7 months old!

Little Bug at 7 months old:

• sits up without support but still topples over sometimes
• wants to crawl so bad!
• gets around by rolling EVERYWHERE!
• plays with blocks (if you build a tower she is sure to make it fall!)
• loves any toy that sings or plays music
• loves to play “Pull Up” with her Grandpa
• plays Peek A Boo
• wears mostly size 6 month and 6-9 month clothes, but can still fit into some 3-6 month outfits
• wears size 3 diapers
• no longer sleeps swaddled in the Miracle Blanket (although she still wants it wrapped around her middle, arms out, for night time sleep!)
• only sleeps with the blanket Grace made her for naps
• had two HUGE growth spurts this month
• typically eats 5-6 oz. every 3.5 to 4 hours (However, during her growth spurts she was sometimes eating SIX oz. every TWO hours – I was amazed that her tummy could hold that much formula!)
• dropped the 11pm dreamfeed and now sleeps 10-11 hours at night with no feedings!
• still naps 3 times a day (morning, afternoon and evening)
• won’t take a paci anymore (which is a good thing!)
• shakes her head back and forth with her mouth wide open
• takes her hand and slaps her belly or forehead
• still enjoys her swing occasionally
• loves taking walks in the stroller (she now likes to sit up like a big girl in the stroller)
• is very social and doesn’t meet a stranger
• cut TWO teeth (Dec. 6th & 8th)
• smiles ALL the time!

Merry Christmas!

     

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:17-18

A love so wide, long, high and deep that God would send His one and only son to the world as a baby. Born in a stable Jesus lived life here on earth to die as payment for our sins.

He is not dead today though!

Jesus lives in Heaven, preparing a place for everyone who puts their faith and trust in Him.

Today, on this Christmas Day, may we remember the HOPE that was born at Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love,

Dave, Elaine & Little Bug

What would it have been like to be a shepherd?

One day this week I got my Bible and read the Christmas Story from the second chapter of Luke.

And then I started thinking about what that night would have been like from a shepherd’s point of view.

Can you imagine?

A quiet night out in the field watching my sheep when suddenly a host of angels appear out of nowhere proclaiming the good news that a Savior has been born.

Talk about a shock.

It wasn’t a complete surprise, however, because the people knew the Messiah was coming. They just didn’t know when.

They were waiting for the day.

Have you ever noticed that God requires His children to do a lot of waiting?

Waiting is a very hard thing to do.

We are a people who want things to happen now. But many times God requires us to wait.

The shepherds were waiting and on that night they had no idea what was about to happen.

They were just out in the fields, like they were every night, keeping watch over their flock.

And then it happened.

An angel of the Lord appears to them and says:

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:11-12

Then a whole host of angels appear and start praising God and saying:

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests. Luke 2:14

The time had come! The Savior was here! And it was time to go meet Him.

The shepherds hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in a manger.

Afterwards they went all over the town of Bethlehem telling everyone they saw that the Savior had been born!

And then they returned to the fields praising God for all they had heard and seen.

What a night!

When thinking of the Christmas Story you can’t ignore the humility written in every detail of what happened that night.

The King of the World born in a stable and laid to rest where nasty stable animals chow down every day?

Shepherds, the lowest people of society, were told the good news by angels from Heaven?

Shepherds were some of the first to visit Jesus in the stable?

And it was the shepherds who got the privilege of bringing the good news to the people of Bethlehem?

YES!

Jesus came to the world in a very humble way and the shepherds played a huge role in that glorious night.

It was the start of God’s marvelous plan to save His people from an eternal death.

It was the start of God’s master plan to bring LOVE, HOPE and JOY to a troubled world.

It was God’s plan for an abundant life for you and me.

God said in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

God’s perfect plan to overcome the world (sin) began on Christmas.

Joy to the World, the Lord has come!

2009 Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas!

