This Forever Family

I know you’ve all been waiting for these and here they are!  The pictures from David’s latest photo shoot.  Our friend Sunny came over on July 10, 2010 and took some great photos of David.  We had a really hard time narrowing it down, so you’re lucky there are only about 50.  Anyway, you won’t be able to tell from the photos, but David was actually a little fussy that afternoon.  So, these pictures definitely show the talent that Sunny has for photography…ironically her major has nothing to do with photography, she’s a linguistics graduate student.  Photography has become a side job for her to earn money for her wedding next summer, so we’re happy to help out and get some fabulous photos in return!!  Enjoy the photos and feel free to print any of them that you’d like.

PS – Immediate family are going to be receiving a few of them in the mail (or in person, if we’re seeing you in the next few weeks).

Some of the thumbnails don’t show the whole picture, so click on the picture to see the whole thing.

WOW, time really gets away from you with an infant.  It’s been almost 2 months since we posted last and as most people know, a lot can happen in two months with a little one.  So, where to begin…

Well, Chip and I went on a vacation in May to Mexico.  It was a nice and relaxing time and a chance for David to spend lots of time with Mimi & Papa.  The story goes that while we were gone, my Mom had a little talk with David about the fact that she needed her sleep and so, David started sleeping through the night!!  Yes, he has been sleeping through the night ever since, give or take a few nights where we have to go in and stick the pacifier in his mouth.  But, all-in-all, he’s sleeping through the night and we are very thankful (oh and when I say sleeping through the night, I mean 8pm to 6am…so, really sleeping through the night).

In addition to that bit of good news, David has also started smiling and giggling.  He loves looking at you and talking or cooing.  I think he might be like Mommy and talk a lot once he figures out how…we’ll see what happens.  Also, he loves standing on our laps.  It’s very cute, but gets a little tiring since we’re doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

Speaking of heavy lifting…David had his 4-month appointment 2 weeks ago and weighed a whopping 13 lbs 2 oz and measured in at 24 3/4 in.  He is starting to be a big boy.  He’s actually catching up well to where he ought to be.  He was in the 25th percentile for weight and about the 20th percentile for height.  So, (as the nurse said) he is not having any trouble gaining weight!

In other news, we took a big trip to NC in mid-June.  We started off by going to Asheville to visit Chip’s parents (Grandmommy & Grandaddy) and Aunt Teresa.  Chip had a short business trip while we were there, which is why we ended up going down a little early.  So, David and I did a lot of visiting Grandmommy at work, going shopping with Grandmommy, and just hanging out at home with Grandmommy.  David also got to meet our friends Bob & Judy Taylor and Kristina & Eric Lewis.  Kristina is due in August with a little girl, so the joke is that we’ve already arranged the marriage between their daughter and David and we kept referring to her as David’s future wife :-).  The timing also worked out for me to attend Kristina’s baby shower, which was a lot of fun!!

The following Monday we headed to Cary, NC via Elk Park, NC to visit one of my high school friends who just bought a restaurant there.  It was exciting to see her & her restaurant and give her the chance to meet David.  So, if you’re ever in the Elk Park area, check out Around the Corner at Time Square.

That evening we arrived in Cary and Uncle Matt & Jaime got to meet David for the first time…though he was a little tired by that point, so he didn’t stay up long.  That week, David also met his cousins Sara, Alex, & Nathan for the first time, as well as his Uncle Paul.  So, needless to say, he had a busy week and that was just the beginning.

The weekend of June 19, we had David baptized at St. Catherine of Sienna Catholic Church in Wake Forest, NC.  The priest who married me & Chip performed the ceremony and we had TONS of friends and family there to celebrate with us.  We want to thank everyone who came, especially our friend James from San Diego and my sister Amanda who are David’s Godparents.  Also, my parents hosted the luncheon following the Baptism and Chip’s Mom made the baptismal gown from my wedding dress, so we’d like to especially thank them for all of their help to make this such a joyous occasion.

After the Baptism, we all went back to my parents’ house and enjoyed lunch.  We also played a lot of pass the baby with David.  As tired as David was, he did not want to take a nap, but eventually he did fall asleep in my arms.  It was a very exciting day for him and I don’t think he wanted to miss the action.

Since then, we have also gone to see my grandparents in OH for the 4th of July.  My Dad’s side of the family had a 4th of July picnic on Saturday at his cousin’s house, so we got to show off David to a lot of extended family that we don’t get to see real often.  It was a lot of fun, but as is the case with David, he was ready to go by 7pm, so we didn’t actually get to see the fireworks and he was asleep by the time the fireworks went off around our town on Sunday.  So, maybe next year he’ll really get to experience the 4th of July.

