Another New Addition,Hooray!

Well today was the day! We have another addition to the family! Jason and Jen's new baby boy was born this Friday rainy morning, the 30th of November around 6 am. I believe he was 8lbs. 15 oz, and only 19 inches long. His name is Brayden Thomas. Yes, Aedyn has a new cousin named Brayden. We have seen his picture via cell phone pic sent by Jason to Shane's cell phone, and we must say he is beautiful! What a joyous event. We are so happy for them! We can't wait to meet our new nephew!

All smiles in the Moore family today!

Aedyn's checkup

Wow! I can't believe it! Aedyn is now 13 lbs. 4 oz.(90 th percentile) and 22 3/4 in.long (or tall) (50th percentile). He is doing wonderfully, and the doc gave him a clean bill of health. All his vitals and temp. were fine. Actually he got so excited that he gave himself the hiccups again,making it hard for the doc to hear his heartbeat. He did have his first 5 vaccinations today, 2 were in one shot so he got 4 shots altogether, 2 in each thigh. The doc said he would do really good with the pain probably because he has such chubby thighs. He cried a little for about 3 minutes, then he went into the carseat and fell fast asleep.

He is a happy baby! He ate, played, and now is taking a cat nap in his swing! Shane is home and dinner and laundry awaits!

Thanksgiving, Family, Sleep

well, turkey day has come and gone. We had an incredible weekend, long, but great! First, we decided to drive to Riverside on Wednesday and set up camp, (if you may), at Kathy's house, even though she was out of town visiting in-laws she allowed us a place to rest our heads. well, we really didn't leavesoon enough to beat the holiday traffic, so what usually takes us a little under 2 hours took us 4 hours to drive. We had to stop to feed and change Aedyn, but it was kind of nice because we detoured through Pasadena to Temple City and stopped by where we used to live.

We finally got to Riverside at 7 pm had dinner with my Mom, who was house and dog sitting for my sis, set up the pack n' play (which would be Aedyn's make-shift crib for the next 4 days), then headed for bed.

The next morning was relaxed, then we headed to Jen and Jason's for Thanskgiving. It was a warm festive day. My favorite part of dinner was the Sweet potatoes, a new recipe Jen found made with bananas and honey. YUM!! Aedyn also got to meet his Aunt Charity and cousin Willow for the first time. He was a little fussy, but finally went down for a nap right before dinner was to be served. Well, I guess he knew the food was hot and ready so he woke up and joined us for the holiday feast, he didn't want to miss out!

The next few days were spent up in the mountains, with Dad and Helen. Aedyn also got to meet G-pa Justin, Uncle Doug and Aunt Debbie. We took a lovely walk on Saturday. But to be honest, it kicked my butt. TOO MANY HILLS! But, it was a beautiful crisp, sunny fall day which was followed by a warming bowl of homemade turkey noodle soup and panini sandwiches!

Sunday, we got up,packed, and headed back home. Driving was much more pleasant because it only took 2 hours this time! I don't know if I have mentioned before but Aedyn is a great traveler. He loves to be in the car while it is going.

A miracle happened on Sunday evening; Aedyn slept an incredible 7 hours straight! He fell asleep at 8:30pm and didn't start stirring until 3:30 am. Mommy got a full 6.5 hours of sleep!!!! And then it happened again, last night he took a bath(which he loves by the way), took a bottle at 8:30 pm, fell asleep at 9 pm and didn't wake up until 2:30 am, back to sleep by 3:30 am and didn't wake up until 6:30 am. He stayed up for playtime until 9:30 am and took a mid-morning nap at 10:30 until now 12:30. Aedyn is definitely starting to understand about establishing a routine of playtime during the day and sleeping at night!

Of course this may end soon, because Aedyn has a doctor's appointment today to get a checkup and his first immunizations! I am not looking forward to this!

The wee babe beckons. Peace and Love to all!