2009 is the year of Something More for Us

During the month of December 2008, after four failed infertility treatments and a surgery for Elaine we prayed for a Christmas Miracle. God most certainly gave us a Christmas Miracle that month, and it wasn't in the form of achieving pregnancy. God opened our hearts to adoption! Months later, we would also learn that December 2008 was also the month that Little Bug’s birth mother contacted the adoption agency. Yes, God most certainly was at work in our lives last December and this was only the start of the miracles He was about to perform!

On January 10th, 2009, we went to visit some friends from church who had recently adopted a baby. We went to their home desiring to learn more about the adoption process. When we left their home that night we both felt confident that we would one day adopt a baby. That night a poem popped into Elaine's head and she wrote it down:

Our miracle has come
Not in my womb, but in our hearts
We are going to adopt!
Baby is on the way,
She will be here in the month of May!

We felt God was leading us to take the last step in the world of infertility treatments and we had high hopes that our upcoming in-vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle would give us a chance at having at least one biological child.

In February we had our IVF consult appointment with our doctor. Everything was on go to begin the IVF cycle starting February 28th.

On March 8th, after an extremely poor response to the IVF meds, we learned that a pregnancy wasn't likely for us. Our IVF cycle was canceled and our dreams were shattered. Towards the end of March, Elaine felt God was asking her to surrender her desire for pregnancy to Him and to pursue adoption immediately. God also worked on Dave's heart and he too felt like God was leading us to adopt. We began filling out the adoption application paperwork.

On April 9th, Elaine walked into the agency to turn in the adoption paperwork. The lawyer told her on that very day, "There is a baby girl to be born in June. You can have her if you want her!" We later learned that Little Bug’s birth mother had already chosen a family for her baby, but that family was not able to meet all the requirements necessary to adopt. That family pulled out of their commitment to adopt Little Bug the very same week we turned in our adoption paperwork!

On May 27th, forty-eight days after Elaine walked into the lawyer's office, Little Bug was born! She was born at 7:11 AM and weighed 5 pounds 12 ounces. She was 17.5 inches long. Eighty-one hours after Little Bug’s birth, the birth mother signed a consent to terminate her parental rights.

On September 1st we went to our court hearing and Little Bug legally became our daughter even though, in our hearts, she was ours from the moment we first laid eyes on her in the delivery room.

 

It is always interesting to step back and look at the big picture of a trial once you are on the other side. We can now see that through the pain and tears of month after month of negative pregnancy tests, God was setting the stage to perform a miracle.

In His time, He revealed His perfect plan to us and gave us Something More than our hearts could even imagine.

God gave us our precious daughter, Little Bug, through the miracle of adoption!

God's plan for our lives may not always be what we would plan for ourselves but God's Plan is ALWAYS bigger and better than anything we can plan for ourselves!

As the year 2010 approaches, we encourage you to keep this verse close to your heart:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to bring you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Dave, Elaine and Little Bug

He cares

It is so easy to forget that God cares about even the smallest things that concern us.

Compared to battling infertility day in and day out, battling naptime with a 6 month old just seems insignificant.

But this week it dawned on me that I was so quick to bring my frustrations with infertility to the Lord but I had yet brought my frustrations about Little Bug’s naps (or lack thereof) to Him.

God cares even about the smallest things.

And you know, when I stopped and brought my frustrations about naptime to the Lord, things automatically felt better because I no longer was carrying the burden alone.

I also have found that during a trial in life I easily turn to the Lord for guidance, but I haven’t done such a good job in turning to the Lord for strength to parent Little Bug!

And parenting, I have learned, requires just as much strength from the Lord (if not more) than going through infertility does.

During those 2 years of infertility I found myself hungry for the Word of God because I was in a desperate situation and in the Word of God there was hope.

I’ll be the first to admit that since Little Bug’s birth my hunger for the Word of God hasn’t been like it was in the two years before her birth.

I would do a “Quiet Time” but it was like I was doing it just to check it off my “To Do” list for the day.

