Weight is Heavy, Shots are Shotty

Dear Henry,

Monday was your 2 month doctor's check. They looked you over and you were a champ. I got you naked then the nurse put you on the paper and traced your head and the bottom of your foot with your leg stretched out and you grew from 19" at birth to 22.5". This puts you in the 25th% for height, which is steady growth. Then we took you over to the baby healthometer scale and when the nurse placed you in I gasped because you filled that thing up like a bag of apples at the supermarket! You weighed at birth 6lbs 2oz and at this check you weighed 11lbs 9oz!!! Check out this post for a contrast.


It is no wonder carrying you in your baby carrier has become more and more unpleasant to my ever aching arms, you're a GIANT. This new expansion of skin, bone, muscle and fat on your frame boosted you to the 50th% from the 25th% in weight. The nurse told me I needed to start wiping your mouth out because when you get a tooth I'll need to brush it and this will get you used to having something in your mouth. I have a feelin' you're not gonna like that.

You took all this calculating in stride. Then we waited for the doctor. As we waited I could hear a nurse talking in the hallway even though our door was closed, "Lily, that baby girl adopted from California, her mom is here for a belly button check...(I'll spare the details)." I instantly knew that Brook must be in the room next to ours so we went next door and sure enough! Your buddy Lily was there. She is a couple of months behind you so she is still workin' off the stub of the umbilical cord that is left hangin'.

We went back to our room and finally the doctor came in. He laid you on the table and checked your heart and lungs, your hips, your tummy, in your ears and your little mouth and everything looked great! Mommy filled out a chart about all of the great tricks you've picked up on and you've surpassed your milestones for your age. I was proud.
Then it was time... the nurse came in, she has known you as long as I have, she was with you at the hospital when J pushed you into this world. She got the viles ready while Mommy wrapped you up in the beautiful duckie blanket Auntie Linda made for you. I figured the hands that made it have made it through TONS of shots during her cancer battle, more like a war, so it should help you. It did. Mommy swaddled you up in it with your leg exposed and started shssssooooshing in your ear. The nurse said, "Okay!" and poked you the first time. You wailed for about 15 seconds, gave a little hurt face with the corners of your cheeks turned down and your bottom lip puckered out and you took a few deep breaths, found your thumb and moved on with your day. Mommy does have a picture of that first poke but why relive it here?

When Mommy got you home though you were not yourself. You slept all day cuddled up at my side and in your swing. You had a 100.9 fever and groused around like a grump on and off. It made me so sad to see you this way, the next day was more of the same. This morning, however, you woke up and played makin' faces with me and laughing for an hour. I was happy to see my Ole Boy back for a while at least, then you whimpered and laid back to sleep with your thumb firm in your mouth. You just had a bath and are sacked out on the blanket Aimee and Tim sent you. It seems to be your favorite napping blanket right now.

I can't imagine if I let the nurse give you all of the vaccines at one time!!! JEEZE! OWIE! There are like 5-8 total depending on which ones you choose.

I am glad it is over, until next Wednesday when we do it all over again.

My hope is that you continue to be your healthy, good natured self. I wasn't sure what to do with a grumpy baby!

Love, Mommy

The Friendship Train Rolled in WOOOT WOOOT!

Dear Henry,

All aboard! The friendship train rolled in for you this weekend and the first passenger's name is Lily Rieman. Mommy and Daddy's friends, Brook and Corey, brought their baby girl home from California last Monday. We had to wait to see her because Brook and Corey were busy entertaining all of their family, remember when you first came home? People were in and out of the house touching and holding you for the first two weeks. So the Rieman three were on their way to town and gave us a call to see if they could stop by, to which we replied, "OF COURSE!!!" They brought Lily in with a sweet yellow duckie sleeper with hints of pink trim and a slight frilly on the neck. She has buttercup yellow fuzzy chicken hair that juts forward in the middle and out on the sides due to her swirly cowlicks on the crown, a la a blonde Joan Jett. Her sweet little features handle this edgy look well. Her petite lips and little dimple are irresistible.

As we both rushed to whip our camera's out, Brook and I realized we may have the most photographed children in the country. After about 15 minutes Lily finished her bottle and I decided there was enough time for you to get accustomed to each other in the same room and Mommy Brook and Mommy put you each down on a blanket next to each other. At first you turned your heads away from each other and you retreated to your thumb. Then slowly but surely Lily reached out and started wackin' you in the face a little. Mommy Brook was worried she'd poke your eye and then it happened. Then Lily appeared to want to eat your arm. I caution you though Henry, because she is just a couple of weeks old anything near her face makes her feel like she wants to eat, you did the same thing with much gusto up until about 2 weeks ago. The two of you got more comfortable and locked arms, and then you locked hands together for a few seconds.