For the rest of the summer, we don’t have any trips planned until Labor Day weekend.  That weekend David and I will be flying to NC for my Dad’s 60th birthday.  We might all be going to the beach that weekend, so there will be more firsts for David…first time flying and first time at the beach. In addition, we have some family coming to visit.  Chip’s oldest sister, Leigh, and her family are thinking about coming for a while in August and then his youngest sister, Teresa, and her husband are probably coming the end of August.  So, I’m sure we’ll have more to post after all of those visits and trips too!

Here are a lot of  pictures from the last few months. Sorry there are so many, but I just couldn’t decide what to include!!  Check out the videos too!!

Video of David spitting…it’s quite funny & he was doing this all day

Video of David giggling at me while I play with him

So, it’s official.  David is stuck with us!!  We finalized yesterday in the Probate Court in Marion County (Indianapolis).  It was all very short and sweet.  We showed up and met with the lawyer for a few minutes.  Then, we went in the courtroom and Chip took the “witness” stand and the lawyer asked him some questions (basic things like his job and if he had committed any crimes).  Then, I took the stand and answered some of the same questions and then a general question that said I agreed with all of Chip’s answers.  Finally, the judge had a chance to ask questions, but this judge never asks any questions.  So, that was pretty much it.  We were in and out in less than 15 minutes.

David was very good during the whole proceeding and at the end this particular judge likes to hold the babies and we all get a picture.  So, this will be a great picture to go in his baby book and to tell him about the day his adoption was finalized.  I’ve also posted some other recent photos.

David turned 10 weeks old yesterday…of course, his adjusted age is only about 5 weeks, so he’s still trying to figure things out, but we have had an exciting few weeks.  First of all, David has started smiling some.  He doesn’t do it all of the time, but he has done it a few times and it is getting more frequent as the days go by.  David also had his 2-month doctor’s appointment.  He didn’t enjoy it very much, but he weighed in at 9 lbs 5 oz, though at this point, I think he’s exceeded 10 lbs.  He doesn’t look like the little boy we brought home any more.  He’s definitely filled out and is fitting well in his 0-3 month clothes.  At that same doctor’s appointment, we discussed his extreme fussiness and decided to try a different formula, so after switching formula twice, we’ve found one that has definitely made him a happier baby.  He still has his fussy time every night about 7 pm and Chip decided ear plugs might be good to take the edge off of his crying, but he is definitely happier.  He’s only had 2 really fussy days since we switched the formula over a week ago, so we are enjoying the less fussy David now.  Because he’s only really about 4-5 weeks old, he still has his days and nights a little confused, but he has had a few nights in the last week where he slept 4.5 hours between one set of feedings, so he is making some progress in that area as well.  We’d love to get him on a schedule but I think this is as good as we can hope for right now.

We also had some visitors the last few weeks.  My sister, Amanda (aka David’s Godmother) came to visit for a weekend.  David enjoyed meeting his Aunt Amanda and she enjoyed holding and feeding him too.

Also, last weekend, Chip’s parents and sister came to visit.  Grandmommy, Grandaddy, and Aunt Teresa held David a lot while they were here and I think David enjoyed all the singing and whistling that was done by all who held him.

This week is also exciting…David and I will get to spend lots of quality time together the next 3 days since Chip will be out of town.  Luckily, with the help of my husband, we’ve set up some friends and neighbors to come over and keep me company or watch David for a few hours each day.  It will be nice for me to have some adult company and to get a little bit of help for a little while each day.  Then, on Friday, we are going to pick up my parents from the airport and head on our first out-of-town trip to Ohio to visit my grandparents.  It will be David’s first night away from home since the NICU.  So, this will definitely be an interesting week.

Here are some recent pictures for you to enjoy!

So, since the last time we posted, a lot has happened.  On March 21, after the 11 am mass, the church choir gave us a shower.  It was very nice and we had a lot of fun.  David also got some really nice gifts – lots of books, bathroom essentials, cart cover, swaddle-me blankets, clothes, a pre-scrapbooked photo album (that all I have to do is add pictures to), gift cards, and a lot more.  A fun time was had by all and we would like to thank our hostesses: Jackie, Sunny, & Beth!!

The next week we actually had no visitors, so that gave us an opportunity to spend some quality family time together.  It was a somewhat more relaxing week and we were happy to have that time together.  On Sunday, March 28, Chip’s Mom (Grandmommy) came into town.  We went and picked her up at the Indianapolis airport and then went to finish buying out our registry at Babies R Us.  We also ate dinner at Chili’s.  David was relatively good the whole time and we planned our trip a little more with his feeding schedule, so he didn’t get quite so fussy!

