Day 91

Happy April!!! As they say...

 So this morning Gus slept until about 8:00 and then we went downstairs for breakfast. Our cleaning lady, Suzanne, came today, so we had to be ready for her at 9am. She's such a nice lady... I really enjoy talking to her when she comes.

Gus and I stayed downstairs and he played while I watched tv. I took a few pictures of him this morning:

When Suzanne came downstairs, I took Gus upstairs for his nap. This was around 11:00 or so. Well, he decided to sleep for almost two and a half hours! When he got up, we went to Wal-Mart to do our weekly grocery shopping. Today people were MUCH nicer than last week.

When we got home I put away the groceries and then fed Gus. He ate and ENTIRE container of vanilla yogurt with strawberry cereal and bananas. He LOVED it!!!

After feeding him, I watched the Jersey Shore reunion. It was okay... nothing fabulous. I also watched the show Mobbed on Fox (it came on after American Idol). It was super cute and I cried... I love marriage proposals and it was the best one that I've ever seen. So creative and sweet.

I got a text from Wendy this afternoon that said that Ryan was offered a job in Georgia. I flipped. Then she said that he was going to take it. My first thought was absolute shock. I honestly didn't know that he was looking for a job, and if he was going to go anywhere, I figured it'd be to Texas. So I flipped out and tried to call her, but she didn't answer her phone. So then I texted her and asked for details... 

Yeah... she TOTALLY got me!!! I was so relieved that she isn't moving away!!! I got really upset and even texted Steve about it... lol. Good 'ole Wendy and her shenanigans...

Steve got home around 5:00 and we decided to take Gus to get his first haircut. His hair was really long on top and on the sides... he had a bit of the Nutty Professor look going for a while. Here are the pictures from the occasion!

 

Gus and  Steve before the big moment...

So let me just say that the lady that cut Gus's hair was a complete and total bitch. She pissed me off when we walked in and I had Gus's Sing-A-Ma-Jig to comfort him, and she told me to put it away because, "No toys..." Whatever. So I put it in my diaper bag and tried to shug off how abrupt she was with me. Then I was taking pictures (or trying to) and she told me to move and take them through the mirror. Um... no. I wasn't about to miss out of pictures of this milestone... 

We had asked her to cut a piece off and give it to us so we could put it in the "First Curl" container that was given to Gus as a gift when he was born. I fished the damn container out before we left, so I'd have it ready for the freshly cut hair. Um... no. She took the hair and taped it to a "First Haircut Certificate." Now don't get me wrong, the certificate is cute... but she didn't ask, she just did it. So that pissed me off.

So then I'm taking pictures and he started to cry, I tried to calm him and she told me to back off and take pictures. Are you effing kidding me? I looked at Steve and he knew I was pissed. She was absolutely horrible. I was two seconds from saying something. I think she knew I was pissed because I just stood there with a pissed look on my face, and she kept saying, "Just take pictures mom... he's fine..."  Whatever.

We got to the end of the haircut, which I have to say looks amazing, and she is holding Gus... and walks over to her treat container. This this if full of candy, suckers, and gum. She pulls out a sucker and says that she wants to give it to him. I said he was too little, and she says, "No... it's really important that he have the candy so he can connect good memories with getting his haircut and won't be afraid next time." OMG. I looked at Steve like I was going to say something, and he said, "Maybe we'll wait until the next appointment..." and she started in again, so I just said whatever. I was done and over it. So he had his first haircut and first sucker on the same day.

We got to the car and Steve knew I was pissed. I said she was a total bitch and he laughed. I will NOT be going back with him... when Gus gets his haircut, it can be a daddy and Gus deal... I won't go back and I sure as hell won't be letting her wax me (she does ladies hair and waxing as well as men). Steve LOVES going to her and she does an excellent job. Maybe it's the men she's around and she has no women people skills, but she is NOT a girls girl.

So... Gus's hair looks great. She really did do a great job and I do wish she wasn't such a nasty bitch, but she is what she is. Steve likes her and likes how direct and to the point that she is. I guess it flies with me, and as long as she does a good job, I don't really care. I don't have to have her do my hair.

Anyway... I'm going to bed.