Family, First Christmas Event, & Sleepless night

Last weekend already seems so far away!This last weekend was quite lovely and after today, seems so far away! On Friday, Nina and Brian came over for some food and games! We had a blast, by the end of the evening, which was around 10 pm (we're real party people,huh?) we were all very tired and delirious. We laughed really hard, which is one of the greatest feelings in the world. Nina and Brian are engaged, and as of now plan on getting married in May of next year. Congrats! Oh, by the way, Brian turned 18 on Wednesday so their relationship is legal now! HAha! Anyhow, they spent the night in our bungalow (used to be daycare) and we got up (me early, everyone else later) and enjoyed Biscuits and Homemade sausage gravy that Shane made. SOOOOO YUMMY!

On Saturday,after Nina and Brian left we putzed around a bit, took a nap, then got ready to go to our first Christmas event of the season. Hooray! Christmas is here! We dressed Aedyn up in one of his Christmas outfits,(it's one that looks like he's an elf), and headed over to the Simi Valley Town Center where they put up and decorate a huge tree in the Center. They also had a Snowflake Fairy who danced in the balcony to music while lasers and lights lit the tree, and snow began to fall. we took some pictures in front of the tree, and there was a group of ladies there that started to swoon over Aedyn, they loved his elf outfit, complete with elf ears(all his own). But, what was even more beautiful is we got to share our story(a very simple version) of adoption and inspire one lady who has been trying for quite sometime to have children to pursue adoption. We walked around a bit and after a quick bite, we headed back to the center where the tree was, and listened and danced(a tiny bit) to the soothing sounds of a swing band. They played some old favorites as well as Christmas tunes. They also had a lovely female singer with them who had an awesome voice.

What a great and festive Christmas event. We hope we can fill the rest of the holiday season with as much cheer!

Well, last but not least there was another sleepless night in the Moore household. Aedyn woke up every hour. In the morning I called the doctor to share that he has been fussy and had a slightly raised temperature, he has been eating good,but spitting up a little; well we went to the doctor's this evening just for precautionary measures. Aedyn's temp was only 99 and his lungs, chest,and ears were fine. The doctor concluded that he probably has his first viral cold. :( Doc prescribed children's tylenol. As a new Mommy and Daddy we found ourselves relieved. Aedyn took his medicine like a pro when we got home. Oh by the way,he has more than doubled his birth weight! He now weighs 12.5 lbs.!!!!

Soon it will be Turkey Day. We will have a long, but Happy weekend ahead of us!

Mommyhood! (It's blissful exhaustion)

Last night and this morning were rough. After sleeping for 5 hours between 7pm and 12:30 am, Aedyn decided to wake up, take a bottle, go back to sleep at 2am,wake up at 3 am, feed, go back to sleep at 4am, wake up at 4:45 am, grunt and groan for about another 45 minutes, go back to sleep at 5:30 am, wake up at 6:30 am, feed for an hour, go back to sleep for a half hour, wake back up at 8 am,stay awake until 9:30am, feed, grunt and groan for the next hour, take 2 ounces of water, fall back asleep for about 45 mintues, wake back up around 12:30 pm, took a bottle, fell asleep at 1pm, and now it is 2:30pm and he is still sleeping. Finally!

Yesterday was a breeze compared to last night and today! I feel like a zombie, but I was able to take a shower to wake myself up a bit. I am exhausted, but watching him and holding him,and seeing him grow makes it all worthwhile. Aedyn is getting stonger day by day, lifting his head for about 10-15 seconds at a time, and he is becoming so alert;his eyes are focusing longer on objects further away. He recognizes our voices and will turn towards us.And finally when he falls asleep he is like an angel,perfectly peaceful. I love to caress his forehead and chubby cheeks, and stroke his little perfect nose. I love to give him kisses on his perfectly 'M' formed lips.

more pics

Life! The Good and the Bad!

Friday was a great day because Aedyn met his Grandpa and Grandma Young. They came up with Angela and spent the day with us. We went to lunch at our outdoor mall and had some gelato and Starbucks and sat by the fireplace because it was a little windy and chilly. We then went to Babies R'Us and got a few Christmas outfits for Aedyn. Overall a very good day!

