H's First March for Life

Awake for a few minutes to pose in front of the Washington Monument









H and 3 Fathers :)









Made it all the way to the Supreme Court, and still asleep

Every day, more lessons learned!

Before H made her way into our arms, vaccinations were a topic that Paul and I discussed and researched. I was convinced I wanted to selectively vaccinate and I carefully chose a pediatrician that would allow us that flexibility. Two things changed for us since then:
1. I got whopping cough in my last trimester (which I do NOT recommend)
2. That carefully chosen pediatrician gave my baby a shot when she was two days old, which left me shaking and in tears (there was much more to this story...but overall, I was not happy with the office)

I decided to switch to a more popular pediatrician to maintain my sanity. While I love the doctor and the office, they do require all vaccinations be given in a timely fashion.

Last week, H had her 4 month shots. Subsequently, I stayed up all.night.long with a feverish, crying baby. From that night, I learned that my instincts for dealing with a feverish child were right on! Next, I learned that when taking a rectal temperature (as our Dr recommends), it is a good idea to be awake enough to deal with the OUTcome...if you know what I mean (not only did I have a feverish baby...but I had poop - all over). I also learned that baths are WAY more fun at 3 AM, at least according to H.

So, we have now survived three rounds of vaccinations - each with their own challenges. I still have research to do on this topic - for moral reasons, as well as the hope of making the right decisions for my baby.

Oh, and re: sleeping....I have also learned that swaddling is amazing! I have not swaddled Hannah since she was a newborn. It is quite different, and slightly hilarious, trying to swaddle an 18 pounder...but she naps so much better. There is more on the topic of sleep...but I will save that for another post. :)

Spit Up - Schmidt Up

Spit Up....really, who cares? With H passing the 4 month mark...I have gotten to the point of saying "who really cares that my shirt is wet and smells of sour milk?" Or H's for that matter. At 1 month, when she would spit up on herself, I would quickly change her clothes...or yell at Paul for attempting to use her clothing to clean it up. Now, the leather computer chair where I sit has a white trail of spit up from back to bottom - I noticed it two days ago and haven't done anything yet. My shoulder is wet, H's shirt is wet. No clothes are being changed.

My current clothes-change policy: If we can go out in public without people looking at us in disgust, then the clothes can stay on. Poopy clothes (where H has "pooped out her diaper) get changed, because that is just gross! :) Oh, and Paul and I can use whom-evers clothes to wipe up whatever mess (excluding poop, of course...gross!).

My last bad-mommy moment is worth sharing. H was sitting on my lap as I was typing away the other day. She started fussing, but wasn't all out crying. I let her fuss on my lap as I continued to compute. After a couple minutes, I turned her around. Her chunky-milk spit up was beginning to dry on her sad face as she looked at me pathetically. Paul and I both laughed. She got cleaned up, eventually, with some one's clothes. :)

Yes, I still love being a mommy!

Happy New Year!

Warm wishes and a Happy New Year to all our family and friends. As I sit here, I am typing with my little "milk faced" miracle and H wishes you the best as well!

We had a lovely holiday with the grandparents and a great New Years with the godparents. It is so wonderful to share our gift with everyone else. We had so much fun, it will probably take us a week to recover. I have plenty of pictures to download and more to write, but for now, as I wait for bean to wind down for a nap (so I can take one too) I wish you a glorious New Year and I pray that 2008 has miracles in store for all of you.

Pretty Baby

Just a quick blog from the road to share a couple pictures we had done. Is it just me or is this child just too cute??? People have told us we "do good work." We hope we can continue to bring the world more beautiful children in the future. ;-) Merry Christmas to all! More updates to come later!

Advent Reflection

Wow. What a time to reflect. Last year at this time we were writing about our advent. The season of anticipation. Last advent we were filled with new hope. Our home study was complete, we had gotten our first "situation" phone call about a possible adoption opportunity - we were anxious with anticipation that we might meet our child in 2007. Little did we know that a child was about to come to us in a way that was beyond what we thought possible. Of course, with God....all things are possible.

