Day 24

 

Day 24

 

"Reunited and it feels so good..."

YAY!! Wendy is back!! I missed her so much and it was so good to see her and the girls today!! She noticed that Gus has more hair than he did last week, which is funny to me. :)

We got up around 8 this morning and I was so tired. I could have slept for another three hours or so. I hate being tired.

We went downstairs and there was a problem with our DVR not letting me watch anything I had recorded... the screen was gray. I was more than upset about this and texted Steve about it. He suggested that I unplug it and see if it helped. It didn't. I decided to check the DirectTV forums and see if I could find a cure, but there was no luck. Steve ended up rebooting the thing when he got home and all my shows were there and ready for me to watch! YAY!!

Today we got tickets for the Carolina Roller Derby! I can't wait! We're going in April and I posted it on Facebook to see if anyone else wanted to go. Our friend Shannon said she was interested and so did Jen. I hope they all go because it'll be a lot of fun. It was today's Living Social deal and was for two tickets for $10... can't beat that, and it's for two games on one day. I'm excited because I've always wanted to go to live Roller Derby!!

So, you know how I went to the eye doctor on Saturday and had to get new glasses? I got a call from Target Optical this afternoon and my glasses had come in already! I went around 3 to get them and now I'm wearing them! Isn't that crazy incredible? I don't know how they managed to send them out and get them back on a weekend... but they did!

Gus decided NOT to take a nap today. He slept a little in the car on the way to Target and then on the way home, but then he was up and Wendy and the girls came over and he was a happy boy!

After Wendy left, I made dinner (pan roasted chicken with asparagus and button mushrooms in a shitake garlic sauce) and then fed Gus while it was baking. He did so well again today!! Maybe it's because I'm more relaxed, but he ate a lot tonight! He had some cheese cubes (I cut up some cheese from a block into tiny bite-sized pieces) and he liked them. Then I fed him some pear blueberry oatmeal and he loved it! He also had some water in the sippy and drank a lot of it!

After dinner, we watched Idol from last week and Gus played in his exersaucer. I gave him his chewy and he was soooooo happy! He loves that thing!

After some play time it was time to change him and get him ready for bed. He was so silly tonight... I had to take some pictures of him as he giggled and laughed on the changing table.

He's my funny little man! I'm ready for bed. Tomorrow night Wendy and I are going to Bingo for Mom's Night Out with our MOMS Club. I'm excited... I love Bingo and this place has it for free! Plus some fun time with Wendy and no baby to worry about... should be a blast!!

See you tomorrow!
>^..^<

Photo Challenge: Innocent Wonder

 

Photo Challenge: Innocent Wonder

I don't know what it is about this picture of Gus, but I could look at it for hours and not be sick of it. It captures something about him... and it's almost like he was thinking about something that was just on the tip of his little tongue, but since he can't talk, he couldn't express it in any other way than by his facial expression.

It captures the theme to me, because he's new to the world and has so many thoughts and questions as he's exploring and making his way!

Day 23

 

Day 23

Today was a pretty good day... Gus had a great day and I decided to try the new spoons that I bought at Target yesterday. Guess what? I don't know if it was from the spoons, or just the timing, or maybe both, but he ate an entire container of vanilla YoBaby! yogurt! It made me very happy... and he had a teething cookie and he loved it too!

I decided to go with the advice that my wise SIL Heather gave me... not only will Gus figure out eating eventually, and the first year is just for exploring and having fun, BUT... if it takes him a little longer to "get it" than so what? All babies have their own individual timelines. If he's still on formula at 13 or 14 months... so what? As long as he's developing and is healthy, who is to say what is "normal" for him? She also said to trust my gut and let him tell me what he wants. If he's hungry and keeps eating... keep feeding him. He'll let me know when he's not hungry anymore (so true).

So, I feel like I've turned over a new leaf and have a new outlook and perspective on this whole eating thing. Gus is a wonderful baby and is growing, developing, chatting, and exploring each day and that's what matters. He is loved and gets kisses, hugs, and attention all day and it's more than some babies get.

Wendy got home this evening and I can't wait to see her (I hope tomorrow). It's been more than a week since I last saw her and I miss her!!! I can't wait to hear about her trip to Texas and to see the girls!

