Photo Update

I'll bet you all thought I pulled your leg with that baby stuff, huh?  I kind of fell off the face of the earth for awhile.  My apologies!  We've been getting used to no sleep and a whole different routine now ... where I go to bed about 5 am after staying up all night (while Daddy sleeps) and then getting up about 11-ish.  So that kind of ruins my day a little, 'cause I think I should be tired about 9 pm.  We're all getting used to things still.

Here are a few photos that I wanted to share with you all ...

At the Hospital

Josh's Cousin (far right) and her two girls with the new boy cousins

Proud Uncle J (Josh's oldest brother)

L, My Sister-in-Law, her son (2 months old), Luke & me

Snuggly in the swing!

Wide awake at night!

Easter loot from all the Grandparents!

Loving to sleep with his arms up like this!

Here's that swing again!  Our fave!

Grandma F (Hubby's mom)

Grandpa F (Hubby's dad)

Hubby, Luke & Grandpa F ... three generations!

Grandma R (My mom)

Grandpa R (My dad)

J, my brother (he's 17 ... what a fun age to be an uncle!)

More arms back ... just chillaxin' ... in our Easter outfit

Uncle C (Josh's younger brother), his son J, Luke & Hubby

Our sons are two months apart ... Feb. 1st, 2012 & April 2, 2012

Lenten Prayer Buddy Reveal

I had the honor and privilege to pray for Laura at "Watts Up in the Tundra" (http://wattsupinthetundra.blogspot.com/) this Lent!

Laura and her hubby live up in Alaska and after reading her blog, it makes me appreciate the nice temps and grocery store prices we take for granted here in the lower 48 states. However, I am missing out on the scenery, wildlife and experiences Alaska offers. Such a beautiful place!!!

Laura, it was great to read your blog and pray for you and your hubby daily for your intentions! I will continue to do so.

Stop by Laura's blog and say "hi"!

Thank you to Rebecca at "The Road Home" for praying for me this Lent. She did an amazing job, especially during Holy Week. Thank you, Rebecca! You have my undying gratitude!

(P.S. Luke's birth mom's name is Rebecca/Becca. How fitting!)

Papers are Signed! He is Ours!!!

Ladies, you have given me a miracle today through your constant prayers! Thank you for imploring God, the Saints in heaven and ST. JOSEPH!!! (I KNOW there was a reason I chose your name!)

At a little after 4 pm, we met all together in our room so we could hash things out with the father, his mom and his sister.

On Becca's side was her mom, mom's boyfriend, her sister and her 17 month old son (who is super cute by the way).

It started out with the dad asking a few questions and we think we put them at ease. The dad and Becca left to talk, the he and his mom left to talk. Then he and his mom came back into the room with such somber faces that I could sense that wasn't happening. But I was wrong. They said they wanted us to adopt Luke, they both felt we were the right people, etc. we all four hugged. And cried. Even my hubby. :-). We got right to work calling a notary up to our room. It was 5:05 pm at the point they said ok. I think we had papers signed by 5:30 pm.

The last few hours were spent talking to everyone, letting them see and hold Luke and of course taking photos with him that he will have forever.

It was a glorious occasion for us. We were so happy we were able to proceed! But we were both sad for the birth parents and the extended families. I couldn't imagine.

Things ended the way they did because of EACH one of you that prayed. Without your help and intercession, I know I would not be the mother of a beautiful baby boy tonight.

Thank you to each and every one of you. Words are not enough to convey my gratitude. I did not think I would have to go through such turmoil to complete this adoption. Not even close. Sue (our caseworker) says this is one for her record book!

Now, I think I'll have something to eat today and enjoy baby Luke!!!

Waiting ... and Waiting ...

Still waiting for the birth father to sign. He is holding everything up. Ugh!!!!
This is either going to be the greatest miracle if everyone signs papers or the worst thing to happen if they don't. I'm trying to keep the faith.
Will keep you all updated as we know more. Thanks for the prayers so far!

Still Waiting to Have Papers Signed

Signing moved back to 1 pm instead of 10 - 11 am, due to the birth father not going in until then to sign. Mom won't sign until he does. I guess to make sure he doesn't try and do something sneaky. I don't think she is backing out on the adoption. The ladies have come in with "Luke Ethan Joseph" on the birth certificate, and they talked to her first, so I am hopeful in that area. Unfortunately we won't know anything until later. I will keep you updated. St. Joseph and St. Luke, pray for us!

Staying over another night in the hospital to make sure Luke feeds better. He likes to sleep in the middle of feeding and burping. :-).

The first pic is not me choking him, but me burping him. Look at those cheeks!!!!!

A Few Pics

We are in our own room now. Birthmom and her boyfriend are resting. We are in a separate non-hospital-bed room with Luke. He's sleeping.
We have our first feeding at 2:15 pm.
He's such a peaceful baby, oblivious to all the crazy stuff going on around him.
Update on the birth father ... he is sounding more and more like he will sign papers, and I hope he means it.
Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU for all the prayers offered!!!!!
St. Joseph, pray for us!

