Home

We are home. It was a long trip back from Texas but little Anya traveled very well all things considered. She has a whirlwind tour ahead of her. Lots of folks want to see her and she gets to go see who I think it going to be her regular doctor. We will be taking her to meet my coworkers today before going to the doctor and she will get to meet the rest of the family tonight.

We will be heading out to see the rest of the family in Missouri on Friday for the weekend where we are having a baby shower on Sunday.

I look forward to the rest of the family being able to see her and love on her but I also look forward to coming back home and really starting life anew with her in our home.

I already feel a difference in my outlook on things.

The First Night

We have survived the first night mostly intact. Little miss Anya appears to have a little bit of a cold so drainage is making it fun for her to sleep soundly. She's a trooper though and fights through it. We had two diaper changings and two feeding sessions last night. It's funny to watch her cause she will get a hold of your hand on each side so you can't take the bottle away, lol.

Katy had it rougher as Anya stayed next to her hotel bed last night. I admit its hard to sleep when you want to make sure she is ok after every little grunt. New parent jitters I guess.

We have the long return drive ahead of us. It's about 9 hours normally though I imagine that will go up abit with diaper and feeding stops. We are going to stop and see my sister on the way in so we can show her off. My oldest sister keeps joking that my first baby is her baby so we may have to pry her away!

Here's to a safe trip home.

Introducing Anya Kathleen!!

We have finally welcomed our little girl into our family. Today at almost 2PM we got to hold our little girl for the first time. She is cute as a button. It has been a long wait but worth it. She couldn't be any more perfect. For even such a young age you can see some character there.

It didn't take her long to go through two diapers either ;)

From here out this blog will be about her as she grows up, her firsts, and a celebration of our family coming together just a little bit more.

Edit: Here is a link to a Photobucket slideshow

Adoption Day!!

Today is the day! I can't remember the last time I have been so excited and nervous at the same time. We got word yesterday that the father registry and other paperwork have cleared so we will be able to return home on Wednesday so no spending a week in a hotel room with a the little one.

The family is already planning a gathering for this weekend it seems so it looks like its going to be a busy week. I just hope there is enough time in there for me to have some quality time with my new daughter.

Travel Day

We have spent all weekend getting ready and it's finally the day to head to Texas. Hopefully we have packed well. It's going to be cramped as Katy's mother is going with us to help out. I'm getting anxious now, it's hard to believe that things change so much tommorow. But I welcome those changes.

Week and a half to go..

We are supposed to head down to Fort Worth in about a week and a half. The father registry timeline is almost over so that puts us just that much closer to finally starting our family.

When we first heard about the match a week or more ago I was obviously somewhat guarded, after three that have fallen through you try not to get your hopes up too soon. Having seen pictures of the little one things are just so much more real this time and I find myself letting go more and enjoying the thought of finally bringing a little one home to love.

Each day puts us that much closer and with each day it makes the wait that much more excruciating. For all the jokes and jabs from friends and family about your life changing, no more sleeping in (I don't anyway), I truly cannot wait to start this next chapter in my life.

Perserverence

Going into this process I knew that it would not be "easy" so to speak. There is a lot of paperwork, learning, and preparation that has to be done and the most important piece is the mental strength you have to maintain to push the difficulties, disappointments, and the seemingly never ending wait.

We are now on our 4th match, its really our second because the in the previous two we were not chosen but contacted because our names were on the list for short notice, emergency style placements. Things are looking up for us to head to Texas at the end of the month to adopt a newborn girl. This match fits the closest to what we were looking for in this program and hopefully we can see this one through.


/crossfingers

bt