We guesstimate that H entered our lives around 12/20. Last night, I had the opportunity to kneel by my bed and watch her sleep. To see our baby girl, with her hands in that precious baby sleeping position (fists clenched, arms raised above her head in "strong man" position), my eyes filled with tears as I watched her - breathing, smiling, dreaming. She is so beautiful. What is even more amazing, she is ours. For the first time we are not watching a friend's baby, we are gazing upon our child.

2007. Anticipation. Certainly we don't have anything to ask for this Christmas. We have everything we have been hoping, praying, wishing for. H is our gift. H is all we want for Christmas! We are so thoroughly grateful that God chose to bestow this grace upon us, that he decided to make us parents of this amazing child.

Congratulations to our friends that have recently welcomed (or are preparing to welcome) their own miracles into their lives. We can't wait to meet your blessings as well!

She dosen't care if I sing off-key

How amazing to have someone that loves you SO unconditionally! I have found out, by accident, that H is TOTALLY and completely amused by my singing. She just smiles and smiles like I am the best thing in the world! I love being a mommy!

Here is an updated video clip so you can see our lovely H-bean.

The Newest Member of the Catholic Church!

Our H-bean is a Catholic! At 2 months and 6 days old, on my grandmothers birthday, Hannah was baptized by water into the Mystical Body of Christ. Her uncle Keith conferred the sacrament and did a most excellent job with his homily. H's uncle David also participated by reading the story of Hannah from 1st Samuel (and as you can see in one of the pictures, was also our video guy). She had SO many people come from far and wide to celebrate her initiation and meet her for the first time.
It was a wonderful baptism, followed by two wonderful parties. We are grateful for everyone that traveled to be with us and for all those locally who helped in so many ways. This is another moment that we have so long awaited. If you inhale deep enough, you can still smell the faint aroma of the chrism oils. We are so excited to pass on the gift of our faith to our daughter.

H-Bug

Thanks to Aunt Kathy who turned our H into a ladybug for Halloween. We will not be going trick or treat this year...but H is dressed up and looking cute tonight. We also carved pumpkins (papa, momma and baby pumpkin) and made carmel apples (yum). We will post more pictures later.

Happy Halloween and a Blessed All Saints Day!!

The Sleeping Saga

The newborn honeymoon (of sleep) has worn off. When we brought her home, H slept quite a bit. She would easily fall asleep while nursing or in our arms and sleep pretty much any where we put her. That was then. :) I have been trying to establish some sort of bedtime routine...and at least, trying to put her down around 8pm. Occasionally, miraculously, it will work. Oftentimes, 8pm becomes 9pm and then 10, 11 and wah-lah, she is asleep by midnight.

In addition to the many parenting books I have received, I now have two solely dedicated to the topic of sleep. Right now I am reading the "No Cry Sleep Solution." It is pretty good...but I haven't gotten to the solution part yet. I am too tired (j/k)! :) One of the things that I read was that oftentimes a good nap means an easier bedtime routine.

So yesterday, H had an awesome nap so I was all geared up for an easy night. I decided it would be a good night to try to get her to sleep in her crib. 8pm we were upstairs, nursing, rocking and she fell asleep. "Yes!" 8:15 I handed her off to Paul to put her in the crib. 8:17 - crying. Settle her down, 8:20 crying. After several such attempts, she was out of the crib. An hour and a half later, she was peacefully asleep again. Crib attempt Take 2. After a few minutes, crying again. So I tried the "lay hands on the baby to let her know you are there" attempt. After 30 minutes and numb fingers, I slllloooowwwllly moved my hands and crept out of the room. By the time I was in the hallway, she was awake! (was she ever really asleep??) However, she was groggy. "Great" I thought "I just need something to make the crib seem more familiar to her." I thought about leaving my shirt, but I kinda needed that. I decided her favorite mobile would be just the thing to make her feel comfortable. So I moved the mobile up to her crib. Her mobile plays classical music...."just the thing to settle her and put her into a deep sleep." Five minutes later I went to check on her....

She was waving her arms and kicking her legs in utter delight! Smiling, cooing...talking to her mobile, lol. She loves this thing too much! "So much for that idea!"

