Pictures

We had Joselyn's 6 week pictures taken yesterday along with some with the boys. Here is the link:

http://www.photoreflect.com/scripts/prsm.dll?eventframe?event=0JJJ026V

Password is: baby

Have a great day!

The start of another week

Most of the time I'm not too glad for Monday to roll around but this week I was. We have been gone quite a bit (3 out of the last 5 weeks) so I'm ready to be home and try to get things back in somewhat of a routine. We all came home from vacation with some sort of illness. Aiden had a cough, Keegan had a runny nose, Joselyn had a runny nose and some stuffiness, Stan didn't feel quite right and I'm just plain tired. So it's time to stay home for a little while:)

Sunday night Joselyn slept from 10:30 to 6 a.m. I couldn't believe it. Well I didn't get my hopes up too high because last night she was awake until 1:30 a.m. Happy as can be, she just didn't want to sleep! Hopefully tonight is better. She continues to be a good baby. She broke out with a baby rash while on vacation so hopefully that goes away soon.

Last night I went to an adoptive mom's support group meeting which I really enjoyed. It was nice to visit with others who have or are going through the adoption experience. We discussed Lifebooks so it was nice to get perspective on that.

We had Joselyn's 6 week pictures taken today. We did a couple with all 3 of them and then Joselyn alone. They turned out really good. I'll try to get a link posted later but I don't have the password yet.

We also had our first post placement visit today. Things went well. We sent a few more pictures along with the social worker to give to the birthmom and I have more yet to be developed to share with her as well along with the 6 week pictures we took today.

I go back to work on August 10 so I'm trying to enjoy these last few days at home! Tonight we're taking the boys on a bike ride which is something we haven't done since we took Joselyn home. Joselyn is going to stay with Grandma as we can't quite fit her and Aiden in the burly just yet:)

Bridges Bay 2009

We spent the last week at Okoboji with Abby's parents and brother his wife and their 4 kids. We stayed at Bridges Bay which is on East Lake Okoboji. The hotel includes an indoor waterpark and an outdoor pool. As you can guess we spent a lot of time swimming:) We went out to eat at Perkins one night and to Arnolds Park another night. It was a wonderfully relaxing week although it is always good to be home. Here are some pictures.

Micah and Joselyn

Taking a nap in Grandma's arms.

Keegan had to wear his sunglasses while swimming

Aiden and Margo splashing in the outdoor pool

Joselyn in her swimsuit

Keegan and Miles going down the slide.

Keegan braved the tube slide

Riding the train at Arnold's Park

Waiting for the mini roller coaster

Daddy and Aiden

Riding the swings

Aiden on the merry go round with grandma

Mommy and Joselyn

Jumping on the trampoline

Grandpa and grandma and all the grandkids

1 Month Old

Wow, where has the last month gone? It is hard to believe that Joselyn is 1 month old today! I think back to the night we received "the call" that she had been born and the roller coaster of emotions that has followed that day. Every time the phone rang the first week my heart jumped to my throat! Neither of us wanted to answer the phone. That time has passed and now we wait until 6 months when we can finalize the adoption. She is our "little miracle".

Joselyn continues to grow. I have not had her to the doctor so I'm not sure how much she weighs but I'm guessing around 7 pounds, maybe. I do know that many of the 0-3 month clothes are still too big so she is just a little peanut yet. She is very strong and holds her head up well and kicks her legs. She's pretty content most of the time as long as she is fed and has a clean diaper. The boys adore her and love to hold her and talk to her. If she's crying they will start to sing to try and calm her down. It is so cute. Joselyn is already a well traveled baby as we have gone to St Louis, Okoboji, and Omaha. She travels very well in her car seat which I am thankful for.

We're adjusting to life with 3 kids as we are now outnumbered. I try to take it one day at a time and try to meet the needs of each of the kids. I would say Keegan tends to be the neediest (is that a word??) and constantly wants me to play with him and has a hard time with being patient. He just can't understand that when I'm feeding Joselyn that I can't do much else. This too will pass and we'll get it figured out.

Many have asked what type of adoption we have. Ours is semi-open. We have not had any contact with the birthparents since Joselyn was born but have sent pictures to our agency to forward on.

Here are some pictures I took this morning. Enjoy!

To help Joselyn celebrate Aiden woke up this morning and puked 3 times. Hopefully no more of that:) He needs to feel better by tomorrow!