Yesterday and today I’ve really thought about what it means to take a piece of Scripture and meditate on it throughout the day.

Life automatically seems brighter, no matter the circumstances, when you have Scripture rolling around in your mind all day long.

There is a verse in the Bible that talks about taking Scripture and “writing it on the tablet of your heart”, which to me means that we keep Scripture close so that it will be on our minds as we go about the tasks of the day.

And there is SO MUCH power in the Word of God! Such encouragement for a weary soul. Such perspective for a frustrated mother. Such joy and strength!

And to think that many days I’ve left the Bible sitting all day long in a bag.

It’s like being thirsty and refusing water.

Yes, God cares about even the smallest details of our life.

The Face of Innocence

Updates

Updates on the ever-growing and ever-changing one-and-only LITTLE BUG:

She now naps without being swaddled in the Miracle Blanket! Instead, she naps with the blanket Grace made her! I was beginning to think Little Bug would be 5 years old and we would still be swaddling her! However …

… Little Bug still insists that we wrap her in the Miracle Blanket for night time sleep! Notice both arms are out and the Miracle Blanket is just wrapped around her middle! Also notice the positioner that she still likes to fall asleep on. Every morning though she has flopped off it and it is crumpled somewhere in her crib. Funny little girl!

 

We’ve tried two nights about a week apart to see if she would drop the Miracle Blanket at night and both times it was a complete disaster. We ended up going into her room, wrapping her up, putting her on the positioner and she’s out like a light. Hey, whatever works, right??

 

Look closely at this picture and you will see Little Bug’s TWO pearly whites on the bottom!! She cut the one on the right on December 6th and then the one on the left on December 8th.

Cutting the teeth really didn’t seem to bother her much at all. My pediatrician told me that fussiness due to teething is all subject to that particular baby’s tolerance level of the pain/irritation in the gums while the teeth come through. I did use these holistic teething tablets that my pediatrician recommended.

 

Little Bug’s straps on the car seat have been moved up (Thanks to her Grandma who noticed it was time!) and she no longer needs the head support that was in there. I also posted this picture because I think she favors me as a baby a lot in this picture!

 

Little Bug has several games she likes to play. Her favorite is playing “Pull Up” with Grandpa! Grandpa lays her on the floor in front of him and then pulls her up into a standing position. Little Bug has the hugest smile on her face every time they play. My Grandpa (my dad’s dad) did this with me when I was little!

Little Bug also just started playing “Peek A Boo” this week. So cute!

 

Little Bug sits up pretty good now with no support but sometimes …

 

… she is still a little wobbly!

 

Little Bug has the sweetest little personality and is loved by everyone who knows her!

Our Miracle Girl

The Solution?

So Little Bug’s naps have been all out of whack. Night time sleep has had some disruptions too.

Well, I was reading the Chronicles of a Babywise mom blog last night and came across this post: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/easy-nap-fix.html

It’s titled “Easy Nap Fix”. The Babywise mom says that if a baby is staying awake too long, they will not take a good nap because they become overtired and overstimulated. This is especially true in younger babies, but can be true in babies Little Bug’s age too.

Babywise Mom also talks about how important it is to figure out your baby’s optimal wake time so that you know when to lay baby down for a nap before they get overtired and overstimulated.

Often times, parents keep baby awake longer in hopes that the more tired they are when they lay down to nap, the longer they will sleep.

The complete opposite is true.

I was laying Little Bug down for her first nap 2 hours after she woke up in the morning.

She was consistently only napping 45 minutes.

Babywise Mom says if you have a baby who isn’t napping well, the first thing to try to fix it is to lay baby down 15 minutes earlier than you had been. (I decided to lay Little Bug down 30 minutes earlier than I had been because I saw her sleepy signs around then this morning.)

At 9am I did Little Bug’s nap routine with her (change diaper, rock her and sing “Jesus Loves Me” then lay her in crib awake) and she did not cry one bit. (Another sign that baby is staying awake too long is if they cry for lengthy amounts of time when you lay them down.)