The mommies melted. Your Mommy felt SO excited that this moment was here after a year of meetings where we spoke about the group turning into a playgroup, to the agonizing waits, Brook and Corey's two really difficult matches that didn't work out and them BAM! Two months apart Henry and then Lily are here, on our floor, clutching hands. Mommy Brook and I started talking about who might be next and so we decided to start a tradition of lining the babies up on a blanket and putting a question mark at the end of the line until all of the 6 babies have arrived.






One day we will look at this post and think, "OH Man!, Remember those days when we were waiting for our friends to come!?!" By then it will seem so hard to imagine all of the kids not being here.

We look forward to future play dates with Lily when you both do a bit more than eat and pee pee.

I'm so glad that you are here baby Hank.




Love, Mommy

M is for the Many Years I Waited for You!

Dear Henry,

This weekend I loved you up on my very first Mother's Day of all times. Daddy treated me to a one of a kind Heather floral arrangement. IT IS BEAUTIFUL and I felt so special, not to mention it was an added treat to have Heather hand deliver it! That was on Friday. Grandma P and Crappaw got me a pretty Lady in Red Hydrangea, I got many cards, warm calls and comments onFacebook all to wish me a special day. Sunday morning Daddy told Mommy he really needed something from the dinning room. Daddy hardly EVER goes into the dining room, and when Mommy got there she saw a pretty black and white bag. I took it back to the bedroom and opened it. It was a shiny silver locket with our baby boy's initials and birth date engraved on the back. Daddy is so sweet! Now I just have to choose two photos to stick in my locket. I melted...and it was the first moment of the day that I felt emotionally overwhelmed.

We all got up and you and I went to church at St. Paul's. Daddy still doesn't have a van to get around in, although we're working on it, so he stayed home. Mommy has fond memories of standing in church with her mommy, daddy and brother. I would study my daddy, how he would stand really tall and stretch his neck up, force his jaw forward and tilt his head back and listen. I would inspect how tall I came up to him each week making note of when I had grown a bit, feeling proud of myself while holding his big paw. My mommy would let me sit on her lap until I was nearly as tall as her and spilling over all over and she would mouth the words rather than sing out loud. My brother, Uncle Gary, would poke at me or try to get me to laugh at someone else. I loved those times so I was happy to take you.

Mass was great this week. Great music and Father Bob has such insight and compassion in his homilies. Mommy had a really hard time holding it together. My first Mommy's Day and my life had come full circle. When it came time to express peace to each other and I reached out to the man behind me for my first handshake I had a flash of my daddy, Crappaw, teaching me how to shake hands. He wanted me to be a strong woman and not have a fishy handshake. I've passed this along to many students over the years and they've come back to tell me many times over that it was the best lesson and people always look impressed when they shake hands. But as I put you over my should in one arm and reached forward, I felt whole and I was crying because I had waited to teach my kids those lessons one day and here I was with my baby boy on Mother's Day. As I knelt after I received communion, and you your first blessing, I thought about J, your birthmother, and hoped that she was enjoying her day with Tommy

and Uriah because my special day was all due to her courage and love for you... she made the ultimate mother choice to place you where she felt you would have the best chance to thrive and grow to be your best self, as hard as it would be for her. This encourages me to become my best self. The ending song did me in. Mommy was exhausted but uplifted as I grabbed my cookie and juice on the way out. You were a little gentleman during the entire mass and even did your man size belches during the loud moments of the songs so it wouldn't disturb the service. Although, Mommy will not lie, she secretly debated with herself for about 5 minutes if God would think it as funny as I did if you did burp during the quiet time too. I won't tell you the answer I came up with for fear someday it might come back to bite me... I've said too much!

Mommy and Daddy sent J a card from the three of us and I wrote about my love and appreciation to her and we later spoke on the phone. She wished me a happy Mother's Day with such genuine enthusiasm I was moved again.

We came home and found Daddy takin' a nap. We let him sleep a while and enjoyed cuddling on the couch. Then we spent the rest of the day hanging out with Daddy until Brook, Corey and Lily made their first visit. That's for another post....