Here are some fun pictures that I took this morning of Gus:

 

Tonight for dinner, I made BBQ chicken and made the BBQ sauce from scratch (holy smokes... remind me to just use store-bought next time), and then baked beans, and potato salad that I made from scratch (it had crumbled bacon that I fried, and then corn that was cooked in the bacon grease, buttermilk, mayo, onions, celery, and some spices). It was all very delicious! Here's a picture of my gourmet meal...

 

Lastly, I want to say how awesomely Gus is doing with using the sippy cup. I read a few different parenting magazines, and one of them for February had a whole thing about timelines and when the prime time is for introducing various things to a baby/child. One of the items was introducing a sippy cup. It said that between seven and nine months is the prime time to get the best results. I couldn't agree more because Gus is a champ! 

Taking away the pacifier should be done at 6 months if you want it to be as easy as possible, but the magic window is 12-23 months. I absolutely hate seeing older children walking around with a pacifier in their mouth. I am so glad that Gus doesn't use one anymore and hasn't since he was about four-months-old!

It also said that you shouldn't potty-train before 2.5 years because most children are not mentally ready for it, and will have accident after accident. It said that you might go a few times without an accident, and then experience set-backs that can be difficult on the parents and the child. It said 2 1/2 years to 3 years is the optimal time to start trying to potty-train. It's also the magic window time for transitioning from the crib to a bed. I'm glad I have a while before I have to worry about that!

Before I end this post, I forgot to mention that our social worker called tonight to schedule our final post-placement visit for Gus's adoption! He'll be coming on Thursday (yes... THIS Thursday) at 5 and then once that visit is complete, he'll send in the paperwork to MI (probably to our attorney) for our finalization to begin!!! I have NO idea how long that'll take, but it's pretty exciting!!

Until tomorrow!
>^..^<

Week 4: Mary Breeding

 

Week 4: Mary Breeding

This week I decided to send a letter to an old family friend named Mary Breeding. She was my Grandma Ghrist's best friend, and lives on the street behind where my Grandma used to live. For a period of time, Mary and her son Donald lived with my grandparents and my dad.

I've known her my entire life and have always considered her to be part of my family. When we go back to MI we always try to see her, and 9 times out of 10 we do. She was there for Gus's Baptism lunch and saw him a few times before we left to come back to NC.

We have had many holidays with Mary and her friend Francine. Mary was married to John, and he was my karate instructor when I was just a kid. John and Mary were so great together and then John passed away. Mary at least had my Grandma Ghrist and her son Donald. Then Donald passed away, and then a few years ago my Grandma Ghrist passed away. My parents and Scott always make it a point to see how she's doing and they check up on her weekly.

I think she'll be really surprised to get a letter from me, and I included some recent pictures of Gus for her. I hope she enjoys them and they bring a smile to her face.

:)

Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury

Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I first heard about this book on one of the forums for adoption that I follow. There were a lot of people who were outraged at the concept of the movie (being made from the book). One person in the forum said that she wanted to read the book before making judgments about the movie being bad or not.

I decided to see if I could find this book for my Kindle and was pleasantly surprised to see that not only was it available, but it was on sale too.

This book is every adoptive family's worst nightmare come true. After five years of raising the son that they adopted, suddenly the birth father comes out of prison and learns that his wife placed their child, a son, for adoption just after he entered prison five years prior. The wife had falsely signed his signature on the adoption paperwork, and for five years lived happily knowing that she spared her baby from being raised in a chaotic home.

The book has a Christian twist to it, as the adoptive family isn't religious, but the adoptive mother's sister and brother-in-law are very spiritual and religious. The sisters get along but the two husbands do not, and the main reason being a difference in opinion about religion.

The sister learns about the biological parents wanting their son back and offers to her sister and brother-in-law to come to church with them and turn over their problems to God. Of course, the book goes all the way to the end before the ending that I was pleased with, but the message is definitely one about believing in God and knowing that Jesus will get you through anything. The author is a Christian author and writes other Christian fiction.

As someone who has adopted, I was able to relate to this book and felt for the main characters and they traveled through their worst nightmare. Anyone with children will love this, and those who have adopted will love it even more.

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