A month of firsts

A new baby comes with many "firsts."  From the first bath to the first smile to the first post placement birth parent meeting?  Well, although many new parents don't experience this "first", we did.  We got to meet with Elijah's birthmom ( who from now on I will refer to as D) for the first time since bringing him home.  Although there have been emails, texts and pictures, this was our face to face meeting.  On January 26th we were blessed to meet with D, her mom, grandmom and brother.  It was a joyful reunion and began with hugs all around and a lot of catching up.  They brought some gifts for Elijah and we took some photos together.  D was so excited to see him and asked us a lot of questions about how he was growing and what he was doing.  We shared about his first bath and smiles, which he was nice enough to show off to us that morning.  D held him and looked over every inch, comparing his features to hers.  There was a lot of joy in the room.  With such a meeting comes some a little anxiety and nervousness but mostly anticipation.  This "first" was one of the most defining for us as adoptive parents.  As we begin our journey into an open adoption relationship with D and her family, it will be challenging and rewarding.  God has blessed us with a great start and we look forward to seeing our relationship grow!

Becoming a family

Over the last two weeks(and no I can't believe he has been with us that long), we have begun bonding as a family.  Elijah is melding into our family as though he always was here and we are enjoying every moment with him.  Between Christmas and traveling to see extended family and Nate's work, our personal family moments have not been as often as I would like.  God has granted us some time now to spend bonding, learning about and enjoying each other fully.  These days spent with Elijah have deepened our relationship with each other and with our new son.  And as we continue to adjust, we are feeling overwhelmed with love and support of family and friends.  Families from church have been bringing us meals, our family has thrown us baby showers and helped us in so many other ways.  I realize now how much our parents loved us and the way their lives changed when we were born. There is so much more I would like to share tonight, BUT for now, I am going to get back to my family and the snuggly little baby next to me.  Because these moments are precious and not to be missed!