Oh Chipotle

Real quick before I tell the funny story:
Last night, I weighed myself and then weighed myself holding N and if it's correct, he weighs 10.0 lbs!  Crazy!!!!!!  He's getting too big, too fast.  Looking forward to him being weighed at his two month appointment on Friday.  Not looking forward to him getting shots.

So, Sunday night, after small groups, we headed to get some supper (not dinner, according to my dad) at Chipotle.  N did great while we were eating and then got a little fussy.  Trish took him out and held him for  a while and that seemed to make him pretty happy.  All of the sudden, we realized that he had a brown stain creeping up his back.  The boy had pooped all over himself.  We quickly take him to the restroom to change his diaper and outfit only to find out that Chipotle does not have changing tables in their bathrooms.  So disappointed.  So...we had our first diaper change in the back of the SUV.  Had to strip him and try not to get poop in his hair.  It was quite hilarious.  If only we had the camera with us.....

Post Placement

So, I just got word that we might have our first post placement visit on Friday.  While they won't be "fun", I'm looking forward to getting this process started.

What is a post placement visit, you ask?

It's a time when the social worker comes to our house to ask about N, our care for him, etc,  and make sure that we are doing a good job with him.  In the state of Florida, we have to have two of these in a 90 day period before we can finalize the adoption.

There are lots of mixed feelings when it comes to these visits.  I read a blog about it just the other day and wanted to share since it pretty much sums it up.  

http://www.aninfertileblonde.com/?p=465

Love Him

N was helping me grade papers the other morning.  Let's just say that it didn't last too long and I didn't get much done with him helping.  

This is an outfit that his Nana bought him and it makes me laugh due to the message on his bottom.  So very true.  

Chilling in his glider!  

I love this picture.  

Nate had his first Sunday in the nursery at church.  Granted, I was in there, but I was loving on some Isabella and not him.  He was good and slept through most of it.  

He is really, really starting to love his swing.  

Tons of smiles and giggles.  It's the first time that I've had clothes on him without pants.  

His woe is me moment.  Life is rough for a two month old baby.  

Priceless

Going through all of the adoption paperwork=No fun.
Paying huge amounts of money=Even less fun.
Seeing Nate's bmom go through the pain of blessing him to us=Heartbreaking.
Having Nate stay in the NICU for six weeks=Total Stress.
Listening to Dave read to our son before he goes to bed=Priceless.

Blanket Question

I had an anonymous commenter ask me about why I mentioned that pretty soon, we would not be covering N up at night with a blanket once he starts moving around more.

Our reason for this is due to the chance of SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.  There are lots of precautions you can take and not being covered by a blanket is one of them.  N, due to the meds he became addicted to before birth, has an increased risk of SIDS and we want to do what we can to prevent that.

I've included a website containing some information about SIDS and the precautions they suggest.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/sleep/sids.html#

Another precaution we have taken was to purchase the Angelcare Deluxe Movement Monitor, a monitor that not only works like a normal monitor with sound, but one that also detects breathing and tells us the temperature in the room.  If the monitor does not detect breathing or movement for 20 seconds or if the temperature becomes too high or too low, an alarm goes off, letting us know that something isn't right.  This has helped us sleep at night without worrying about if he is still breathing.  This monitor looks like a normal one, but has a special piece that goes under the mattress, meaning that he is not hooked up to any wires like in the hospital.

Thanks for asking and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask.  :)

I'm 8 Weeks Old!

I'm 8 weeks old today!  

My mommy said that I could write on the blog today since I'm so old and smart.  

I wanted to tell you some of the things that I'm doing these days.  

I've been home for two weeks now and it's been a challenge to get used to being home instead of the NICU.  I got really used to lots of things, like hearing beeps and noises all the time, sleeping on my belly, and having the lights on all the time, but I'm slowly getting used to things here.  

I eat every 3-4 hours and right now, they are feeding me Enfamil, the liquid type, not the powder.  I kinda like it, even though it makes me pass lots of gas.  I normally take 3 1/2 ounces at each feeding.  Mommy tried to make me take 4 at every feeding, but I don't like that so I just spit it back up.  She's learning pretty quickly that I'm the new boss around here.

I get a bath every night and I HATE taking a bath.  I hate it from the moment they start to get me naked and I hate it till they swaddle me up after clothing me.  I scream and scream.  Mommy and Daddy don't like me screaming, but they say that it wears me out and gets me ready for bed, so I guess it's okay. 

Last night, after my bath, I got to spend time with Mommy reading books.  I just sat there staring at the pages, so content just to be listening to her read to me.  She kept on having to wipe tears from her eyes.  I'm not sure why she's crying and I think she's pretty crazy, but I love her.  

When I went to the doctor on Tuesday for my snotty nose, they weighed me and I was 9 lbs. 3 oz.  I'm getting to be a big boy.  I'm holding my head up really well, so Mom decided to put me in the Bumbo today and take some pictures of me.  I was pretty happy for about 10 minutes.  

Today is my last day in Newborn diapers.  :)  It's about time they decided that I needed bigger ones.  I'm still wearing mostly newborn clothes, but some of my 0-3 clothes are starting to fit, too.  

