A whole new wardrobe

How would it be to wake up from a nap and find that you had a whole new set of clothes waiting for you? I would love that.  And if I could wear these clothes for  3 months and then have it happen again.  Even better.

Today I am cleaning out my little guy's clothes.  He keeps growing and growing.  The first few months he breezed through his newborn clothes and had jumped into his 3 month clothes by the time he was 2 months old.  Then he took his time enjoying those clothes, but is now wanting to get a chance to wear his 3-6 month and 6 month clothes before he grows out of them.

Baby clothes sizing is so tricky.  I am looking at the 6 month clothes and they say they will fit babies 12-16 lbs and 24-26 inches.  Well, my baby is 17 lbs and 27 inches.  And they are just now fitting him.  Or maybe they would've fit him sooner, and now I am worried that he will only get to wear these clothes a few weeks.  Aaah.  I guess it's good to have these types of problems to worry about.  I am sure he will help me out by drooling and spitting all over them so he can wear 2-3 outfits a day.

I hope these clothes don't shrink in the wash, or I'll really be in trouble.  So far I haven't had any trouble with his clothes shrinking.  I have learned a little bit more about the many knobs on my washer and dryer and what they mean.  I know, technically I should wash them before he wears them, but I don't.  He had so many 3 month size clothes and I thought he would wear them just a few weeks at the rate he had been growing that I exchanged some of them for 6 month size clothes. And now it seems like I have too many 6 month clothes. Oh well.  I'll just see what he gets through and then if he doesn't get to wear some of the ones with tags on I will exchange them for a bigger size.  But he will probably have just enough and my worries will be for naught.

I am a bit concerned about the clothes I have that say they are a 6-12 month size.  That is quite a range.  I am hoping they will fit him when he is 9-12 months old.  

It has been both sad and exciting to organize my little one's drawers.  Sad to put his cute little onesies I love away, but exciting to see the new ones he will wear.  I think of the people that gave him those clothes and the love they have for my little guy and it brings a smile to my face.  I have such happy memories when I look at the clothes my little guy has worn.

Who knew you could get so sentimental about clothing?  

My husband's aunt gave him this pj outfit.  He looks so cute in them.  I will be sad when he no longer fits into these.  I am glad I put them on him early.  The size said 6 months, but they barely fit him when he was 3 months. And then they seemed to stretch out a bit and they still fit him.  I think he will wear these to bed tonight.

 Our son's birthfather's sister gave him this outfit.  It was so thoughtful and nice of her. 

One of my brothers gave him this Letterman's jacket.  I love it when it is cold enough for him to wear it.  And I get sad when he gets too warm and I need to take it off. 

Another brother of mine gave him this outfit.  I was feeling "bananas over my baby" and had fun making two of him with the photobooth feature on my computer.  :D  You can never have too much of a good thing.

Whirlwind of events

These last few days have been insanely busy, exhausting, and exciting.  I wouldn't trade them for anything.  Our family all left yesterday, daddy went back to work, so now it is just me and my little guy.  All I want to do is sleep.

Some friends had a baby shower for us.  It was so fun.  We received so many gifts, I was blown away.  This is a picture I took after we finally finished opening the gifts.  :D

Pent up energy

Today I have already gone for a run and scrubbed my shower till it sparkles.  Sat I cleaned the garage and it looks awesome.  Especially since the couches are gone!

I received a sweet card from a friend.  This is what it said, "WOW, after all of that waiting, your adoption is finally happening!"  on the inside of the card it says, "How do you do it?  I barely have the patience to wait for my microwave popcorn.  Congratulations."  I thought that was so nice of my friend to think of me and send me that card.  It made me think, I am just waiting for the baby to pop out like a piece of popcorn.  Come on out kiddo, we are ready for you!

We have our pack n play and even the crib all set up.  I was impressed with my hubby's skills in getting the crib set up.  Now we just need a baby to put in them.

That's enough rambling for now, I'm sure more will follow.

Baby Steps

We met up again with the birth parents this weekend.  We went out to dinner and had a nice time chatting and getting to know one another a bit more.  They are really great people.  I felt good about how everything was going.  I felt at peace, excited, and joyful.

I felt those same feelings this morning on my run.

Then I started to get nervous.  Nervous that things wouldn't work out.  Nervous that our meeting hadn't gone as well as I thought.  I talked with my hubby a bit and that helped.  He reminded me, "It's out of our hands."  At this point there is nothing we can do.  If things don't work out, then they don't work out.  While I realize that, that is one of the reasons it is scary and I feel nervous.  I want to be in control.  I want to make sure everything works out.  Aaaaah.   Deep breath.

I tried to keep myself busy by cleaning and going to the grocery store.  My sister called and it was nice to be able to talk to her a bit.  Then my friend told me she was home and I could come pick up a crib and her rocking chair.  So I went and picked that up.  And now I am feeling a bit better.  I am about to head out to go to my sister in law's house to pick up some more baby stuff--car seat, pack n play, etc.

I have been so amazed at the outpouring of love and baby stuff from people when we tell them we are adopting.  I am so grateful to everyone for their help.  Our baby is going to be so loved and we will be able to tell him about everyone who was so excited about his arrival and how they helped us stuff his room full of the things we needed to take care of him.

