Swaddle me please!!

Hi everyone!  I just got back from NY last night and I had such a good time!  I got to see my great grandma, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and all of my moms friends who live up there.  The nights get much cooler up in NY so my mom decided to use a fleece swaddler a friend of hers got for me, and I just LOVE it!  I only wake up one time during the night now so dad says he is going out to buy 10 more of them, lol!  I will be 6 weeks this Thursday and I still like to be on my belly, I like to be changed, I still love baths, I am cooing a lot now, and my hair in the front is also starting to grow back a little.
Today my aunt Carol, great aunt Mim, and my grandma came to visit.  I was a pretty good girl for them :)

My cousin Kaylyn in NY is such a big helper!

My moms friend Corrine and her daughter Elena. 

They came to visit me before I went up to NY.

I LOVE my swaddler, so comfy!

I don't know why everyone was laughing at me, what is so funny?

My Aunt Carol who lives in Michigan.  So glad she came to visit!

My great Aunt Mim

More pictures!

This past Friday one of my daddy's friends came to the house to take some pics of me.  Mr. Jim does photogrpahy on the side and did an awesome job!  I had so much fun that I stayed awake the WHOLE time.  After that we went to Babies R Us to order my crib, it is really nice and should be here next week.  Mom says not to get too excited about it because I wont be sleeping in it for awhile :)  Daddy has been working on my nursery and will start painting it tomorrow hopefully .  My aunt Angela and my cousins Macy and Adella came to visit today, it was lots of fun they held me the whole time.  I love being held :)  Below are some of the pictures that Mr. Jim took on Friday.

My dog Abby

4 Weeks!

Wow, can you belive it I am 4 weeks today!  Time has really flown by!  My hair is falling out in the front but daddy says it will grow back, so not to worry :) Mommy and I went shopping today and I got 2 new dresses for church and they are really cute.  Tomorrow I am getting my pictures taken and I think my dog Abby will be in some pictures with me, so that will be fun.  Right now I am really good at spitting up and giving nice big smiles after I eat :o  I also like to lay on my tummy and still very much enjoy baths.  Here are a few pics we took this past week, enjoy!

Daddy did his own little photo shoot, he loves taking pictures of me!

My Aunt Angela came to visit with my cousins Macy and Adella.

My grandma and grandpa on their last day here.  Can't wait to see them next week!

Zachary giving me big kisses, SMOOCH!

I LOVE laying on my belly.

3 Weeks Old!

Hi everyone!  Can you believe I am 3 weeks old already?!  My mommy and daddy said now that I am 3 weeks old I can type my own posts :).  I went to the pediatrician yesterday and I weigh 9lbs 2oz. and am 21inches long.  I had a little bit of an upset stomach the other day but am feeling better now. I LOVE taking baths it really relaxes me.  Mom says we are going to be spa buddies when I get older, sounds like fun!  I met my dog Abby finally and she just loves me and I liker her too.  Abby likes to lay near me and I definitely don't mind, she is a good little dog.  My grandma and grandpa from NY are leaving tomorrow to go home and that makes me sad but mom says we will see them again in a few weeks.

Getting Settled

We are so happy to be home!! It has been so nice seeing everyone and we look forward to seeing many more! Yesterday was a very busy day with Holly's sister and nieces staying with us. They joined us for Sophia's first day at church where she was introduced to so many people. Sophia then returned home where several other friends stopped by to visit and spend time with her. Holly's sister and nieces had to return home yesterday and the girls have already expressed how much they miss Sophia.

Holly's parents drove down to our house today and will be spending the week with us. It was so nice to have Grandpa here with our little girl

Finally Home

Last night at a little after 10 pm we pulled into our driveway. We were met by Holly's sister Nikki and her 3 girls who drove down from New York to spend the weekend with us. We also noticed that our friends Jodi, Ella, and Corey decorated our yard with signs and balloons and also hung a banner on the front of our house welcoming Sophia home. It was a very nice surprise to see that as we pulled into our driveway. Nikki and the girls then jumped at the opportunity to take care of Sophia while Holly and I unpacked and got settled back into our house. It was a late night for everyone but only helped Sophia sleep even better last night :-)

Today we had a very nice visit from Jodi and her son Corey who could not wait to see Sophia. Corey got a chance to hold Sophia and showed what a great "big brother" he is going to be to his "little sister".