The 45 minute mark came and all was quiet in the nursery!

And now, here it is 11:00am and she is still sleeping!!

*****

Note: I wrote the above yesterday morning.

I’m sad to report that yesterday must have been a fluke. :(

Little Bug woke at the same time this morning and I laid her down for her morning nap at the same time this morning but she has yet to fall asleep half an hour after laying her down.

She is just in her crib talking and playing. :)

Which I guess would mean that I’ve laid her down too early because if she was tired, she’d go to sleep instead of play.

I can only guess that yesterday’s fluke might have been because she was so tired from not napping well during previous days.

I’ll be sure to notice when she stops playing and goes to sleep and then tomorrow that is the time I’ll lay her down!

Ugh … Why aren’t babies born with instruction manuals?

45 minutes on the dot

Here’s my first attempt at a real life post.

Naptime around here, for the past two weeks, has been anything but restful. Well, it’s been restful for the first 45 minutes and then it is chaos.

Before I go any further, let me say that I am a Babywise mom, which surprises even me!

Before having a child (key words there), I was under the impression that Babywise people put their baby on a strict schedule and let their baby cry hours on end in their crib.

This, however, couldn’t be further than the truth. And I learned that after A) becoming a parent and having to decided which parenting method works best for my child and our family as a whole and B) reading the entire Babywise book cover to cover, that Babywise teaches about routine feedings within a preset, flexible time frame.

I find it interesting how advocates of different parenting methods are so quick to judge each other!

The way I see it is this: Each parent needs to consider their own baby and chose the parenting method that fits their baby and their lifestyle.

As for me and my family, we have chosen Babywise. :)

For me, my goal has always been to just have a happy baby. A happy baby makes for a happy mom.

My problem is this: Little Bug gets on a routine and it is wonderful for both of us. Little Bug gets off her routine and life gets difficult for both of us.

Currently, I am trying to find a balance. And I think balance just may lie in not holding my standards so high and expecting Little Bug to do Babywise like the book says!

There is this blog out there that is a wonderful reference for anyone doing Babywise: Chronicles of a Babywise Mom

It’s just a typical Babywise mom who started the blog to give other Babywise moms a reference. She has 3 children: a 4 year old boy, 2 year old girl and an 8 month old baby girl.

While I LOVE her blog, it sometimes irks me that she seems to be able to get her kids to do Babywise with ease!

Then I read a comment that someone left on her blog. They were basically saying that while they do Babywise, they have tweaked things here and there to accommodate the individual needs of their household.

I think that may be where I am with Little Bug.

Back to naps …

So, I lay Little Bug down for a nap and she goes to sleep (no crying on most occasions). But then at the 45 minute mark to. the. dot. she wakes up.

Now this is not unusual for any baby because babies go through a sleep transition anywhere from 30-45 minutes of falling asleep. Many wake up during this sleep transition. Babywise teaches you to leave baby be and let them settle back to sleep. Or you could rush in to your crying baby and get them up only to have a tired cranky baby because they didn’t get a good nap in…

At 3 months old, I chose to let Little Bug start crying it out until she went back to sleep as long as I was 100% sure the cries were sleepy cries and not hunger cries.

It didn’t take long and we were over that hump. Little Bug, as a general rule, is a good napper.

So now we are back to waking right at 45 minutes every single nap! So frustrating!

Today, thinking there could be a slight chance that she was hungry because her eating was way whacky yesterday, I went ahead and got her up.

She would not eat.

So we played and then ate at the four hour mark from her last bottle.

Then it came time for her afternoon nap. She went right to sleep but woke after 45 minutes. (This is actually kinda funny. I was watching the clock and, right on the nose, she woke up!)

So I let her find her way back to sleep and she is now in Sleep Land once again.

You know, this feels good writing all this out! I’d been feeling like my blog was boring and not an accurate picture at all of life with a 6 month old!

Well, that’s about to change.

