Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Pictures!

Here are some pictures from our stay at the beach house!


Playing in his raft at the dock
Having fun with Mama
Playing in the tidal pools at the ocean

His chapped cheeks (I gave him something cold to suck on, oops)

Ready for the beach!

Loves the sand too!

Sweet Mya! She's 4 days older-a friend of our's is fostering to adopt her (Garrett loved her sunglasses)

Sweet sleeping babies!

Feeling refreshed!

This is a new view :)
I can't believe how big he's getting! I just want him to stay little forever!

Monday, June 27, 2011

We have a sitter and some teeth!

I really can't believe how fast time is flying by! It's hard to believe we have a 5 month old. When we were at the beach, he started sitting up and actually staying there for some time. He's doing it all the time now and he looks like such a big boy! Then on Friday, the first tooth finally broke through his gum. The second one is now coming through. He's done really well with those too. I told Tommy last night we are going to be in so much trouble when he starts moving! I'm so glad I'm able to spend the summers with him; I'm already dreading going back to work.

Next week we head to Florida to visit our friends and the twins they adopted. I can't wait to get them all together. I have lots of pictures to share from the beach house! Garrett loved the water. I'm still making his baby food and so far he has loved everything. For those of you that are interested, here are the sites that I have been using: this one and this one. It's really, really easy and you know everything that's going in it!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

A dream come true

It's been one year since I started this blog. I can't believe a year has already passed. I remember starting this blog as a way to get all of my feelings out during our waiting phase of our adoption journey. We had already been through so much. We were in for the long haul, or so we thought. We had been told that we could expect to wait 2-3 years before having a placement. We knew God had the perfect baby planned for us and we knew the timing was in His hands. I know a lot of people say when that baby is placed in your arms it erases all of the wait and pain. And while I agree with that to a certain extent, I don't agree fully with it. That pain is still there; the pain of the infertility, the pain of the IVF and the huge emotional roller coaster we were on, the pain of the miscarriage-we still think about those babies, and then the pain of waiting and not knowing when--not to mention the first 3 years of "just trying". Thankfully through our faith and the support of family and friends, we made it through. I think it has molded us into the people we are today and brought us closer together and made our marriage stronger.

As most know, we live at the beach. We love it here. We love being close to our parents and being able to drive to the ocean any day we want. There's a certain ambience here that's different, in my opinion, than any other place. We lived in a big metropolitan city and ran the "rat race" with everyone else. It seemed like everyone was out for themselves, trying to get ahead and hardly anyone ever slowed down enough to stop and smell the roses. We were different. We were beach kids and this way of life was different for us. We learned early not to take things for granted because of Tommy's heart issues; we knew each day given to us was a true blessing from God.

Back to the beach-it has always been a dream of mine to take our kids to the beach. To hope that they love the water as much as we do. A place where we could walk along the shore together and watch the waves come crashing in. Where we could teach them how to swim and how to fish and bury Dad in the sand. Summer after summer, I remember looking at families down on the ocean and wishing that someday that would be us. That someday we would be there with our kids. Many times, I would walk back to the beach house wondering if that would ever be us.

Fast forward one year and here we are, staying at the beach house with our precious gift, Garrett. The house is on the sound side, the ocean is across the street. We've had a blast, playing in the water, taking boat rides, and fishing. And to delight our hearts even more, Garrett loves the water! Late yesterday afternoon, Tommy and I decided to take a stroll down the beach to the pier and back (2 miles each way). We put Garrett in the Baby Bjorn (one of my favorite things) and began walking. We saw many families playing in the ocean and in the sand but this time it was different. They were looking at us, many commenting on what a cute boy we have. I had to almost stop and take in the moment, thinking back to all of those times wondering if we'd ever be here. And then, there we were. Walking down the beach with the most precious baby boy God could have ever given us. To say we feel blessed is a huge understatement. We are so thankful and honestly couldn't have asked for a better fit for our family.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Better late than never :)

Can't believe my sweet boy is already 4 months old (ok he's over 4 months old now) :) Time has gone by way too quickly! We are looking forward to our week at the beach house!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Officially Summer!

Today was my last official teacher workday! I am so excited that I will be able to spend the next 2 months with my sweet boy! Speaking of my sweet boy, on Friday, he rolled over from his back to his stomach! He has this look on his face like he wants to get moving so I don't think it will be too long before he tries to crawl. Solids are going well; I'm making his food and so far so good. It's super easy to do and much cheaper and better for them! At least you'll know what's in their food :)

We have a busy summer planned and I'm so ready for a break. We are going to the beach house on Friday and will be there for a week and a half. In the beginning of July, we'll be heading down to visit our friends in Florida and to meet their sweet twins! We'll probably visit some family in NC and then we are thinking about taking a trip back to Ocracoke. I was hoping we would get the finalization papers for the adoption before school starts back. So far we haven't heard anything back from that. Our social worker said if we didn't hear something in a couple of months, then we should call the main office and have them check on things or tell us who we can call within the courts.

Yay for summer!!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Memorial Day 2011-4 month update

Ok so I know I am a bit behind! That's what happens when the school year comes to a close. Plus I have to move classrooms so it's been a busy week! Tuesday is my last workday and I am so looking forward to spending the whole summer with my little Doodlebug!

Last Friday, Garrett had his 4 month check-up, complete with round 2 of shots. He did a lot better this time with the shots. He did run a little fever afterwards but other than that everything went well. The doctor was really impressed with how well he is doing and she gave us the go ahead to start introducing solids. He loves them! This boy loves to eat! I'm making his baby food so that has been fun and interesting all at the same time. He now weighs 18.4 pounds!!!! I can't believe how big he's gotten. He's also 25.8 inches long. He's also starting to teethe. I hope that first one pops out soon; he's had a couple of cranky days :)

On Saturday we did some shopping and he really loves to look all around. On Sunday we decided to go to church with my mom so everyone there could meet him. After church, my sister and her husband took us out on the boat. Garrett loved it! He's going to be a natural "water boy" which is great, especially since we spend so much time at the beach. The only part he didn't care for was wearing the life jacket. On a side note, it amazed me with how many people were out there with babies, with no life jackets on while they were in the boat. That's complete craziness!

Here are some pictures of our weekend!
What are you guys doing to me!?!

Let me see if I can figure out how to drive this thing!
Loves the water!
Aunt Dana trying to give him seaweed
Enjoying his new raft--look how clear the water is! That's a rarity around here!
Nap time!
Having fun with Daddy
Here we go again :)