Brenner's Day

I know it might be the "wrong" thing to say, (I find that usually the wrong thing to say is something everyone is thinking or feeling but unwilling to share) but there's something about losing the family of three to a family of four that makes my heart ache. Don't get me wrong, I so love the idea of being a family of four and finally having Berynger home, but there are some very special and treasured dynamics that we have enjoyed for the last three years that will soon be lost in the transition. So, yesterday we had a special day for Brenner as a celebration of one of our last days as a family of three. I figure no longer being the center of attention all the time is going to be a little rough on Brenner, so we wanted our sweet boy to have some fun before we leave for Ethiopia. We started out by going to the McDonald's play place at Brenner's request. Later, at home we had ice cream sundaes. We spread out all kinds of toppings and let Brenner choose whatever he wanted to have on his, and you know how a three year old loves choices! And for bedtime, Thomas and Brenner set up the tent in the living room and we had a family campout, complete with thunder storm tracks playing in the background. Brenner's really special day ended up being a really special day for all of us.

Holy camoly!

We will meet Berynger exactly one week from today!

One Week!

Well, we leave one week from today, and the preparations are in full swing. It has been pretty stressful trying to think of everything we may need and trying to get all of it done and ready. It's really hard packing when I don't truly know what our circumstances will be like, much less packing for a baby that we don't actually know yet. It's much harder trying to figure out what to bring for Bear than I thought it would be. For instance, will he be nursing or will he need formula? Bring formula just in case. How much and what kind? Two kinds and lots, just in case. Will he like the bottles we bring, and what about nipples? Bring three different kinds of nipples, just in case. Will he want pacifiers? Bring 5 different kinds. What size clothes does he wear? Bring three different sizes. What size diapers? And how many? Bring LOTS of two different sizes.

JUST.
IN.
CASE.

Whew! To be quite honest, I'm just ready to get this part of the adoption journey over with and be back home with my WHOLE family, resting and getting to know each other and finding our new "normal". Not to say that I'm not STOKED to see Ethiopia, and to hold my sweet boy for the first time. I am so stoked. I can't wait for those things. I'm just so done with packing and paperwork!

We heard about this idea from other families. We will be gone for ten days, so we wrapped ten presents for Brenner. This way he can have a visual of how long we will be gone and see the days counting down as the presents disappear! I think Brenner will really like this (what kid doesn't like presents?) and hopefully it will make the time away from Mommy and Daddy just a little easier. One more thing checked off my list!

As many of you know, I'm going to nurse Bear. It's amazing how normal this seems to me now, considering I didn't even know adoptive nursing was possible a year ago! Things on this front are going well. This has been my process so far:

1. 1 BCP pill every day for six months.
2. 2 Dom pills 4x a day every day for six months.
3. Increase Dom to 3 Dom pills 3 time a day.
4. 9 Fenugreek tablets each day.
5. 9 Blessed thistle tablets each day.
6. Cut out all mint and peppermint. (including switching toothpaste, gum, and chapstick)
7. Pumping once an hour every hour during the day
8. Pumping 3 times during the night.
9. Mama's milk tea
10. Lots of oatmeal!

Needless to say, it's been an uphill battle, but one I'm proud to have been fighting. As of now I am making 12oz a day for my sweet little one, and freezing and saving every drop I get for when baby gets home. What an honor to be able to give this gift to my son!

Ethiopia, here we come!

We got our travel dates!!! We leave for Ethiopia on February 3rd and come home on the 13th. I CANNOT believe I'm actually going to meet, and hold, and kiss and snuggle my sweet little man!!!!

Another Update!

Well, we got an update yesterday on Bear. I love reading about our sweet baby boy. The update was written on December 3rd, so he was almost 5 months then. Here are the highlights from the update:

He's 15 lbs and 24.8in. Growing!!!

He is getting ready to crawl, and the nannies say he is ahead of all the other babies his age... just like Brenner was!

"He is playful and wants to play with caretakers."

"Sleeps well if he is fed well and cries irritantly to go to sleep."

He cries when the caretakers leave him.

They say he's very fast at grabbing for things. Just what I need around here, another pair of quick little hands! :)

"He is a happy infant."

And, very exciting to me, is that he still has a rooting reflex. This could be really REALLY beneficial when he comes home and we are trying to nurse.

I can't wait to see all of these things for myself. I love my darling boy, and I am so so excited to meet him. I talked to our agency the other day and they said we should be traveling in February. It's getting close... They have two travel dates each month, and I'm really hoping for the first date next month. Can't hurt to pray!!

The second time IS a charm!!!

We passed court today!!! We are officially the parents of two! (That sounds so so crazy to say, even though we have known this day was coming for the past year!) Now we just wait to find out when we can travel to pick our little guy up!! Luckily, we've already started getting things ready for travel, doing our travel shopping, etc so hopefully we won't be too stressed out getting ready to go. I can't believe traveling to Ethiopia is our next step!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PRAISE THE LORD!!

Court Date

We've got our second court date today. Or tomorrow. Depending on if you're in the US or in Ethiopia. Pray, pray, pray that we will pass this time around and bring our sweet baby home! We're keeping in mind that this is all in His timing, and trust that He knows what is best... for us and for Berynger!