>^..^<

Day 90

Gus went to bed around 8 last night and slept all through the night. He woke up just before 7 and was bright-eyed and bushy tailed. :)

We went downstairs and had breakfast and then Gus played for a bit before we had to head out for my Triangle Mommie's breakfast playdate. It was at 9:30 and right here in our neighborhood, which was nice. Here are a few pictures of Gus taken before we left:

My child LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! I was trying to watch some of my shows before we left, but the DVR was gray and required me to reboot the system and I didn't know how to do that. So instead, I saw the MMC was on and Gus was mesmerized by Mickey. I don't let him watch TV (really, I don't) and he's never interested when I do watch it myself, but there's something about MMC and the colors and music that he absolutely loves. 

So we headed out for our breakfast playdate and we were the first ones there. There ended up being 15 kids (I think two came right at the end too, so 17) and then like 9 or 10 moms. It was a full house! It was the busiest event that I've been to so far. Kristen was there with Grace, and then Melanie was there with Oliver, so Gus had two friends to play with. 

All-ages playdates are always tricky. There was a toy that a little boy (maybe 4 or 5) was playing with and Gus saw it... and of course, he wanted it. So Gus went over to where the kid was, and tried to grab the toy. The kid totally pushed Gus back (really hard) and Gus slammed down on the hardwood floor. He smacked his head and started to cry, and the kid still has his hands on Gus... so I went (of course) to Gus and picked him up and told the boy not to touch Gus.The mom... where was she?? Oh, right... she was totally not paying any attention to her child and was talking with the other moms. 

Grrrrr....  I know I can get crazy about stuff like this, but seriously? It pissed me off that the mom wasn't even watching her kid and didn't do anything to show him that it's not okay to push babies!

Melanie totally saw it happen and she and I took our boys somewhere else and I said, "Note to self... avoid the boy in the green shirt." We laughed, but it wasn't funny that the kid could have seriously hurt Gus and no one was there to reprimand him. I just have to keep things like that in mind for the next all-ages playdate. Bigger kids don't always have the patience to deal with the little ones like Gus.

It was around 11 and Gus started to show signs of being sleepy (after being up so early I was surprised to see him last to 11).

 

Gus and Grace

We left around 11:45 and I had one last coupon for free Chick-Fil-A, so I headed over there and grabbed me a free drink and a side salad and char-grilled chicken sandwich. We got home and I ate while Gus played and then I was about to take Gus up for his nap when Steve called.

He told me how to fix the DVR and reset the satellite. As I was on my way into the living room to do this, I misstepped while climbing over the gate, and totally twisted my bad ankle. I scared Gus and he started to cry, and I felt like I was going to pass out. Fortunately, I was able to just rest it and while it throbs and hurts, it's okay. I rested for a little and then brought Gus up here for his morning/afternoon nap.

I had hoped to go grocery shopping this afternoon, but I don't feel like it. I think I'll just go tomorrow. Suzanne is coming in the morning to clean, and I'll head out after she's done and Gus has had his morning nap. I must get him back on a normal schedule!!!

I got a FB message from P that she talked to C last night about coming to Gus's finalization, and they wanted to let us know that they'd love to come and share the special day with us. I can't even express how it makes me feel. We are so very lucky and blessed to have them in our family. I don't know of too many adoptive families that have their child's birth family present for their Adoption Day. It'll be so very special with them there. I think we're going to go to lunch after, just them and us, to celebrate.

>^..^<

Day 89

It's been an off day around here. It started off with waking up later than usual and then it threw off the nap schedule for the day (Gus usually naps around 10:30/11ish and again around 2:30/3ish and he didn't go down for the fist nap until noon, and is just now going down for the afternoon nap and it's 5:15.

It's rainy and cold and the two don't make for a good day. Elphie pooped in her crate and then got it all over her and I had to clean it up and about threw up doing so. I'm over the dogs. I don't have any patience left for them and their antics.

So this morning, this is what I saw when I walked into Gus's nursery:

Those would be his pajama pants, his froggy and his bottle. Not a good sign... fortunately I didn't smell poo so I wasn't too concerned that he had taken off his diaper and pooped everywhere. He had just taken off his pants.

He was quite pleased with himself, as you can see.  :D

We came downstairs and played for a bit. I gave him another bottle and while I was feeding him, it made me laugh because he wouldn't sit still for me. He had to get down, but wanted the bottle. He reminded me of a baby animal...

