one of the best things about bringing home a new baby is all of the adorable baby stuff! last week on the way home i told cris "i hope we have a package when we get home". he was like "why would we have a package? did you order something?" I told him i didn't order anything, but that i loved getting little things for Juneau in the mail. When we got home there was a package after all! from great-grandpa and great grandma Stickley! and it was the most beautiful little handmade blanket. I can't wait to post photos of it. It is so special and sweet. Juneau has no idea that she is about to join a family with the greastest grand and great-grandparents and aunties and uncles. But i'm sure she'll figure it out pretty quickly!
This weekend was also our baby shower, put on by some of the people I work with. We have so many cute little outfits for her, and toys, and books. Her little room is filling up quickly! She now owns everythign from little tiny sunglasses, to little sandals and hairbows!
waiting is hard. really hard. But every day gets us one day closer to having our little girl home. Being separated by lots of land (and even more ocean!) makes it hard not to worry about her. We hope that someone is loving her, and holding her when she cries. We pray that she is getting healthier and chubbier! We pray that she won't get sick. We can't wait for the moment the Vietnamese government approves us to bring her home!
” ….He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge…..He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone…”
Psalms 91
Juneau
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
mini-getaway
This weekend we decided to have a little getaway over on the other side of the island. We have been wanting to try out the cabins over at Bellows Air Force Station for a while. The cabins are pretty old, but still in decent condition, and not to bad if you don't mind sharing your space with a 6 inch cockroach! But for $60 the location is totally worth it. Our backdoor was steps away from a crystal clear beach, and although it was kind of rainy/yucky out, nothing beats falling asleep listening to the ocean.
Welcome to Bellows!
Welcome to Bellows!
Our Little Cabin
View frm the backyard
Fun at the beach
The drive home
mini-getaway
This weekend we decided to have a little getaway over on the other side of the island. We have been wanting to try out the cabins over at Bellows Air Force Station for a while. The cabins are pretty old, but still in decent condition, and not to bad if you don't mind sharing your space with a 6 inch cockroach! But for $60 the location is totally worth it. Our backdoor was steps away from a crystal clear beach, and although it was kind of rainy/yucky out, nothing beats falling asleep listening to the ocean. 
Welcome to Bellows!
our little cabin
View from the backyard
fun at the beach
the drive home
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Fun week
Hawaii has a kind of cool tradition of having Huge Gigantic celebrations for the 1 year birthday. I mean giant. Like big inflatable bounce house and hundreds of guests type parties. It started as a celebration of a child making it through the first year when infant mortality was much higher back in the days of yore.
Our little cousin Melody celebrated her first birthday in high style this week. Her parents rented out the entire Waikiki Aquarium and all the guests could wander around the aquarium for awhile, then head out to the courtyard for dinner. It was a really cool idea because there were kids and adults of all ages, and everyone had a great time! There was an amazing Jellyfish Aquarium exhibit. I am trying to convince Cris to build one in our living room.
We also got our travel packet in the mail. Lots of info about all the PAPERWORK we have to bring with us. surprise, more paperwork and documents. Still no word on travel, but i am pretty much settled in for a long wait. Knowing that I will probably have a long wait to travel doesn't make it any easier to wait, but at least i don't think i'm going to travel soon, and then keep getting delayed.
Also, you guys should check out this program Celebrating Adoption. It is a group of awesome photographers who offer free photo sessions to adoptive parents within the first year of the adoption. There is a participating photographer who lives here on Oahu. I already contacted her, and let her know that we would be traveling around September, and she is going to set us up with a free photo session. The base session price is $180, so that is awesome. The prints are expensive, but I think it will be worth it to get some great pictures of our girl.
One of the attendings in my dept at the hospital is hosting a baby shower for me and one of the other residents who is due in September. She sent out an invitation, that was not so clear about the fact that we are adopting, and I can't tell you how many people came up to me yesterday and were like "you're not even showing....when are you due?" and "congratulations! how far along are you!" It's so funny because I got a lot of kind of ignorant responses when I answered excitedly that we were adopting. I think it just catches people off guard. It doesn't really offend me, just makes me feel a little awkward. anyway, I'll probably have to get used to people making silly remarks.
I have been so excited to see lots of referrals and travel dates and families united in the last month or so! Congratulations to everyone! And hang in there, Lulu and Ella's referrals are on their way! soon we will be celebrating seeing their cute little faces.
Our little cousin Melody celebrated her first birthday in high style this week. Her parents rented out the entire Waikiki Aquarium and all the guests could wander around the aquarium for awhile, then head out to the courtyard for dinner. It was a really cool idea because there were kids and adults of all ages, and everyone had a great time! There was an amazing Jellyfish Aquarium exhibit. I am trying to convince Cris to build one in our living room.
