Christmas 2012 - part 1

Here are some Christmas photos that we've taken throughout the past couple of weeks: 

We visited Santa on the Square.  He is so sweet and was very happy to meet Isabella in person, as he's heard a lot about her.  She wore her finest clothes to visit the big guy (courtesy of Aunt Tonia).  Mercer was a little shy around Santa, but the big guy did not take it personally and gave him a candy cane.  

The next week, we built a gingerbread house, gingerbread trees & people.

Little sister didn't really help - she watched Mercer and me build it... but she did want to get in on the photo with her big brother.  

Later that week, we went to a neighborhood Christmas party.  There - they had a cool "Santa's helper" at the party who rode in on a motorcycle!!  Mercer was comfortable enough with Santa's helper to talk to him about his sister and his wish for some legos.  Mercer and Todd - as mentioned on the last blog post - stayed out really late at this party while Isabella and I crashed early.  

We also celebrated an early Christmas at our house -- sharing some gifts with each other before driving up to North Carolina.  

"Sister" got Mercer a camera.  











Mercer picked out a light-up musical turtle for Isabella.  








Here, Mercer is "trying" to pass off some of his cars as a last-minute gift to Todd and myself~  Todd and I already received the greatest gift we could imagine last month.... the addition of a baby girl into our family + watching Mercer become the really great big brother that he is (so far).  ~~  

After the little event at the house + an extensive packing session of Todd's SUV, we headed to North Carolina for the Nunn family Christmas party.  While in town – we got to see some of my dad’s family too.  Funny thing about a baby… everyone wants to come visit & hold the sweet innocent little nugget.   And she’s a good little nugget; she’s agreeable to people holding her and ooh-ing and ahh-ing over her. 

Dad’s sister, Becky, and her hubby (lovingly known as “crazy uncle Tony”) came over to my mom’s house to see Isabella and Mercer.  They commented on how much she looked like Mercer and they were “tickled” by that.  

Dad’s brother David came too, but didn’t get a chance to hold baby girl as his two daughters did most of the cuddling.  His wife, Francis, was only able to sneak little time from the girls.   So… everyone wants to come visit, hold, and even feed the baby… but we did not have any takers on changing her diaper.  Hmmmm




Todd, Mercer, Isabella, and I also spent some time at my grandma & grandpa’s house (Mercer & Isabella’s great grandma & great grandpa).  Grandma held Isabella and doted on our little “baby doll.”  Meanwhile, Todd was building lincoln log structures that Mercer would promptly crash & tear down.  All around, it was entertaining!   

The following day, we prepped for the Christmas party.  (Great) Grandma and Grandpa were there.  As were Mel, Erica, Sandra, Eddie, Rhonda, and the “kids.”  Of course, it seemed that all of the aunts wanted a turn holding Isabella.  My cousin Mandy found her sweet spot on the couch for most of the party snuggling with the sweet baby.   We were happy to oblique!  



Aunt Sandra and Isabella  

Aunt Rhonda and Isabella

The guys cut loose - trying on different stick-on mustaches.





Uncle Mel











Uncle Eddie




















Todd
















Michael














Cooper













even Aunt Sandra tried one on too!  














Mercer refused to wear one.  He played with his toys as well as a manger set that Erika and Mel gave him (so sweet)!  

And - here's a final shot of the party:  budding artist, Emma, with Grandma

It was nice to see everyone and spread a little holiday cheer... sharing our "new gift" with the family!  

The next day, we headed up to see Todd’s family in New Jersey.  We hit a bit of a snag…. Todd’s SUV had a pretty serious malfunction occur while we were in the middle of the mountains of Virginia.  Driving slowly to a dealership in Charlottesville, we dropped the car off.  They checked things out and said that “sorry to tell you this the day before Christmas, but you’re not making it to New Jersey in your own vehicle.”  Not what we wanted to her, of course, but we had at least left early enough in the day that we were able to get a rental car (our first encounter with a mini-van, actually) and several hours later were back on the road.  We don’t know what is in store for Todd’s SUV, but we are putting it behind us for at least Christmas day and deal with it on the way home. 