Life is anything but boring with a 6 month old and if you hang around you will soon see and I will have something Little Bug will really enjoy reading once she can!!

*****

NOTE: I wrote the above post a couple days ago…

I’ll soon be posting about Little Bug’s naps because I think I may have discovered the problem and fixed it.

THANK YOU, JESUS!

Little Bug went to bed for her morning nap today with absolutely no crying, and …

after 1.5 hours she is is still sleeping!

AND … that 45 minute mark … SILENT!

I’ll also be writing soon about what God’s taught me through these recent insane days.

Real Life

Sometimes I can’t believe how open and honest I was during my struggle with infertility because as a general rule in life, I am a very quiet and private person.

I know my boldness to share my journey through infertility came straight from the Lord.

Over the life of this blog, I’ve received numerous negative comments. Until this time, I’ve never mentioned one word about it on my blog.

My way of dealing with negative comments is quite simple: I read the comment and then instead of clicking “publish”, like I do for the majority of the comments that come in, I click “reject”.

Problem solved.

I take into account that negative comments stem from one of two things: 1) ignorance, 2) people who draw conclusions without knowing all the facts.

Since Little Bug’s birth, I’ve not been completely 100% open and honest about life as a mom.

I think it stems from a fear of giving the wrong impression that I am not grateful for the miracle that God has blessed me with.

I know that is the furthest thing from the truth!

I think women who go through infertility have this misconception that once baby arrives, life will suddenly be perfect because the very thing you’ve wanted for year after year and not had is suddenly in your arms.

Now I know that a perfect life after baby’s arrival is the furthest thing from the truth, as well!

I thought life would be ALL sunshine and roses once Little Bug was here! But over the past 6 months I’ve learned that I’ve traded the problems of infertility for the problems of parenthood!

I no longer deal with medications, shots, ultrasounds, growing follicles and semen samples (THANK GOODNESS!!!) but that certainly doesn’t mean my life is a bed of roses.

Parenting. is. hard. Very. hard.

The feelings of guilt that something is wrong with you because you don’t feel like life is perfect after a baby that you’ve wanted for years is finally here are REAL.

However, just because I went through infertility does not mean that my life with baby will be perfect.

I have never been so frustrated in all my life over matters concerning my Little Bug.

Why is she doing this? Why is she doing that? Am I doing this right? Should I be doing that? But I heard that isn’t a good thing to do with a baby.

I never in a million years was prepared for all the second-guessing yourself that comes with parenting.

I’m a writer. I love to write and writing helps me process.

I think this blog is going to become more about life with a baby (the ups, the downs, and all the in-betweens) because that’s where life has me now.

When the time is right to start thinking about another baby, I’m sure the blog will naturally become more about “trying to conceive” again.

During my trying to conceive days, I allowed myself to be so open and honest about it because I knew it would bring glory to God.

My purpose in life is to bring glory to God, through whatever circumstances God has me in at the time.

I’ve found that just as I needed God to get through infertility, I need God’s direction as I parent my Little Bug.

Parenting is no easy task, but I praise God He’s entrusted this little life to me and I want HIM to receive glory still through the imperfect perfect life he’s given me!

Turn the monitor OFF!

I've found the solution to waking with Little Bug during the wee hours of the morning. I've turned the monitor OFF! Being a first time mom, it never occurred to me that turning the monitor off would be an acceptable thing to do!

After talking with a friend whose twin daughters started doing the same thing around the 6 month mark, I decided this was the best thing to do. She told me to turn the monitor off because our rooms are close enough to where if Little Bug is crying in the night (and not just talking) I will hear her. Apparently, waking in the wee hours to "talk" for a time isn't extremely usual for a baby around 6 months old.

The first night I did that, I woke up around 7am, turned the monitor on and Little Bug was sound asleep! I have no clue if she woke up talking around 5am or not!

So now I need to get us back on a consistent daily routine. With Little Bug waking up anywhere from 5am to 8:30am, our days have been totally out of whack.