We had a nice visit with Grandmommy for the next 3 days.  She spent lots of time holding David and got a few hours to herself with him when I went to observe my student teacher on that Tuesday.  Also, we got some shopping in and I bought a few pieces of 3-6 month clothes on sale at various places.  Otherwise, we spent a lot of time at home, just hanging out.  We also really appreciated the help with the meals and the vacuuming while she was here!

Unfortunately, last week, David got extremely fussy.  So, I took him to the pediatrician’s office on Thursday.  They couldn’t find anything specifically wrong, but I’m taking him back for his 2 month check up this Thursday and we’ll decide if there are any courses of action we’d like to take to alleviate some of the unhappiness.  But, on a good note, at that appointment, they weighed David and he was a whopping 8 lbs 4 oz.  I couldn’t believe it when they told me how much he weighed.  He gained 3 lbs since the last time we were at the doctor, which was only 3 weeks ago.  That’s a whole pound a week!!  Needless to say, he’s catching up in the weight category.

Last weekend, David had his first Easter.  He attended Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday services.  I am involved with the team for RCIA and had to be at church most of the day on Saturday, so David got to spend a father-son day with Chip.  On Sunday we all went to Easter mass together and got some good pictures afterward (thanks Sunny for taking them).  I was really happy that the Easter outfit I bought a month ago still fit well enough for him to wear.

Speaking of that, David is now wearing some of his 0-3 month clothes.  They’re still a little big on him, but we didn’t have any short-sleeve newborn clothes and with the weather as nice as it’s been here lately, we needed something cooler for him to wear.  Although, at this rate, he’ll fit in them nicely in no time.

We’re still waiting to report that he’s smiling…we’re really looking forward to that day.  Unfortunately, because he was born early, it may still be a few weeks before that happens.  He has started to focus more on faces and on lights or light/dark contrasts.  He also enjoys watching the ceiling fan in the family room.

I guess that’s about it.  Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

Last Saturday, Aunt Rebecca and her boyfriend Kerry came to visit during their Spring Break.  We had a great time and they actually got to experience some of David’s “firsts”.  On Saturday, we mainly just hung out at the house and let David meet Aunt Rebecca and Kerry.

On Sunday, we headed to church in the morning.  Then, we drove to Indy where David got to experience his first trip to the Indianapolis Zoo.  He slept through most of the trip and we spent most of our time inside since it was a little chilly, but we know he loved it :-)!!  We also got some pictures of him “with” the animals we saw.  Of course, we couldn’t resist the gift shop, where we bought him a sting ray stuffed animal (since that was one of the animals we saw) and a penguin bib that said “Waddle I eat today?”

After the zoo, David got to experience his first trip to the mall.  We got a lot of comments about how little he was whenever we took him out of the stroller to change his diaper or feed him.  After the mall, David also got to experience his first trip to a restaurant.  We went to On the Border and he was actually awake most of the time we were there.   All-in-all, he did pretty well and we had a fun time in Indy.

On Monday, we again spent most of the day indoors because the weather still wasn’t cooperating, but we had a good day anyway.  We did go to Hobby Lobby and buy paint for Aunt Rebecca and Kerry to pain the top half of the wall in the nursery.  We decided to go with cloud animals since the top half of the wall is a sky blue.  Aunt Rebecca painted different cloud animals while Kerry painted some regular clouds around the animals.  It looks adorable and we are so glad they could do that for us while they were here.

On Tuesday, Aunt Rebecca and Kerry spent a few hours watching David for me so I could go observe my two student teachers.  It was a great help and I really appreciate it.

Finally, on Wednesday, we took another ride to Indy to drop Aunt Rebecca and Kerry off at the airport.  We also stopped by the adoption agency so Katie (the birthmother counselor we’ve worked with) could meet David.  She was very excited we stopped by and that she got to hold him for a little while.  Then, we all headed to our first Baptism Prep class.  I do think the big day to Indy got David a little off “schedule” so he was up until 2:15am last night, but hopefully with a more normal day today, he will sleep a little better tonight.

Here are A LOT of pictures of our visit with Aunt Rebecca and Kerry & a few others just for fun!!

I took David to the pediatrician this morning and he is now a whopping 6 lbs 4 oz.  Yep, he has gained 1 lb in less than a week.  That’s more than 1 oz a day.  The pediatrician said everything else looked good too!!  So, it looks like our little boy is becoming a big boy, no wonder his preemie clothes don’t fit anymore!!

Here are a few more recent pictures.  Enjoy!

Well folks, David has reached the ripe old age of 25 days.  That’s right, three days shy of four weeks (which, in this case of February, is also a WHOLE MONTH)!