Because he looked so cute in the elephant outfit that Jessica gave him, I decided to take more pictures of him. Yes... this is how I get through each day. Pictures, editing, and more pictures. :) It could be worse.

Here are some of my favorites from today:

So this afternoon I watched the season finale of Teen Mom 2 and One Born Every Minute. I'll start my commentary on TM2 and then go into my commentary on OBEM.

TM2:

Janelle

This girl is a HOT mess. So she got arrested for breaking and entering because she just HAD to go see her BF. He was staying at his friend's house without permission, and told Janelle to come see him. She went against her mother's orders, and decided to stay the night in the house. While she was there, she fell asleep and the boyfriend left her. She wakes up to the police and gets arrested. When the cops go to find her boyfriend, they find him drunk and snorting coke.

To top it all off... she goes and bails him out. She has a son and her mom is raising the kid, but she wants to go and party. The girl should never have kept the baby. He deserves to be with loving parents and not treated like a second thought. I can't stand her.

Keltie (hahaha) Kailyn

She's just dumb. She has no place to live, has her baby, and is going to school and can't pay for it. Her ex's parents let her stay there for free and provided child care, but she threw it all away for a dumb guy that she works with named Jordan. The chick is so annoying.

Leah

She and Corey got married this episode. I can't stand her either, but at least she's taking her role as a mom seriously. I don't have much else to say about her.

Chelsea

Another hot mess. She is so babied by her dad it's sick. He pays for everything for her, and she has no idea what the real world is. She doesn't have to work, her only "job" is to finish her high school degree so she can go to hair school, and she can't do it. On top of that, she let her baby daddy Adam move back in with her, made her best friend move out, and then was surprised when the baby daddy started treating her like shit. He is a jerk and instead of dealing with him, she has her dad do it. Annoying.

Okay... so then I watched the last episode of One Born Every Minute. I love this show... it's on Lifetime and it takes place in Ohio. It's a maternity floor with cameras in the rooms to caputre the births of the babies and it's really cute. All season they've shown various aspects of birth and it's been really interesting to watch. Well, today there was a 22 year old woman having twins (one boy and one girl) and she was placing them for adoption.

The first thing that upset me was that the show said she was "giving her babies away" which isn't the case. No woman "gives" her baby to anyone. It's placing not giving and there's a HUGE difference. So it was a little sad to see that the show didn't do any research on this before talking about it.

So anyway, it was very emotional to watch. It was sorta like watching our own adoption with Gus. The adoptive parents came to the hospital and were ushered out by the social worker. (I wonder if they are all rude, or just the one with Gus and the one on tv.) Anyway, then the mom had the babies and her mom was in the room with her and they cried and cried. The mom had placed a child for adoption six years before this and then had a baby that she parented and then got pregnant with twins. She said she could barely raise her one child, and knew she couldn't raise three. 

When the nurse was asking the mom about her daughter (the one she placed for adoption when she was 16), she said that she didn't get to see her a lot, but she knows that she's adopted and calls her by her first name. Then the nurse asked the mom's mom about being a grandma. She said that it was really hard to watch her 16 year old have a baby and then place it into the arms of another family. She said that her granddaughter calls her Grandma Joan. She was sad that she didn't get to see her granddaughter and missed her very much. She said that with adoption, you lose that part of you. You don't get to claim the rights to the child that's biologically yours, because it's now the adoptive family's child.

It was emotional and I cried. The adoptive parents were overjoyed to become parents and the mom was so happy to be able to give them their dream. They didn't say if it was an open or closed adoption. Once again my heart broke watching them all say goodbye.

It made me so very proud to be apart of open adoption. It's not for everyone, but it's absolutely beautiful and it's something I feel so honored to do. Instead of thinking that there is something wrong with me and maybe God doesn't want me to be a mom (hence the infertility), it's that I am meant to be Gus's mom. Period.