Another "snag" was looming over us as well:  a slushy snow storm.   While Todd had to navigate our way north on a very stressful drive in a rental... I got to take advantage of some beautiful scenery, however.  
- The snow-dusted rolling hills of the Virginia foot-hill farms are stunning... as are pristine woods in a snow storm.  
- Horses braving the cold - standing tall with a light dusting on their backs.  Snow-capped stone walls surrounding historic homes and plantations.  
- Wineries with their empty grape vines -- replaced with a little of the white stuff clinging on the branches instead.  
- charming main street Sperryville, VA with quaint art galleries and shops (maybe check that place out sometime when we have some time to browse??)

It's all beautiful unless you are sliding around in the slushy white stuff on the ground.  We decided to stop driving and pull over to spend the night in Winchester, Virginia.  

So, we hit some snags.  We weren't spending Christmas Eve with family or doing the big "opening of the presents" from under the tree.... but the most important thing is that the 4 of us were together.  We were safe.  We'd be on our way the next morning.  

It's been a month....

... since Isabella has come into our lives... she has been such a gift. 

We did not meet the birthmother, but we are grateful for the gift she gave us.  We are blessed this holiday season, indeed.

Everything happened so quickly.  I am not sure yet if I will take maternity leave, but my employers are being very flexible. (Plus - I didn't leave them high-and-dry on the projects we have going out the door.)  I'm working from home with occasional visits into the office.  Honestly, I need to continue working.  I recently went to reduced hours, however, which helps the "juggle."  It's not ideal, but maternity leave is for such a short period of time anyways... the overall goal is to be a family for the long-term.   Todd and I may be a little more tired these first few months because of the daily grind... but we'll get through with bags under our eyes & extra caffeine.  At some point (maybe 12 years from now?) we'll catch up on our sleep~  

Todd & I are happy.  Mercer seems to be happy.  Isabella seems happy too.  As mentioned, a couple of weeks ago, she was starting to smile.  She does it even more now & "on command" if we make silly faces at her.  In general, she doesn't cry out much (except when hungry she'll let us know).  She loves to be held and may "complain" just a tiny bit until we pick her up to cuddle.  She probably spends the majority of her day laying her head next to my heart or Todd's.   Spoiling her?  Maybe, but we want to hold her... stare at her sweet face while she's sleeping... watch her little lips crunch up when she squirms and stretches out her arms.   This is especially true as there was a tragic event that happened at an elementary school in Connecticut yesterday; it makes us want to hug on and love on our beautiful, innocent children even more.

There are so many things we do with Isabella that remind us of the early days with Mercer.  The first bath she took is in the tub that Mercer used.  She sleeps in the same pack-and-play that he did and I take a double-take often when looking over and seeing her there.  There are some of Mercer's outfits that I put on her... and I swear that (especially from the side)... I'm looking at him.  We've said this before, but it's worth repeating:  it is as if they were meant to be brother and sister! Thank you, God!  This "had" to have been divinely led!! 

Here's a photo comparison of Mercer (in blue) age 2 months... and Isabella (in the zebra stripe) age 2 weeks.  Uncanny, isn't it?!  The mouth is the main difference between the two.

We have not had as much time to blog.  With Mercer, we were in a hotel room 24/7 for the first 1 1/2 weeks of his life... we were mostly alone and our support group was through emails & the blog.  Now - we're at home and we've had a wonderful support group of people from church and the neighborhood -- bringing meals and little things for Isabella and big brother Mercer.  But, it's the holidays.  Also, we have a 4 year old at home.  I feel that we may be "slighting" Isabella a little in terms of blog-press... sorry (if she's reading this later).  We'll try to document as many "firsts" as we can~

At the same time, we don't want to slight Mercer either by focusing only on the baby.  We've been trying to pay a lot of attention to him.  He still gets the same amount of one-on-one attention (songs, reading books, etc.) during bedtime.  He got a special advent calendar from his grandma that he gets to open each morning & he's enjoying getting a new little toy each morning.  We're going to /doing things that he'll enjoy that "sister" is just too little to appreciate like going out & looking at Christmas lights, making muffins and cookies (and licking the beaters). 