This past weekend was pleasant until a certain event happened. First, I will say about the good stuff; we went to Moreno Valley on Saturday to celebrate my nephew Sean's 4th birthday! He is getting so big. It was great to see everyone, Sean, Jen,Jamie(who by the way is towering over me) my Dad, Helen, Soone,Angela,Mary and Catie, Dot,and of course Kat, Jon and my Mom. Of course, everyone wanted to play pass the baby. Aedyn was a hit, and he behaved so well the whole day! I tried to focus on playing with little Sean, and his big event,while everyone held Aedyn.

We then spent the rest of the day with Jon, Kat and Mom playing games and being merry. Kat made a terrific chicken tortilla soup, while I made guacamole and fresh salsa, YUMMY! We spent the night, and woke up the next morning to a leisurely day with a nice breakfast. After hemming and hawing of going and doing something,we decided to go to the dogpark. Here is the bad event. We got there and only after about 10-15 minutes a dog entered the gated area and came charging over to where we were, and attacked Toby. It was horrible, and the act keeps playing over in our minds. We left immediately and went home. Kat and Jon took Toby to the emergency vet and Toby had to be kept there for a couple days. They discovered he had air trapped between his chest and ribs where he had a flesh wound, and he has a few cracked ribs. Toby will be coming home,but he will have to be crated so he doesn't move so he can heal! He is still in pain. Poor little guy! It made us all cry, because we hurt when our pets hurt; they are a part of the family! Please send healing thoughts to Toby!

That's all for now. Must go shower and get ready before the wee babe awakens.

All about Aedyn

WoW!This week has been interesting for me because it is the first week that just Aedyn and I are home together alone. It feels so natural. We have established a routine for eating, sleeping, pooping and it happens almost like clockwork every 3 hours. Sometimes he is sleeping 4-4 1/2 hours during the late afternoon. He actually had a full 6 ounces at about 9 pm last night and we put him down at 10pm and he didn't wake up until 2:30 in the morning; we got a full 4 hours of sleep. Shane took the 5:30 am shift and I was able to sleep another 4 1/2 hours because Aedyn didn't start stirring until 8 am. So I actually got up and was able to eat breakfast. His favorite place to fall asleep in on our chests. He still likes to be swaddled, although he fights to get his arms out sometimes. He grunts and groans, not out of pain, he just likes to make noise.

Let's see, what else about Aedyn; He is beautiful, and he is getting so chubby. He eats about 5 ounces a bottle! Aedyn makes us laugh, because he makes funny faces, and he opens is eyes real wide(which sometimes are still crossed). Aedyn is a pixie, his right ear looks like an elf ear,and the left has a little pinch at the top. His head and neck are so stong; we did a full 1/2 hour of tummy time yesterday. He loves to be sung to. His favorites songs so far are "You are my sunshine" and "The Good Morning Song" (which I made up). Granny Moore he loves his Glowworm that plays classical tunes, and he loves to follow the light with his eyes.

I love being his mommy!

How we spent our time in the last 6 weeks

Well, I just wanted to share with the world what we have been doing for the last 6 weeks of our life. Note - Please read post before this one!

Besides caring for our newborn, Aedyn, we were able to get to know his birthparents very well. (At times, too well if you catch my drift- LOL). Just kidding, they are turly great people. We were able to share some of the splendor of living in Southern California with them. We were able to take them to beach with the dogs, to our favorite park with the lake, our outdoor mall to get gelato,YUM, celebrate Halloween and most exciting of all Disneyland! Oh yeah, they also got to experience LA traffic and the lovely smokey fumes from the California wildfires. Amber and I also worked on a scrapbook for her Mom, which I had such a good time doing. It is so addicitive once you get started!

We were able to introduce Aedyn to some of his new family as well. His first visitor was Grammy Bev; she came to the hospital to see him. Aedyn also met Granny Moore and Grandpa Moore and we took his first restaurant visit to Macaroni Grill. Cousin Nina and Brian came over for some dinner and games(laundry as well). Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jon, came with Grammy and we all went to the park. My 'little sister" Amanda and her mom came to the house on a Friday evening. Aedyn metUncle Jason, Aunt Jen and cousin Kaitlyn at Aunt Jen's baby shower,(that's right Aedyn will have a cousin close to his age, Jen is due around Thanksgiving). He is looking forward to meeting the rest of his family ASAP.

