Pages

Friday, February 22, 2013

35 Weeks

We've hit the 35 week mark! And still looking fabulous, if I do say so myself - haven't gained a pound!
Bahaha! Just kidding. ;) I am loving the fact that we have a newborn coming in about a month and I'm not physically drained and miserable. *teehee* Oh the perks of adoption! ;) 

I talked to Q earlier this week and she seems to be doing a bit better. Her defense mechanism this whole time has just been to distance herself from the pregnancy, mentally and emotionally. At some point, it was bound to hit her. She had worked through her birth plan with her social worker, her family was giving her grief, a close relative passed away last week, and her body is completely worn out. That was a recipe for a break down. And although I feel bad that she has been so overwhelmed, I'm really glad that she has started processing some of those emotions before the baby comes. : / Please continue to keep her in your prayers. 

Meanwhile, little things have been changing at the Miller home. I have sorted and put away almost all of the gifts that had taken over Elliana's room. :) And thanks to all the gift cards we were given at our shower, I was able to purchase the remaining items that I needed. The guest bathroom drawers now contain girly washcloths and hair bows. 
There is a stock of bottles in our kitchen cabinet. :)
And there is a cleared space in our bedroom for the pack n play. :)

We're ready when you are, Ellie girl! ::grin::

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Somewhere Between

I don't know what God has in store for our family in the years to come. I know that I'd like to have more than one child, and that I'd like to adopt again, but I'm not sure what type of adoption we would want to pursue for the next child. We feel confident that at this time in our lives, Domestic Infant Adoption was the best route to choose. But who knows, International Adoption may be a part of our lives one day as well! That's a new adventure, and we'll think about all of that when we get there. :) But whether we get to personally experience it or not, I think International Adoption is beautiful. 

Last night I watched a newly released documentary called Somewhere Between. It tells the stories of four teenage girls who were adopted from China. It is very well done and I thoroughly enjoyed it! If you have some free time this weekend, or next week, watch it. (Seriously, there aren't any other good releases out right now anyway. lol)! You can stream it on Amazon for $3, or it looks like YouTube has a good chunk of it available as well. The trailer is below for your viewing pleasure. :)



"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." James 1:27

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Shower Pics - Part 1

I'm waiting on the pictures of the actual shower, but I did get the photo booth pictures from my mom today and I just had to post them. I had so much fun looking through these! :) You can find the album on our Facebook page by clicking here!


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Lamaze, or Lack Thereof

You guys can keep Q in your prayers this week. She had a lot of family pressure over the weekend, and their disapproval of her decision to place the baby for adoption is really stressing her out. Her social worker assured me that she hasn't changed her mind about placing with us. But she is feeling overwhelmed by the lack of family support, on top of the physical discomfort of the last month of pregnancy. I wish I could help her. :( Anyway, as a result of all of that, she did not feel up to going to the Lamaze class last night. I wasn't incredibly thrilled about the class, for the sake of learning Lamaze, but for the opportunity for the three of us to do an activity together in preparation for the birth. And I hoped it would help pass the time for all of us. So we'll see what the next few weeks have in store. We may end up just getting together instead...

On another note, our baby shower was on Saturday and it was wonderful! We had such a good time, and were given soooo many gifts. :) I hope to get the pictures over the weekend, and I'll post them on our Facebook page. :) Until then, I'll leave you with a shot of our daughters room. 

Ridiculous right? lol. What a blessing to have all of this stuff given to us! :) I have been sorting and organizing and trying to get everything in its place, so it looks a lot better today than it did on Monday when the picture was taken. It's so fun to picture myself in the room with our baby, and try to put things where it would make the most sense. I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. :) 

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Ultrasound

The Lamaze class was cancelled last night because the instructor had some family issues come up. We'll start next Tuesday. But Q had an ultrasound appointment today, so I still got to see her AND our sweetie girl! :) Ellie is head down, but her body is positioned somewhat diagonally. She's really giving Q a hard time these days. I guess she stretches out sometimes, and practically takes the wind out of Q and makes her nauseous. She had a bit of an episode with that while we were driving and it actually brought her to tears it hurt so much. :( I feel bad for her. She's so eager to be done. I'm hoping that Lamaze over the next few weeks will be out of the ordinary enough to change up her routine and help the time pass. 

Anyway, Ellie is growing right on track and the only thing slightly abnormal was the size of her thighs. All that means is that she's going to be tall, which we already knew. :) My daughter and I are going to be sharing shoes and clothes by the time she's 8, I just know it. lol. She weighs about 4 pounds right now and the doctor said that if she continues to grow at the same rate, she'll be between 6 and 7 pounds at birth. That information was just enough to calm Q down a little. She's been terrified that the baby is going to be ginormous since she is carrying so big. ;) The ultrasound tech wasn't able to get a great shot because of the way she was positioned, but here is the best attempt at a profile. :)

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Blessed

Today Ryan and I picked Q up from the train station and she spent a few hours hanging out with my family. I don't know if I mentioned on the blog that she spent Thanksgiving with Ryan's side a few months back. With the holidays and our little vacation this month, it took a little bit longer to introduce her to my side. Anyway, today that happened and I'm so happy about it. Just watching her laugh with us, and feel comfortable is such a blessing. Birthparent and adoptive family relationships are unique because we've made a big commitment to each other and THEN we try to cultivate a friendship. It's interesting. :) But by God's grace, a friendship is developing and I'm so thankful for that. Here is a belly shot of Q at 32 weeks-


She's getting so big! :) Q, Ryan, and I have our first  Lamaze class on Tuesday, which should be fun / semi-awkward. lol. In any case, I'm excited about it. :)  I can't believe that Elliana is going to be here next month!