Conversations (1)

Conversation #1:

C was holding a little pocket mirror of mine that lately is his "phone." He holds it up to his ear and talks away. Today I heard him saying as he looked at it "checking email." He was moving his little thumb over the surface as if he was typing. I asked him to tell me what he was doing and clear as day he said "checking email."

Conversation #2 (a few minutes later)

C while looking at the "phone" and holding it to his mouth "Call. Call mobile." Apparently I use the voice dial feature more often than I thought! After a while he said "Call. Call. Grandma." And then - and at this point I died laughing - "Call. Call. Parrot." Yup. He wanted to call the Pirate Parrot, who is apparently his BFF since we met him at the ALS walk a few weeks ago.

I will add that he also met Iceburg last Saturday at the Pens practice that was open to the public. He didn't call Iceburg, but he does remember that he blew him a kiss.

2 year olds! They are too funny!

G's birth story, Part 2

To read Part 1, go here.

After my mom told the family she would name baby girl, we laughed and told everyone we would have a name for them by the evening. We just wanted to see her one more time. Then we asked my mom what name she would give her. DH was in the kitchen area eating and feeding C his breakfast and I was down the hall fixing my hair. She started by telling us this story:

The week before Easter I was at one of the local parishes for confession. While I was waiting in line, I saw what appeared to be a tapestry of the image of the Divine Mercy. As I looked closer, I realized that in each square of fabric was an image of an unborn baby. Nearby was a sheet that asked people to name the unborn babies--babies who had been aborted. Since it wasn't my parish, I didn't write down a name, but as I stood there, I thought about what name I would give one of the babies. All of a sudden, the name G came to my mind. It wasn't a name I had thought about before, but I thought it was perfect. And then I thought, wouldn't it be something if (here she named DH & me) we named the baby G! I know you (DH & me) have never discussed names with me, but I thought it was such a pretty name. I thought wouldn't it be pretty to have her name be "G.G." Then I thought about it, and I didn't like "G.G" as a nickname, so I decided "C" would be a better middle name. "G. C." was better.

At this point in the story, I was glad I was in the other room and not trying to keep a straight face! I went in, looked at DH wondering if he wanted to reveal her name. We decided not to (although apparently my mom saw "the look" but then quickly dismissed it).

After breakfast, DH & I headed back to the hospital while my mom spent the rest of the morning with C. We decided that later in the day, DH would bring C & my mom to the hospital so they could both meet her.

We stayed in the family waiting room after we arrived at the hospital and gave baby girl her next feeding and watched while her hearing screening was done. It was a quiet day, holding and feeding her, watching her sleep and briefly open her eyes.

Mid-afternoon, DH returned to the hotel to pick up C and my mom. I waited while baby girl slept peacefully. When they arrived, DH brought C over to the bassinet and picked him up. He said "C - meet your new little sister! Can you say "G.M.?" At that point my mom got tears in her eyes and said "did you really pick that name?!!" When we told her we had, she said "I like that middle name the best."

Later that night (it was still Friday although it certainly felt like more than a day had passed!), DH took C and my mom back to the hotel and stopped to pick up dinner for us on the way back. We stayed as late as we could and decided again to get one more "good" night's sleep. On Saturday we watched all the baby safety DVD's mandated by the state and spent most of the day with her, and C and my mom again came for a visit. C was adored by all the nurses, who got a good laugh every time C would bolt out of the room and make a break for it down the hall. We're not sure where he was trying to go, except to perhaps explore! :) Again, that night, DH picked up dinner for us after my mom and C left, and that night the nurses were able to give me a room so I could spent the night with our sweet girl. She woke up every 2 hours or so--I didn't sleep much - I can never fall asleep easily, so she woke me up right after I fell asleep each time, but clearly I didn't care a bit! Early Sunday morning, DH picked me up at the hospital so we could get to Mass (Feast of the Divine Mercy) and so I could go back to the hotel to shower. We were back at the hospital before noon and we waited to make sure baby G passed her car seat test (she did!) and talked to the doctor and nurses and soon we were ready to be discharged!

Waiting for all the paperwork to be signed!

back at the hotel

proud big brother!

We did have to wait until after her follow up appointment and blood work the next morning before we could head to my parent's house. Fortunately the blood work the next morning was fine, and she weighed in fine at her appointment, so we ended up having C ride back with my mom and DH drove while I sat with baby G in the back seat.

