Talking and Playing

Drew has really started "talking" a lot more this past week or so. He likes to talk to these two birds that hang from his activity center. He has also started kicking a lot, so I got out one of Addy's old toys - Kickin Bobbin and he has played with it some the past few days. Here's some video of him playing and talking to me and to his toys.

Pictures

Addy being a big helper

Drew in his swing

Drew's first Sunday at church

Drew sleeping in a cradle my dad made for

my baby dolls when I was a little girl.

Spring Break/Scott's Birthday/Zoo

Last week was Spring Break for Addy. We really didn't do much besides play at home and watch movies. Tuesday was Scott's birthday and he took off work and we decided to venture out for the first time as a family of four and visit the Houston zoo. Let me tell you, the zoo was a zoo. We left our house at 9 and didn't enter the gates of the zoo until 11. We got the museum/zoo area and realized everyone was visiting either one of the museums or the zoo that day and there was literally no parking. So, we travelled a little south of the zoo and ended up riding Houston Metro train for the first time. Addy loved it. We spent a beautiful day at the zoo and Drew was a doll. He stayed in his stroller all day and didn't make a peep. I think he liked being outside just as much as we did. We ended the day with dinner at Rockwell's Tavern and Grill and dessert at Orange Leaf. I think we found some new favorite places. Addy particularly liked Orange Leaf because it is a serve yourself frozen yogurt place and she liked pulling the lever and watching the yogurt come out into the bowl.

Here's some pics of our day:

Addy & Daddy
This is what Drew did the entire day
Baby elephant

Playing the drums

Two Months!!

Can't believe it. In ways time has flown by and in other ways, it seems like Drew has always been around. Today he is two months old. We celebrated by going to the dr and getting shots :( At first he seemed to be doing okay, he really didn't cry too much when he got the shots, but he has gotten significantly more fussy as the day wears on. His right leg is swollen and red so he got a pretty good reaction to one of the shots and if you touch it he screams. Poor little thing.

Here are some things he is doing:

• He is really smiling and cooing a lot now. The mornings are the best time for him.
  
• He is starting to reach out to try and touch things in front of him -- toys or faces, and he really likes to grab hair.
  
• The last few weeks have been pretty rough -- we were pretty sure he had reflux and took him to the dr last week to get some meds and he was diagnosed with his first ear infection. His reflux symptoms seemed to get better the first day or two of taking the antibiotic so we were hoping it was just an ear infection, but his symptoms (cough and gagging) came back and so he started taking Zantac on Monday. So far, he seems to be getting better every day.
  
• Once we got his ear infection taken care of and got him on reflux meds he is back to sleeping one five hour stretch at night.
  
• He is eating 3.5 ounces every three hours.
  
• He is wearing a size 1 diaper and 0-3 month clothes (although he can still fit in some newborn clothes).
  
• He weighs 10 pounds (14%) is 21 inches long (4th%) and his head circumference is in the 12th percentile. So he is a little dude.
  
• Once we finish his antiobiotic he will be switched to regular Enfamil formula (he has been on the high calorie preemie formula).
  
• He loves to snuggle. Sweet, but it really makes getting things done hard. He hates to be put down in his bed or bouncy seat during the day. He tolerates the swing for about 1 hour on good days. Otherwise, he his held pretty much all day. Thankfully he will sleep in his crib at night.

One Month Old!!

Can't believe how fast this month has gone. Today is Drew's official due date and he is one month old today. Here are some things about Drew:

• He is staying awake a little more each day. After several bottles he is awake for an hour or more.
  
• He is still a pretty laid back baby. He definately has his moments (usually in the evening) but other than that he is an easy baby.
  
• He is a noisy baby. He grunts and snorts all the time, even all through the night. He slept for part of the night in our bathroom last night because I just could not take it any more -- I had to get some sleep.
  
• We think we are getting "real" smiles now. Addy got the first one. Drew loves his big sister.
  
• He is starting to reach for things.
  
• He is wearing newborn clothes, but I think he will be out of those this week or next.
  
• He is wearing newborn diapers.
  
• I think he is around 7 pounds. We don't have a doctor appt until he is 2 months old and we don't have a scale, so I am really guessing here.
  
• He is drinking 2 1/2 ounces every 3 or so hours. I think he was going through a growth spurt the last couple of days because he wanted to eat more, but today he has been a little better so we may be over that.
  
• He is still going about 3 1/2 to 4 hour stretches at night.
  
• Addy absolutely adores him and is such a good big sister. She is helpful and always wants to sit by Drew and hold his hand or touch his head. She plays with him and talks baby talk to him -- so cute. She is getting tired of not being able to leave the house, so school 3 days a week has been a lifesaver for her.

