Zac's Trouble Video

This boy makes us laugh all day long.
Hope you enjoy the video :)
(I'll put together a sweet video soon, but this one is just for fun.)

Pete & Repeat

So Isaac chatters ALL the time. He says many, many words. And he repeats whatever you say to him. Of course when he says, "I wuv oo" it makes everyone scream, "Awwwww!".

But the funny thing to do lately is to ask him a question. I'll say, "Isaac, do you want to go downstairs?" or "Isaac are you ready for a snack?" and he will answer, "Yessssss". It's so cute. Thank goodness he hasn't learned to say the word "no" yet!!

So the kids spend all day asking him questions to hear him say "Yesssss". And they say phrases to him so he will repeat them in his cute little voice. "I need a diaper" or "What's this?".  And then they will all laugh and laugh together. Love this large family!!

Spoke with our Attorney Today!!

What a great birthday present to me today:

I spoke with our attorney for the first time (which ironically we were appointed the same attorney that I wanted!!) . Our first meeting is this Wednesday. She says she will have everything together in time to file on the 91st day...the first day after our foster period is over.
I spoke with Little Angels. They have appointed us a Guardian Ad Litem and she will meet with us this week as well. Our second social worker visit is this Thursday.

HOOORAAAAY for things moving forward. Ah this is turning into a GREAT YEAR SO FAR!!!

Things Are Looking Up!

Okay, so two really huge things have happened that helped with our adjusting with each other.

1) Last Sunday (thanks JT for the advice!) I moved Zac's crib right next to my side of the bed. That night, he fell asleep holding my hand. He held my hand the entire night. Ever since then he has slept better, but still waking up every 3 hours (like an infant). Sometimes he goes right back to sleep after some patting on the back. Sometimes he needs a cup of milk and then goes right back to sleep. Sometimes he is awake that entire 3 hour period (which prompted me to write that last post about "losing my joy". I was so exhausted.)
But most nights in the past week he has gone back to sleep pretty quickly.

2) Thursday I realized maybe his tummy pains and dirty diapers could be caused by dairy products. We  were having dairy often - he loves cheese, I mix yogurt with his oatmeal, cottage cheese with his oatmeal, etc. So when I cut out the diary, his dirty diapers literally dropped by half. His gas pains/fussiness seemed to go away completely. And he is in a better mood. He doesn't wake up crying with gas pains. And he doesn't cry endlessly at night anymore.

Ironically, a sweet Commenter on this blog mentioned the exact same thing in my "losing my joy" post. I have never had allergies or kids with allergies to anything, so all this is new to me. I didn't know the "warning signs" to look for. And I mentioned all this to the doctor here at the embassy -- we did 3 rounds of stool sample testing, but nothing showed up. So anyway, so I am so happy the Commenter mentioned that diary might be the issue, as it completely confirms what we experienced.

I still put a tablespoon of yogurt in the oatmeal (so it will have some taste!) but we definitely don't eat straight yogurt as a snack anymore.

Saturday night Zac only woke up at 3am to drink milk and go back to sleep.
LAST NIGHT Zac slept from 8:30pm-6:00am without waking up at all. He's NEVER done that in the 3 1/2 weeks he has been home.
When I woke up at 6am I thought: Okay I'm not exhausted, so either it's 11pm or 7am. What a wonderful surprise to see the clock read 6am!

He also took a really long, wonderful 3 hour nap Sunday afternoon. I think he is making up for lost sleep! He is in a better mood. Happier. Playing all over the house and outside. Things are much, much better the last few days.

Just as with any kid, there will be good days and there will be bad days. I pray that we see many, many more good days ahead. This sleeping-thing is quite AMAZING!!! Thank you  Jesus!

Gotcha Day

Where our baby is!

Trying to figure out which baby is ours.

First Glance at Zac. But they didn't tell us which one was Zac. "Guess which one is your baby," said the social worker.

I held myself together pretty well. Looking back, it felt like a dream. Did this really happen?

Holding him for the first time.

We presented him with his very own blankie and fuzzy puppy.

Nick then proceeded to hand him his pj's from the diaper bag.

We took him outside to have a bit of one-on-one time away from the other toddlers.

