February Fun

Big news today....Gabriel held his bottle for like 10 seconds on his own during his morning bottle!! It was so exciting!  He usually has both hands on his bottle when we are feeding him but, in the past, he hasn't mastered the holding it up versus pushing it down.  (I think that is due to him wanting to eat as fast as possible because he is such a little chunk ;) )  I have been trying to loosen my hold little by little to give him a feel for holding it himself, and this morning he did it, so I was thrilled!

Everyday Gabe is becoming more and more aware of his surroundings and he loves bright colors.  Jon wears a lot of red and Gabriel loves it.   He just stares at Jon...he stares at him anyway, but even more when wearing red.  We picked up some new toys for him the other day, it is so much fun to watch him hold them, try to put them in his mouth, and shake them.  He still does quite a bit of dropping but he is definitely getting the "holding" thing down.

I am sure down the road Gabe will be fussy, but as of right now, we really couldn't ask for a better baby.  He is happy and playful when awake, he goes to sleep so easy, and he only fusses when he is hungry.  He is very easy to soothe.  He loves it when we kiss on him and talk to him but he is also happy on his play-mat.  His least favorite thing would have to be when we put him in his car seat, he cries until we carry him to the car and start moving. Once we are on the move he goes right to sleep, it makes no difference whether it is us walking, strolling or driving, as long as you don't have him just sitting in it.

Tummy time is much better now and days.  At first it was all screaming all the time, now it is smiles and head lifting.  Yay!  I hated the screaming.  Gabe is very into toys that light up so I started to stick him on a Boppy with his favorite light up toy and viola, we have a happy boy and mommy.

Well, that's the latest and greatest...until next time...

Hugs and Kisses from the Eaton Family

Oh, I plan on putting pictures on this post, just having issues...our internets are slow moving for reasons Jon is currently trying to figure out...

How time flies!

So I can't believe we are coming up on SIX weeks!  Wow!  So after the fam left we settled into a routine very easy...surprisingly so actually.  Gabe's two month well baby went great.  The doctor was amazed when I said he was eating 6 oz bottles but he said to keep it up because he is doing well and gaining weight wonderfully.  He had gained about 2 1/2 lbs at that time, now he had gained close to 5!  Then it was time for shots...I have to say, he did very well.  Of course there was crying, but after the shots were over, he went right to sleep, I know....shocker!  My boy can sleep!  Oh man can he, anywhere.  He reminds me of a bird, when it gets dark, Gabe is out.  It is so cute when we lift the blanket that covers his car seat and he wiggles his face; trying to keep the light out.  So far Gabriel has been to a hockey game, a conference, and a wide variety of restaurants and stores, but he hasn't seen any of them because he is always snoozing.

Jon's birthday was the other week and he got his first "daddy" card.  It was a funny one, because Jon is funny.   It basically told him to get used to reading "some assembly required" because he is going to be seeing it a lot in the future.  I got my first "mommy" card for Valentine's, my best present!

Gabriel has been falling asleep around 8-8:30 and doesn't wake up until around 6-6:30!  I give him his morning bottle and then he goes back to bed until 9 or so.  Then, of course, we need to feed that chunky monkey again.  As for play time...Gabe is in LOVE with his play-mat!  I have to save the play-mat for after I play with him and tell him stories because once he is on the play-mat everything else just isn't as fun.  Of course, we get down on the mat with him but he is less concerned with us and more with all of the dangling objects.  It is so funny to watch him kicking his legs and moving his arms.  He is even grabbing the bright rings and beginning to mouth the rings.  Gabe loves to be on his back where he can move his arms and kick his legs and he HATES tummy time.  It is getting a bit better though.   Just today I was able to get him to keep his arms underneath him so he was able to keep his head up for a bit and see .  He will get there, I just hate to hear him upset.

Gabe put his thumb in his mouth today.  He has always been well aware of his fist, and will suck on his whole hand, but to see his little thumb was new.  He likes his hand more than pacifiers, I think because he can keep his hand in his mouth and his pacifiers seem to always fall out.  We are amazed at how he can soothe himself.  When we go to get him in the mornings he always has a big smile on his face.  He has started to get giggly too.  Especially if we chuckle at him, he will chuckle right back.  It is so cute.

Everyday Gabriel is growing stronger and we are more and more amazed with him.  We can't wait to see what he will do next!  He makes our heart smile :)

Two weeks later

So it has been 2 weeks since we brought baby Gabe home.  It has been great!  Gabe had his first well baby check up the Monday following Gotcha Day and the doctor confirmed what we already knew, he is perfect.  We have settled into a great routine despite a lot going on.  Gabriel sleeps often still but I love it when he is awake and smiling.  Jon has the magic touch too, I love to watch Gabe watch Jon.  You can tell Gabriel is just as amazed with Jon and Jon is with Gabe.