Rolling Over Already?

Well, it wasn't a fluke -- he is rolling over (from tummy to back). The first time Drew rolled over was last Wednesday at 2 1/2 weeks old. We wondered if it was just a one-time thing, but he has continued to roll whenever we put him on his tummy. We have one strong boy!

Sickies

Well our initiation into two-child parenthood has been pretty rough -- I think. Our second child was born premature and spent 36 hours in the NICU, was rehospitalized at 5 days old during which our 1st child had her first ever stomach bug, we survived a 12 hr drive home with a 1 week old and a sick 3 year old, and then just two weeks later our 3 year old got the stomach bug for the 2nd time in her life. We heard stories, but really didn't expect the initiation to be so brutal and sudden. We are hoping for smooth sailing for a little while before the next round hits.

Drew at two weeks

Drew turned two weeks old on Sunday, January 23. Our two week appointment was on Monday the 24th. He weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces and was 18 1/2 inches long. The doctor was very happy with his progress. We still are feeding him the high calorie formula and will continue to do so until he is 2 months old. The doctor has set a goal of 10 pounds by 2 months old -- we'll see. Here are some things about Drew:

• He is really an easy baby so far, really laid back and doesn't cry unless he is hungry or mad (usually only when his hat gets over his eyes).


• He sleeps a lot (a lot more than Addy) but the doctor said that was normal since he was early.


• He is really strong -- he rolled from tummy to back on a hard surface (when he was 2 1/2 weeks old).


• He hates his baths -- screams the entire time.


• He is still wearing preemie cloths (although I think he is almost out) and wearing a newborn diaper.


• He eats 1 1/2 ounces every 2 hours during the day and 3 hours at night.


• He is really interested in Addy's voice. Opens his eyes and looks around every time he hears her.

Pictures

GG loving on Drew

Our 2nd hospital stay

Mimi and Drew

Grammy and Drew

Keeping him warm

Finally free of 24/7 swaddle

Addy loves her brother

Drew likes his head to be rubbed

Drew

On October 18, 2010 (just three months after going active with our adoption agency) I got a call from our agency telling us that a young married couple had chosen us to adopt their unborn baby boy due to be born February 9, 2011. We were excited but also very scared because of our previous adoption failure. We decided to say yes to the situation and trust that God would carry us through no matter what happened.

It was a pretty eventful few months of waiting. Shortly before Christmas I received an email from the birthmother saying that she had just been released from the hospital due to pre-term labor. She assured us that everything was okay and that it would be a while before the baby was born. We decided to go ahead and start getting prepared though because I just knew he would not make it to February 9. We made it through Christmas and started getting comfortable and settled again and then on December 28 we received a call from the agency saying that the birthmother had once again been hospitalized due to pre-term labor, but this time they weren't positive they would be able to keep the baby from coming and said it could be a couple of days. Scott and I (with help from my parents and Mindy) hurriedly cleaned the house, tried to get a little bit more done on our new room (another post on this in the future), packed and headed to NE Oklahoma to stay with my grandmother and wait for the baby to come (Addy stayed in Houston with my parents). We were really thinking he would be born this week, but God had other plans. After several days of no progress we had a decision to make. We had a family trip to Colorado planned and really struggled with whether to go or not. We decided to go ahead and go to Colorado, so on Friday December 31, we drove home and repacked our bags for Colorado.

On Saturday we flew to Colorado knowing that any minute we could get "the call", joking that we would probably get there and have to leave right away. Thankfully, we were able to spend the entire week and enjoyed every minute.

We flew back to Houston on Saturday, January 8, 2011. That night we completely unpacked our bags and did a little bit of laundry, but I really felt no rush to get everything done (in fact I talked Scott out of working on our new room to finish unpacking). The next morning, we received a call at 5:30 a.m. that our Drew had been born at 1:30 that morning weighing 5 pounds 8 ounces and 18 inches long. I rushed to get packed and ready while Scott spent the morning on the phone with Continental trying to set up flights using our air miles (very complicated evidently because the OnePass office was closed). (We decided not to drive because of the 12 hr trip and because of the winter storm that was effecting Dallas, Oklahoma and Kansas). Our flight to Kansas City was awful, the worst flight I have ever had. You know it is going to be bad when the pilot states before you even leave that the first third of the flight is going to be "exceptionally rough" -- you know when the pilot says that it is going to bad -- and it was. I was so thankful to land in Kansas City. Anyway, we rented a car and headed straight for the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital, we made our way to the birthmother's room. It was probably one of the more stressful walks I have ever made. We were on our way to visit with people we didn't know and they were going to decide whether they liked us enough to give us their baby. Because Drew was in the NICU for the first 36 hours we weren't able to visit with him without having the birthmother with us. Also, due to hospital policy, we weren't able to hold him while he was in the NICU (the birthmother had to hold him to let us get a good look at him.) After he was released from the NICU, we were able to hold him and feed him, but only while in the birthmother's hospital room. It was definately awkward and we spent a lot more time with the birthparents than I ever anticipated (in Addy's adoption we had our own room at the hospital and Addy roomed in with us), but it really ended up being a blessing. We have so much to tell Drew about his birthparents when he gets older.