We ended up getting clearance through interstate 3 days later (though I must confess my heart stopped when we got the call that we were cleared - we had just gotten to daily Mass that Thursday when my phone rang, and I saw our agency on the caller ID. I stepped out and called the agency back, and was so relieved when I was told that we had cleared interstate. I was so afraid G's birthmother had changed her mind! We still decided to stay a few days so that DH's family could meet her before we headed home.

Four (plus) months later... we are so in love with our sweet girl. We have been so blessed by the gift of her life!!

G's birth story, Part 1

I'm finally getting around to writing Baby G's birth story.. for some reason I thought I already did!

We received the call from our agency that G's birthmother was going to be induced on April 24th, the day after Easter (April 21st). Her original due date was May 11th, but we did anticipate an early delivery/induction since her birth mother's blood pressure was being monitored. We called my mom shortly after we heard from our agency - she was the one coming to help us with C. We decided in order to maximize DH's 2-week paternity leave that he would work all day Wednesday and we would head out that evening since G was to be born out of state. Tuesday was C's birthday, and we ended up just doing a family celebration (we were planning to invite some close friends over for dinner before we got the call for the induction), but he was quite pleased with his dessert and the opportunity to blow out candles. :)

I cancelled piano lessons the rest of the week, and focused on packing during C's afternoon naps. On Wednesday, as planned, we left Northern VA and headed out. Fortunately, though out of state, it was only about 3 hours of driving. C slept after an hour into the trip so it was a quiet drive; time for us to pray for a healthy delivery and for baby girl's birth mother. We arrived at the hotel, met my mom (she had arrived earlier and had checked in and gotten our keys), so we didn't have to do much but get C up to the room and put him to bed.

Thursday morning, we had to be at the hospital pretty early, and we met with one of the local agencies social workers, and DH & I were able to meet G's birth mother. She was already in triage when we met her, and while it was a short conversation, words cannot describe the emotions I felt when I heard G's beautiful heartbeat over the fetal monitor. It was truly a blessing.

We returned to the family waiting room (my mom and C were there with us), and the social worker suggested we head out for the day and to keep checking with her on how things were progressing, so we ended up leaving to get to noon Mass at a local church. After Mass, we stopped to get lunch, then headed back to the hotel to put C down for his nap. C slept for a good part of the afternoon and we periodically checked on how G's birthmother was doing. Right before dinner, the agency SW called and said G's birthmother had stopped responding to texts, so she thought we needed to get over to the hospital. She said we probably had time to get dinner, so we ended up just eating at a restaurant at the hotel next to us, and after getting C back to the hotel with my mom, headed back to the hospital. We camped out in the family waiting room again, and waited to hear news. The nurses at the hospital were absolutely wonderful - they had worked with our agency before, and were so supportive of the process, and us as adoptive parents. A little while later, the birthmother's nurse eventually came in and said she really thought it would be a while longer, and suggested we head back to the hotel to get some sleep. (Like that was possible!!! :)) We took her advice, and headed back to the hotel. (I think it was around 9:00.) My mom had put C to bed, so I took a quick shower thinking I wouldn't have time to do so when we got the call that the timing was close. We tried to get to bed quietly, but C woke up, so we ended up with him in our bed for about an hour until he settled down. No sooner had DH gotten him back in the pack-n-play than we got the call from the nurse. She said to hurry - they weren't sure if I would be allowed into the delivery room as G was born. C woke up again in all the rush of our getting out the door, and we had to wake up my mom who had just fallen asleep, but we were out the door as fast as possible. Fortunately C went back to sleep on his own, shortly after we left. I'm pretty sure we broke a few speed limits on the way!, but we got to the hospital shortly after 11. We had to go through the ER - DH parked the car, I ran in and explained why we were there. DH came in as the aide was filling out my ID badge and he walked us up to the floor. The nurses greeted as and asked if we had brought a camera. We hadn't, but fortunately had our phones! They took me back and put me in scrubs and had me wait in the hall - they still weren't sure I would be allowed in the delivery room. Here I am looking snazzy outside the delivery room in my scrubs!

It felt like forever, so I ended up texting back and forth with my family - and DH standing just outside the door to pass the time. It turned out that I wasn't in the delivery room for her birth, but the nurse came to get me just minutes after . While DH and I had narrowed down names, we wanted to wait until we saw her to decide. As soon as I saw her sweet face, I knew she looked like a baby G! :)

The nurse let me trim her cord, and I just stood staring at her until we took her to the nursery where we met DH. She was just so tiny! We watched while she was checked over, and when they weighed her - 5 pounds exactly!! The nurse gave us a souvenir birth certificate which was sweet. Here she was all bundled up. 

