The Joys of Parenthood

I know it has been an outrageous amount of time since I last put the "technological" pen to the paper here on the blog, but life has been a bit full in more ways than one.  We have been dealing with the adjustment of parenthood, and what an adjustment it has been.  I am in love with the most wonderful little girl who just brings such a smile to my heart (and usually face) every time I look at her!  However, even with all of the joys parenting can bring, my life was literally turned upside down in a matter of days.  I found out that I would not be able to function as a stay at home parent....Mitch and I would surely kill one another (I am pretty sure he was out for blood within a week and a half of my "the little mommy at home" phase).  As soon as I was blessed to return back to work my equilibrium shifted and again I was my bubbly, semi-enjoyable self (yank, yank).  As much as I love spending moment after moment with my little darling, I needed some Ali time.  I needed a reason to get out of my two sizes too big sweat pants and brush my hair ;-).  So that phase was a trip indeed.  We had three of the most wonderful baby showers as well during this period of blog silence.  Our friends and family showered us with love and oh so much pink for sure.  We are so truly and incredibly blessed.  To all of the English scholars who may read this, sorry I am not a fan of the paragraph, this is just going to be one big mash, so prepare your brain for the fallout.  We have also been in contact from time to time with Nichole during this period at home since the adoption took place. She is having a very difficult time dealing with the loss of Maren and is struggling with the healing process.  Luckily she has been given the opportunity to take advantage of counseling and from what I can gather with contact from the adoption agency, she is using all of these resources.  At first I will admit that I was a little concerned about the contact with Nichole.  I felt like her healing was at a stand-still and we as the adoptive parents might not be the best people to try to help her get over this hurdle.  I expressed my concerns with the agency and they said that I should just try to cut back on the contact slowly as we also needed to continue our lives and adjustments to the new addition as well and not focus so much on how she might feel about the process.  It was a tough call, but it is getting significantly better.  We sent off our one month pictures and letter today actually.  With this being an open adoption we have a schedule of letters and pictures to send which is the minimum, I am OK with whatever Nichole might need within reason.  As time goes on and she continues to heal and recover from the loss we will be more comfortable with all of the contact.  At this point it still feels a bit awkward.  Enough about that subject and on to more happy things.  Maren is a complete doll-baby as many call her.  We won't let that get to her head ;-).  She is so mild mannered and the most happy baby ever!  Even now with a bit of a cold, she still smiles and coos through the stuffy nose.  Daycare is going fantastic.  She is being so well taken care of and we couldn't ask for anything more.  Her lovely babysitter is great about sending me a daily Maren so that way I can keep up with what my baby girl is doing when I am not around.  I take time almost every day to show her off to the co-workers.  They seem to love it, even if it's just a front, it's still super cool...Maren is also sleeping in her own room, in her own crib.  She has been since about 3 1/2 weeks.  We knew that the quicker we got her used to sleeping in her own space, maybe the quicker she would sleep through the night.  Now whether or not this actually has helped or if it was just her timing we aren't sure, but other than this cold our baby is one heck of a sleeper.  We get a solid five to six hours of sleep a night and we are sooo blessed!  As far as the finalization of the adoption we go to court on the 29th of October here in Butler County and since we haven't been through this before we aren't 100% sure what happens, but we assume this will be the official adoption date.  We have had several post-placement visits (well actually only one, the 2nd is tonight) and they have gone just wonderfully.  We should have a total of three before the finalization.  Hmmmm, other than that, I know right it's a ton, life is getting back to a schedule.  Mitch and I are loving every minute with our baby peanut, pumpkin, pumpkin pie, princess, sugar bear, sugar britches, and the list goes on and on.  Life is good, God is good, and we are so amazingly grateful for all of the gifts He has given us. 

We've got sunshine...on a cloudy day :-)...Ali

P.S.-These are some pictures from the newborn photo shoot we did a week after Maren came home to KS.  Just thought I would share!