The Third Week!

This has been a busy week! We are starting to settle into our roles as new parents, with several bumps along the way.  Our first resturant outing was to a Cracker Barrel last Wednesday night, in celebration of Adelle getting out of the hospital.  She was awake for most of the time, so we ate in shifts, and like the novice parents we are, we forgot the diaper bag in the car, and ended up needing to go out to grab it.

Both of our hair was begining to get a little unmanagiable, so Adam wanted to get a haircut.  As we were waiting for our turn, Adam told a father who was there with his two daughters that we were in the process of adopting Adelle. We found out a bit later that his parents adopted him. He brought me a gift card and told me thank you for what we were doing. It was so cool to see how much he cared.

Thursday night, we got to go to the mall. It was great to get out and walk around. The social interaction was very needed! The mall we went to was indoor/outdoor,  so that was fun to see since we had never been to one before. We got a smoothie, and looked around some fun shops like American Girl (at least fun for me!). A teenager stopped to tell us how cute Adelle was. We were surprised!

The first visit with our social worker was Monday afternoon for the current situation we are in, and it was also Adelle's first doctor visist in the morning.  The visit with the social worker went well, but was a little stressful as we were telling about the fact that Adelle has not been feeding well or pooping normally lately. So, Adam took me out to the Waffle House afterwards since I was feeling so stressed. Breakfast food! So great. We had a really nice waitress as well.

Monday night after the leaving the Waffle House, we ended up taking Adelle to Urgent Care, because she was continuing to not feed well and poop normally. We ended up taking her in for a check-up Wednesday as a followup for Monday morning and evening. She has lost a little bit of weight, so we will be going in again on Friday just to make sure she is headed in the right direction.

The Second Week

Here is a quick update of how we are doing, and how things are going. :)
 
We left the hospital on Wednesday with Adelle and the social worker; the charge nurse gave us a whole bag of diapers/formula/wipes. She was so excited for us, and wished us luck. The nurses were truly a blessing, and became attached to Adelle and us since we spent so much time there. It was so wonderful to see how much they cared about Adelle and how they wanted to know how things were going even when she wasn't "their" patient that day or night.

We moved into a hotel for the first couple of days in Columbus.  Adelle has been sleeping with her foster family, and we get to love on her during the day.  There was lots of construction, so the drive took a little bit longer, but the weather was good.  Alicia keeps comenting on how beautiful the trees are with the changing leaves.  They seem to change a bit slower arround here than what we are used to.

The foster family Adelle is staying with is wonderful. They adopted two girls, and are currently fostering a baby boy. It was a blessing to get to meet them and see their hearts for children. We know our baby is in good hands when we can't be with her! We are looking forward to spending time with them, and are so thankful for the compassion they are showing.  They reached out to their church and were able to find a family that is willing to let us stay with them for a few weeks while we wait for the court system to make progress.

Adelle has been sleeping longer, and eating more. It is wonderful to see her thriving. She seems to scratch herslef a lot, so we got her mittens. She likes to eat whenever she wakes up, so we have gotten into a routine of adjusting the amount we offer her if she gets woken up eariler than she usually would by all the moving around we are doing.  There is so much to learn, but we are making progress as we learn the cues of what things mean.  Our favorite thing is to just snuggle with Adelle when she sleeps.  We have received a lot of encouragement about how we are doing, which great since at times we just don't know what she is looking for.

We are also learning what it means to be Adelle's travel entourage.  We were eating at a resturant on Wednesday and we formally welcomed into the "baby club" where random strangers will come up to us and tell us to enjoy this time because it doesn't last, and that she is beautiful.  Also hearing random gasps of "baby" while walking has been interesting as all eyes are for her!

Thank you all so much for the love and support that you have been giving.  It means a lot to us to get the prayers and know that Adelle, as well as us, are very loved.

The First Week!

We have had a great first week! It has been such a blessing to see Adelle grow and thrive. She is healthy and getting stronger and changing every day!

We hit a legal problem in the adoption process, and this could delay the process for up to three weeks. We may need to go to Columbus to get these problems taken care of, if things are not reslved by early next week.

Praises:

1. A happy, healthy daughter!
2. Wonderful nursinng staff
3. Wonderful staff and facilities at the Ronald McDonald House where we are staying
4. The ability to use a hospital room for bonding with Adelle
5. Bonding is going well!

Couple of prayer requests:

1. We are waiting for the legal issues to be taken care of
2. If we are supposed to go to Columbus, we would like direction on where God would have us for housing
3. For the couumunication between OH and MN to be quick, once the legal issue is taken care of
3. Safe travel to Columbus, and hopefully soon to MN!

Thank you so much for all your prayers! We really appreciate and feel all the support.  :)

Adelle Marie

We are so happy to announce that our daughter is here! Adelle Marie was born Tuesday, October 6th at 6:34 pm. She was 6 pounds, 10 ounces. She was 18 inches long, and her head circumference was 12.5 in.

Adelle's middle name is really special to us: Adam's mom's middle name is Marie. Alicia's Nana's first name is Marie. Her Nana's mom's middle name was Marie, as well. It is our way of welcoming Adelle with open arms!

We were able to meet Adelle yesterday morning about 10:30. We are so in love! Adelle is truly a gift from God and we are so thankful to her brave birthmom for making the decision she is making.

We got to meet Adelle's birthmom, biological sister, and biological paternal grandmother yesterday. It was so fun to get to interact with them, and thank Adelle's birthmom in person.

We have been blessed by the wonderful nurses working with Adelle. They have answered so many questions, and been a great resource.