And now, without further ado ... BABY PICTURES!!!!! :-)

The frogs are a gift from Becca and her boyfriend. They are sweet. His first gift (after being born). :-)

The Name

Luke Ethan Joseph
7 lbs 6 oz.
19-1/2 inches long
Born at 9:42 am
Pics to follow

Prayers that the birth father will sign. It's been a hairy morning do far.

Heading to the Hospital now

Got the call from Sue our case worker. The baby is being born right now (or about 15 mins ago). We are driving to the hospital right now. I'll keep you updated.
Please pray that this will happen. I'm freaking out that the other shoe will drop. Thanks ladies, for all your encouragement and prayers. You are all amazing!!!

Down to the Wire!

No baby announcement post yet! I know you all are anxious to hear something. Me too. :-) I've been preparing myself for a phone call at the most random time, but it hasn't happened.

We managed to get the rest of the nursery set up, minus a lot of wall decorations and a shelf for toys, books, etc. We installed the closet shelves last night and a few floating shelves in the room for displaying memorabilia.

The diaper bag is packed. The gift for Becca is packed with a note inside. The camera is ready. The car seat is installed (it feels funny driving around with an empty car seat!). The play pen and swing are up. Clothes are washed. I will finish cleaning house today. We are ready.

Our case worker, Sue, said that when she asked Becca last Saturday, point blank, if she wanted to still pursue the adoption, her answer was still yes. My hope and prayer is that it continues to be this way.

If nothing happens today, they will induce Becca at 5 am tomorrow (Monday). Depending on how long labor takes, we might be parents tomorrow or Tuesday.

Prayer buddy, if you could, would please pray that I can accept whatever outcome happens in the next few days? And that if things go well, I know the right things to say and do for Becca.

As soon as something happens, regardless, I'll be posting!!! Thank you all SO MUCH for all your prayers!

My First Blogger Meet-Up!

Over the weekend, I got to meet CM from Confessions of a Catholic Mutt!!!!!  Let me just say that she is every bit as amazing in person as she is on her blog!

We met early for Mass at 8:30 am and then headed over to I.HOP for breakfast.  It was great to meet my prayer buddy (I prayed for her intentions) from our last session and we chatted away like old friends.  We decided that we needed to set up a blogger meet-up sometime for those of us bloggers in the Mid-West instead of the East Coast.  Any ladies have ideas or interest about that?

Here's a shot of us before we parted ways ...

CM, it was GREAT to meet you!

Just a little update ....

Nope, no baby calls over here yet.  I have been busy over the weekend running around the house like a chicken with my head cut off.  I guess you can also call that "nesting."  :-)

It all started last week, one random weeknight when I had the urge to run through the house and gather all the items that I didn't use or hadn't used in awhile.  I want simplicity, especially since a ton more items are going to come into the house, most of them tiny, and most all of them from the ever-excited grandparent-to-be ... my mother-in-law.  I piled all the unwanted, unused items up in my room, snapped photos of them and then created a Fa.cebook album that I emailed to all friends and family about "free stuff."  Some items left that way and some went to Goodwill this weekend.  I tell you what ... it feels GREAT to purge!

On Friday night, I got home from work about 6:30 pm, then laid on the couch and promptly fell asleep.  I slept all the way until 6 am the next morning.  I guess I was tired!  Since I had to work on Saturday, I got up at 6 and proceeded to fill nail holes & demolish the existing closet shelving, so it would be ready to paint when I got home from work that day.

Once I got home from work, I had to pick out paint colors, which is a job I detest.  I never pick the right shade, I repaint and repaint ( ... and repaint ... that's the story of my Master Bedroom ... finally after 3 different colors, I got a color I like ... or they just layered to make a color I liked.)  I guess I like the colors I picked now, seeing them up on the wall.  I did three walls in a light grey color and one wall as an accent wall in a navy-ish blue.  We have a green recliner that I'm moving out of the living room to make way for baby stuff, so it goes in the bedroom in lieu of a glider.  We have yet to do anything inside the closet that is new, but will do some wire shelving for sure.  Lots of little clothes/blankets/stuff to store.  We purchased a new ceiling light, new window blinds (and new curtains), as the rest of the house "matches" except for this room.  I moved a dresser in that we had stuffed in a closet and brought out my old baby lamp from (almost) 31 years ago to provide ambient light.  We are going to be using the family bassinet, in which my father and his siblings slept, and all us kids slept in, and now the third generation of great-grandbabies are sleeping in.  Having the opportunity to use the family bassinet is something I've been waiting to do for a long time.  I simply cannot believe that this might actually be real and in a few short weeks, will be (God-willing) blessed with a baby.  Its just so surreal.

