Photos for Daddy

Jared has been asking me for the past several days to put some more pictures of her on the blog so he can his baby girl. He misses her so much! I don't think I've ever been so thankful for January to be almost over. We are almost there! It's miserable weather out here. It was really warm yesterday so everything melted and then a huge cold front came in and froze all the roads over with ice and snow.Absolutely freezing and on the news they had canceled some schools, activites and church groups. So looks like we won't be going anywhere for a little bit. Not that we have any wear to go... too bad we weren't here in summer. At least I could have some fun outside. I've decided that I'm not a wintersports kind of gal. I'm just don't like being cold.

Not much else exciting is going on. I ate chocolate ice cream for dinner :). And yes, I can eat ice cream year round. As you can see in the fifth picture Kylie's cheeks were kind of red and blotchy looking this past week. It seemed that they would get worse right after she would eat. But the last two days I've noticed it's almost gone away. I was wondering if maybe it was the milk, but now I'm not sure it was. It's been so dry here I wonder if that's the problem. I need our humidifier! I'm looking forward to watching President Hinkley's funeral on Saturday. He was a wonderful and loving prophet and he will be missed. I'm sure it was a very happy day for him to be with his wife again.

Proof of the double chin.

Squeals of Joy

I haven't posted in a bit so I thought I'd check in again. Kylie has been great, she's such a happy baby. She's been sleeping a lot the past few days. She's starting making these fun squeals lately. She gets really excited in the morning to see me and my mom and will let out little squeals of joy. It's fun to see. She really is a dream come true and I wish she could stay this way forever. I can tell now that she recognizes me. The other day I was on the computer and could hear her grunting and rooting around a little bit in the other room. It took me a few minutes to get to her and she had inched her way halfway off her bouncer. It's only a three inch drop, so no harm was done :).

I've been trying my hand at cooking lately. I know, I know *gasp*. Last Sunday I managed to make two big pan fulls of cinnamon rolls and they tasted yummy, who knew! I don't think I've managed to make those since I was 13. Using a kitchaid mixer made the process so much easier than I remember. I'll have to pull mine out when I get home and make some for Jared. I also have made tapioca pudding from scratch twice the past week, and made lasagna for dinner for two days ago.

She's a Keeper!

We had an unusual warm spell a week ago so I took her out on the deck and took some pictures. Don't worry, winter came back in a fury. It's absolutely freezing here now. I spent some time in photoshop with these. I'm trying to learn how to remove color casts in photoshop. I'm having a hard time "seeing" them, but managed to take a lot of blue out of these. I still have a long ways to go. Cute baby though!!!! We are so blessed to have her in our lives. As I was working on these pictures I noticed her eyes are really looking green. I think we are going to have a green or hazel eyed baby on our hands! Everyone was pretty sure that she'd either have blue or brown eyes, so I wasn't expecting that. It will still be a few months before we can tell for sure I think.

Yesterday we got awesome news! Well awesome for us, not so awesome for her birthfather. Abbie found out through a source that Kylie's birthfather has been sent to the juvenile home to live for a month. They are trying to verify that with his probation officer in the next few days. If its true that is really good for us! That's the equivalent of jail for a juvenile. We already have a fairly good case, but you just never know if you will have a judge that has a pre-disposition against adoption. Her birthfather will have a heck of a time convincing the judge he's a fit father when he's screwed up yet again. He was picked up by the police two months ago for attempting to break into cars. He doesn't seem to stay out of trouble for very long. Yeah for us!!!!

It Finally Happened...

SHE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaa! Not bad for a twelve week old!

Kylie fell asleep yesterday as we were driving home from a late dinner. I left her in her car seat since she was sound aleep. Not a good habit I know, but it doesn't happen very often. She slept from 10pm and finally woke up at 6am! When she finally woke up she acted like I hadn't fed her in a month. She was absolutely beside herself for something yummy to eat. I laid her on my bed like I usually do and was making her a bottle. I must have been half asleep because I put the formula in the bottle, and put the cap on and put my finger on the nipple and started shaking it like I always do. Except poor me, I forgot to screw on the lid and Kylie got showered all over with half mixed formula. Last week she slept for a six hour stretch one night... but last night was her first eight hour stretch and I consider that a full night's sleep. What a good girl. She likes to sleep, just like her mother :).

webcams

Jared and I found a cool way to be able to talk with each other while I'm gone. He borrowed a webcam from his coworker today and we tested it out via instant messaging this evening. It was so fun to see him "in person" in our home. And he even cleaned the kitchen a little bit so it wasn't a total disaster. He's the best! Hopefully tomorrow I can get a get a webcam for us out here so he can see his wife and baby girl!

I've been having trouble sleeping out here. And it's not even the baby's fault! My sleep schedule is so wacked out here. I don't think we ever adjusted to Michigan time at all. I can't fall asleep at night, and then I'm just exhausted in the early mornings. Thankfully my mom watches her in the morning while I catch a few more zzzzs. But it's so frustrating to be up at 3am and not even a bit tired! It's driving me crazy. Instead of the baby having her nights and days mixed up it's her mom suffering from that!

