Is Patrick 3 already?

Well not quite. Patrick will be three in 6 days from now but whose counting. It was just yesterday that we were driving home from the hospital in Lake Arrowhead with a new infant. And today we still have a new infant in Eliana and a three year old. How time flies and things change. So in order to keep it simple we decided that a day out at Disneyland with his best friend Justus would be better than a party. With no nap today and a full day at the park (9am - dinner at 4:30pm) Patrick is thoroughly exhausted but the day was a success. Now let's hope he recovers from the energy expended. Enjoy the musical slide show from the super amateur photographers (1 with a droid and 1 with an iphone) Thanks for reading

Disneyland Patrick's 3rd B-Day from Jim Turner on Vimeo.

Photographers

Part of having children is finding different ways to capture the activities, the expressions and the growth that our kids go through. Fortunately in this world of technology creating videos and taking pictures has become very easy and affordable. Anyone with a camera and an eye for the shot can create some good pictures. But there really is an art to being a professional photographer. The professional can capture images in a way and with an eye that the best amateur can't get close to capturing. They have the equipment, the expertise, the eye, and the experience that the rest of us don't have. I guess that is why they call them professionals and hence why we pay them money to use their skill for us. After 3 years of photo shoots I thought it would be good to say Thank you to the 2 professionals that have captured our family with amazing photos. They are both wonderful photographers, unique in their own way and fun to work with. Choosing a photographer is about a lot more than just getting some pictures and so I will leave out our decision making process and just let you enjoy some of the pictures that were taken by them.

Lauren DiMatteo - http://blog.laurendimatteo.com/ has been a family friend for years and is an amazing talent.

Rebecca Dawson Deaver - http://www.charmingphoto.com/ - we used her for a shoot when Lauren was unavailable and were very pleased with the results

May I suggest that if you are looking for a photographer these are 2 good ones to choose from Thanks for reading

The 2nd Child

Do you ever find it annoying when people tell you "Just wait until you have ..." or "When you have 2 things will be different...". Partly because it assumes they know something you don't which bugs all of us and partly because inside you know they are right. It gets to the heart of what we strive for as humans, control. We want to be in control of all situations and when we are not it makes us crazy. Different levels of craziness depending on the personality but crazy the same. The best antidote for this of course is to stay single and die young, then you have no worries and no problems with relationships. Of course, that whole death thing can bring problems of its own. Short of that you are going to have to realize that you are not in control of much of anything. This is why I prefer to understand that God is in control and not me. It allows me to step back and look at the beauty of a situation, no matter how crazy, and try to see it from His perspective. We are thoroughly enjoying having Eliana home and for the most part she is a perfect (as my mom likes to say) little girl. It is those situations when you are without sleep and she decides to be fussy for the first time in 3 days that really gets to you. But that is just being a parent of a newborn and as they say "These things will also pass".

Eliana is a cute, wonderful, beautiful and feisty little girl. Patrick is a wonderful, handsome and super energetic little boy. Together they are going to be a wonderful pair of siblings. Right now there are a lot of unknowns. You can see the look in Patrick's eyes. "When is she going to talk with me?", "When is she going to play with me", etc. There is in addition a look of love and acceptance of his new sister and we as parents know that he will grow into his role as big brother. Eliana will have to spend a litte more time awake for that to happen :)

So if you have 1 child and are going to have 2 let me tell you "It will get harder but it will be worth it" And for those who have twins or more than 2 let me encourage you as much as I can to see the beauty in the kids because I will never know what it is really like to have more than 2.

I knew it was time to write another blog entry but I was lacking in something coherent to say so hopefully the above makes sense and resonates with you.

Thanks for reading

Let's Eat - no I think I will sleep

In the last blog I commented on how different Patrick and Eliana are. However, there are some similarities. Patrick would rather play than eat and Eliana would rather sleep than eat. For now that is all Eliana does these days, eat and sleep and eat and sleep and poop. In matters not, however, they are both wonderfully cute and fun to play with.

Life is moving into a sense of normalcy and for that we are thankful. Eliana is on a 4 hour eating schedule so that usually means a 3 hour nap for the girl. Her first appointment with the doctor since leaving the NICU will be on Tuesday and that will officially mark a new chapter in her life. I am interested in finding out how long the feedings must be every 4 hours. For premature kids the feedings can't be any further apart than 4 hours or you risk dehydration. Eventually that will move into the next phase of eating but until then we will stick to the schedule!