My mom, Bobbie Jo (My brother's wife), and Erin (our niece) came to visit this week.  Everyone fell in love with Gabriel, Bobbie Jo is holding him as I type.  My mother works with children and it is so fun to see her light up holding her new grandson.  We took Erin and Gabriel to get pictures this past Tuesday.  They turned out great.  Gabriel slept through most of the photo shoot.  We got some pictures with both kids together and some separate.  I thought taking his clothes off may wake him up so we put Gabe was in a diaper cover and a teddy bear hat, they turned out so well.  I will scan them and add them when the pictures I ordered come in.

We have gotten tons of things from so many people.  Yesterday we received a play-mat and Gabriel loves it.  He bats his hands at the toys hanging from the poles above his head.  I can't wait to see him a bit older when he starts grabbing the toys.  It is so much fun to watch, he is really developing so quickly!  Today Gabe's crib and dresser is coming in, perfect timing too because we just finished painting his room.  We still need to put the clouds on the walls but I am waiting for the monkey decals to come in so I can make sure the clouds are the right size.

My family leaves tomorrow, it has been such a fast week but a great visit.  Next on our to do list is his 2 month well baby.  We have so many family and friends who plan on coming out to see our latest addition.  This whole process has been such a whirlwind and I have a feeling the whirlwind has only just begun.

Gotcha day!

On Thursday, the 6th of January, Jon and I picked up our baby boy.  We got the call from Lisa around 10:00 in the morning that it was time to head to the agency.  That was the best call ever.  I was so scared something would happen, it just seemed too good to be true.  As I sit here looking at baby Gabe it still feels too good to be true.  We all met up at the agency.  Tauni especially continued to make sure we knew everything she knew on what Gabriel liked and needed, what she had been doing that worked and what didn't.  There was a lot of paperwork that needed to be prepared.  It was normally done prior but since the adoption happened so fast it hadn't been completed.

As we waited the four of us sat and talked.  We tried to get as much information exchanged as possible.  I told Tauni I was starting this blog, that I would send her pictures, and that we would meet so she could see Gabriel as he develops.  It was apparent Gabriel's well being was the number one priority of both Tim and Tauni.  

After about an hour it was time for Tim and Tauni to go.  It is very important to Jon and me that Gabriel know he  is loved.  His birth parents didn't choose adoption because they thought he was an inconvenience, they chose adoption because they wanted him to have a life they couldn't provide themselves.  When the time came Tim and Tauni, both holding the most important thing in their world, handed Gabriel to Jon and me.  I understand their love for him because now he is the most important thing in our world.  

We couldn't have asked for a better situation.  Gabriel is perfect, of course, but we also couldn't ask for better birth parents.  At 18 they made the most difficult decision in the world and one that many their age wouldn't be mature enough to make.  We are forever grateful for their decision and we will do our best to give him the world.

We loaded our baby boy in the car and headed home for our first night as a family.  It went surprisingly well.  I was so afraid he would cry and I wouldn't be able to make him happy but he didn't.  Gabe would cry if he was hungry or wet.  We got him a bassinet so he had somewhere to sleep until his crib came in.  He woke up one time in the middle of the night, still does.  

Out of the blue

Jon and I have been married for 8 1/2 years and have wanted a baby for a very long time.  I really thought this dream would never happen for us.  I mean, we were one of the few couples amongst our friends, maybe the only, who still didn't have children.  Some people had no idea about my inability to have biological children, others have known for years.  I told Jon shortly before we decided to marry.  I knew he loved me, but it would be a lie if I said telling him was easy.  Jon, as many of you know, is awesome.  Ok...I may be partial...but really, he is.  So, after I managed to spit it out he was so supportive and told me it was fine, we would adopt.  Tears come to my eyes, even now, just thinking about how great he was about it.  He even sent me flowers the next day just to reassure me that it didn't matter.