He's been to a couple of parties without his sister as well.  In fact, he & I went to a birthday party today where he got to have his face painted.  This is a first for him.  He's always been too shy to get his painted, but the birthday boy went first.... so Mercer followed.  Here are a couple of pics of Mercer and his buddy Gabriel.  

The "big brother" photo above was taken at our neighborhood Christmas party.  Mercer and Todd ended up staying at the party late while Isabella and I came home early to finish our evening asleep on the couch.  Mercer stepped into their koi pond two times / had to change his clothes and shoes each time -- he was having such a great time running around with neighborhood friends! 

I almost forgot... it was also recently my birthday.  As mentioned, we have received an amazing gift:  baby Isabella and getting to see Mercer "step up" as a big brother.  Instead of doing gifts, we went out to breakfast at one of my favorite spots then stopped by a coffee shop that's located next to a river.  We got to sip on some coffee, chai, hot cocoa... look over the water... walk in the woods... and explore a new place that I've been wanting to go with the boys.  We weren't sure if we would be able to hike & hook up to some nearby trails along the river.  As it turns out, this place was not connected - but that's OK.  It was nice to get out and explore a new place. This was probably one of the most relaxing birthdays I've had in a long long time!  Here are some photos that capture the scenery of this beautifully-situated coffee shop.  I especially like the photo of Todd & Mercer down by the water.  I stayed up at the top with Isabella in the sling, as I did not want to "climb down" to the water's edge with her in tow.


UPDATE (Monday 12.17):  We were a little concerned about some rattly breathing that Isabella has had for awhile.  I took her to the doctor.  The doc said that she has a condition called laryngomalacia ("soft larynx").  It's pretty common... she's not concerned.  She says that in 90% of the cases, it goes away on it's own as the cartilage hardens.  And even if it doesn't repair itself on it's own.  At this point, there's really nothing that can be done anyways.  If Isabella is ever in breathing distress, we will act immediately, of course.  Let's hope that never happens! 

We noticed a little something / got it checked out / turned out to be nothing major.  Whew! 

Of interest:  while at the doctor, Isabella weighed in at 8.9 lbs / 9.0 lbs -- the scale kept moving back & forth as she wriggled.  Wow.  She's grown quite a bit in her first month with us!! 

Also today, we had our first post-placement home visit from the adoption agency.  The woman came over to visit with us.  It seemed that she really wanted a home tour & was interested in the renovation.  After showing her the "before & after" book / walking her around the house, she asked a few questions about Isabella, Mercer, my working part-time or full-time, etc.  She was not here long & went on her way.  She will have one more visit with us (likely in January) and the petition for the adoption will be filed.   According to the lawyer - tomorrow (12/18) the parental rights will be terminated in court.  The birthmother rescission period is over / the birthfather registry was researched and was clear.  All of this had to be done to take that next step with the state of Georgia and the termination could officially be done.  

We're not sure if this is how everything happened with Mercer's adoption??  Perhaps the process was different between Colorado / Georgia... or perhaps we didn't ask as many questions (or the right questions) last time.  All-in-all, things are progressing! 

I'll try to get another blog in before Christmas.  It may be short - but we'll post some holiday photos~

Isabella is grace-ing our lives...

 

Already in the first two+ weeks she has been in our lives, Isabella has brought so much joy into our home!  One of the most rewarding things to see is how Mercer's big brother instincts have kicked in.   He is so kind... so gentle... so sweet... so loving.  (Here, he's counting her fingers.)