DZ Family Okoboji 2009

We spent last week at Okoboji with Stan's side of the family. It has become an annual tradition and this year for the 29th year of vacationing. The destination changes on occasion but the fun remains the same. We spent time swimming, at the beach, playing games (Pinochle and 5 Crowns were the hit this year), boating, playing at the park, sleeping (my favorite), and eating lots of wonderful food. It is always a challenge to get my stomach back to where it should be after a week of great food! Joselyn did pretty well but had her moments of not wanting to sleep at night. I should learn to not mess with "the routine"; however most of the time it is worth it. The boys had lots of fun playing with their 2nd cousins all of whom are about the same age. Aiden enjoyed eating "pollylops" (aka lollypops) and Keegan must be growing because he was eating everything in sight. One night he ate a whole hamburger and a hot dog; which is unusual for him!

Joselyn continues to grow and change. Her face is really starting to fill out. After returning from vacation she had a couple good nights of sleep however Saturday night was not so good as she was awake until 2 a.m.! Last night again was better. We finally purchased another baby monitor and trying to get her to sleep in her crib instead of the pack n play in our bedroom.

Here are some pictures from vacation:

Playing at the park.



Keegan enjoyed the boat ride this year.

Joselyn's first boat ride.

Aiden was pretty proud to drive Brad and Paige's boat.



Bubbles are always a huge hit along with the Goggle this year! Keegan didn't want to take them off.

Joselyn and Great Grandma VM
Great Grandma VM and the great grandkids
Keegan and Jackson playing in the lake.
Aiden preferred to stay on the sand:)
Nap time!

Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the past couple of days. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

Joselyn did not enjoy her first real bath!

St Louis Trip

We just returned from St Louis late last night. We had a wonderful time. This has become a family tradition Stan and I started the year we got married. Stan is a huge Cardinals fan and by default I have become one also. This year my brother and his family joined us for part of the trip. We have always talked about going to a baseball game and this past weekend the Cardinals happened to play the Twins which is their favorite team.

We left Friday at noon and made our way to Columbia. We stopped to eat a picnic lunch at a rest stop and arrived in Columbia around 8:30 p.m. We got up the next morning and had breakfast at the hotel and headed to St Louis around 9 a.m. I think it was the hottest day St Louis had seen for over a year. When we left at 9 a.m. the temperature was already close to 90 degrees!! We got to the game, ate some lunch in the parking garage and then headed in. We had great seats in the 2nd deck, first row. Now remember it was 90 degrees already at 9 a.m. Bt game time it was close to 100 and I'm pretty sure the heat index was over 100 degrees! Well of course by now you are thinking I'm crazy for taking a newborn to a baseball game in this heat. Joselyn, the boys and I saw 2 outs of the game from our seats before we headed to shade! There was also not much of breeze. About the 5th inning one of the stadium workers came up to us (me, the boys, Joselyn, my sister in law who is 7 months pregnant and her kids: we must have looked desparate!) and asked if we wanted to cool off in some air conditioning. Of course we took him up on the offer. He took us to a special location where tickets are $100 and let us sit in the air. That was so nice of him and something he didn't have to do. You can see from the pictures that we were all pretty hot!

After the game we found our hotel and hit the swimming pool. The hotel was brand new and just opened in January and was an excellent find. Hopefully the prices remain reasonable so we can stay there next year. Sunday brought much laziness (I think from too much heat) and more swimming. My brother and his family left for home on Sunday. We relaxed most of the day and went to eat at Steak and Shake in the evening. The boys got free hats from there and looked darn cute!

Monday we went to the Magic House which is a Children's Interactive Museum in St Louis . We had been there 2 years ago and the boys had lots of fun again.

http://www.magichouse.org/

Monday afternoon were naps and we headed to another baseball game Monday night. This time the weather was much cooler. Our tickets were in an all inclusive area and included hot dogs, brats, nachos, pop and water. The favorite part for the boys was getting to meet Fred Bird which is the Cardinals mascot. The game itself was pretty aweful (they lost 10 to 0) but we have a great time.

Tuesday we packed up and headed to Warrenton to do some shopping at an outlet mall. Then it was off to see my friend Amanda and her fiance Aaron. We stayed at Amanda's house and her and I and Joselyn got to go wedding dress shopping on Wednesday which was a lot of fun. After shopping we headed back home. It's great to be home again but not enjoying all the laundry! They boys did great on the trip as long as they were fed, had a movie to watch or toys to play with. Joselyn also did great but now that we're home is sick of the car seat. I would be to after 18 hours round trip.