We fed her, took turns holding her, (continuing sending texts and photos with family!!) and then decided to head back to the hotel. We asked about having a room so that one of us could stay overnight with her, but they weren't able to give us one, at least not the first night. We decided to go back to get some more sleep and come back in the morning. We tried to time it so we'd only miss one feeding.

After catching a few more hours of sleep at the hotel, we woke up when C did and started getting ready for the day. During breakfast, one of my sisters texted and asked what her name was. Before DH or I could respond, my mom sent the family a message saying that if we didn't come up with a name, she was going to name baby girl! :)

To be continued... 

G's newborn & family photos

The lovely Mischa shared her talents with us a few weeks ago--she did C's 1-year photos last year--and we happily welcomed her into our home to take newborn photos of Baby G and some family photos as well! We are thrilled with the results - she managed to capture the joy and energy of C and our delight in sweet baby G. Thanks, M, for a wonderful morning!

Siblings!!

He made a better sound his first time than I did the first time I tried to play a trumpet in college!

First lesson.

so focused- I love this one!

His latest fascination is cars. He can play with one for hours!

Hello there!

For those of you still waiting

All of you still waiting have been on my mind so much lately. There are those of you who have had surgery recently, and those of you that are riding the stress of the 2WW. I remember those times. As much as God has healed my heart, I still have not forgotten. The IF cross is so heavy. I think those of us who have carried it continue to help carry it for those of you still waiting.

This morning as I read through a letter written by the Prelate of Opus Dei, I couldn't help but think of and pray for those of you still waiting. I've mentioned before that my husband and I share a great devotion to St. Josemaria, the founder. Today, June 26th is his Feast Day. Each month, the current Prelate, Bishop Javier writes a letter that is posted on the Opus Dei website. This month's letter contained the following:

The life of a disciple of Christ is not meant to be a continual negation, nor a repression of the desires for happiness deep in our heart. For as Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “We need the . . . hopes that keep us going day by day.”[5] In that same encyclical, he said that “day by day, man experiences many greater or lesser hopes, different in kind according to the different periods of his life.”[6] These hopes help us to set goals, to keep advancing on our earthly pilgrimage. Frequently, these human plans can absorb everything and not allow room for other hopes. This happens especially with young people and with those who are just beginning to make their way in their professional activity, who may perhaps be blinded by a deceptive “mirage.” But when these aspirations fail, or aren’t fulfilled as one had hoped, Benedict XVI said, “it becomes clear that they were not, in reality, the whole. It becomes evident that man has need of a hope that goes further. It becomes clear that only something infinite will suffice for him, something that will always be more than he can ever attain . . . This great hope can only be God, who encompasses the whole of reality and who can bestow upon us what we, by ourselves, cannot attain.”[7]

I love this, his quote from Benedict XVI... "It becomes evident that man has need of a hope that goes further. It becomes clear that only something infinite will suffice for him... this great hope can only be God."

May those of you still waiting, continue to hope in God. You are in my prayers.

Baby G - 2 months!

Happy 2 months, sweet girl! We love you so much!

5.6

No, I'm not running a very strange race that's 5.6 miles. :)

5.6 miles is the distance between our new house and my parents house!!! :) We are beyond excited! I was visiting my parents the week before G's baptism and on Monday and Tuesday of that week, my mom and I and the kiddos drove around and looked at 8 or 9 houses with my real estate agent. Some of the homes were very nice, but the yards were lacking. One house wasn't bad, but the price was a little more than we wanted to spend, plus we knew we would have to do some cosmetic work - mainly replacing carpet and a lot of painting. All the owners of those homes had pets, which was a consideration since I'm very allergic to both dogs and cats. At the last house, the real estate agent and I agreed that seeing so many helped both of us have a better idea of what DH & I were looking for. Mainly - since we plan to be in the house anywhere from 5-10 years, while the kids are growing up, a good backyard is a huge priority. She told me that when a house has 80% of what you really want, it's going to be a good fit for your family. I told her I'd be in touch since I get updates on all the new listings that fit our criteria.