We had looked into adopting while we were stationed overseas but it seemed incredibly difficult.  So, we decided we would start the process as soon as we made it back the the US.  We have been so fortunate.  We have gotten every base we have put as our top choice, this time was no different.  So, we land in Utah and while we were in temporary housing I began looking into adopting.  We hadn't even closed on our house and I was so anxious to get the adoption ball rolling.  Jon would shake his head and smile...and tell me we should probably have a house before we adopt a baby.  So I waited.  I took more classes to get the pre-requisites for Nursing taken care of but I was still worried we would let the possibility of parenthood pass us by.
In the middle of November I get a call from Brandi about a possible adoption.  For a few weeks it really looked good.  The birth mom and I were talking, we were trying to get a home study and a lawyer, and then it all went bad.  The birth father wasn't 18 and neither him nor his family had any interest in signing off on the adoption.  By the time that potential adoption fell through we realized we didn't want to wait any longer.  So we started the process.  The next potential situation came before our home study was even finished but it also fell through.  With each situation I would say, "What is meant to be will be" though.  I prayed each night.  I knew God has a plan for us, when the right baby came into the picture, it would happen.  I didn't ask for each baby that came into the picture, I knew we would have the boy or girl that we were meant to have.  Then there was a third situation, a one year old girl, but the birth mother didn't go through with it, didn't even call the agency back to say she changed her mind.  By this time I was discouraged to say the least.  A week after the little girl fell through, I get the call.  Lisa tells me she is on her way to pick up a birth mom and a 6 week old baby boy.  Plus, the birth father was on board and coming down.  I was so excited but I was so scared too.  I thought she would call back and say the mom didn't meet up with her or the dad said no.  I just knew this was too good to be true.  Birth fathers rarely sign the relinquishment, which means the adoption is high risk.  The birth father not signing means you could be placed with a child and he could fight you for custody.  Both birth parents on board is the best situation.  Lisa calls me and says to get pictures together of us and write a letter so the birth parents could look at it and decide...they wanted to see another couples profile too.  Oh man...so what if they see us, read our letter, and choose the other couple.  I was going crazy at this point.  I was calling Brandi like a mad woman.  Jon was much more calm, he was excited, but he is a better "waiter".  I didn't want to tell anyone because what if it didn't happen, it's just so hard when you want a baby, have hope, and then the hope is crushed .  So it just had to be Brandi, Jon, and me in the know.  Which was fine but I did feel a bit bad for calling Brandi at 1 in the morning on a school night because I was so excited.  She wanted to be called but it must have been hard to teach all day after such a late night.  (Love you Brandi)

Back to baby boy...Lisa calls and says the birth parents chose us and we may be going to meet them later that night.  WHAT????? REALLY???? Oh my goodness!!! Was she serious?  I mean I was all for it, but I woke up this morning with no idea of how this day eventually played out.  So I put down the dinner we were casually eating, called Brandi again.  I was again excited and scared.  What if they didn't like us?  I got a pep talk from Brandi, she told me to be myself and it would be fine.  I just want to make sure that when we meet the birth parents they knew how grateful we were to be chosen and that I knew that through our happiness came their sadness.  It still chokes me up.  What a completely selfless decision.   I can't even imagine how difficult their decision must have been.  Talk about the ultimate sacrifice.  To hand over your child, a child that you love unconditionally, because you want them to have a life you can't give them...WOW...how can I even express my feelings about that?  I feel so humbled that they chose us.  The next call we get tells us to come over to meet birth mom, birth dad, and baby Gabriel.

We couldn't get to Robin's fast enough.  I was so nervous but it was surreal at the same time.  I mean, I may be a mom tomorrow...SERIOUSLY???!!!  We get to the door and meet Tim (BF) first, he looks so young...I mean, he is so young, but he looks sooo young.  He is so polite though.  He comes up to shake our hand and introduce himself then tells us that Tauni (BM) is changing Gabriel in the back.  A few minutes later out comes Tauni with Gabe.  She looks so young too and he is perfect.  PERFECT!  100% worth waiting for.  Tauni immediately asks me if I want to hold him.  Heck yeah!  We all sit down.  Tim and Jon were sitting back taking it all in and Tauni had tons of questions that I was trying to answer as fully as possible.  The whole time I am just thinking how evident it is that they love Gabe so much.  They tell us all about him, what he likes, what he doesn't, all of his little quirks, what his faces mean...everything they can think of...you can just tell Tauni is running it all through her mind to make sure I know everything she knows.  We talked for awhile, they learned about us, we learned about them.  I swear, Gabe's birth parents were like Jon and Melissa the 18 year old version.  It was crazy the similarities.  Especially to see them relate to each other.  You could see how Tim adored Tauni and vice versa.  They wanted to take Gabriel overnight so we would pick him up in the morning.  Of course we completely understood why.  Everything happened so fast.  They are giving this little angel, the most important thing in their world, over to us.  We both felt very good after meeting them, I just hoped they felt as good about us as we did them.  I think I got 2 hours of sleep Wednesday night.