There have been plenty of trips to the grocery store and Target to get supplies, formula,diapers, and food. We have also been on the internet and phone talking to lawyers and other adoption professionals for endless hours, as well. Shane was able to only take one week off, while trying to get through work sleep-deprived and complete his college coursework. Besides the obvious new challenges in life, Life is good!

Our First Family Blog (with a little adoption history)

Today I took the the leap forward to create our Family Blog. We are a new family of 3, created by the blessing of adoption. Two wonderful people, Amber and Hugh, chose us to be the parents of their baby boy and we are forever grateful!

Here's a little history on how we got here today. After years, about 9, of failed infertility treatments and 1 miscarriage, we decided about a year ago, in August, to pursue adoption for creating and growing our family. We chose the Independent Adoption Center to work with. We were "on the books" waiting to be picked by a birthmother starting November 1. We were contacted by several birthmothers before being picked by a birthmother in San Diego on January 31st. She gave birth to a baby boy on March 15 and placed him in our care for one month. Unfortunately, this person decided to reclaim him. We were devastated, and grieved and waited for our forever child to come home to us.

On July 26th, a Thursday evening, a young woman, all of 17 years of age, called us (actually her cousin called) after receiving our letter from the IAC. We hit it off, and decided to meet in person, and we all 4 decided to match and agree to an adoption placement. We hit bumps along the road dealing with the babies' heritage, he is 1/8 Chukchansi Indian, and the tribe decided they wanted to intervene and not allow Amber and Hugh's adoption placement preference with us to happen. At this point the IAC decided not to work with the case.

Amber and Hugh, were committed to placing their child with us and wanted to talk to the tribe in person, so we agreed to fly them to our home and meet the tribe to ask them to change their mind. We made an appointment on September 24th with the tribal council, but a little surprise came our way first! The baby came early and we all had to deal with the torn emotions of the situation. We both separately, Amber and Hugh, and us were trying to provide comfort and love but without getting too attached to the baby. A very hard task to undertake, but the fact that he was a month early and had to be in the NICU for his first two week made it bearable.

Aedyn James Moore (or James Mitchell Lewis which is his name on the original birth certificate) was born on September 21, 2007 at Simi Valley Hospital at 3:06 am. He weighed 5 lbs. 11 oz. and was 20 inches long. His lungs were a little underdeveloped and he had to have help breathing,so he was transferred to Northridge Hospital where he spent the first two weeks of his life. We traveled back and forth daily visiting and taking care of him in the hospital. He was able to come home with us on October 4th.

Amber and Hugh stayed with us for 6 weeks until we could get things sorted out. Because the IAC was no longer involved we had to hire a lawyer, an adoption service provider, and a psychologist to get this adoption done. We now have what is called an independent adoption. We were going to have to go court on November 2nd to sign relinquishments, (two kinds - regular and Indian), but because of the ICWA law the tribe had the right to ask for continuance, and they did. We had already bought tickets for Amber and Hugh to return home November 4th, so we went to the adoption service provider to have them sign the regular relinquishments so they could return home. They will fly back out here to sign the Indian relinquishments in court, if necessary, when we have a secure date agreed upon by the tribe.

So, as of right now, Aedyn is OUR SON! Our journey with Hugh and Amber has been a windy road, but it is truly a blessing to have had them in our home and share this time with us. What a true gesture of their commitment to us and unconditional love for Aedyn they showed and with such great fortitude. I talked with Amber last night, and she sounded happy to be home, with her family and friends, but a little sad as well. We will continue a relationship with Aedyn's birthfamily throughout his entire life. There will never be any doubt that he was and is loved by them.

So, I will end this post by saying thank you to GOD! I prayed for a birthfamily that Shane and I could truly celebrate, one that would feel like extended family. Even though our roller coaster ride is not over, we feel extremely blessed to have a beautiful baby boy in our hearts and arms!