Drew was released from the hospital on January 11. We were so thrilled he was able to go home so quickly considering he was 4 1/2 weeks early and had spent the first 36 hrs in the NICU. We were escorted out of the hospital along with the birthparents and they watched as we put Drew in our car and drove away. I can't even imagine how they felt. We drove to our hotel and Scott packed up our bags while I fed Drew and then we started off on what was supposed to be only a 3 1/2 drive to Rolla, MO. We had to go to Rolla, because we were due in court the next morning to terminate the birthparents rights. The drive ended up being 6 hrs because of the weather and because we had to stop every 90 minutes to let Drew out of his car seat (that is what the hospital told us).

The next morning we met our attorney in the courthouse and had a 10-15 minute court session to terminate the rights of the birthparents and appoint us as legal guardians until the adoption is finalized in 6 months.

Then on Thursday, January 12, we made our way to Joplin, MO to wait out ICPC (this is the paperwork process where Missouri has to say it is okay for the baby to leave the state and then Texas has to say it is okay for the baby to come to Texas). While in Joplin we set up a dr appointment for Drew to be seen. What was to be just a routine checkup ended up being a hospitalization because Drew's temperature was too low. The dr ran just about every test known (including multiple blood draws, urine sample and two catheterizations to get a "clean sample") only to conclude after 3 days in the hospital that he was fine and that he just needed to gain some weight and get some meat on his bones.

So after Drew was released from the hospital on Sunday, January 15, we headed home the next day. Addy had gotten the stomach bug while we were in the hospital and thankfully Andrea (Scott's mom) was able to come all the way back to Houston with us and keep Addy in her car. It was really a good thing because Addy was sick in the car on the way home.

So, we have been home for two weeks now and are settling in and getting used to having another infant again. We have been blessed to have two wonderful adoption stories and are so thankful to both Addy's and Drew's birthfamilies for making us a family.

Colorado Ski Trip

On New Year's day we flew to Steamboat, Colorado to spend the week at my parent's mountain home. We had a great week of relaxing and spending time with family, playing the snow, sledding and skiing. Addy and Peyton spent two days in ski school. They had a great time and did really well. Addy had a rough day the first day, but was really excited to go back the second day. (She was technically too young (by one month) to go, but they let her in because they weren't full.) here are some pics and a video:

We can't wait to go back.

Brady wasn't too sure about sledding Addy ready to ski
Addy loved the snow and made many, many snow angels this week

Sledding

Bowling for the 1st time

Christmas 2010

Our traditional breakfast pizza
Playing one of her new video games

New Barbie car

Doll house

Papa reading "Night Before Texas Christmas"

Polar Express

This past weekend, my mom took me and Addy and my sister and her kids to Palestine, Texas to ride the Polar Express train. You ride a train from Palestine depot to the "North Pole." The kids are all dressed in their PJs. During the ride, they play music from the movie and pass out hot cocoa and cookies. Then they read the book. Once we reached the North Pole Santa boarded the train and visited each kid, handing them bells. On the ride "home" we sang Christmas carols.


The kids and the adults had an absolute blast.

Waiting to board the train

The Conductor pucnhing our tickets

Dancing

Waiting for Santa

Scott's Triathlon

In October Scott competed in his first triathlon. He did amazing. Addy and I had fun getting up early (along with my parents and sister's family) and watching daddy in his race.

Crossing the finish line

She drove her car from heaven

Addy and I were laying down the other day getting ready for naptime. I just started talking with her and asked "Where do babies come from?" She said "From heaven." My heart melted a bit and I told her she was right. They come from heaven and grow in their mommy's belly. She said "Yes, but not yours because your belly is broken." (We have talked about me not being able to have babies because my belly is broken.) I said, "Yes. So, do you know how you came to mommy and daddy?" She shook her head and said "I drove my car from heaven."

Family Pictures