I had such a happy day. Thanks to you in my arms, J in my heart and Daddy always supporting me and letting me know how special I am to him. The best part, there isn't just one of these special days...there are MANY MANY more to come for me, even the day in and day out stuff.

The flowers are wonderful but it is what is beyond the flowers that really made my first Mother's Day important.
I love you,
Mommy

Nissy and Jim

Dear Friends,

We still have friends in our support group searching for their babies and birthmothers. Our new friends, Nissy and Jim, are working on finishing up their paper work and creating their letter that goes out to potential birthmothers. I took some photos for them, like I did for Doug and Peter. We hope that all of our adoption support group family soon grows. I plan to post in the next day or so of the meeting between Lily and Hank. Let's just say it was TOO sweet, but four of their play group friends haven't arrived to the party yet and we hope they come soon!

If you know of a woman looking to make an adoption plan these families are all awesome and loving people open to on going contact.
Please pass along their names and links to anyone you may know that could lead them to their child.

Heather and Phillipe
Doug and Peter
Matt and Eunice
Nissy and Jim

And here is a little snap shot of Nissy and Jim...


Thanks,
Lisa T.

A Ladies Day

Dear Henry,

Perhaps one day you'll wish for a day where many beautiful ladies are fawning all over you, saying how cute you are, rubbing your head and squealing at seeing you, I will remind you of these early days. This very thing happens to you ALL the time! I feel like I am with a celebrity. Just the other day I was at the grocery getting hamburger and an older gentleman... (old men love you too! and it works to my advantage too because I get lots of complements.) at the meat counter was saying how cute you are and asked your age and I told him 8 weeks with pride in my voice that you've made it this far in our care. He told me I looked great! I said, "Thanks! You should see his birthmother! She looks really good!" He laughed and said oh what a blessing that you adopted and walked away. About 5 minute later a woman at the opposite side of the store getting milk comes barging toward me with a purpose, I nearly looked over my shoulder to see if she was coming for me. She was, she said, "OH MY! He is cute! Some old man I don't know just told me I had to come meet this baby and hear your story." HA!

So back to the real purpose of this post...
This Friday our special cousin Kyra invited us over for a mothers day brunch. Grandma P was there, Auntie Lea, Mamaw Janie, Molly, Martha, Nellie, Kyra, Grannie, cousins Clayton and Hannah as well as Kyra's boys JD, Kolsen and Nash, and their Daddy Matt showed up later.

The ladies loved you and were so excited we are all a family now. When we first got there Auntie Lea and Kyra fought over who got to hold you first, like a bride's maid going for the bouquet at a wedding reception! Luckily no one fell over exposing their undies and nothing popped off of you. Then JD was all about holding you. He was great with you! I told him that part of the reason J said she picked us was due to a photo of JD and I playing Lincoln Logs. JD swelled with pride and became your personal protector.

Nash waited patiently for his turn to hold you. He loved strokin' your hair and snuggling you and was so SWEET!

Kyra made a bunch of great food to eat and my heart swelled up thinking about not only finally being a mother but that I am YOUR mother.


We stopped by Grandma LaJean's to visit with your great Aunt Ruthie and Great Grandma Hazel and then headed on home. Aunt Ruthie bought you a cute lil outfit with tigers on it. I can't wait to see you in the stripes!

It was a nice time! and I really appreciated that this year we could be a part of it in a whole new way.

I love you sweet cheeks,
Mommy

Crappaw

Dear Henry,

Last week Crappaw and Grandma P came over to help Mommy get the grass cut and to clean the fall leaves off of the pool cover. Grandma P watched you inside, occasionally coming to the window to taunt me with your cute little face at the window. We ate at a local joint called The Cloverleaf. Great food!

Crappaw held on to you most of lunch, even making Grandma P cut his roast beef Manhattan so he didn't have to put you down. It is good to be loved!

They love you!
Me too!
Love, Mommy

Mornings are Hard for More than One Reason

Dear Henry,

Every morning Daddy gets up for work and goes off and it is HARD for us both. We wish he could spend the day with us givin' cuddles and smoochies all those hours he isn't here. If you should ever think that Daddy would not rather be with us too, look at these photos from when you are just 8 weeks 3 days old and you can see how much he loves you. He goes to work so we can live in our nice home, have good transportation and food in our tummies. He goes to work because he is a good man that provides for his family. He goes to work because he loves us.





These photos are a gift to you so you can see how hard it was for Daddy to leave in the mornings. This post is a gift for Daddy so he knows how much we appreciate the long days he puts in for us.

Love,
Mommy/ Wifey