Many of the same fears and observations in the early weeks of us tending to Mercer are the same with Isabella: 
- the whole chunky mustard poo situation occurred.  now, she's moved onto a different style of poo for the most part
- we're still scared to death to trim finger nails and toe nails, but it necessary & we just do it. 
- we're trying to get back into the swing of swaddling and shushing in order to get a better night's sleep (we're still doing a little bit of shift work and figuring out how to get through each day / each night)
- we're still tracking feedings and observing that some of our early victories of stretching out her feedings at night have somewhat reverted back to middle-of-the-night feedings

Overall, however, we're more relaxed.  Partly because we've been through it.  Partly because we're at home and have a lot of support of friends and neighbors.  Partly because we had more time to prepare.  (oh wait - that last part's not true!)  I was looking back at Mercer's entry into our lives and there was a lot of mention about researching baby products.  That all paid off, as the things we brought into our home for him are still very appropriate, non-toxic, durable, and still in use.  So - there's less time trying to figure out what's needed and more time staring at baby girl!

Isabella - at her 3 day old appointment - did not do anything dramatic like Mercer did "christening" of the doctor's office.  There was one interesting thing that happened, however:  at the pediatrician's office, she was measured several times, but came up an inch short each time from her original birth length:  18" at 3 days old where the hospital recorded her length at birth at 19".  We all agreed at the doctor's office to take the difference thinking the hospital had to have written down the length incorrectly -- so the "official" 3 day old measurement is 18 1/2" long. 

The doctor confirmed what we had been observing:  Isabella is a healthy baby girl.  We reported that Isabella had rolled from her back to her side the first night we had her.  The doctor was actually amazed at her neck strength -- holding her head up already at 3 days old.  Since then, we have also observed her schooching in her crib (starting at one end and eventually working her way to the other side), and using her legs to push her up over the boppy pillow / to push up over our shoulder as we're holding her.  Actually - the other day - she had her hands underneath her and had lifted her upper body.  (She looked like she was ready to crawl if she could get her legs under her and used them to scooch!)  We will have to watch her, for sure!  Looks like she's going to be very active!

The only thing that came up at Isabella's appointment was her very very dry skin... but that's pretty much been resolved already and at her 2 week old appointment, she got an A+ report card (they give everyone an A+, honestly).  Her head circumference is normal at 52%.  Her weight and height are low on the charts for a 2 week old (around 16 - 17% compared to other kids), but she was born a little smaller than a lot of babies are.  She's now weighing in at 7 lbs, 4.8 oz.  Heck - I was just reading about a baby that one of my former colleagues had:  10 lbs... I wonder if Isabella will even be 10 lbs at 2 months old??  We'll see. She has a 2 month appointment in January.

All-in-all, things are going really well. She's a very content baby.  She's starting to smile (and not just from gas or "pushing something out").  She seems to recognize Todd, Mercer, and myself now.  She pretty much only fusses when she's hungry.  She's a voracious eater and seems to grow hungrier each day (looks like we'll be increasing her food consumption again this week).  She's a good eater - just like Mercer was.  She doesn't spit up very much at all.  She's at 16-17% now on the growth chart... I imagine she will be closing the gap by the next doctor's visit.

My mom was able to come down for a visit last week to help out while I'm working (yes - still working... not sure when I'll be able to "take leave").  She came to the doctor's appointment with me and thought the doctor was a little rough on our precious little girl.  (At the hospital, they were practically tossing her around, so I guess we're gentler than we need to be?)  Mom held the baby a lot, folded at least a dozen loads of laundry, did a lot of dishes, and played with Mercer / gave him some extra attention.  It was a nice to have a helping hand.  Here's a photo of the proud grandma~

The week before her visit, we did a couple of memorable things as a family:  we all participated in our first family fun-run... the Gobble Jog... a fundraiser for a local food bank.  Isabella went too (but we did not register her, as she just rode in the stroller).  Later that day, we went up to a neighbor's house for a late Thanksgiving lunch.