He has filled our lives with sunshine!

Eight weeks ago today, around this time, I walked into a hospital and held Baby J for the first time.

I held him because I wanted closure and to move on.

That day, things didn't go as we expected and the following 48 hours were some of the longest and hardest and most emotional Bryan and I have experienced.

And then we brought him home. 

Our life that we thought was full overflowed.

We thought our life was rich, but it turns out it was stale and tasteless compared to what we have now.

"Couple" was a nice word until it was replaced with "family."

I don't mean to paint an idealistic picture. Despite my best efforts to be intentional about every moment with him, when exhaustion or selfishness sets in, I have been frustrated. But not often. Instead, we bask in the joy he has brought us. I love seeing Bryan in his new role as a father, and we enjoy the newness and innocence (and cuteness!) of Baby J.

After eight weeks, I:

• still don't have "baby wipe economy" down. We use as many wipes as necessary, but I freely admit I'm jealous of the mothers who can deftly clean up a mess with two wipes. Two!
• realize we can do a lot more with two arms than we thought
• don't need as much sleep as we thought (though I believe God helps us do more with less)
• found that I no longer have two hours to clean the house...but I have two minutes to clean the toilet. And then I will have two more minutes later to throw a load of laundry in

In so many ways, our lives have changed. And I would say, all for the better.

We still don't know what the end of the Baby J book will be, but we like the chapter we're on.

In Poland news, well, there is no news. As I mentioned before, we'll probably have to wait until October at least.

Tuesday was our first day in court about Baby J. Things did and did not progress. If that doesn't make sense (and how could it?!), ask us what happened. I don't want to post it on the blog.

Things are going so well. Baby J is gaining weight, he continues to be a very good baby, and  we love him! Getting to have him was a very difficult process, but when we look back, every tear, frustration and stress was worth it.

I'll end with one funny story.  When we started talking about having an infant, Bryan was concerned. "Lis, you're such a deep sleeper. There is no way you'll hear the baby, and I am such a light sleeper, I'll wake up all the time."

Although I didn't see anything wrong with that scenario, this is what really happens.

Bryan, yawning, "So, did Baby J have a good night? How many times did he get up?"

Yep, that's what I thought. Bryan doesn't hear him at all, and I awake at the slightest wimper. Someone told me that, once I had children, I would probably never get a good nights sleep again. I'm glad I enjoyed all of them up to this point!

A cookbook winner!

Thanks to winner selection help from random.org, the cookbook winner is...

Karla Z.!

Thanks, everyone, for submitting your special food memories, and I will get that cookbook to you soon, Karla.

If you didn't win, but you still want one, contact me or Shara.

Happy Mother's Day

For the past few months, my sister, Shara, (with the help of her mother and sisters) has been putting together a cookbook. Last night, I got my copy and early this morning (since Baby J didn't want to sleep after 2 am), I put the dividers in and read through it. It was bittersweet. Bittersweet because it brought back many pleasant memories of our life as a family as we shared meals together and because many of the recipes were from my Grandma S. who passed away in November. I miss her.

I like Shara's quote from the front:

There is a unique marriage between food and relationships. I felt happy as I entered recipes that were in my Grandma Steidinger's handwriting, imagining my mother requesting recipes after she was married and in her own home, just like my sisters and I have done. There were recipes from my Grandma Dotterer which made me glad to think that she and my mom could share family favorites, maybe recipes my dad had loved growing up.

And

Once again, we're a family, and we're keeping ourselves bound together by shared meals, even if we aren't eating them together every night like we used to.

The cookbook has over 400 recipes from the basic to some of Shara's knockout desserts. The cookbook is illustrated by my sister, Jenna, and has delicate, watercolors marking each new section.

In celebration of my first mother's day, I am giving away a free copy on this blog!

To enter, please leave a comment with your favorite recipe memory (something like, I always drank mint tea (recipe in the book!) at my Grandma Steidinger's out of plastic cups or, we drink mocha punch (also in the book) at every family Christmas).

You just have to enter by 11:59 PM on Monday, May 14.

And if you don't win, Shara is selling them for $15 each.

Happy Mother's Day!

3 weeks and one day

I was trying to think of clever titles of this post. The best I could come up with was Up(in the middle of the night)dates. And I didn't think that was very funny.

Instead I chose  to title this how long we've had Baby J. 

This post is all about the frequently asked questions. We don't mind the questions at all, but I thought it might be nice to have these here for the people who don't see us that often. Some of the questions I made up ;).

Do you know if you will be able to adopt him yet?

No, we do not. And we're not sure when we will know whether we're temporary or permanent parents. By the beginning of July, we might have some more answers, but probably won't know for sure for quite a few months.

How's the Poland adoption going?

Our paperwork is over there and we still expect to get our Poland referral in March or April, 2013. It must be after October, 2012 because we have to have Baby J at least 6 months before we can have more children.

How is he sleeping at night?

Better. Usually he sleeps around 3 hours at a time. Last night was an exception, but he's been doing well lately.

Do his birthparents have contact with you or Baby J?