That routine I posted about a few weeks ago ... it was nice while it lasted! Hopefully, we can get back into some kind of routine this week.

That is going to take several days of figuring out when Little Bug is going to start waking up each morning so that we can establish a new wake time.

This morning she woke up around 7am. She was just content to lay in her bed and talk, so I let her. When I got her up at 7:30 to eat, she wouldn't eat! Finally, at around 8:30 I got her to eat 4 ounces (she usually eats 6 ounces). I'm thinking maybe she is ready to drop the dreamfeed that Dave does with her every night at 11pm. If she dropped that feeding, she would most likely wake up around 7:30am hungry.

Who knows! It's all a guessing game when it comes to figuring out a baby!

Tired

Things have been a little rough lately because somebody decided waking up everyday around 6am would be a GREAT idea!

I am praying this is just a phase and not a new norm!

I am so not a morning person.

I think it is obvious that I LOVE motherhood and, in particular, LOVE being Little Bug's Mommy, but there is one thing I dearly miss ...

uninterrupted sleep.

Which hasn't happened in ... six months!

And I know, overall, I've been VERY blessed with my Little Bug because she's a good sleeper compared to other sleep deprived parent's stories I've heard. (Of course, I give credit to The Miracle Blanket for that!!)

Speaking of the Miracle Blanket ...

Thinking maybe Little Bug's waking early was due to being tired of being all wrapped up all night long, I decided to see if she would sleep well without the Miracle Blanket for naps. She did fine without it. I gave her the blanket Grace made for her to hold.

We tried putting her to bed without the Miracle Blanket last night and ... BIG MISTAKE!

So Daddy wrapped her in the Miracle Blanket and she was out like a light!

Hopefully soon we will be back to waking AFTER the sunrise!

While waiting for the doctor we …

 

nibbled on toes …

 

ate our blanket … 

 

played with a toy AND …

 

of course, ate the toy …

 

gnawed on fingers …

 

and did some crunches on the scale …

 

(14 pounds 2 ounces)

 

Little Bug had her 6 month check up this week!

The doctor told us she is PERFECTLY on track!

The Baby Itch

Around the time of Little Bug’s birth, I imagined Little Bug hitting the 6 month mark and us getting word to the adoption agency that we are ready for them to start matching us with another birth mom.

Little Bug is 6 months old and I am so not ready to even begin thinking about that process again!

It’s not because I am totally overwhelmed with motherhood. The opposite is true … I absolutely LOVE where my life is right now and I cannot imagine anything better than being a stay-at-home-mom to Little Bug.

She is everything I dreamed having a child would be … and more. And at this point, I just cannot imagine parenting any other child in the world besides her!

This comes as a complete surprise to me as I have always desired to have four children.

I know one day I’ll get that baby-itch again but right now, that is the last thing on my mind!

And, truth be told, emotionally, I am just not ready to embark on the ups and downs of another adoption. It’s a wild ride and considering the fact that my life, for the past two years, has been a wild ride, I am just ready to live a normal life for a while, leaving adventure out of the equation for a while!

I know one day I (we) will be ready to add another member to our family and I definitely want Little Bug to be a big sister!

When that day comes I will stand strong in the Lord and watch His mighty plan unfold yet again.

When we first set out to have a baby, my heart was not softened to the fact that my plans may not be God’s Plan.

I know that when we set out to add a second child to our family, my heart will go at it in surrender to God’s perfect plan from the start.

Even now, I know God has another miracle awaiting. And just like He did with Little Bug, He will perfectly orchestrate every last detail of that child joining our family.

All I have to do is wait in obedience to Him and listen for Him to tell me it’s time.

And in the meantime, savor every day with my precious Little Bug.

It’s Beginning to Look a lot like …

CHRISTmas!!!

 

Little Bug is fascinated by the Christmas Tree lights!

I cannot wait for the year she becomes fascinated with the   CHRISTMAS STORY!