We look forward to seeing many of our friends in church tomorrow and throughout this week. Holly and I are both off from work and are anxious for everyone to see Sophia. Holly's Mom and Dad will be driving down from New York on Monday to spend the week with us. Please keep them in prayer as they travel on Monday.

Heading Home!!!

We just got the phone call releasing us from Virginia. We are packing up and heading home. Thank you all for your prayers.

Day at the Museum

Hello from Virginia! Yep, we are still here...can you believe it?! We are hoping that we get the call sometime tomorrow. Since we are dealing with a state agency you know nothing will happen on Saturday or Sunday :-( So if not tomorrow, hopefully we will get the call early next week. We also wanted to thank everyone for all of the phone calls and prayers about us returning home soon.

Today was another hot one reaching a high of 97 degrees. We decided to make the best of it and drove up to the National Museum of the Marine Corps. We spent several hours touring the museum in the comfort of the air conditioning. We had a great time learning about the Marines and the role they have had in defending our freedom. We would highly recommend visiting the museum if you ever get the chance. It will be well worth the trip.

Hopefully our next update will be from Delaware!

Sophia showing off her new dog tags

Just Relaxing

Not much new today. We went out to lunch and then drove into Fredericksburg where we checked out the town and a few battlefields. The temperature was in the mid 90's so we didn't want to have Sophia outside for any longer that we absolutely had to. Below is a picture we took today of Sophia relaxing after her busy day.

Oink Oink

Today was Sophia's third and hopefully last pediatric appointment here in Virginia. The doctor's continue to be impressed with how well she is doing. We were also very surprised that she weighed in today at 8 lbs. 11 oz! The doctor actually called her a little oinker :-) Her steady growth is a great indicator of good health.

We also had an adoption meeting with a counselor here from Bethany Christian Services. Typically this meeting would have been at our house with our counselor but since we are still here it needed to be done here. The meeting was very quick and went well. No new news from the meeting. They still expect us to be heading home sometime towards the end of this week.

Tonight we are just relaxing at the hotel and spending some quality time with Sophia. Thanks for all of the congrats after yesterday's news. Hope everyone has a great night and we hope to see you soon.

Sophia is ours!!!!

A celebration is in order!!!!! As of 5 pm today Sophia is officially our daughter! The time has elapsed for the birth family to rescind their decision. We have had little doubt regarding the firmness of their decision as they had signed all of the paperwork several months ago. However, knowing they still have had this time has been in the back of our minds. We have always known that the Lord is in control, yet at the same time it is nice to have this behind us. Thank you for all of your prayers in this area.

We spoke also spoke with the manager today regarding our stay tomorrow night. She rearranged a few things so that we don't have to move out of the room tomorrow. I know it doesn't sound like much but we have pretty much moved into and are pretty settled in this hotel room. It would have been a headache to move out of here for just one night. We are also have this room reserved until the 9th but hopefully we will be long gone by then :-)

Today started off a little rainy but cleared up pretty quick and was cool enough for us to decide to venture outside for a little walk. Fredericksburg, VA is surrounded by Civil War battlefields which Jay has been anxious to check out. We got to learn a little history and also get Sophia out to walk on a trail and get some fresh air. Sophia will make her Grandfather Burns proud knowing that she is already a Civil War buff.

Family Visit

We just concluded another family visit with Holly's family. Her Mom, Aunt and Nieces all spent yesterday and this morning spoiling our little girl with a lot of attention :-) They left today at about 2pm and we are praying that they have a safe drive back to upstate New York. Check out the family photos page for more family pictures.

We are thankful that the temperature has really dropped here. We are in the low to mid 80's as opposed to the upper 90's and 100's that we had last week! Hopefully this week we can actually spend a few minutes outside with Sophia seeing some sites :-)

We just found out yesterday that we will have a room here Tuesday night but as of right now it is a studio which will require us to move. After Tuesday we will be able to move back into a one bedroom for the remainder of our stay. This will be a minor inconvenience but is an answer to prayer.

We will be spending the remainder of today resting and letting Sophia rest from her eventful two days with family :-) It looks like it is going to storm here so it will be a good day to stay inside and spend some time together.