That was around 11:00. She left to go back to her office, my mom, kiddos and I headed back home. Not 20 minutes later, I got an email showing a new listing. It. Looked. Amazing!!! It was exactly what we were looking for, minus the 3-car garage. (We only wanted that because our current garage is our gym, and while rare, homes do pop up every now and then in our price range - almost always because the 3rd car bay is part of an addition.) We just didn't want to have to foot the bill ourselves for such an addition! :) It was an older home, with lots of beautiful updates - a new kitchen, a great area in the basement for DH to work from home, 4 bedrooms so that we could have a guest room, and a nice flat backyard. AND a sunroom/3-season porch that had a beautiful tile floor - with windows to keep out the bugs! It was totally in our price range, the only question was - was the backyard really the size of a postage stamp and photographed to look enormous? We decided to drive by to take a look at the outside before I asked our agent to drive out to meet me there.

The outside was great. I got more and more excited and sent DH an email with the link to the photos. He agreed-  it looked pretty darn good.

I called our agent to see if she could meet me and my Dad there that evening. She took one look at the photos and agreed- this one looked very promising. :) She told me she'd call me back after she talked to the listing agent to see if we could get in that evening. This was about 30 minutes after the listing went live. When she called me back, she said we couldn't wait until that evening to see the house. There were already several calls for appointments and one offer that was in process! Insane! About an hour and a half after it listed, we were at the house. I walked in... and immediately I knew without a doubt. THIS was our house! Every room confirmed it. The kitchen was just beautiful - not large, but cherry cabinets and granite countertops. And a little built-in home office complete with file drawers and a bookshelf. A hot water dispenser (I love those!!) The owners had opened the back of the house to be one long room - the dining room to the kitchen which opened to a living room area with a lovely stone fireplace. I started having visions of cooking dinner with the fire going during the long winters. :) Ahhh....

Hardwood floors in 3 of the bedrooms. The master bedroom has carpet - we're still waiting to find out if it is over hardwood, and then we will just rip up the carpet. No pets!! No pet dander to worry about! The house was IMMACULATE. I am a VERY nosy potential buyer - I open practically all closets and drawers in baths and kitchens. In all the prior houses, there were multiple "junk" drawers. These people were beyond neat. I LOVED that. It was a very well-maintained home.

I called DH after I saw the office area in the basement and told him I'd found our house! He laughed... and after going over some things, agreed - sight unseen for him! Our agent recommended that our offer be higher than the list price, and we took her recommendation (it was priced low to get attention and did it ever!) The next morning, when our offer was presented, there were 3 others along with it, less than 24 hours after listing. We waited anxiously... our agent called to ask if we were ok with an August 15th closing date. It didn't even occur to us until later that it was a nice little sign from Our Lady. :-D

A little while later, she called back with the good news.... WE HAVE A HOUSE!!!!

Of all the homes my mom and I looked at, this one was the best for our budget, had the nicest backyard and was the closest to my parents. It's just 2 miles to the nearest church with a 7:00 am Mass for DH to get to before starting to work for the day. It's at the end of a very long street - a beautiful cul-de-sac. There are other cul-de-sacs off it for the kiddos to eventually be able to ride bikes.

Since then, our closing date has been moved to August 8th, which though not a Feast Day :) - is great so that we will have a better chance to get to the lake this summer with my family (the 15th is smack in the middle of the 2-week rental).

Now... we are praying that our current house will get an offer SOON! Having to keep the house HGTV photo ready all the time is getting to be pretty stressful with 2 kids! Not to mention trying to get out the door with both of them, and snacks whenever someone wants to stop by to see the place. So, please pray!! :) Ideally, I'd love to close around the same time as the new home closes; it won't take long to have a few rooms painted in the new one, and if there is hardwood in the master bedroom, to have the carpet pulled up and taken care of.

Growing up, I was fortunate to live 20 minutes from both sets of grandparents, and about the same for many aunts and uncles. I have always wanted that for my kids. While we'll still be about 2 hours from DH's parents, it is still MUCH better than 6 (more like 7 with the kids), and a drive we can easily do to and from in one day. And being so close to my parents, 2 sisters, grandma, aunts and uncles... I am still pinching myself. :-D

Our home inspection is Wednesday - my parents are going since we're out of town, and my mom is going to Facetime a walk-through so I can take notes on where we'll put everything. Please pray nothing crazy turns up! :)

Now, if only someone would come in here and pack everything up for me... :)