Just for the record, if you are local and you want to visit just call and come by. We are as normal and normal is going to get for the next 3 months.

Looking forward to the grandparents visiting in September along with my sister and cousin "A". Fun times await!!

Thanks for reading

Week 1

I remember writing a bit about Week 1 in Patrick's life and it was so different. Patrick had a 2 hour drive down the mountain from Lake Arrowhead and Eliana had a 2 day drive down from Walnut Creek with a stop in San Luis Obispo. That was a long trip for even the adults!!! These 2 kids are in no way the same, but isn't that how it always happens? I can recall many parents who have said that the 2 kids were not the same. Whether it be in personality or in eating habits, sleeping habits etc. these kids really have only 1 thing in common. They are both super cute. Now, of course, that is a generalization and they obviously have some things in common but if you have kids you know what I mean.

I am overjoyed to have the girls in our home. It is sooo much easier to manage 2 kids with 2 adults as compared to 1 kid and 1 adult. It is an almost exponential difference. I am sure that authors have written books on the subject but having 6 weeks of experience as proved it to me beyond a shadow of a doubt.

If you are wondering how quickly bonding happens with kids that are adopted let me give you my opinion on that. It happens pretty immediately once you are at home. There is an amazing bond that builds between the family members living under the same roof. Before Patrick I wouldn't have believed that could be true but it is very true!! Combine that fact with God's role in adoption and you have a combination that can't be beat. The spiritual component of this cannot be underestimated in any respect.

I feel like my comments are mirroring life. Without regular sleep the thoughts come in random batches and you just have to deal with them as they come. Eventually Eliana will sleep through the night also, but until then it is a 24 hour day with a few naps of various sizes.

And all you guys and gals you have helped, prayed, supported, written, cleaned, shopped, called, etc...YOU ROCK! Thanks to everyone for all the support you have given our family.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading. The pics below are from the first park day with the whole family!

Destination Home!

Really, no really....no really, the time has finally arrived. I will be given the pleasure of having my family back together again and all of them in the same house in Aliso Viejo!! What a journey it has been in so many different aspects. On Tuesday evening I will travel after work up to Fresno (had to pick somewhere to stay) and spend a few hours sleeping with Patrick. Then on Wednesday we will travel to Moraga and drop Patrick off at our wonderful host's house for a few hours while Vivian and I go to the hospital and pickup Eliana. Then, assuming all that goes well and no forms are missing etc (after all this is a hospital :)) we will pickup Patrick and begin the journey to San Luis Obispo where we will visit our friends and spend the night. On Thursday it is destination Aliso Viejo!!

This journey has been punctuated by some much incredible support from our friends and family that to say thank you almost seems a bit trite. But as much as I can in a blog let me say a very big "Thank You" to those who have supported, prayed, helped and been a part of this in any way. The blog will continue as her little life grows into a big girl but it is now time for Chapter 2 in the life of Eliana Grace!!

Thanks for reading

Here is some photos of Eliana along with some photos of Patrick when he was 2 months old also.

Decision Time

So the Brady events continue as the nervous system is developing. These events make us nervous (pardon the pun) but she comes out of them on her own as long as you stop feeding her for the moment and sit her up. She is now 6lbs 7oz. She lost 2 oz yesterday which was the first weight loss since being in the NICU. From my perspective that is remarkable as newborns typically loose weight in the first week of life outside the womb. Now the time has come....DECISION TIME!!

Even thought the Brady events have not stopped we can take her home if we feel comfortable. Since these events only happen when she eats and not when she sleeps they are willing and actually encouraging us to take her home. We have decided to wait until Monday and see how the weekend goes. A little more time in the NICU won't hurt anyone :) If nothing out of the ordinary happen it appears that Patrick and I will drive up sometime early next week. Maybe Tue evening. We will make firm plans on Monday.

So it is adventure part 2. She will be at home and we will be a family living in the same house again. Just for the record, 5 weeks apart from each other is difficult. I am not complaining in the least since this is God's plan for her and it was a very easy choice to make. It will be so nice to see her in the room that was prepared for her and see her grow up to be a little sister for Patrick. I guess the bottom line is that the adventure of kids never ends and the adventure of adoption adds another layer to that wonderful adventure.

Here are some recent pics of Eliana along with here room to be!!! The blog won't stop even after she is home so keep reading

Thanks for reading