I had to call the attorney's office again to double check that I said April 15th for Gus's finalization. I have a BAD habit of saying one thing and thinking another. (Like going to eat and I say I want one thing and then get mad when something totally different comes and I ask Steve and he tells me that I ordered it.) All I needed was to say May 13th and think I said April 15th. So Sandy laughed when I called and she said that she filed everything this morning and we're set for 11am on Friday the 15th. :D

I sent P and her mom M an email on Facebook asking them if they wanted to join us for lunch after the hearing. P's mom (C's grandma) lives way north and only gets to come down state every so often. We had hoped to meet her in May (when we thought we were going back to MI), but she wasn't going to be able to meet us because she was going downstate in April. So she's super excited that she'll be in the Detroit area when we're there finalizing, and she'll finally get to meet her great-grandson! We're not going to see anyone else from Gus's birth family on this trip. We'll see them all in July when we go back to celebrate his birthday.

Then I was thinking some more, and I decided to ask P if she and C and M wanted to come with us to the court hearing. It's a very special day, and I understand if they don't want to go, but I thought I'd ask if they wanted to come too. I don't know if my mom or dad are going to go, probably not since they both have to work. However, it's very special and I'd love for C and P to be apart of it if they'd like. We'll see. Maybe it'll be too hard for them to be there, but then again, they're so open to everything that it might be something that they'll want to be apart of. It would mean so much if they were there.

Gus is finally sleeping (it's 5:40)... nothing like fighting a nap. Steve is at NCSU for the evening and I texted him to bring me something home on his way. I don't feel like cooking and it's already late. We'll see.

See you tomorrow!!

>^..^<

Day 88

First things first... Steve's camera on his iPhone takes pictures that look 1,000 times better than the camera on my phone. You can tell the ones that he takes with his versus the ones that I take with mine. The above picture was taken with his and is of Gus tonight.

Today was a big blur for me. It was battle after battle of getting Gus to nap, which he refused, and then he's not really eating a lot (had less than 20 ounces of formula) but did eat a lot of hummus tonight. Weird. I think it's either the head cold or teething.

I've felt like blah all day and then made dinner and it was blah. I thought it'd taste better than it did, but it was too spicy for me. I hate that.

Here are some pictures from Gus tonight:

 

Action Jackson shot... he moves a lot now...

My friend Sara Witt (AGD sister) tweeted a link to the EMU Alumni page having pictures of baby's wearing their Born to be an Eagle bibs. She said that she knew two of the babies pictured. I followed her link and there was my little man! One of our other sorority sister's kids were on there too! I took a screen shot and then if you click on the picture it'll take you to the actual page:

Steve is speaking at NC State tomorrow night and will be home late. I hope tomorrow goes better for us than today did!!!

>^..^<

Time to be Thankful

I have to remind myself that there are people who started their adoption journey before us, and are still waiting for their baby. I cannot imagine what it'd be like for us, especially for me, if we were still waiting for God to bring a baby into our lives. The whole way that Gus came into our family was a miracle, and happened so quickly, that sometimes I forget that we even had a wait at all. We did though... and while it was ONLY a month, that month seemed like an eternity. I can't, and won't think of what we'd be feeling if we were about to go into a year (April 1st) of waiting for a baby.

There are many people who were on the waiting families list before we even used CAS and some are STILL on there waiting. I posted a blog today for Gus, and one of the women going through CAS posted a comment. I checked out her blog to see what she's been up to and she wrote about waiting... and coming up to ten months of waiting. It made me stop and think and really be thankful that we don't have to wait.

We got a call this afternoon from our attorney that we have a finalization date for court in MI and we have to appear with Gus. It throws off all our plans for a May/June visit, and now it's going to have to be a July visit... but we're going to be there for Gus's Adoption Day. I can't even put words to how estatic I am that we made it. Not that I had doubts that we would (initially I did... but once we got home and his birth parents signed permanent termination of rights, I didn't worry anymore). Anyway, Adoption Day is a HUGE thing and will be something that we celebrate every year. I'm nervous to go to court, but I think it'll all be wonderful and I'm excited to have a date when Gus is officially Gus Daniel Walker with a new birth certificate to prove it!

Gus's Adoption Day will be Friday, April 15th. Yes... that's tax day. What better way to remember the day than with tax day? LOL

Anyway... it throws a wrench in our big birthday plans for him back home, but it'll have to wait until July. When we come home in April (two weeks from Thursday) we'll only be there for two days and they will be spent with family only. When we come back in July... we'll try to set something up so we can see friends too.