We also got our travel packet in the mail. Lots of info about all the PAPERWORK we have to bring with us. surprise, more paperwork and documents. Still no word on travel, but i am pretty much settled in for a long wait. Knowing that I will probably have a long wait to travel doesn't make it any easier to wait, but at least i don't think i'm going to travel soon, and then keep getting delayed.
Also, you guys should check out this program Celebrating Adoption. It is a group of awesome photographers who offer free photo sessions to adoptive parents within the first year of the adoption. There is a participating photographer who lives here on Oahu. I already contacted her, and let her know that we would be traveling around September, and she is going to set us up with a free photo session. The base session price is $180, so that is awesome. The prints are expensive, but I think it will be worth it to get some great pictures of our girl.
One of the attendings in my dept at the hospital is hosting a baby shower for me and one of the other residents who is due in September. She sent out an invitation, that was not so clear about the fact that we are adopting, and I can't tell you how many people came up to me yesterday and were like "you're not even showing....when are you due?" and "congratulations! how far along are you!" It's so funny because I got a lot of kind of ignorant responses when I answered excitedly that we were adopting. I think it just catches people off guard. It doesn't really offend me, just makes me feel a little awkward. anyway, I'll probably have to get used to people making silly remarks.
I have been so excited to see lots of referrals and travel dates and families united in the last month or so! Congratulations to everyone! And hang in there, Lulu and Ella's referrals are on their way! soon we will be celebrating seeing their cute little faces.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Just waitin' for news...
We were really excited to get our Travel Packet in the mail yesterday. Basically a binder of information about travelling in Vietnam, and what to expect during our trip. We will actually be the first family from our agency to travel to the Thanh Hoa Province. We haven't even started thinking about packing yet, although i'm sure that will be a huge job when the time comes.
We had a Great time at cousin Melody's first birthday last night. Melody's parents rented out the Waikiki aquarium for her birthday, and it was so fun to check out the exhibits. Our favorite exhibit was the jellyfish tank. Melody looked super cute. It has been so fun to watch her grow from a tiny baby into an adorable 1 year old. 
I'm trying to figure out a way to convince Cris to build a jellyfish tank in our house.
We are just about to get started on our big yard project. There is a LOT of dirt to dig out and a big rock wall to be built. The contractor thinks it will take about a month, and hopefully we will get started sometime in August.
I'm also really excited about the baby shower my friends at work are planning. It is scheduled to be July 29th. It is so crazy that we have made it to the point in this adoption process of having a baby shower! Soon our house will be filled with baby items in preparation for a tiny girl. We can't wait for our little house to be overrun with jumperoo's and baby toys.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Update Update Update
no, not travel news....but, as those of you who have been in the stage between referral and travel know, nothin' beats a photo update (well, except for travel dates of course)
Today i opened my email to find a Medical Report (finally!) and one month photos of our baby girl. In addition, the original birthdate we were told was the day after our anniversary, but her medical and new photos have our actual anniversary listed as her birthday...how cool is that?
So, she is an itty bitty tiny little peanut. At 5 weeks she tipped the scales at 6 lbs 9oz, and 21 inches long (3% weight, 20% length-on american growth charts). Her hair is getting crazy! We love it. and, best news yet, she is a healthy little gal, with all normal bloodwork.
i would love to post the whole pic, but i think i'm still gonna stick with little partial pics until she is officially ours.
SURPRISE!! New photos and an update!
happy happy day! We got new photos and a medical report (FINALLY!) for Juneau.
It is confirmed that she is just a tiny little peanut. At 5 weeks she weighed in at a hefty 6 lbs 9 oz. She is 21 inches long. (That's 3% for Weight, 3% for Head Circ , and 20% for Height)
Cris plotted it out on the VN growth chart we found and I think it put her in the 5%.
The rest of the medical report was pretty unexciting.
For example:
Digestion organ: Normal
Respiratory organ: Normal
Bone Moving part: Normal
Other organs: Normal
So anyway, it appears she is a healthy little gal. All blood tests were normal.
We are happy and in love with this little person.
Hopefully we'll get to see her smile in her next set of pictures!
Still no word on travel. It's unbelievable how much she has changed since the first time we saw her. Hopefully we will get to bring her home SOON!!!!
Oh, and check out the top left corner of the photo: They have her birthday listed as May 17th! We were initially told May 18th was her birthday, but often they estimate birthdays based on the date the child arrived at the orphanage. It looks like her Birth date has been changed to May 17th on her medical reports also...
How wonderful that our baby was born on our anniversary!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