Yes, his birthmother sees him once per week. Due to some technical difficulties, his birthfather has not been able to see him yet. They both contact me frequently to check on him.

How are you adjusting to parenthood?

Lisa - It's been so much better than I expected. We love having him here.

Bryan - "Isn't parenthood great?" That's a mushy Bryan quote. They don't happen often. Wink, wink.

Usually people tell parents who the child looks like. What do they say to you?

Surprisingly, we've had several people mention that Baby J has some similarities to us. Like, Bryan's hairline and curly-ish hair and Bryan's "fine" features (My large features guffawed at that one :)). My hair coloring and my - sniffle! - height. You see, Baby J is in the 7th percentile for length. Mostly though, people just say he's cute. Which he is, baby acne and all.

Are you (Lisa) still working?

I am taking a lot of time off right now until June. As of this second, I am intending to stay working. That does depend on a lot of factors, so we will see what happens.

Does Bryan change diapers?

Bryan is amazing. He feeds him and changes diapers like a pro. Sometimes he even gets up with him at night if I need a break. 

Is he a good baby?

Yes, he's very easy to take care of. He likes to eat, sleep and be held. We can accommodate that!

What's his name?

Well, well, well. His name is Jayden. We had every intention of changing his name if we adopted him...until his birthmother begged us not to change it. And I agreed to that. 

Is it hard for you to think of him leaving?

We just enjoy each minute with him and try to leave the future to God.

The Longest Night

Two nights stick in my mind as almost unending. The first was a long time ago, my last night as an Ohio resident, in fact. The other was within the last 8 years. We (3 girls) were on an eventful trip to Lake Powell. By eventful, I mean things like using (and emptying) a miniature port-a-potty; navigating a houseboat parking lot in the dark with our boat; learning to drive the boat and whomping down when we hit a houseboat's wake.

Girls in their early 20s are adventurous. We thought it would be so cool to sleep on the shores of Lake Powell. Imagine, pulling your boat up on the shore for the night in a secluded cove and going to sleep (hahahaha) with the gentle sound of water lapping at the water's edge. As the sun gently peaked over the horizon, we would be awakened to a peaceful morning.

So I settled into the sand for my first (and last, I think) night on the beach. First, it was cold. We didn't have enough clothes. And the ol' wind kicked up a mite so sand blew in our faces all.night.long. I think we even took turns sleeping in the middle because it lent some shelter from the wind. It was a long night.  Each minute ticked by so slowly. In the morning, we were bleary-eyed, sand-blasted, frozen, and well, we had looked better. Actually, I'm not sure I've ever looked worse.

We looked so bad that, when one of my traveling companions heard that we were adopting, she said, "If you show that picture to anyone I'm pretty sure you won't be approved to adopt any children."

Oh, did you want to see it? I found it on a scrapbook page and thought it would be funny to share. This is the better picture; I can't find the really bad one, but use your imagination. I promise it was terrible. See below.

Admittedly, that story was a long way to get to my point. That face, the face I thought I wouldn't see again for awhile, looks back at me every morning. See, Baby J sleeps all day and he's up most of the night. What really surprises me is that I'm okay with the eye bags and scratchy eyes and my general mental fogginess. We've already had him two weeks and it's gone by so quickly. I'm sure I'll get exhausted soon, but, for now, we're enjoying him...at any time of day.

The black blob is a friend who did not grant me permission to share her face :).

Life changes and diaper changes

Bryan's manly hands! Edit: Bryan thinks I'm odd for having this caption, but I didn't want anyone to think these hairy, vein-y hands were mine :).

It didn't take long for Baby J to wriggle his way into our hearts.

We've had him home for a little over 48 hours. During that time, we gone through more formula, diapers and outfits than we ever thought possible.

Here's what we've learned so far:

1. Even though newborns sleep 16-20 hours a day, we've discovered he sleeps 18 hours when the sun's up. You can do the math :).
2. To every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction (i.e. when we feed him a bottle, we immediately have to change his diaper).
3. He loves to be warm and clothed.
4. He is precious and perfect.
5. He makes funny expressions and sometimes he even smiles.
6. It's easier than we thought to know when to feed him, change him, or hold him.
7. We are spoiled to have a great support system who gives us food, clothes, and many offers to help!
8. We don't know how to compare our feelings about him to a child that we carried for 9 months and shares our blood and DNA. But the way we feel...well, we don't know how we could love him any more.
9. And I'm just beginning to know that I was wrong (Bryan says that people who share my maiden name sometimes have a hard time admitting they're wrong - raise your hand if you agree!). But I was heartbreakingly wrong about this one. In the hearts of Baby J's biological parents, there is a Baby J shaped hole. How could I have thought they wouldn't love him just as much as we do? We are so happy to have him, but our hearts feel the anguish of his other parents, too. Each day, I learn something else that tells me why it's so hard on them. If we do get to keep him, I will be able to assure Baby J that his birthparents loved him without question.

That's all for now! Bryan is on baby duty tonight, so I might get some sleep.