I can do this.  It is just a few more weeks until I will be holding my little bundle of joy.

Good Friends

Bring me Joy.

I am so grateful to have some dear friends in my life.  I will be forever grateful to those that have listened to me as I have related the highs and lows of my life and hep me feel good about who I am.  They make me want to be a better person and friend.  They bring laughter and joy into my life.  To those who are my dear friends, both online and off, thank you.

Loyalty

Thank you to all you commented on my post yesterday, it was very helpful.  I took time to talk w/ God last night and I feel like we patched things up a bit. 

When I woke up this morning, I started thinking about loyalty and what it means to be loyal.  I remembered this article I had read/heard about before, so I went searching online and was pleased to find it. 

Here is the part I was thinking about when I woke up: 

“We often refer to those who continue in their commitments to Christ as being “faithful.” In the Old Testament, the words for faith, faithful, and faithfulness all come from the Hebrew ‘aman, which means “to be firm or reliable” and implies primarily qualities of loyalty and determination. Thus, being faithful means that we can be trusted to keep our commitments. . . Enduring to the end is keeping those promises throughout our lives—no matter what. It means we don’t quit because of life’s difficulties or temptations. Conversely, failing to endure means backing away from what we’ve started—first promising loyalty to God and then withholding what we promised. Endurance is not so much a matter of stamina as it is a matter of loyalty and integrity. Can you be trusted to faithfully hold your course? Just as a spouse who can be trusted to keep the marriage covenant is called faithful, so those who can be trusted to keep their gospel covenants are called faithful.

I once knew a man who had to decide whether to pay his tithing every time his check came, whether to go to his meetings every time they were held. . . Finally a friend asked him: “Why can’t you just decide once and for all which side you’re on? Why do you have to re-examine your loyalty every time a decision is called for? You are spiritually reinventing the wheel over and over again, and you will never make any progress until you can build on what you already know.”

A few weeks later he called his friend and asked for a ride to some stake meetings. The friend was pleased he was going, and when he told him so, the man responded: “You know, I wouldn’t like it if my wife told me she had to decide every morning whether she still loved me or not, or if she told me she only stayed with me because she hadn’t found a reason to leave—yet. I guess the Lord is entitled to more of a commitment than that from me. I’m ready to stop reinventing the wheel and move on.”

…There must come some point at which our commitment to the gospel and our conviction of its truth settles questions of faith in advance and predetermines our response to whatever challenges that commitment.” Stephen E. Robinson, “Enduring to the End,” Ensign, Oct 1993, 12  

I have experienced how it feels when someone I love stopped communicating with me.  All efforts to continue correspondence fell on deaf ears, with no explanation given.  It was rude and hurtful.  I thought, am I guilty of doing the same when it comes to God?  He has upset me, and while I can assume He knows I’m angry, I am ignoring Him and not taking the time to talk to Him about it.  He should have a chance to let me see His point of view as well.  Instead, I was shutting him out the same way this person did to me.  I didn’t like it when this was done to me, because I was under the impression this person and I were good friends.  "Que sera, sera"  translation: What will be, will be.  I can’t force other people to do what I want, I am only responsible for my own actions.  The same is true with God.  He won’t control us, and He won’t force, if we don't want to talk to Him or be close to Him, He will leave us alone.   

So the question was: Would I be a friend to God?  

Would I as it says in Proverbs 17: 17, Be “A friend [who] loveth at all times”? 

Or would I reject and abandon Him when the going got tough? 

In John 15: 13-15, Christ said: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 

While it may sound sacrilegious to some, it seemed like a nice thought to consider whether or not I was a friend to God, and whether or not He would call me His friend.  Could He count of me to stand by Him and be His friend through thick and thin even if I didn't always agree with Him?  

I hope so.  Or a more committed response to that question would be --Yes.  Or: you got that right.  Or better yet: Claro que si.  Translation:  Of course.  

Under the Weather

I enjoyed Mel the Stirrup Queen's post on nose blowing today.  You will have to read it.  I have been blowing my nose and coughing up crud all week, that her analogy hit home.  It is okay for us to constantly regurgitate the same thoughts and feelings because like crud in our lungs we have to get it out somehow.  And for me, I can get it out here.  And you fine folks read it and write encouraging words to let me know that someday I'll feel better and that it's okay and normal to feel the way I do.  How often do we have the sniffles or feel under the weather?  Quite often.

Not to get political or anything (I'm an independent and not a fan of Nancy Pelosi), but prior to the healthcare reform vote Nancy Pelosi said that "being a woman would no longer be a preexisting condition".  Frankly I never knew it was, and I resent that she said it was.  I still don't really understand what she meant by that.  I thought women usually live longer than men.  And we know that men are total babies when they are sick.

A quote that my hubby is famous in his family for quoting when they get together is:  "Attitudes are contagious.  Is yours worth catching?"  And then the caveat, "Be careful what you catch". His family always groans when he shares this, but it's true.  So, while I don't want anyone to catch the cold I currently have, I do hope that while I'm running around chasing my dream of having a child I can have an attitude that's worth catching.  And on the days I don't, I can turn to so many of you to help nurse me back to full strength.