I will post pictures of the room once its more finished than it is now ... no crib, nothing on the walls, one curtain missing (the store only had one panel and the other "might" be there in 7-10 days).  Don't worry ... I haven't forgotten your requests.  :)  Also, I have been lax about reading all of your blog posts!  I apologize!  I'm trying to catch up.  Hopefully tonight or tomorrow with a nice glass of wine, I'll be sitting down at the computer to catch up with your lives.

In the meantime, I have a few questions that I'm looking for input on ...

1)  I would like to purchase a nice gift for our baby's birth mom.  Nothing super-duper expensive, but something nice that she will have in remembrance of him.  I saw this on the first season of Tee.nMo.m with Tyler and Catelynn, when the birth mom that adopted their little girl gave Catelynn a necklace (or bracelet, I can't remember which).  The birth mom had a matching necklace and also the baby had a necklace.
Do you think a gift like this is a good idea?  Suggestions for what to get?  Do you do this for a boy?  Will this cause more pain than its worth?  Do I give it to her at the hospital or wait and mail it to her mom's address (where things will go until she's ready to see them)?
Also, I'm looking for advice for what to say/do in the hospital with the birth mom.  I know its going to be so painful and I'll feel helpless and awkward no matter what, but any advice you can give would be most appreciated.  HELP!!!

  2)  Cats.  So ... I have some indoor kitties and I wondered what those of you that had cats did regarding sleeping around the baby.  Currently, our cats have free roam of the house.  We have some window perches in our bedroom where they sleep on and can see out the window.  When the baby comes, I'd thought about keeping the baby in our room, shutting the door and keeping the cats out.  Then I read that you shouldn't keep the door shut as there's not good enough air flow in an enclosed room.  What do I do?  I had a thought about home-making a screen door for the baby's room that would keep the cats out.  Do you think that's crazy or would work?  A friend had done that for their son, and it seemed to work.

Thanks for all the input with your answers, and also for putting up with my random updates and lack of blogging-attentiveness.  I guess life just gets crazier from here on out!

Playing Catch Up

Hi ladies!  As you know, I've been commenting and reading your blogs, but haven't updated on mine for over two weeks.  I've been absolutely, insanely, crazy-busy with work.  It makes my mind not want to form sentences or think any cohesive thoughts outside of work time, which there isn't much of.  Let me recap.

The day of my last post, we had a Home & Garden Show to be a vendor at, as I sell & design Kitchen Cabinetry & Countertops.  In the middle of the show, I ran over to meet Becca, our birth mom.  Then it was back to the show the rest of Friday & Saturday.  This excludes all the prep hours the week of the show.  The weekend was then made more exciting by an argument that my in-laws had that night.

The next week, I believe I put in about 66.5 hours of work trying to catch up on things.  We have a very small company (there's only 2 of us designers & 1 installer), and we sell over $1 million each year.  We used to have two more people in the office full time, which helped us on outside measures & bookwork, but they have since started working part time or not at all and we've had to pick up the slack.  A lot.  Our quotes used to take about a week from initial measure/consult to a design presentation.  Now we're lucky if we can get quotes back in two weeks.  So, stressed out isn't even close to how I feel.  Especially working at least 50-60 hours each week for several weeks now.  No wonder last month's cycle was so wonky!

Speaking of cycle reviews, Dr. K at PPVI hasn't really gotten back to me yet on how my P+4 ultrasound looked.  There were some large cysts on my left ovary, but looked like they were shrinking.  I'd taken Fe.mara last month.  I guess it really works, as those follicles grow huge!  Last month, I'd started on Cortef (Total of 20 mg 2x per day) as I scored low on the adrenal questionnaire and my levels were low.  Its helping me handle some of the stress.  Hubby and I had to do a Semen Analysis last month, but never got the results back from PPVI.  All they said was that hubby had an infection and to take a 21 day antibiotic.  Not sure if we have to re-do that "fun" procedure.  There's nothing romantic about "suiting up" to make love.  I really don't know how people do it and enjoy it.

In adoption news, its a "no-news-is-good-news" kind of situation.  We haven't met or talked with Becca (the birthmom) or Sue (our adoption case worker) since our meet up last month.  We did meet with a local lawyer and got some info about how the adoption works in our state.  Becca has 24 hours after the birth to change her mind.  We also need to get paperwork signed / parental rights terminated from the birth father.  That may be the trickiest part of all.  Once initial papers are signed, in about 45 days, our petition will go before the court and then we will be "officially" a family.

I guess that's about it for updates for now.  There are a few other things, but I'll work them into upcoming posts.  We haven't gotten far at all on the baby's room, other than emptying it out, but we have amassed a collection of clothes, which now need a home.  I hope to not have too much to do this weekend so as to at least get things started in there. Picking a paint color and deciding on a theme is the hardest thing.  Its just so surreal that this is actually happening!