I'm actually very relieved that there are "only" three weeks left before Feb 6th. How sad is that! I am just hoping and praying like crazy that they will be able to make a decision on either that date or Feb 13th. I'm really worried that their attorney will give the judge an excuse to drag this thing on even further and I can't even think about that right now. I found out from the agency this week that they requested another judge to hear this case so that they could do it sooner. Our judge refused, and wants to hear the case himself. Our attorney considers this a good thing since she is familiar with him, and says that he is very fair and understands adoption (reads: pro-adoption). I just really hope that it means that once he hears some evidence and understands what is really going on will make a swift decision. It's just stupid that this has turned into what it has.

I'm sorry these pictures still aren't up to snuff. They are still a bit underexposed and very flashy. And it doesn't help that I'm in a basement in the middle of winter with just florescent lighting! This is what I managed to get the other day, despite the fact that I still don't know what I'm doing with this new camera. Her cheeks have been really filling out lately. I love seeing her get cute little chubby rolls! It's the best.

She was happy as a clam.... then "WAAAAAAAA!"

Well I thought I'd give you the low down of how the doctors appointment went. They gave her six immunizations (Hep B, Influenza, Polio, Rotavirus, PCV7, & Diphtheria/Tetanus/
Pertussis). Poor girl... she found her inner scream. They had two nurses come in the room and they would each give her a shot at the same time in each thigh. And they gave her one of the immunizations orally. They gave them to her very quickly, but she was still pretty sad. She stopped crying several minutes after they gave them to her. I gave her some liquid Tylenol at the dr's office and she's pretty much slept the day away today. It was hard watching her cry like that.

And results of the weigh in? Let the drum roll begin... 12lbs 7oz! So my guesses were way off. 22.5" height, and a head circumference of 15.5 inches. She's a little high on the percentiles, but I think it's because she's two weeks over the official two month check up. 50% for her height, 75% for her head, and 85% for her weight. I'll probably start watching how much I feed her a little more closely, but the doctor said that babies eat what they want to so not to worry about it too much.

Paperwork = Slow

Golly it's been a long week. And what has been happening? Well, the easy answer to that is nutt'n. We know that Michigan ICPC got the paperwork on Monday or Wednesday, and we were really hoping that we would hear by now what they think about it. Maybe by next week? Jared is flying back home early Monday morning and I have to drop him off at the Kalamazoo airport by 6am. As much as I love him being out here, I'm glad he can get back to his work responsibilities. This has been his third trip (and final trip) and his company has bent over backwards for us. He's already used so much of his time off that he's had saved up, but he just needs to get back so he work. I miss all my friends at JJC too. I'm excited for when I get back and can go show her off. And I miss my favorite enchiladas at Chubbys. That's a nickname everyone in my office has for this little mexican resturaunt in park city. Everybody knew that I loved Chubby's... because I'd go there for lunch at least once or twice a week and would order the same exact thing. Man, it will be good to get back.

At least I'm down to a four week's left before Feb 6th. But unless they finish the hearing it will finish on the 13th. I really, really, really, really hope that they will come to a decision on those dates and get something decided. The birthfather has been really driving our birthmother crazy. Last week he had his girlfriend try to convince Abbie to allow her access on Abbie's private myspace page (to snoop I'm sure). Didn't happen. She told Abbie that he loved Kylie and that he and his girlfriend wanted to be Kylie's parents. And how they wouldn't swear or do drugs around her (like that always works). Just a lot of teenage drama and Abbie doesn't need to be egged on from people like that. Or having to defend her decisions or to even defend Jared and I. They think she has just given her away because she doesn't love her and they should be next in line. Pretty sad.

I can't wait for this to all be over, for all of our sakes. It's been a heavy burden for all of us. And I know that for years I will have twinges of jealousy for those that can take their newborns home directly from the hospital. Babies shouldn't have to be four months old before they even get to see their nursery and the home they will live in with their forever family. It's hard too because I feel like Kylie is so much ours that like sometimes I forget how her birthfather can have such control over this situation... because I know who her real dad is. Does that make sense? I hope everybody has a great weak and gets something productive done. Me included.

ambition

Well things have been pretty laid back here this week. I'm so glad Christmas is over! I really love Christmas, it's by far my favorite holiday of the year. But it's been probably the most stressful December I've ever had and I'm grateful that the new year is here. So here is a toast to you for a happy new year! I've been trying to get my hiney into the mode of working on my Kennecott stuff again. I'm having a hard time getting motivated doing it, it's much funner to blog, to send emails, and to check forums when I'm on the laptop. Thankfully landscaping plans aren't a huge priority when there is three more months of winter... but I need to get them done or I'll be in trouble come May. I've got about a hundred front yards for Daybreak/Kennecott to design so I've got to get cracking. I wish I enjoyed doing it more. It's okay, but there are only so many ways you can shrub up a 1/8ac. front yard in New-American style.

I've been a little frustrated with my new camera. I'm really trying to improve my photography skills and the point and the point and shoot just wasn't cutting in anymore. The shutter drag on it was causing so many lost moments. So our Christmas gift was a entry level digital SLR camera. I've been reading a book and have been trying to learn how to take pictures in manual mode. I'm not really frustrated with the camera, just in my abilities to use manual controls to get the images I'd like. It's really been challenging trying to control the shutter speed, apature and ISO to get a good exposure. And there is only so much you can do when your stuck in the basement in the middle of winter with only florescent lighting. But it's been fun experimenting with it and I'm excited to take it outdoors soon. It's frigid cold here and I haven't quite got the ambition to venture out in the snow. I've got a huge learning curve ahead of me.