And now, tonight after pathetic napping, she was asleep by 7pm. She fell asleep in our bed and I am too afraid to move her yet! We will keep you posted.

Visiting Pittsburgh

This weekend was our first official trip. We drove out to Pittsburgh for a long weekend, then hopped over to our favorite place...Steubenville. H did great! She is such a wonderful baby! We are counting the days now until her Christening and can't wait for everyone to meet her. The latest feat...laughing. It doesn't happen too often, but she laughed for (AT?) both of us today. Occasionally she cracks herself up. Earlier she must have been having a conversation with her guardian angel - she was talking and cooing to the air (and cracking me up). She is a wonderful, precious gift!!

Our Pumpkin!

We took H to the Pumpkin patch the other day and had so much fun picking out pumpkins! Daddy is responsible for propping her up like this and giving her red knees! And as you can see we are getting smiles now! At the bottom is the first one captured on film courtesy of grandma!

H is 1 month old!

It is hard to believe that already a month has passed since we met our daughter for the first time. She is awesome! It is a gift that I am able to stay home with her. It is amazing how fast each day flies.

H is talking to us, cooing and every so often we get a smile. We are amazed at her strength. Yesterday she held her weight on her legs. When we put her on her stomach, it is almost as if she is ready to crawl! We are incredibly grateful and blessed to be parents to our beautiful baby girl.

This Weekend's Pictures

Hanging out with the new Busia















Papa in his new gear (thanks Joe :)




















Proving to Grandma that H roots for the Red Sox




















And H showing that "Waking up is hard to do!"

Meeting Grandma & a video

SOOOOO in love!!!!

Oh my goodness. I don't think we could have ever imagined the utter joy and overwhelming love that a gift of new life could bring. Our Hannah is our "Gift from God" (that is the meaning of her name). Some people have asked us why we choose the name, Hannah Rose. Well, aside from the meaning of Hannah...over the years of struggling with infertility, I have been inspired by the story of Hannah in the bible. I remember telling Paul, I know this is the name God has for our child. So, that sold him on Hannah. Since I chose the first name, he decided Rose was the perfect middle name, after St. Rose of Lima. Coincidentally, she was born on the feast of another St. Rose. Her story is pretty cool too!

So the last several days have been a series of adventures. While everyone talks about the lack of sleep...no one told me it would be because I can't bear to close my eyes around her! She is so incredibly precious and I adore watching her face as she sleeps. Paul has been amazing. I get midnight snacks, breakfast and sometimes even lunch in bed. Just a little while ago he was mopping...then vacuuming. In addition to all his help with the house, he is an awesome Papa! He loves holding her and is diaper changers extraordinaire...which is wonderful since she has peed on him several times. :)

Yesterday, we went to Mass and got a few more family pictures. You can see the slide show here. Thank you for all your emails, prayers and well wishes. We are truly TRULY BLESSED.

SHE IS HERE

shes here
my 1st daughter and she is very beautiful like her mother
she coos and cries but not for long when the food train comes rolling along
i am so proud to be a father and God has been so gracious to allow us to raise one of His children
she was 8lbs 4 oz, 19 inches long and delivered at 2:21 am on the 4th of September 2007
i was the first to hold her as i caught her in delivery
as of this post she is 17 hrs old and i have changesd 5 diapers and been through three outfits.
elisabeth is also doing well and recuperating thanks for all your prayers

Am I Nesting....Finally????

Due to the Whopping Cough, I have not had ANY motivation, energy....anything for the last month. Finally, I think I am starting to get a little energy back. And I think, finally, today, for the first time....I may actually be nesting!! Wohooo! I have done the laundry, the dishes, straighted several rooms, helped Paul on his job site. For the first time I am having minor indicators (nesting and others) that labor may be on it's way. It still could be several weeks away, but it should be coming before TOO long! Though Paul asked the baby to stay put 3 more weeks so he can get to a good place on his addition....I am telling the baby "whenever you are ready!" We will keep you posted!

Our DIY Maternity Pictures

Two Pics from the PA Shower