He rocked while clutching his new puppy.

And then he fell asleep. While rocking. It was hilarious.

So I picked him up and held him while he slept.

His sleeping gave us time to investigate his hands and toes, just like a new baby. Everyone was in awe.

I just couldn't stop laughing about the fact he fell asleep. My friend said he was at peace :)

We passed him to Rachel. He kept sleeping.

We passed him to Emma. He kept sleeping.

Finally he woke up and we played together.

Sweet Daddy.

The Powers 7!

(I snagged a quick picture of his crib. Our pictures are hanging above it.)

He wore his "little brother" shirt. It was Nick's shirt when he was little. Love it.

Kiddos being very patient while Mommy feeds her baby.

Feeding him at lunchtime.

I held him during his naptime. Took me an hour of rocking and holding him, but he cried whenever I laid him in the crib, and I just couldn't do that. 

More playing after naptime.

At 5pm we fed Zac his dinner, then he joined the other dozen toddlers for potty time. When I put him on his chair, he cried and scooted towards me. So of course I picked him up. Then I bathed him and we dressed him in his pj's. And we left him with his little fuzzy blanket and puppy.

Day #2: Medicals. We picked him up and drove him to our embassy doctor for the second opinion. He was wide-eyed the entire time, watching everything out the window.

Sabrina was very excited about sitting next to her brother as we drove to the doctor.

When we returned him back to the orphanage, surprisingly, they told us we could take him home! We were expecting to come back Saturday morning and get him. Guess not! 

Last photo of the staff and friends in his "class".

All right we are home, let's eat!!  First Cheerios. First time in my new high chair at my new house.

  

Dinner!! More eating! He was not a fan of the carrots I steamed, but loved the potatoes and rice.

Bath time. Bath toys! He loves water. He splashes and laughs. PLUS the orphanage puts him to sleep at 6pm every night, but we partied until at least 8pm!! And that's the end of our Gotcha Day!

Meeting Zac in 15 Hours!

We have everything ready for tomorrow. The camera battery has been charged. Tripod is loaded up. I have packed a bag of clothes and diapers for Zac.  The lady at the orientation today suggested that we bring a little gift for Zac. I found a fuzzy little puppy and a soft fuzzy blanket to give to him tomorrow.  Something of his very own. The lady today said the kids love gifts because they have never had anything of their own before. Of course I cried when she said that. 

Today we found out more about his birth story, which was unexpected. Apparently there was writing on a back page of one of his medical reports but it was not photocopied when his file was sent to us. So it is very nice to have a little more background information about him.

I am so nervous. I am scared he won't like me. I mean,with my birth babies, they love me automatically. They love the sound of my voice, the touch of my skin, my milk! But I am a complete stranger to this little guy.

Our lady today said he has been looking at our photo album and carrying the little album around. To which I replied, "He can walk?". I can just picture him clutching our little album to his chest and looking at all the pictures. Goodness he is only 17 months old, but certainly he can see the pictures even though he doesn't know what a Mommy or Daddy or Sisters and Brothers are. We have a shirt for him to wear tomorrow that says "Little Brother" on the front. It was Nick's shirt when he was little. I just adore the fact that Zac will now get to wear it.

I know we have waited so long for this moment. Dreamed so long about this very moment. But I can't believe it's here already! I can't believe we will meet our son tomorrow!

I told the lady today that I will try not to run up and grab him (because we have read that at first, we should take it really slow and just sit next to him at first and wait until he warms up a bit to us before we try to hold or hug him) but she was appalled at that. She said, "You can run to him! Bombard him! He has been waiting for you! Be excited to see him! Treat him like the son you have been waiting to see!"  And then of course I cried again. I very much look forward to seeing my kids' reactions to Zac. They are so excited about meeting him. Ahhhhhh! Baby, we are almost there!!

Orientation Tomorrow Morning!

We just got the call from our adoption agency. We have our orientation tomorrow morning and then we meet our little guy for the first time Thursday morning. I am beside myself!! I am trying to keep myself under control right now!!!

Documents Sent to the Orphanage!

We found out our adoption agency sent all our materials (application, care package, etc.) to the orphanage yesterday!!  Getting closer...maybe end of next week??