Are You Ready For This?

Okay folks, I have let too many days go by already without a new post or even new pictures. So, do you know what that means? Oh yeah, a whole mess of pictures, stories and other miscellaneous ramblings from yours truly!

Hold onto your seats!

So, Friday I left off with Grandma and Grandpa W. coming to visit for the weekend to see Lincoln for the first time. Lincoln was happy to be held in the cozy warmth of his grandparents arms and soaked up plenty of affection. Elaina was happy to play with her cousin Evan for the weekend and they got along without incident for 2.5 days straight. By the time Sunday rolled around, it seems as though they had both gotten their fill of togetherness and needed some time alone to get back in their regular routines.

As you may well remember, this past Sunday also happened to Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to my Mom (my favorite Mom in the past 32 years and counting!) and to my dear Mother-in-Law, Brenda !

As luck would have it, I came down with cold symptoms for Mother's Day. Nice. The best (and only) thing my sweet husband could do for me was to let me sleep for an entire 2.5 hours nap in the middle of the day. Without interruption. Ahhh. So much better than any chocolate or flowers. Sleep! And when he did finally brave himself for waking the beast, he came bearing two smiling sweethearts of which are our kids. Lincoln had his eyes open and was looking around intently and Elaina smeared me with approximately 17 kisses in various areas in attempt to make me feel better and fix my "boo-boos." The lousiest part is that I have been trying my best to keep a slight distance from both of them as I can't shake this fear that both of them with come down with the same sore throat, cough and runny/ stuffy nose I have. At this point, I'm crossing my fingers, my toes and holding my breath that they both be safe from my hacking germs. Unfortunately, as the story goes, Eric seems to have come down with a slight sore throat and same worn-down feeling as myself. It's not the worst we have ever felt (by far) and it's different than just the average sleep deprivation of any parent of a newborn. It's just a stinkin', little, nasty bug that is making our lives most unpleasant at the moment. Picture this, two sick parents, a bored-out-of-her-gourd-almost-two-year-old and a newborn who wants to snack every 2-3 hours. Such is life. This too shall pass. See what a happy family!

With Sunday proving to be not particularly productive, let's move onto Monday! There's a story for Monday!

On Monday, we had our placement hearing. As most of you aren't familiar with adoption proceedings (why would you be?), the placement hearing was our first official court hearing that designates Eric and myself as Lincoln's legal custodians. In six months from now, we'll have our second hearing which will be the "finalization" hearing which we'll be recognized as Lincoln's legal, adoptive parents which will even reflect on his birth certificate. This is the hearing that we celebrate annually with Elaina as "Got-Me-Day." Of course we plan to carry on the same tradition with Lincoln as well. To us, it's like celebrating his birthday 6 months after his birthday, remembering the date that he became ours and ours alone, a very special and worthwhile family celebration. Now, back to today's hearing. We made the decision to bring Elaina with us to the hearing in hopes that she would be on her very best behavior. Amazingly, she was even better than I had anticipated. She sat on my lap so quietly and from time to time, I would whisper in her ear how well behaved she was and how good she was being. Lincoln slept in his Daddy's arms throughout the entire 45 minute hearing. Not even a peep. Maybe his Dad was whispering to him as well. I'll never know.

Since I just happen to work in the same building that the probate court is in, we paraded our new family up to see all of my fellow co-workers who have been so thrilled to hear about Lincoln's arrival and been so anxious to meet him. I was somewhat hesitant to bring a week-old baby into the corridors of so many germs, but I kept him in his infant carrier and kept a blanket draped over him, shielding him from the exposure of only God-knows-what as we made our way through the halls. (It's scary to think that leaving the hospital corridors upon discharge provided him the same opportunity to encounter the same amount of yuck. Can you tell I walk a fine line of OCD?) Anyhow, everyone was thrilled to see baby Lincoln and his big sister. They even sent us home with this valuable keepsake photo.

Priceless isn't it? As our photographer was fearing that someone may have inadvertently moved as she snapped the photo, she was considerate enough to take another one, just to ensure the quality and capture yet another tender moment. How about this one?

One day. I just keep telling myself, one day; we'll all be posed for a decent family picture together that I won't keep on hand just to laugh at our quirky, awkward poses. Maybe by Lincoln's graduation we'll be able to come up with a nice family photo. One day.

By the time we got home, the weather was still gorgeous and I rushed Eric and Elaina out the door to get a quick picture of my very handsome twosome. Lincoln missed the cut since he was still sleeping and wasn't hyped up on Fwoot-Woops (Fruit Loops) and cookies like a certain other child.That brings us to today. Eric and I are still battling the creeping crud that has seemed to take up residence in our respiratory system. Elaina has turned into a complete and utter couch potato as we've allowed her way too much tv time and video watching as we try to keep up with satisfying Lincoln-the snack-break-baby while trying to maintain a certain standard of cleanliness throughout our home at the same time.

As if I haven't already occupied more than 20 minutes of your time reading all of this, I have to tell you that I've only reached the tip of the iceberg, folks. I have plenty more to report on adjustment, parenting and perspective as time permits. It's obvious enough that blogging has taken a back burner, so to speak, when there's plenty more things demanding my attention as of late. While you already know how I feel about my blog, I want to do everything I can to maintain a certain degree of journaling here for both Lincoln and Elaina. Keep stopping by and I'll keep the pictures coming!