle."  It always makes me laugh, but it is fun to call the little joys in life, "Christmas miracles".

Well, today I woke up to a Christmas miracle.  My boy had slept through the night.  A whole 7 hrs of uninterrupted sleep.  I heard him stirring and starting to cry so I pulled myself out of bed thinking it was 3 am.  I looked at the clock and to my surprise it was 5 am.  There was a spring in my step as I went to the fridge to get my little guy's bottle out.  He slept like this once last week, but we hadn't been able to replicate it until now.  And the first time it happened we had really been wondering if we had just been so exhausted that we hadn't heard him cry for us.  So, this time when I looked at him, I was happy to see that he was still bundled up and was just waking up.

A Christmas miracle indeed.  Thanks for the early Christmas present little guy!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Thankful Thursday--Good news in the blogosphere

I can't believe it's Thursday again already.  And it is another thankful and happy one.  I just read great news on two of my bloggy friend's blogs.  I just loved clicking from one blog to the next and reading all of the good news.

Please join me in congratulating them.  
Annie just found out she's PREGNANT
and Rebecca just had a FET with a donor embryo and feels very positive about how the procedure went.

I am so happy for them, they have been through so much, both physically and emotionally.  And I will continue to have them in my thoughts and prayers that things continue to go well.