Saturday David had a photoshoot with one of our friends, Sunny, who is the director of our 11am choir, and does photography on the side (her main occupation is graduate student).  Tonight we get to look at those photos, so “soon” we will work on getting some formal birth announcements printed and sent out.

We’ve also discovered that our printer is actually quite good at printing photos, so I imagine we’ll be using up a bit of ink in the near-term.

Mimi and Papa (Kristina’s parents) were here this past week.  They flew in a week ago, and took a cab to the hospital we had been at.  No, they didn’t think we were still there, but we had left one of our two cars there, so one of us could sit in the back with David on the way home from the hospital.  We were very thankful they were able to do that, so we didn’t have to take extraordinary measures to get the car home.  Kristina’s Dad left Sunday, while her Mom was able to stay and help out through yesterday morning.  Now we’re back on our own (for a few days until Aunt Rebecca arrives).

By the way, thanks to the friends who have been bringing over meals while we’re on our own.  It has been a great help to not have to worry about getting dinner done every night in amongst our primary focus, taking care of David.

Let’s see, so what’s new for David….  Well, he has now been alive during two months.  He’s been at home almost two weeks.  He’s pretty good at eating from the bottle, and so we’ve actually started preparing him 2.5 ounces for each feeding, which he often drinks in total.  He’s also showing signs of being awake more often – he’s actually looking around sometimes now, and will study your face while you feed him.  He still doesn’t let us sleep between night feedings sometimes, he can get fussy, for various reasons.  But we’re getting better at sleeping during his loud-sleeping, and we’ve made a decision to feed him outside of the bedroom so the other of us can sleep.

During the day, we try a variety of things with him from tummy time on blankets to laying on his back on the blankets.  We try occasionally to show him toys, but so far they hold no interest for him.  We’ve given him two tub baths at home, which was complicated because the bathroom sinks aren’t quite big enough, and we don’t have the tub for the bathtub yet.  Mimi also gave him a sponge bath Saturday morning to prep him for his photo shoot.  Tonight he’ll get another to prepare for a shower some of our friends are having for us tomorrow.

Lucy has so far been very tolerant of David.  She has not been brave enough to go up to him yet, and has not tried to get into the bassinets with David.  She is mostly content to sleep on the foot of our bed.  To accommodate her, we’ve been leaving a piece of clothing on the bed for her to sleep on.  I think in part, she’s defending her foot-of-the-bed space.

Tomorrow David will go back to the pediatrician, to see how much he’s grown since coming home from the hospital.  So we should have new stats tomorrow.

Okay, so here are some newer photos (March 2-5).  You’ll see a lot of them are still of him sleeping, because, well, that’s what he does most of the time (except from 3-6am, when we aren’t busy snapping photos…)

Okay, so this post isn’t about David exactly, and I’m sorry to say it won’t provide any new photos.

However, it does report other good news.  Kristina and I have been trying to watch what we eat and to work out more, in an effort to bring our weights down more to our preferred weights.  Well, interestingly enough, I can tell you today about a new diet — the “baby in a NICU” diet.  We found that while David was there, we weren’t snacking between meals (we weren’t allowed to eat in his room), and were generally eating in the hospital cafe, which tended to serve healthier versions of the food they prepared, and available in smaller quantities than found in restaurants.

As of this morning, since we first met David, I have now lost 7 pounds, and Kristina has lost 5 pounds.  We’re going to celebrate by having milkshakes!

Oh, and in other news, David slept a little more peacefully last night, allowing both of us to be a bit more rested today.  Who knows what tonight will bring, but one day at a time, right?

Needless to say, the last 2 days have been a whirlwind for me and Chip.  We have noticed how mixed up David is with day and night and how much help we got while we were in the NICU.  But, it’s also been amazing being full-time parents.  David has had a lot of firsts this weekend.  He of course, had his first night at home, sleeping in his bassinet, and getting used to being somewhere other than the NICU.  In addition, he had his first visitors at home Friday evening and attended his first mass.  Today he had his first pediatrician appointment — everything looks good by the way.  He has gained a little bit of weight over the weekend.  He now weighs 5 lbs 4 oz.  In addition to all of that, we had our first post-placement visit with our adoption specialist, Kelly, this morning. Tonight, we’re lucky to have some friends who have offered to bring us dinner, so I don’t have to worry about cooking while Chip is teaching class tonight.  If anyone else wants to bring us dinner, I’m sure we wouldn’t turn them down :-)!!

Later in the week, we are looking forward to my parents (“Mimi” and “Papa”) coming to town on Thursday.  Also, David has his first photo shoot with our friend Sunny on Saturday…we’ll send out official announcements after that.

But, to tide you over, here are “just a few” pictures of David at home.