I sleep anywhere from 3-5 hours at a time during the night.  Daddy normally gets up with me for the first shift and then Mommy gets up with me in the morning.  If it's really early and I don't want to go back to sleep right away, I like to snuggle with her in the recliner and watch the Today show.  We normally fall asleep together for a while and I like that a lot.  

I've been sleeping in my own room for a week now and I love it.  I love having my own space and I think Mommy and Daddy are pretty happy about it, too.  They like being able to talk and turn the lights on without waking me up, even though I know that as soon as I go to bed, they are both so tired that they go to bed, too.  

I'm a decent sleeper, but I'm working on sleeping longer at night.  Sometimes, though, I just want to be awake and look around at stuff.  Mama J warned Mommy and Daddy that I was a night owl.  Guess I'm just living up to what she said.  

I like to stare at the dogs a lot.  They like me, or at least that's what I think.  They like to get up with me at night and keep Mommy and Daddy company while they feed me.  This morning, both pups got to sit with me and Mommy.  I like them and can't wait to chase them around once I can figure out this moving thing.  

The other day, I rolled over twice.  I know, amazing, right?  Mommy had me in the pack and play while she was getting ready. She left me on my stomach and when she came to check on me, I was on my back.  She could hardly believe it.  She turned me back on my stomach and guess what?  I did it again.  I rolled right onto my back.  She was so excited and told me how proud she was of me.  I decided that I'll wait awhile before I do it again, though.  Don't want her to get too excited.  

I like being in my stroller and I've been to Target and the Mall.  Normally, I fall asleep in the stroller and then when I wake up, I get scared since I don't know where I am and I cry until Mommy picks me up and lets me know that I'm okay.  

My hair on the top of my head is finally starting to grow back.  It's a light brown color and while it's soft, Mommy thinks that it's going to be curly and not straight.  She is amazed at how much it grows everyday.  

My eyes are brown, but they have a blue ring around the outside of the brown.  Mommy loves how cool they look.  

I like to talk, especially in the morning.  I love to sit in my bouncy seat and look around.  Mommy has a zebra attached to my chair and I LOVE to stare at it and hit it with my hands.  I smile at it a lot and I love to smile at people too, if they talk to me.  I try to tell them important stuff, but they never seem to understand what I'm saying.  I'm going to have to work on that.  I also like to lay on a blanket and giggle and smile.  Mommy likes to take pictures of me while I do that.  My swing is another one of my favorite things to do.  

Mommy said that I have to mention that I am a screamer.  I didn't want you all to know that I have a temper, but I guess I have to let you know.  When I want something and don't get it right away, I throw a fit.  Sometimes, I throw a fit just because I want to.  Once I get worked up, it's hard to calm me down, but Mommy and Daddy are learning some tricks and I'm trying to get better.  

Mommy and Daddy have a few nicknames for me.  I thought you might enjoy knowing two of them.  One is Screaming Natey.  You can probably figure out how I got that one.  The other is Frankenstein.  They call me this cause I tend to stick my arms out straight in front of me while I'm sleeping and when I'm waking up.  

Mommy told me that I get to have alone time with her for one more week before she has to go back to school.  I'm going to miss her during the day, but she told me that my Nana is coming and I'm super excited about seeing her and spending time with her.  My Papa Kemp will be coming down sometime soon, too.  He hasn't seen me yet, so I'll have to be on my best behavior and show him how cool I am.  My Grandma and Papa Van are coming down in June and I'm super excited to see them again.  I'm going to try to talk Brennen, my cousin, into hiding in one of their suitcases and coming down to see me.  We're going to have so much fun together.

Well, I'm getting tired and Mommy says that I need to get off the computer.  Thanks for reading about me and for praying for me.  

Love, 

N

My Mother's Day

I wanted to blog about my Mother's Day before I forget.

My Mother's Day started pretty early because N decided that he was ready to be up and moving.  He was full of smiles, which made my early morning okay.  I got him fed, dressed, and ready for church and then he got to spend some time snoozing with Dave while I got ready.

We made it to church in time to work in the cafe at church.  He was a little fussy, but Dave was able to calm him down while I helped sell cafe items.  He slept through the service for the second Sunday in a row.  I even won the newest baby contest during the service.

After church, we went and grabbed lunch at Panera and came home to eat and rest.  Dave gave me the best Mother's Day present ever---a 2 hour nap.  :)  N got me a card and some of my favorite things-two bags of Reeses Cups.  Yummy.

That afternoon, we did something special.  We went and visited N's birthmother.  :)  I figured that it was extra special to spend my first Mother's Day with the person that helped me become a mother.  We spent more time over there than planned, but it was so nice to see her, her kids, and her mom.  I feel so much love and respect for J, someone I've only known since January.  I've had people ask about our contact with her and while we do have contact with her, it is limited.  We text about once a week and we have a blog that is only for her and her family, a place where she can see pictures of N.  Other than that, we don't communicate with her on a daily basis.

Our time with them was not uncomfortable or forced.  It was amazing to see her interact with N and it solidified my feelings of me being N's mom.  J was quick to pass him back to us when he started crying and Dave and I succeeded in being the ones that were able to comfort and console him.  I know that all adoptions are different, but I am so thankful that God has provided us with the opportunity to not only be N's parents, but to love on and be a witness to J and her family.